For too long now, I’ve been the chairman of a scholarship committee that gives away a total of between $15,000 and $25,000 worth of scholarships each year. Next year, I expect we’ll be up at the $30,000 mark thanks to good investments and generous benefactors. The money is available as a result of interest on funds that have been donated over the years by - in nearly all cases - Masons or their families. The Committee and I wring our hands over whether we’ve picked the right recipients and if our small investment in their future will be at all meaningful. As I send out the notification letters, I’ve often thought about the fact that we rarely hear from these young men and women as them embark on the rest of their life. I know that I never returned to thank Miss Stanton from the third grade or Mr. Jones in the seventh both of whom instilled in me the love of learning. I never thanked Miss Ivaska for her encouragement during my frequent attendance at the after-school “Poetry Lovers Club”, a punishment class for those who’d misbehaved. I never thanked Velma Strout who provided most of the funds that made my first year of college possible. And I never thanked Mr. Bennett, my 5th Grade teacher, whose ability to hit an offending student with a flying eraser was eerily accurate. (He’d be out of work in a flash today but then…. Then it was ‘tough love’!). He told my mother that I was a kid with a million dollar brain and a ten cent head. When I was in the 11th Grade, Mr. Bennett moved to the high school level and had a second chance to evaluate me. Same results! Will those getting scholarships from the Masons remember us as they begin their new life experiences this fall? Maybe not now and maybe not ever but if they grow and gain from it, we’ll have done the right thing.
Each spring I also get to present medals to ROTC and Junior ROTC cadets on behalf of the National Sojourners, an organization of Masons who have served in the military as officers or senior enlisted personnel. The Sojourners award recipient is selected by the military cadre at the school and recognizes a commitment to Americanism. Sometimes our award goes to those with a chest full of ROTC ribbons already but more often than not, it goes to someone who has never had a lot of public recognition but has, rather, gone quietly about their life upholding high values and seeking no personal gain. Blushing and overwhelmed, they stand smartly as they are recognized for their personal values and it has always made me very proud to shake their hand and wish them well. Because these awards are given to Juniors, the next year they’ll approach me with a far greater self-assurance and a determination to make their life a positive experience. Did our award start or enhance that process? I don’t know for sure – just as we don’t know how Masonic membership influences those who’ve achieved fame – but watching growth and development in others is a very, very rewarding experience.
Over the years, the opportunity to present both money and medals has given me a regular opportunity to look at those who will become the community and military leaders of the future. I can only wish for them a world without strife knowing full well that they’ll likely see far more depressing things than I could have ever imagined in my lifetime. I hope too that their brush with Freemasonry helps them on their way. It is personally pleasing to be a small part of it all. Fall will come and those students will be elsewhere: to higher education or, perhaps, to the military to serve the country. Life moves on but hopefully Masonry has done its little part in the process.
If you have the opportunity to work with your lodge, Grand Lodge, or any affiliated body on endeavors such as these, do take the time and effort to do so. Ask about it in your Masonic jurisdiction! You’ll find that it’s a very, very unique experience. Even when I’ve passed the baton on to others, I still want to attend those ceremonies just to marvel at the quality of the future generation!
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