Priory Activities

Cocktail Party

June 15^th 2004

The River Club

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The River Club of New York provided a beautiful setting for the spring cocktail party of the Priory of St. Michael and St. George on the 15^th of June. Guests arrived at 6 PM for drinks and hors d'oeuvres in the club's River Room overlooking the East River. The Prior, H.E. Michael H. Charles, GOTJ and the Chancellor, W. Michael Margolin, greeted guests as they arrived.

At 7:00 pm, the Prior welcomed guests and introduced the new officers of the Priory in whose honor the party was held. The following officers were introduced: Chancellor W. Michael Margolin KCTJ; Chev. David S. Bender KTJ, Secretary; Chev. John Mauk Hilliard, GCTJ, Treasurer; Chev. Richard E. Palumbo KTJ, Avocat and Chief of Protocol; Dame Barbara M. Bender DTJ, Aumonier; Chev. Henry Darlington, Jr. GCTJ, Secret Councilor; and the Honorable Livia Sylva DGOTJ, Councilor and Membership Chairman. Additional honored guests present were welcomed and thanked for their attendance at the event: COL Chev. Wayne J. McGrath, GCTJ, GMTJ, Grand Inspector and Grand Prior for Region 1, North Atlantic States from the Priory of St. Patrick, West Point, NY; H.E. Alan G. Moore, GCTJ, GMTJ, Prior of the Priory of St. George, New Jersey; and H.E. F. Daniel LeVert Coleman GCTJ, GMTJ, Past Grand Prior V and Prior of the Titular Priory of Nieuw Amsterdam.

The Prior then called on COL Chev. Wayne J. McGrath to give the assembly an over view of the work of the Sovereign Military Order of the Temple of Jerusalem. Chev. McGrath spoke most eloquently about the extensive charitable work being done throughout the world, in such places as Iran, Iraq, Russia and various other venues in the Middle East. He emphasized that one of the great missions of the Order was peace in the world and to that end Christians in many nations were receiving the Order's support. He encouraged everyone present to take an active part in the work of Order either through donation of time or financial support.

W. Michael Margolin, Chancellor, reported on the progress of the Priory's upcoming convent and

nvestiture which will be held 20 November 2004, at the beautiful St. Thomas Church Fifth Avenue followed by a ball at the Yale Club of New York. Updated information will be posted on this site under Activities/ Upcoming events and invitations will be mailed in early October 2004. Early reservations will be available by contacting the Prior. The Chancellor also pointed out that copies of the recent, Beauseant, the Order's publication were available along with a brief history of the Sovereign Military Order of the Temple of Jerusalem.

The Priory's Avocat Chev. Richard Palumbo introduced the beautiful new Priory website designed by postulant, the Rev. Barry Christopher Howard and Councilor Chev. John G.R. Rountree, GCTJ. The Priory owes a debt of thanks to these two gentlemen for all of their hard work and time making our website one of the most beautiful in the Order. Chev. Palumbo reminded everyone to check frequently with the site as changes are regularly being made including the addition of the pictures for this event.

H.E. Alan G. Moore graciously invited everyone present to attend the convent and investiture for the Priory of St. George of New Jersey, to be held 29 and 30 October 2004 in New Jersey. An opening dinner will be held at the Ocean State Historical Society on 29 October. The investiture will take place at the Church of the Master, Howell, New Jersey and will be followed by a buffet dinner at the Strand Theater where the Garden State Philharmonic's opening night concert will be Ludwig van Beethoven's Symphony no. 5 in C minor, Op. 67. Invitations for this event will be forthcoming. Please contact Chev. Moore directly for more information.

In closing the Prior again thanked everyone for coming and invited them to speak with the new Priory officers and honored guests. One of the most important parts of any event of this Priory is the exchange of ideas between its members and the building of camaraderie. The Prior reminded everyone who brought a guest to be proactive in introducing them to members of the Priory.

The event is forever in debt to good friends of the Priory, Dame Carla Darlington for sponsoring this Priory event at the River Club, Dennis Daughtery who manned the check-in table , John McC. Shannon who served as photographer for the evening and whose excellent work can be seen on the following pages.

Many people lingered until well after 8:00 pm hesitant to leave the camaraderie and beautiful venue.