Distinguished Masons Honored

At the annual communication on December 10, 2005, Grand Master Leonard Proden exercised his prerogative as Grand Master to award Valentine Reintzel Medals to W. Don Baugher, Paul D. Dolinsky, and Dalton A. West. In addition the Grand Lodge, on the recommendation of its Awards Committee, voted unanimously to present the Distinguished Service Medal to Victor Adegbite. The Valentine Reintzel Medals were presented at the Annual Communication and the Distinguished Service Award was presented at the Installation Communication, one week later. All recipients were accorded standing ovations by the brethren of Grand Lodge. The following citations accompanied the presentations of these medals. the next two years he spent most of his time in assignment to the 58th Infantry in Germany.

Staff Report

He was raised a Master Mason in March of 1963 and is a member of the York Rite, Scottish Rite and Shrine. Additionally, he holds membership in the Red Cross of Constantine and the Order of Eastern Star. In August of 2005 Brother Baugher received the 33° of the Scottish Rite Supreme Council.

He served his lodge as Worshipful Master in 1978 and was elected to the Grand Lodge Board of General Purposes in 1979. He served that board for six years, the last as its President. Elected Junior Grand Deacon in 1988, he served as Most Worshipful Grand Master of the Grand Lodge F.&A.M. of Michigan in 1993-94. At the Annual Communication of that Grand Lodge in 1997 he was elected to the office of Right Worshipful Grand Secretary, a position he held until 2003, when he resigned to assume the position of Executive Director of the National Masonic Foundation for Children.

Brother Baugher has been involved with activities concerning youth and drug preven

Valentine Reintzel Medalists. Flanked by the Grand Master (L) and the Deputy Grand Master (R), Brothers Paul D. Dolinsky, W. Don Baugher, and Dalton A. West (L to R), 2005 recipients of Valentine tion for many years. He Reintzel Medals. was a founder and coW. DON BAUGHER Directors of SAIL (Substance Abuse Impairs Living), a Raised on a cotton farm in Southeast Missouri, Most community group dedicated to identifying and filling gaps Worshipful Brother W. Don Baugher moved to Michigan in community services dealing with at risk children. in 1956 soon after graduating from high school. He attended Lake Michigan College, studying business while working for the Whirlpool Corporation. He retired from Whirlpool on February 29, 1996, after 39 years of service. He was the Manager, Corporate Purchasing and Administrative Services, at the time of his retirement. Don was elected to the Executive Board of the National Masonic Foundation for Children at the Conference of Grand Masters in 1992 and later served four years as President. He has represented the National Masonic Foundation for Children, in the “Prevention Through Service Alliance” an initiative hosted by the Drug In 1958 Brother Baugher entered the U.S. Army, and for Enforcement Administration. chaired the first Board of

In Michigan he served as the State Coordinator of the Masonic Model Student Assistance Program. He is a state official for Michigan Rainbow and served on the Board of Directors of the Michigan Masonic Youth Foundation, which he helped incorporate. He also serves on the Board of the Michigan Masonic Home Charitable Foundation and the Masonic Foundation of Michigan.

In recognition of his long and faithful service to the Masonic fraternity and his outstanding efforts to combat drug usage by children, we take pleasure in presenting Most Worshipful W. Don Baugher, the Valentine Reinztel Medal for Meritorious Service.

PAUL D. DOLINSKY

Paul D. Dolinsky, is the Chief and Principal Architect of the History of American Buildings Survey/Historic American Landscapes Survey of the National Park Service, one of the oldest historic preservation programs in the United States. He received his training as an architect, landscape architect and architectural historian at Penn State University, American University and The George Washington University. Through his professional career he has been responsible for documentation and restoration of hundreds of public and private historic sites across the United States and its territories. Some of these include The White House, Washington Monument, and the Lincoln and Jefferson Memorials in Washington, DC; the missions of San Antonio, Texas; Mark Twain’s House in Connecticut; and EI Morro Fortifications in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

He is a Past Master and Trustee of Federal Lodge No.1, F.A.A.M. in Washington, DC, and is also a Trustee-forLife of The Buchly Charity Fund of Federal Lodge No.1. Additionally, he is a member of Mount Pleasant Royal Arch Chapter No. 13 and The Scottish Rite of Freemasonry, Valley of Washington, Orient of the District of Columbia.

Through his Masonic career, Paul has been involved with numerous historic projects including the bicentennial celebration of Federal Lodge No.1. He has also been involved in architectural restorations of significant Masonic interest, including the restoration and strengthening of the Memorial Arch at Valley Forge National Park, a joint project of the National Park Service and the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania. More recently, he was involved in the conceptualization, organization, historical research and production of The Initiated Eye, our exhibition at the Octagon Museum that has helped raise national and international awareness of our great Fraternity.

