APPRECIATION CELEBRATION
Appreciation Celebration
Kwame Acquaah,
Junior Grand Warden
O
n Saturday, October 7th, at the Scottish Rite Center, the Grand Master convened the Grand Lodge in Special Communication in order to host, after the conclusion of essential business, a well-attended lodge and family appreciation ceremony. The celebration began with a processional entrance of the Grand Master, Grand Lodge officers, and Worshipful Masters into the auditorium for a program in honor of our lodge officers and our Masonic families.
Grand Master presents contribution for the renovation of the V.A. Medical Center chapel. Pictured (L to R) Robert B. Heyat, DGM; Max Beloff, PM and Grand Lodge representative at the Medical Center; Grand Master Albert McNair Smith; Rev. Allen Stewart, V.A. Chaplain Service; David West, representative of the Medical Center Director; and Jess Villarreal, JGD.
As it is the hope of reward that sweetens labor, it is fitting and proper that, as often as possible, in private as well as in public, our lodge officers be commended for their selfless service. Also deserving of like recognition are the members of our families, for they, in their own ways, also contribute to the continuing prosperity of our fraternity.
The program included a selection of organ pieces; a welcoming statement by the Grand Master; an opening prayer by WB Jahangir Sajjadi; the recital of the Pledge of Allegiance; the screening of a DVD of the Year in Review; a prayer in memory of the deceased; recognition of Grand Lodge officers and Past Grand Masters, and a closing prayer by the Grand Chaplain, David Balcom.
Entertainment was provided by “On A Sensual Note”, an American University male a cappella group. The Voice of Freemasonry
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Among the highlights of the evening was the rousing speech given by the Grand Master, after which, with the assistance of MW Robert Heyat, Deputy Grand Master, and MW Mansour Hatefi, Grand Secretary, he presented service certificates to the Worshipful Masters of the constituent lodges. The Grand Master took this occasion to announce that $26,000 had been collected as donations from the brethren and their lodges for the refurbishment of the chapel at the Veterans Medical Center in Washington D.C. Following his remarks, he presented David West, representative of the Medical Center Director, who was accompanied by Rev. Allen Stewart, representing the Chaplain Service, with a facsimile check. Mr. West thanked the brethren for their generosity which, as he put it, “will have a huge impact on veteran patients as they continue to receive support from the members of the Grand Lodge who regularly escort them to the various chapel services.” Mark Bovino, Managing Director of the Special Olympics Summer Games, as a representative of the Special Olympics Organizing Committee for the District of Columbia, was also present to thank the Grand Lodge for its generous support of the 2006 Special Olympics and expressed the hope that the collaboration would continue into the future. He also presented the Grand Master with a continued on next page
