Hoyt O. Samples, 33°
130 Jordan Drive, Chattanooga, Tennessee 37421–6731
sjplaw@mindspring.com
Flybys of the unique F-117A Stealth Nighthawk Fighter and the B-2 Stealth Bomber added excitement to an outstanding airshow cast as did a pair of F-104 Starfighters, the Red Baron Stearman Squadron, biplane wing walkers, and a Phantom F-4 demonstration. In addition, the crowd was awed by an F-14 Tomcat performance, the spectacular aerobatics of numerous world and national champions, the U. S. Army Golden Knights Parachute Team, and the Shockley Shockwave Truck (with three jet engines) approaching speeds of 300 m.p.h. on the runway. World War II veterans were presented with vivid memories as authentic planes of that era performed in the sky over Chattanooga including the World War II Warbirds Show consisting of a B-17, B-24, P-51, P-47 and Japanese Zero.
As a principal sponsor of Airshow 2000, the Chattanooga Scottish Rite Foundation received substantial media exposure. The Foundation was featured on hundreds of full-color posters distributed throughout the greater Chattanooga area, a full-page ad in the airshow program, and extensive radio and television publicity. The airshow narrator announced to the tremendous crowd at least a dozen times each day that the Scottish Rite Foundation was a principal sponsor. In addition, the Foundation was provided with a front-line sponsor's tent identifying the Foundation (with the Scottish Rite logo and name) as a principal sponsor and was provided a separate tent in the exhibition area for the display and distribution of Scottish Rite materials.
This was all made possible as a result of the Foundation's support of the Chattanooga Scottish Rite Childhood Speech and Language Clinic at T. C. Thompson Children's Hospital in Chattanooga, which was the beneficiary of Airshow proceeds. Because of the Foundation's long-term and continuing support for the Speech and Language Clinic, the Foundation received enormous publicity about Scottish Rite without the necessity of spending any additional funds above normal giving to Children's Hospital.
The Foundation was also recently recognized on television by Children's Hospital as a part of the Children's Miracle Network and received substantial favorable publicity for Scottish Rite's efforts in the Speech and Language Clinic. Plaques recognizing the contributions of the Foundation are displayed in the Speech and Language Clinic at T. C. Thompson Children's Hospital, and excellent ties have been developed with the hospital which will continue to benefit from the Foundation's work and which will permit Scottish Rite Masonry to further establish itself in the public's eye as a group which cares and shares.
Foundations are an excellent way of promoting the charitable work of the Order and providing much needed publicity for the good works of Scottish Rite Masons. If your Valley has a foundation, consider adopting a strategic plan to promote Scottish Rite's charitable works through it.
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Hoyt O. Samples is an attorney in Chattanooga where he serves the Valley of Chattanooga as Venerable Master, President of the S. R. Foundation, and Class Director. He is a past member of the Board and Executive Committee of Carson–Newman College, has been an ordained deacon for more than 20 years, and currently teaches a Sunday School Class with an enrollment of more than 180 members. He is a member of and proficiency card holder at Red Bank Lodge No. 717, Alhambra Shrine, the York Rite Bodies, the Red Cross of Constantine, and a frequent lecturer at Masonic meetings. |