John Coombs has been recognised for half a century of service to Freemasonry.
A master of the 138-year-old Seymour Masonic Lodge, John received a 50-year service award, having been obligated into Freemasonry by his father, Keith in 1969.
Ron Fullerton presented the award and John’s brothers, Kyabram Masonic Lodge members Ross and Malcolm, attended the presentation.
Three other members, Colin Jeffrey, George Pedler, and Ron Fullerton attended who were also present when John became a Freemason.
John moved to Kyabram in the late 1970s and worked his way through the various positions and became master of the Lauderdale lodge in 1980 and again in 1998.
He also became a member of the Vietnam Veterans Lodge and was their master in 2000. He has also been the inspector of workings for both the Lockington and Rushworth Lodges, and has been active with the Vietnam Veterans Installation team.
Moving back to Seymour in 2006, John became the master of the Seymour Lodge in 2009 and again in 2019.
Through the years, John has held many positions within the lodge, and with the Grand Lodge of Victoria.
At state level he was appointed past grand standard bearer in 1993 and in 2020 he accepted the promotion to past junior grand warden.
John said he became a Freemason because of his father’s involvement but stayed involved because of the ongoing work in the community.
“The lodge is a brotherhood that makes good men better. There’s a strict moral code that everyone adheres to,” he said.
“Some people think it’s a secret society but everyone knows about it, so it’s not much of a secret.
“The lodge does a lot of charity work and I’ve always enjoyed being able to help out in my community.
“You don’t hear about most things the lodge does because it’s not advertised. We don’t do it for accolades, so we go about it quietly.
“You can go anywhere as a Freemason. I’ve been to lodges in Singapore and the United States. All lodges operate on the same basic principle and you are always welcome.”