For his sustained and continuing efforts to advance the interests of Freemasonry through greater awareness of our fraternity’s influence on the architecture in our country and his devotion to his Lodge and to this Grand Lodge, we take pleasure in presenting Worshipful Brother Paul D. Dolinsky the Valentine Reintzel Medal for Meritorious Service.

DALTON A. WEST

A Canadian by birth, Brother Dalton A. West is a transplanted Washingtonian now living in Annapolis, Maryland, where he and his wife of 41 years try to find time in his busy schedule to enjoy their two children and four grandchildren. Worshipful Brother Dalton received his Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of North Dakota, a Master of Arts degree from Purdue University and a Ph.D. from McGill University, with degrees in history, political science and economics. As a result of his expertise in Russian military history, he was highly sought as a lecturer and teacher in the military educational community, lecturing at the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey California; the U.S. Naval Academy, Annapolis, Maryland; the Kennedy Special Warfare School, Ft. Bragg, North Carolina; and the Army War College, Carlisle Barracks, Carlisle Pennsylvania, among others. He was also associated with the Georgetown University as a Senior Fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, and served as the Director of U.S. Global Strategy Council and National Intelligence Studies Center. In 1998, he joined the Department of Defense, Historical Office, Office of the Secretary of Defense, as a Senior Historian, producing official histories of the Department of Defense, collecting and editing the multi-volume annual collection of the Secretary’s public statements, and other research pertinent to the affairs of the Secretary and the Department.

A third generation Mason, Dalton received his Masonic degrees in La France Lodge No. 93, and later served as Secretary of that Lodge for two years. He is also a dual member of Annapolis Lodge No. 89 and Naval Lodge No. 4 where he is currently the Worshipful Master. He also is a member of both Washington-Potomac Chapter No. 8 and Mount Pleasant Chapter No. 13, RAM, and he is a 33° Honorary in the Scottish Rite, where he is the

current Senior Warden of the Mithras Lodge of Perfection.

In spite of an extraordinarily busy schedule, Worshipful Brother West undertook the reorganization and revitalization of the Grand Lodge Child Identification Program (CHIP). His efforts and enthusiasm have brought new life to this program and enormous initial strides have been made in publicizing this activity as well as creating a high level of interest, both in our Constituent Lodges, the schools, and most importantly, the parents.

In recognition of this important contribution to our community and to this Grand Lodge, we take pleasure in presenting Worshipful Brother Dalton A. West, the Valentine Reintzel Medal for Meritorious Service.

Distinguished Service Award for 2005

Victor A. Adegbite

The recipient of this prestigious award is a member of a small band of gentle, quiet, unassuming and hard working Master Masons that we are privileged to have in our Grand Jurisdiction. He labors faithfully, diligently and with a reverence of love in the quarries of Freemasonry without counting the cost or seeking personal glory or honors.

By his character, conduct, regular deportment, and his bearing, he exemplifies, with distinction and class, all that is good, true, honorable, ennobling and edifying about our ancient craft. He is a Mason’s Mason.

As a herald and forerunner, he made an outstanding contribution towards opening the gates of D.C. Masonry thereby making it possible for so many well-qualified Master Masons to become a part of Masonry in this jurisdiction. They too now drink from the fresh sustaining oasis of Brotherly Love, Relief and Truth, all of which distinguishes Washington, D.C. from all other Jurisdictions.

Beginning in 1976 he worked assiduously to foster an allembracing jurisdiction which culminated in the founding of Sojourner-Kilwinning Lodge No. 1798, which was given permission to work in the ancient Scottish Ritual. Not one to rest there, he continued his efforts, without seeking a crown for himself and by passing up the opportunity to become the Charter Master of that Lodge.

His self-sacrifice was once again displayed with respect to the founding of Fiat Lux Lodge No. 1717, which works under the English Emulation Ritual. He once more stepped aside to allow another brother to become the Charter Master or Primus.

Did he rest then? No, he aided in the formation of two Royal Arch Chapter and one Council of Select Masters.

His work in the degrees of the Scottish Rite, in addition to his lectures as a part of the KCCH team and his service to that branch of Masonry, has been rewarded by the conferral on him of the 33° Honorary.

Brother Adegbite is an architect by profession. He is a Professor Emeritus and a retired Associate Dean of the School of Architecture and Planning of Howard University in Washington, D.C. , having served at the University for 18 years. Prior to his service at Howard, he was Chief Architect of the Ghana Government and also served as a consultant to the United Nations.

Distinguished Service Awardee. The Grand Lodge unanimously chose Brother Victor A. Adegbite, member of Sojourner-Kilwinning Lodge No. 1798, to receive the Distinguished Service Medal for 2005.

With the unanimous concurrence of the Grand Lodge, we are pleased to present the Grand Lodge Distinguished Service Award for 2005 to WB Victor Adegbite.