At their Installation ceremony, on 23rd March 2016, Haddenham Lodge 8944 honoured one of their founders with the presentation of a 60 year certificate to celebrate a remarkable life in Freemasonry.
Adrian Ralph Chalk, (known to all as Ian), was initiated into Granta Lodge 6179, in Cambridgeshire, on 24th March 1956.
Moving to Haddenham with his work in 1961 Ian remained a long distance Mason, over the next two decades, until a group of friends asked him to join them in the founding of a new local lodge.
Ian became the first Junior Warden of Haddenham Lodge in February 1981 and the Lodge’s third Master on 24 March 1983 (the 27th anniversary of his initiation).
Ian has been a stalwart member of the local community during his 55 years in Haddenham and has held many local positions including Chairman of the Parish Council and Chairman of the local school governors. He has been heavily involved with local charities throughout his time in Freemasonry. One of his finest achievements was being instrumental in arranging for the PACE centre, in Aylesbury, to receive a major donation from the embryonic Bucks Masonic Centenary Fund. This grant ensured they had a sound financial footing and were able to move forward with their vision of helping every child, (and their families), with a sensory motor disorder to access educational and training services.
He was secretary of the Bucks Masonic Benevolent Fund and later became Deputy President of the Grand Charity. Ian received Grand Rank, (PAGDC), in 1992 and was promoted to PDepGSwdB in 2006. He received the Provincial Grand Master’s Certificate of Service to Freemasonry in Buckinghamshire in 2007 and continues to be an active member of Haddenham Lodge. Ian attends every meeting and is a fount of Masonic knowledge. He was mentor to the junior brethren of the Lodge long before the mentoring position was even mooted, regularly sitting outside the Lodge to pass on his extensive Masonic knowledge when they were asked to ‘leave the Lodge for a few minutes’.
Ian still lives in Haddenham with his wife, Jean, and has three boys and eight grandchildren.
The picture shows Ian with the DPGM Robert Wharton on his right and Ray Fox the newly installed Master of Haddenham Lodge on his left.