![\"\"](\"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/23\/2025\/09\/Resized_177926051346_57232.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n
Mr Getsom said he would like to hold further monthly meetings at the hotel, the management and staff of which had been a delight to deal with last week.<\/p>\n
As well as giving people an insight into what the Freemasons movement is all about \u2013 it has long been regarded by some as a secret society \u2013 the meeting might also have given the lodge its next community project.<\/p>\n
Mr Getsom said a representative of Ballarat’s SoupBus spoke during the meeting, and as a result the lodge was now pursuing ways of offering the service financial support.<\/p>\n
He acknowledged that some people thought of Freemasonry as a secret society, but stresses that it is not.<\/p>\n
The Smythesdale Prince of Wales No.40 Lodge, for example, is a non-denominational group focused on fellowship and community work \u2013 much of which goes unacknowledged.<\/p>\n
The movement is basically open to anyone who is of good character and wants to help their community, Mr Getsom said.<\/p>\n
And he said aspects of Freemasonry like the legendary secret handshake and secret words were no longer very secret.<\/p>\n
“You can get all that on the internet now; if you want to read up on it you can get it all on the internet,” he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
SMYTHESDALE’S local Freemasons lodge enjoyed a literal homecoming when it held its regular meeting at the Court House Hotel last week. The hotel was the site of the lodge’s foundation meeting when it was established in 1862, and the move back there \u2013 a one-off \u2013 was organised by its current worshipful master Ian Getsom. […]<\/p>\n