MMAA National It was really nothing startling - Michael Lampadarios, a Freemason in N.S.W had set his mind to establishing a motorcycle club that he and some friends could enjoy. His wish was to form a national Motorcycle Association for Masonic motorcyclists, in line with one that had been formed in the U.S.A. After many enquiries, web searches and correspondence, he was ready to present his idea and strategy to the UGL of NSW / ACT. It was accepted and presented at the GL Board of General Purposes and approved by the Grand Secretary. With a core of about eight Freemasons, the M.M.A.A. was established. A constitution was written and by-laws promulgated. The initial idea was to have a purely Masonic “club”, but after consideration, it was decided that a truly social motorcycle association should welcome all applicants. Freemasons, family and friends enjoying themselves doing what we all enjoy…..riding and being able to make new friendships This was all in early 2001, and since then the NSW / ACT Chapter has grown so much that N.S.W has split into different Chapters. (The Deputy Grand Master at the time joined our club and honoured us by becoming the “Patron”. MWBro Tony Lauer is now the Past Grand Master and steadily supports our Association, Nationally). Enquiries started coming in from other states about the M.M.A.A. and now we have several Chapters in N.S.W / ACT, one in Victoria, one in Tasmania and interest in forming chapters in Western Australia and Queensland. The N.S.W / ACT Chapters are involved in many community projects and are expanding rapidly. The Association now has around 140+ members from all States and the future looks very positive indeed. We have also had enquiries and membership applications from as far afield as Italy, U.K and Newfoundland
Vic Chapter’s Beginnings In October, 2001, Michael Lampadarios contacted Terry Webster through MasonsConnect. (Terry was the co-ordinator at the time). Michael asked Terry if he would like to assist in forming a Victorian Chapter of the M.M.A.A. He explained that his idea was for the M.M.A.A. to be a truly National Association, recognised by the Grand Lodges, nationally. Terry made some enquiries of his own and contacted the Grand Secretary to see if he, or Grand Lodge, would have any problem with our formation in Victoria. The Grand Secretary explained that there was already a group in Victoria; called the Victorian Masonic Motorcycle Association Inc (VMMA) and that they had an annual ride to raise funds for the Freemasons Hospital. Terry’s next step was to contact the President and Secretary of that organisation to ascertain their agenda and ask whether they wished to be part of the National Association and operate as the Victorian Chapter. The response was negative, as they only wanted to ride once a year and did not wish to belong to a National Association. In other words, they wanted autonomy within Victoria. In stating this, it must be noted that the VMMA have now expanded their activities to include more rides, predominantly Masonic, and have raised considerable funds for Masonic and Community organisations. Grand Lodge would not support one club over the other, obviously, and would have preferred that only one Masonic motorcycle club operate within the State. After several discussions with the then President of the VMMA, and a couple of failed meetings, Terry made a few enquires of other Freemasons with the view to forming a social Masonic bike club. Grant Bates was the first joining member, followed closely by Greg and Dot Marshall, Chocka, Roger…..and so on. The founding membership for the M.M.A.A. Victorian Chapter was formed during January and February of 2002. We incorporated on the 21st march 2002 and we became known as “The Masonic Motorcycle Association of Australia Inc.” (M.M.A.A. Inc. for short). This has been done for liability and accountability reasons and also to maintain uniformity with the other states. Terry was nominated as the Founding State President by Michael Lampadarios. In that capacity, he was summoned along with the President of the VMMA to meet with the Grand Secretary at Sir Dallas Brooks Hall, Melbourne, to discuss our continued operation, our activities, and “reason for being”. Once they all met (and Terry gave the Grand Secretary copies of our constitution, statement of purposes and ride rules) and discussed our intentions and purposes, the Grand Secretary agreed that we had different motives and purposes. He then officially sanctioned the existence of both clubs and we’ve never looked back. Since our inaugural ride to Castlemaine that year, we have had many interesting and enjoyable rides with our members as well as five annual “National” Rallies interstate each Australia Day week-end. Our membership in Victoria, whilst only medium-sized with 30+ members, is a very “tight” and sociable group. We are a social club, with Freemasons and Non-Masons, male and female as members. We always enjoy our rides and the company of others in the group. Whilst our “club” is more of a social one, we have still managed to raise over $4,000 for community charities during our short existence and currently operate the We are always looking for more members to enjoy social rides with, so feel free to invite a friend to join with us on the road. |