H. Wallace Reid, 33°
Chairman, Subcommittee on 2001 Bicentennial, Grand Minister of State
S.G.I.G. in South Carolina
407 Berkshire Hill, Anderson, South Carolina, 29621–3909

Preparations continue for the year 2001 Bicentennial Celebration in Charleston, S.C.

Since the Supreme Council was formed in Charleston on May 31, 1801, we have elected to return there in commemoration of the 200th anniversary of that event. The program will begin on Sunday morning, September 30, 2001, with an ecumenical church service at the newly constructed Convention Center, North Charleston, followed in the afternoon by the public greeting and reception of the Grand Commander for attending Masonic leaders from around the world. This, also, will be conducted in the Convention Center. In the late afternoon, a Scottish Rite exhibit will be formally opened at the Charleston Museum in downtown Charleston, followed by a reception in the museum. Since the museum can accommodate only a few hundred persons at any one time, attendance at this event will be by ticket only.

The Council will open formally at 9:00 am on Monday, October 1, in the Convention Center. Lunch will be provided for attendees. There will be entertainment on Monday evening, a Gala Concert aboard the USS Yorktown, a World War II era aircraft carrier, now a very impressive museum on the Charleston waterfront.

The Supreme Council will reconvene at the Convention Center at 9:00 am on Tuesday, October 2, but will adjourn prior to noon. In the afternoon, several small formal observances are to be held at historic sites, including the former location of Shepheard's Tavern. It is expected that various Orients will plan dinners for their delegations for Tuesday evening. Other attendees will be free that evening to dine and tour as they wish.

The Supreme Council will select in advance of the Biennial those to receive the K.C.C.H. and Thirty-third Degree honors in 2001. These will be announced as soon as June 1, 2001. It is expected that many of these selectees will wish to attend the 200th anniversary and to receive their honors at the appropriate ceremonies on Wednesday, October 3. The K.C. C.H. Investiture is planned for the morning with the Thirty-third Degree in the afternoon, both in the Charleston Performing Arts Center Auditorium of the Convention Center.

The closing Gala Banquet will be held at the Convention Center on Wednesday evening, October 3, and will be the final function for the 200th anniversary.

Blocks of rooms in more than a dozen hotels in the Charleston area with room rates ranging from less than $100 to more than $300 per night have been reserved for the period of the anniversary observance. (See "You All Come!" Scottish Rite Journal, Nov. 1999.) There will be transportation between these hotels and the Convention Center and from the hotels to and from the USS Yorktown for Monday night. A special block of rooms has been reserved for the members of the Supreme Council at the Charleston Place Hotel, 130 Market Street, in downtown Charleston. Various committee meetings, including meetings of the Executive Committee, will be conducted in this hotel. Other than the Charleston Place Hotel, the new Embassy Suites Hotel, which is physically connected to the new Convention Center, will be the headquarters hotel and likely the choice for many of the attendees during the 2001 Biennial Session.

The Bicentennial Pictorial History of the Scottish Rite to commemorate the occasion is in its final stages of preparation and will be available for sale in the fall of 2000. Mr. Frank Glickman, Mr. Henry Scammell, Mr. Mark Fastoso, and Dr. William L. Fox, 33°, are working together on this extraordinary project. Also in commemoration of the 200th anniversary, artist Ill. John D. Melius, 33°, is painting portraits of the 17 Sovereign Grand Commanders who have led the Scottish Rite, Southern Jurisdiction, during the two centuries of its history. A commemorative plate, a collector's item depicting these Grand Commanders around its circumference, will be available for sale.

Special committees have been established for public relations, transportation, entertainment, tours, and the like. All are aimed at ensuring a most enjoyable and worthwhile occasion for attendees.

H. Wallace Reid has been a member of the Supreme Council since 1985, was Grand Master in South Carolina 1974–76. He is a member of Hejaz Shrine Temple and serves as Vice Chairman of the Board of Governors Shrine Hospital, Greenville. He is retired as Superintendent of Schools in Anderson, S.C. A Ruling Elder and Adult Sunday School Teacher at Central Presbyterian Church, he serves as Vice President of the Scottish Rite Research Society.