On a previous trip to Great Exuma, an Island in the Bahamas we noticed that a new Masonic Hall was being built for the Mount Royal Lodge No. 20, this being a Lodge attached to the Prince Hall Grand Lodge of the Bahamas, by coincidence I found that one of the Senior members of this Lodge was someone I had been dealing with on the Island and who duly invited me to a future meeting. What appeared in construction to be a large building for one Lodge turned out that the Lodge uses the first floor and the ground floor is let to a Supermarket, the rent being used towards the upkeep of the building

Having established on my return that this Prince Hall Lodge was compatible with the U G L E, I accepted the invitation and attend their February meeting, as Roy and Angela Brown were joining us on this holiday, Roy readily agreed to join me. As the Lodge was due to commence at 7.30pm we arrived at 7.10pm only to find the building locked and only one member there, other members started to appear including the Secretary who not having a key said if he could not get in by 7.30 he would go home, fortunately he was persuaded to stay. Apparently only the Master and Tyler are key holders.

The Master arrived at 7.30 and then had to return to his office to collect his key, we eventually entered the building at 7.40, by then another 10 members had arrived.

The first operation was for the Treasurer to receive various dues and as further members arrived their priority was to settle up with the Treasurer. The large multi-purpose room was set up as a Temple, although having exhausted their funds in building the Masonic Hall they do not yet have a chequered carpet for the floor and the Lodge furniture is very basic, as and when funds are available this will be improved.

The Lodge was eventually opened at 8.15pm in the 3rd Degree. It was interesting to learn that all business is carried out in the 3rd Degree and only when they are Initiating a new candidate or Passing a member do they drop down from the 3rd Degree, this means that until a member becomes a Master Mason he sees very little of the Lodge activities.

Unfortunately on the evening we attended they did not have a Ceremony and virtually the whole meeting was devoted to finalising arrangements for a forthcoming 4 day gathering of all the Lodge in their District, which the Mount Royal Lodge is this year hosting.

In attendance at the meeting were the District Grand Master, who had flown in from Nassau for the meeting and the Deputy District Grand Master who both addressed the members at length. The salutes given are nothing like ours although one particular section is similar to the Scottish Constitution, likewise their regalia is different, all members including the Master wear light blue apron with no collars. Once promoted to a District Grand Office (equivalent to our Provincial Grand Officer) they wear a purple apron and a very nice gold coloured collar.

They do not have our format for progress to the Masters chair, the existing Master can stay as long as he wishes or until any other member wishes to take on the position, the District Grand Master told us that in an extreme case one Master held the Office for 50 years, usually it is between 2 and 5 years.

They do not have a Festive Board at the end of the proceedings but the Junior Warden set up an impromptu bar and a very interesting hour was spent discussing the differences between our Lodges.

Part of the payments made to Treasurer is a small levy paid by all members, this is used to cover the funeral costs when a member dies and the Lodge even takes the coffin into the Temple for a short funeral ceremony prior to the formal burial.

The members of the Lodge were remarkably friendly and made us very welcome, we both hope to return in the future.