Grand Master’s Homecoming

Every homecoming is “special,” as was that sponsored by East Gate Lodge No. 34 on March 20, 2006, for its illustrious son, Most Worshipful Brother Albert McNair Smith, Grand Master of Masons of the District of Columbia. It was an evening filled with Masonic labor, good old-fashioned fellowship, and outstanding entertainment. The food was delicious, the program inspiring, and the music was fitting. Most Worshipful Brother Smith was raised in East Gate Lodge, where he served as Worshipful Master in 1996. Appointed Grand Standard Bearer in 1998, he was elected Junior Grand Steward in 1999. Serving through the stations and places in Grand Lodge, he was installed Grand Master in December 2005. The homecoming festivities began with dinner for the brethren and their guests. While dining they were serenaded with classical music provided by the Casablanca Strings Quartet, a group made up of select members of

Patrick N. Nnaji, P.M. Grand Swordbearer

the Chamber Orchestra of the United States Marine Corps. This group also entertained later in the evening, when they played music appropriate for the celebration of Mozart’s 250th birthday. The quartet included violinist Master Gunnery Sergeant Kim H. Miller, violinist Vicki Panics, violinist Gunnery Sergeant Christopher Shiah, and cellist Staff Sergeant Charlie Powers.

Present at this event were the many dignitaries and their ladies, including, Mary Smith, wife of the Grand Master, Past Grand Masters, Grand Lodge Officers, and the heads of the Appendant Masonic Bodies in D.C. In brief remarks after his introduction, the Grand Master thanked the assembled guests for their presence and expressed pride in East Gate Lodge and the Grand Lodge.

Grand Master Presents 50-year Veteran’s Emblem to WB Oran Conrad In a moving ceremony the Grand Master, assisted by the Grand Secretary, RW Mansour Hatefi, PGM, presented WB Oran Conrad his 50-year Masonic Veteran’s Emblem. Brother Conrad, who was Master of East Gate Lodge in

1962, expressed his appreciation in the presence

WB Oran Conrad speaks, in the presence of his family, of his love of the Craft.

of his wife, family, and friends present, for the presentation of his emblem on this auspicious occasion.

Another highlight of the evening was the presentation by WM Morrell and the Grand Master of a proclamation designating MW George Adams, PGM, an honorary member of East Gate Lodge No. 34, in perpetuity, for his exemplary leadership and service to Freemasonry. Brother Adams, a Past Master of Benjamin B. French Lodge No. 15, was Grand Master of Masons in the District of Columbia in 1993.

The program for the evening was brought to a fitting climax when WM Morrell presented MWB Smith with the East Gate Distinguished Service Award for “inspiration and exemplary leadership and service to East Gate Lodge and the Grand Lodge of D.C.” MWB Smith responded by exhorting the brethren to join him in an effort to make the Grand Lodge of D.C. worthy of the emulation it now enjoys.

Past Grand Masters Adams, Kahn, and Chaney enjoy the Grand Master’s homecoming. During the evening Past Master Adams became an honorary member, in perpetuity, of East Grate Lodge.

Grand Master’s Testimonial

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I remember down in the village where I live there was a very decent but rather dreamy young fellow, a little bit apt to spend his time thinking of how exceedingly well he could have led his life under other conditions. His mother was a very hard-working woman, and one day he was reading in the paper an account of a fire in New York and the heroic deed of a fireman in rescuing certain people from that burning building. His mother was very busy about the room. Pretty soon he put down the paper and said, with a sigh: “Oh, how I would like to rescue somebody from a burning building!” His mother answered: “Well, I’ll tell you. This building ain’t on fire, but if you will get in the kindling wood, I’ll be obliged to you.”

I think there is a very good moral lesson for all of us in that. The way to be a good citizen is to be a good neighbor, and first of all, a good neighbor to the people in your own household, a good neighbor to your wife and chil- dren; then to act toward your fellows so that you become the kind of a man whom they are glad to have work for them or for whom they are glad to work, or whom they are glad to have live next to them or do business with, and then to do each his duty faithfully and decently to the state and to the nation... .”

Concluding his remarks Brother Roosevelt then retired, amid the cheers of the assembly of Masons, friends, and government officials. When we, the current Masons of D.C., returned to the site of that ceremony, not as owners but as visitors, we found that Roosevelt’s message was still pertinent. It reminds us that the purpose of the fraternity, no less now than then, is to encourage Masons to live a good life and to minister to need, in all of its forms, wherever and whenever it is perceived. It is to those purposes that the 2006 testimonial to the Grand Master was dedicated.