On a cold, blustery and very wet Friday evening, Eddie Matrix—hailing from Chorley, just up the M61—returned once again to perform at the Lodge of Harmony 298 charity fundraiser. He was joined by Julie A. Scott from Liverpool, made famous for her appearance on ITV’s talent show New Faces in the early eighties.

To open the evening’s proceedings, Toastmaster and long-time friend Alan Calow kindly set the tone for what proved to be a fabulous show.

The weather outside was awful, but this did not stop the brethren of Lodge of Harmony 298—together with family, friends, and more than 150 guests—from gathering at the Rochdale Masonic Ballroom in support of WBro Frank Durns and Dave Richardson’s Back to the 60s charity gala, held in aid of Springhill Hospice and Parkinson’s.
Taking to the stage first was Eddie Matrix, delivering a wonderful selection of classics from his repertoire, including favourites made famous by Gene Pitney, the Everly Brothers, and Buddy Holly.

Cilla Black then took to the stage, and the crowd went wild as she entertained everyone with her iconic songs and delightful stories.

We were also entertained by Peter James, with his wonderful rendition of Frank Sinatra after our lovely pie supper. Peter is 90 years old but still able to mesmerize the audience with his beautiful voice.
A heartfelt thank you goes to Joan Durns for rallying all the people and organisations that donated the wonderful raffle prizes. It would also be remiss not to offer another big thank you to WBro Frank Durns and his wife Joan for their tremendous work in organising the event.

Thank you to the following:
Fiona Bowker for the design of the tickets.
WBro Eric Kirkbride for printing the tickets.
Joan Davies for preparing the table plans.
Ed Blundell for greeting guests on arrival and helping with the table setup.
The rest of the Brethren and their wives for assisting in setting up the room and selling tickets.
Joan Durns, Sandra Blundell, and all volunteers for selling raffle tickets.
Frank Durn’s neighbour for donating his signed England cricket shirt to be raffled to the highest bidder.
Alan Calow, Dave Richardson, Susan Coates, and Parkinson’s—because without their support, the event would not have sold out in record time.
The staff at Rochdale Masonic Hall for serving food and drinks and keeping all guests well fed and watered.

Raffle ticket sales raised £448, and the signed cricket shirt raised £125.

A top side of £2000 was raised and will be divided equally between Parkinson’s Rochdale Branch and Springhill Hospice.
We look forward to seeing everyone again at our next charity fundraising event and thank you to everybody who came.