Goulburn 150th Anniversary Celebrations

The Goulburn 150th Anniversary Celebrations on Saturday, 16th March was truly a significant event. Not just to mark 150 years of the City of Goulburn, but also for the fact that freemasons have been involved with the evolution of this city from the time that settlement first began in the area right up to the present day.

{gallery}news/Goulburn150th{/gallery}Masons from District 102 Association took part in a number of events on this day not just to celebrate the history of our city, but also to help promote freemasonry in our district.

The first event was the procession which started at 11:00am at the southern end of Auburn Street Goulburn. The District102 Association was no.11 in the procession; this was because the first lodge in Goulburn was The Goulburn Lodge of Australia which was formed in November 1849.

The Masonic Centre was open for tours to the public in the afternoon with an Organ Recital programmed to be held in the lodge room from 5:30pm to 6:30pm. The crowds came fairly early and as a result, RW Bro Ken Bellingham gave an impromptu talk about the masonic regalia on display in the centre of the lodge room.
Among two of the compositions that were performed by Dr Paviour were "The Goulburn Waltz" which was performed for only the second time in 160 years (a rare and little known composition), and the other was a three part composition that he wrote just for the 150th Celebrations which he simply titled "Goulburn-Past, Present and Future". It was now Greg O’keefe’s turn to dazzle the crowd, he also performed well. RW Bro Robert Davey presents him with a gift and thanks him on behalf of the District 102 Masonic Association and the public.At the conclusion of the organ recital, the crowd retired to the refectory for some light refreshments while The Goulburn Lodge of Australia conducted a very brief meeting (business session only).

At 7:30pm, the lodge doors were once again opened to the public for the presentation of a talk by RW Bro Ken Bellingham. The talk being about the history of Freemasonry in Goulburn. At the conclusion of the talk, there was a brief session where Ken responded to some questions asked by members of the public. Towards the conclusion of the evening, we were all treated to a fireworks display held on the grounds of St Saviour’s Cathedral just across the road from the Goulburn Masonic Centre.