Students receive scholarships from Lanett Masons Lodge

Published 3:09 pm Thursday, May 23, 2019

LANETT — Three local Class of 2019 graduates got a little help from Lodge No. 656 Free and Accepted Masons in Lanett by way of a $1,000 scholarship.

Madeline McCoy of Valley High School, Mitchum Smith of Springwood and Areyonna James of Lanett were recipients of scholarships Tuesday night during a special meeting by the lodge.

McCoy will study biomedical science at Troy University, Smith is headed to Auburn University to study to kinesiology and James will attend Alabama A&M to major in social work.

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Freemasonry is the oldest and largest fraternal organization in the world. Its origins with stone mason go back as far as the 14th century. Lodges are usually supervised and governed at the regional level, and there is no international grand lodge.

Lodge No, 656 in Lanett has several fundraisers each year to generate money for scholarships and to help with other community needs.

“We have five fundraisers each year,” Lodge Member Barry Smith said. “We have two car shows, one in the spring and one in the fall, two chickencues and a black bass tournament on West Point Lake. Our next chickencue will be on June 14. We will cook the chicken here at the lodge and deliver the plates to our customers.”

Plates will be $8 each, and each one will have half a chicken, slaw, chips and bread. Pickup will be at the lodge from 10 a.m. until 1 p.m. on Friday, June 14.

“Orders are due by June 10,” Smith said. “We thank everyone for their support.”

For information on delivery, contact Smith at (706) 594-0495.

“We’d like to increase the number of scholarships we offer or the amounts we give each student,” Smith said. “We also make donations to needy families in the local area. We sponsored a family this past Christmas. We made sure they had plenty to eat and gave some toys to the children. We make donations to the Christian Service Center and to other lodges who need help because of a local disaster. We help our brother lodge members who may be struggling with health issues.”

Smith credits Worshipful Master Jack Wood for his leadership in having successful fundraisers.

“He has been instrumental in guiding us through this,” he said.