On the 8th of November 2015, the University of Birmingham Lodge no.5628, held its first social of the masonic year. But unlike previous lodge socials, we gave up the comfort of the Lodge for the wet and muddy fields of a shooting range, and the fine dining for a bacon sandwich and coffee.
Though the wind was at times strong and the ground sodden, this did not stop the members of the lodge and their guests from having a fun day out. As ever our Worshipful Master, W.bro Ron Parker was first into the thick of it. But far from just being an ordinary day of shooting, the site catered for a wide array of activates for the members and their guests to take part in. These included shooting, archery, falconry, quad biking etc. But as our time there was limited, we stuck to the shooting and archery for this time round, but hope to expand to other events next time.
At the shooting stalls, everybody waited eagerly for their chance to show off. At which point, our Worshipful Master decided a contest was in order. We all received our 6 tokens, for a total of 12 shots each. The person who shot the most clays at the end of the social would win a prize. The winner at the end of the day was bro. Adam Doveston, with 8 out of 12 clays. As a prize he won a bottle of red wine, presented to him by the Worshipful Master. But this was not the end of the contest for bro. Adam Doveston, he was then challenged by a member of staff to perform a trick shot. Which consisted of shooting a clay far down range, then once hit, to then shoot and hit one of the small pieces that came off it. To his own and everyone else’s surprise, he made the shots and won the challenge.
While the clay shooting was the main event, many members and guests, gave up the gun for a bow and tried their hands at archery. This proved to be as equally as popular as the shooting, to the point where a number of our guests now want to take up archery as a past-time. Overall the day was a great success. Filled with fun activates and lots of information, provided by a helpful instructors. The Lea Marston Venue is deeply committed to charitable events and able-bodied users of the facilities are left in no doubt that by partaking they are subsidising the facilities for those less fortunate than themselves.
But before the day came to an end, we all adjourned to the nearest bar, for a well-deserved drink and to reminisce on the day events and the possibility of returning one day.