The brethren of West Gate Lodge, would like to wish V.W. Bro. Attwood  and his dear wife a safe and wonderful time over the next months sailing the Caribbean.

May you have calm seas and the wind at your back and return safely to fill us in on your magnificent adventures.

On Sunday, August 17, West Gate welcomed its members, spouses, friends and family to a picnic at Bronte Creek Provincial Park.  There was some serious fun and food making for a very memorable afternoon.

Culinary delights such as tasty pulled pork, BBQ fare, and a enormous selection of salads and delicious deserts. The children both young and old enjoyed the wonderful weather by participating in such outdoor games like Bacchae Ball, lawn darts, frisbee, soccer, hoola-hoop, or just enjoyed catching some rays while reminiscing with friends.

While West Gate is active with many events throughout the year it was great to see the many children playing and enjoying each others company.  Their presence made it a real "family" picnic.

Congratulations to the WM, Officers, Spouses and Members who organized and donated towards the event.

Hopefully, we can do it all again next year.  With over 60 persons there this year it will surely grow in popularity!

Bro. Furlong has been collecting pop can tabs for several years at Lodge meetings, 734 Club, as well as other outside Lodge events such as the Bread & Honey Festival, etc. This particular fundraiser has already enabled him to obtain two wheelchairs that assist community members with mobility issues as they move toward personal independence.

With the assistance of West Gate and River Park Lodges, Bro. Furlong been able to collect an amazing amount of these tabs to a tune of 43.0 lb. If you convert these aluminum tabs into a monetary measure you are looking at about $36.00 collected over the past 3 years. In actuality this does not sound like very much for the approximately 62,000 tabs collected, but the reality is that within the next couple of years if we can keep collecting those aluminum tabs at our current rate or even more we are looking at supplying a brand new wheelchair for person who is in need of one, or even two or three used chairs that have been refurbished.

Thanks to all of you that assisted Bro. Furlong.  He thanks you for assistance in this worthy endeavour reminding everyone that participated in this silent but effective fundraiser that brings hope to those that might not get it, or have to wait too long for a chance to receive this assistive device.