Lodge grants scholarships to recent graduates

Published 8:03 pm Wednesday, July 4, 2018

LANETT — On Tuesday, three recent high school graduates each received $1,000 scholarships from Masonic Lodge No. 656 to help with their college educations. The presentations were made at a 6 p.m. EDT.

The recipients are Valley High graduate Jenna Goodwin, Springwood graduate Harrison Spivey and Beulah High graduate Christopher Jackson “C.J.” Wood.

The Lodge has five fundraisers throughout the year to raise money for this annual scholarship program. They include two chicken barbecues, car shows in the spring and fall and a fishing tournament on West Point Lake. This past spring, the Lodge hosted the inaugural Barry E. Smith Black Bass Tournament. It was a big success with the weigh-in taking place at Southern Harbor Marina.

Email newsletter signup

“We like to award scholarships to deserving graduates in the local area who are going to continue their educations at the collegiate level,” said Smith, the outgoing worshipful master. “We also support widows and orphans of our past members and our brothers in need who go through an application process.”

Jenna is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Jeff Goodwin of Valley. She was an honor graduate at VHS, having attained a 4.3 grade point average her senior year. She plans to attend Troy University and major in biomedical sciences.

In a surprise presentation, Jenna’s dad received the Mason’s Service Emblem on having been a member in good standing for 25 years. Jeff Goodwin was initiated as a member of the Masonic order on Oct. 16, 1990, and became a Master Mason on Nov. 27 of that same year.

Harrison is the son of Chuck and Christy Spivey. He’s a Class of 2018 graduate of Springwood School and plans to attend his parents’ alma mater, Auburn University, and to major in pre-medicine.

C.J. is the son of Steven and Jennifer Wood and a graduate of Beulah High. His grandfather, Jack Wood, is the current worshipful master of the Lanett Lodge. He’s undecided on his college plans.

Jenna, Harrison and C.J. were each presented a certificate declaring that they were a 2018 scholarship recipient from the Lanett Lodge. The money will go to the college or university of their choice and can be withdrawn when they need it.

Each scholarship is a 50-50 match between the local lodge and the Grand Lodge of Alabama.

“It took lots of hard work for these students to graduate from honors from their high school,” said Smith. “We know their parents were very supportive of them all the way. We wish each one of them continued success in college.”