Chev. Orland Maria Machnikowski G.C.C.St.S, Chev.
Tomas Lorant G.C.C.St.S., the Grand Prior of Mexico.Kiev 6/7th December 1999
These Investitures were held in the Church Ilinskaya
Cerkiev, the oldest church in the Ukraine where the
Grand Duchess Olga was baptized in 950 AD. Among
those invested was Dame Ludmila Kuchma, lady wife
of the President of the Ukraine Leonid Kuchma and in
her own right the President of the National Fund for
the Protection of Mothers and Children in Ukraine. She
was accompanied by two Ministers, Dame Valentyna
Dovzhenko (Head of State Committee for Affairs of
Family and Youth) and Dame Raisa Bogatyrjiova
(Minister of Health) who, along with four others, were
also invested at this time. The Prime Minister, Chev.
Valery Pustovoytenko hosted the reception following
the ceremony.
On the 8th December 1999 seven more high officials
were admitted into our Order in the same beautiful
surroundings. We now number the ex-President and
the Prime Minister as well as several Ministers and
Governmental Heads of Departments among our
Companions in the Ukraine due to the sterling efforts
of our Grand Prior, Chev. V ́Yalov who is ably
supported in this task by the Chancellor to the
Ukrainian Grand Priory, Chev. Bilousov who himself is
the President of the Ukrainian Centre for Research into
Problems of the International Security.
These prestigious Investitures were attended by H.E.
Chev. Richard Vaughan-Rowlands C.St.S., Ambassador
of the Order from Austria, Chev. Rafail Beguishev the
Order ́s Chancellor for the Russian Federation and
Chev. William Dougan, Lord of Landkey from Belgium
accompanied by his lady wife.
Mexico 2002
The Grand Master has announced that he will officiate
an investiture in Mexico City at 6:00 p.m. Friday 15th
March 2002. At that time, he will formally institute the
Grand Priory of the Republic of Mexico and install
acting Grand Prior Tomas Lorant C.St.S. as its first
Grand Prior. The investiture will be followed at 8:00 p.
m. with the cocktail reception and at 9:00 p.m. with
dining and dancing at the Industrialists Club. A
meeting of the Council of Priors of North America will
begin at 10:00 a.m. Saturday, 16th March, followed by
a casual dinner Saturday evening Mexico City Style. A
large number of the Grand Magistry and Grand Priors,
Priors, Officers of the Order have indicated they plan
to attend this rare event. All are welcome to attend
and participate in the meeting of the Council of Priors.
Dress for the Friday events is to be: Order uniform,
Mantle (at the Church only), military uniform. White
or Black Tie or (Ladies equivalent), with decoration.
For further information, please contact the Chancellor
for the Americas, Chev. Wayne Bachus G.C.C.St.S.
Osaka-Japan 1999The Grand Master and the Grand secretary were the
personal guests of the Special Representative of the
Grand Master in Japan, Chev. Eikichi Nishikawa. Chev.
Nishikawa had arranged several sightseeing tours of
this beautiful country including a day in the old capital
Kyoto where we visited the Shogun ́s Palace. The
gardens and temples were very impressive but
unfortunately, we were unable to enter any of them,
but could simply view from the outside. We were
accompanied by the Chancellor of the Russian
Federation Grand Priory, Chev. Rafail Beguishev and a
member of the Duma (Russian Parliament), Victor
Sladkov. A helicopter tour of Osaka allowed us to
appreciate the vast construction work undertaken to
extend the dock area and the airport as well as the
modern skyscrapers and the office blocks. A banquet
was held in the Royal Hotel, Osaka, with the Russian
Consul General, Vladimir Fedorov and his lady wife
attending.New Zealand 2001New Zealand Companions were involved in a host of
activities during the year 2001, which commences
with an investiture ceremony at the beginning of the
year. Attendances at the 125th anniversary of the “SS
Fritz Reuter” which brought a large population of
Polish settlers to New Zealand in 1876. In mid-
October, the Grand Prior of New Zealand, Chevalier
Lieutenant Colonel Martin Devlin ED. G.C.St.S.,
travelled to England where he had an informal
meeting with the Grand Master. Chevalier Philip
Sherry C.St.S., a well-known Television personality was
once again re-elected to position of Deputy Chairman
of the Regional Council of Auckland City. The next
Investiture ceremony in NZ will be March 2002 and an
open invitation is extended to all Priories in the Pacific
rim to attend.