“I’ve gone about as far as I can go just here,” Merv said.

“I’ve got my chain collar, my ROH (Roll Of Honour) and my knight’s jewel and all that. That’s the highest I can get in this lodge, unless I went to Grand Lodge in Sydney or Newcastle.”

“But I don’t think I’ll go any further. It’s as high as I want to go.”

Merv said the lodge did a lot for the community, like delivering wood to the elderly and raising funds for patients in the hospital.”

He also raised funds for the Tingha school and the Westpac Rescue helicopter.

The Tingha lodge raised Merv to the certified primo degree in 1965. In 1969 he was elevated to the knight order of merit degree, and in 1974 was included on the roll of honour before a large gathering of members. 

He received his chain collar in 1978 after 19 years service to the lodge.

Merv said he worked in the Ashford coal mines for about 35 years, was a member of the Racecourse Trust, the SES and the Ashford Rural Fire Service for 20 years. 

He organised trail rides for the children of the district while with the Racecourse Trust, and was also involved with the Common Trust and the RSL.

Merv said he had seen many changes in the lodge over the years, but the worst was in 2010, when their hall was destroyed.

“It was deliberately burnt down, but we couldn’t prove that,” Merv said.

“I don’t really know why. They just broke in and scattered everything about, threw a lot of stuff outside and just torched the place.”

The lodge fundraised to build a new hall and Merv said the community had been very supportive.

“We did raffles and things like that. That’s the only way we built it, the new hall,” he said.