Temple Spotlight: Ancient City Temple No. 63

Contributed by IP Tito George Ancient City Temple No. 63 Daytona Beach, Fla.

Greetings from the Oasis of Daytona Beach, home of Ancient City Temple No. 63, led by Illustrious Potentate Tito George. Ancient City Temple is named for the Florida city Saint Augustine. Founded in 1565, it has the distinction of being the oldest city in the nation. Ancient City Temple is one of the oldest Prince Hall temples in the nation. It was chartered by the Imperial Council of the Ancient Egyptian Arabic Order Nobles Mystic Shrine (AEAONMS) on August 9, 1914. Our temple’s charter was transferred to Daytona Beach in 1997 and the temple reconstituted in 2009. One of our many duties is to help local kids via our Shriners as Mentors program (SAM) led by SAM Program Director Noble Jermaine McKinney. We support youth through bi-weekly meetings where we discuss community service, leadership and compassion, trust, reliability, charitable donations, and any other issues that may be on their minds. At the beginning of 2020, our mentees took 2nd place in the Youth “Brain Bowl” at Bethune-Cookman University in Daytona Beach. They took second place in both the middle school and high school categories.

Our temple has a great relationship with our sister organization, Ancient City Court No. 216 and its leader Illustrious Commandress Michelle Davis and members. Last year the Temple and Court held several events together, including community service at area food banks. Additional joint projects were planned for 2020, but unfortunately COVID-19 had other plans.

IP Tito George is from the Bronx, New York. He is a retired Air Force Chief Master Sergeant (E-9) who served for 30 years and was stationed all over the world. He led squadron/units of up to 500 people and he was deployed to many locations including Saudi Arabia for the 1991 Gulf War and a combat tour in Afghanistan in 2009. IP George graduated from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, where he received a Mas

ter of Aeronautical Science (MAS) degree. The Desert of Florida’s Oasis Magazine