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 three Chapters in N.S.W / ACT (and another forming), one in Victoria, one forming in Tasmania and another underway in Western Australia. We currently have around 140 members nationally, with enquiries from as far afield as Italy and Newfoundland.
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.
Vic Chapter’s Beginnings
In October, 2001, Michael Lampadarios contacted me through MasonsConnect. (I was the co-ordinator at the time). He asked me if I 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. Of course, I was flattered, but decided to make some enquiries of my own.
I contacted the Grand Secretary to see if he, or Grand Lodge, would have any problem with our formation in Victoria. He 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.
My next step was to contact the President and Secretary of that organisation to ascertain their agenda and ask whether they intended to become part of the National Association. 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.
Grand Lodge would not support one club over the other, obviously, and would have preferred that the two groups join together. After several discussions with the then President of the VMMA, and a couple of failed meetings, I made a few enquires of other Freemasons.
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.
I was nominated as the Founding State President by Michael Lampadarios. In that capacity, I 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 we all met (and I 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.
We have raised over $4,000 for community charities during our short existence and currently operate the “Community Connections” program, which has distributed more than 70 full computer systems to needy families and community organizations. We have never sought recognition for our efforts, but portray ourselves as “Freemasons at work within the Community”
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.
TERRY WEBSTER
National Vice President
M.M.A.A Inc
