The Grand Lodge Visitation later the same year on November1 was also a special time for Prince of Wales Brethren. M.W.Bro. G. Elliott Full, the Grand Master, had established an Award for the Lodge that best presented a Degree during the annual Visitations. Prince of Wales Lodge seemed determined to have a good showing in the work. Five practices were held between July and November1 including three Special Communications. The acting candidate, W.Bro. R.A. Houston, must have felt truly sublime when the work was finally over on November1. W.Bro. Green and his Degree Team won the Award that year. The Award was won by True Brothers Lodge in successive years before it was discontinued in the mid-thirties. The original Shield presently hangs in the Lodge Room in Crapaud. Bro. Green, a medical doctor, answered the final alarm on December 30, 1930. His Memorial Service was conducted by members of Prince Edward Lodge. Prince of Wales Lodge requested his family to provide his photo for the Lodge Room and were obliged in June 1931.

The first record of attendance at Divine Worship was for September 24, 1933 when thirty-six Brethren including fourteen visitors attended Hunter River United Church. The first reference to a spring lobster supper was in 1949. The custom of having a lobster dinner after the Annual Divine Worship on Father’s Day began in the 1960’s. The tradition of a Lobster Dinner was changed to a Family Picnic in 1999.

Like most Lodges during the Great Depression and WWII, Prince of Wales No. 18 endured hardship. Petitions for membership declined, attendance at meetings was often less than a quorum and arrears rose to a crisis level. St John’s Night suppers and ceremonies were frequently cancelled for lack of a quorum. M.W.Bro. Harland Found, the Grand Master, visited the Lodge on September 1, 1939 and later referred to the arrears problem as “a handicap to the Lodge’s success.” There were frequent references to discussion of the arrears problem but seldom any indication that definitive action was taken. In 1939 the Lodge requested and received a loan of $1200 from the Grand Lodge Benevolent Fund to enable the needed repairs to be carried out.

The recovery of the Lodge, particularly in the 1960’s, was evident in several aspects of the work Needed repairs were carried out on the Hall and some remodelling was done in the Lodge Room. Some new regalia was purchased in 1961. A Past Masters’ Night was held in September 1961. A decision was made in 1960 to cancel the Regular Communications in July and August. The meeting night was changed from Friday to Tuesday in 1961. For only the second time in its history the Lodge had one of its members elected as Grand Master – M.W.Bro. P. Reagh Bagnall (1964-65). Several members donated items to aid the work of the Lodge. The Grand Chaplain, V.W.Bro.. A.E. Piercey, donated an Altar Bible in 1968. (The original 1875 Bible is in the Lodge Library and Bro. Piercey’s Bible is stored in the Altar beside the newer Masonic Bible that was donated by Heirloom Bible Publishers in 1974.) M.W.Bro. P.R. Bagnall donated a book case and several Masonic books. W.Bro. Keith Rackham PM was appointed Lodge Librarian. W.Bro. Huntley Dingwell PM crafted and donated a Masonic emblem and a picture of Queen Elizabeth II. Social activities were expanded. The Brethren were permitted to invite non-Masonic guests to the Annual Ladies’ Night Banquet. Family picnics were held. Action was taken on members in arrears. Some sought reinstatement. Average attendance increased. Membership began to grow by the mid-1960’s. Two extracts from the Minutesindicate that the rejuvenation of the Lodge made for more harmonious Communications. In 1969 the Brethren rejoiced with Brother X who had a new son born in his family. Brother X was bounced in Lodge – a new version of being raised on the five points of fellowship. At the April Communication in 1971 after most business was completed, the Worshipful Master declared the Lodge at Refreshment and “the brothers indulged in a good old fashioned yarning period, the conversation touched on many topics.” It was a rejuvenated Lodge that within the next decade would pay off the 1939 mortgage, celebrate its Fiftieth Anniversary and begin facing the prospect of finding a new Lodge Room.