William H. Hammontree, 32°, KCCH

Bro. Hammontree’s grand daughters’ treatment at a RiteCare clinic inspired him to start an annual golf tournament that has raised over $84,000 for RiteCare.

When I was the Worthy Grand Patron of the Eastern Star in Washington in 2001, I started the first annual golf tournament to support the Washington RiteCare Endowment Fund. The year 2005 will be our fifth tournament, and to date the donations total $84,002.88. Participation has grown from 56 golfers the first year to 114 this past year. We look forward to reaching our maximum of 144 golfers in the near future.

I want to briefly explain why I picked the Scottish Rite Childhood Language Program for my charity. I am very familiar with RiteCare clinics since two of my granddaughters went through the program at the Seattle clinic. It was a great experience to watch Barbara and Jackie, therapists at the clinic, work with my grand daughters, Kiasa and Brittany. They did not speak very many words when they started their journey at the clinic, but by graduation time they were talking to everyone. The greatest and sweetest words I ever heard from them was, “I love you pa paw.” I know firsthand that the clinics provide a worthwhile program for children and are so very important to the growth of any child. I want to thank all the Worthy Grand Patrons who have followed me for choosing to support the RiteCare language clinics with the golf tournament. May it continue for many, many years.

Perhaps this is a good time to consider our purpose. Frequently, we are asked some very pointed questions about the reasons for our continued and faithful participation in our fraternal orders. I have been asked, “What reasonable explanation is there for having organizations such as yours?” This is a logical question, and it deserves a well thought-out answer.

Bro. Paul Runyan, 32°, is shown with Miss Mckenzie West, a patient at the Vancouver RiteCare Clinic.

One of the most important things we have learned from those generations that preceded us is that an effective organization is necessary if any great good is to benefit any appreciable number of people. Seldom has an individual been able to influence the masses with the results of his own thinking. An inventor may invent the most miraculous of machines. It may be the greatest laborsaving device the world has ever known; but, without the business world to produce the machine, without an effective organization for its distribution and sale, the invention will benefit no one.

There is no doubt that the moral truths and the principles to which we have dedicated ourselves demand a great organization for their advancement. Many such persons bound together with the ties of fraternal association can become a tremendous force in the advancement of these purposes. The Masonic fraternity with its mighty arm of brotherly love translates high purposes and moral principles into practical and positive actions.

What do you personally get out of your fraternal organization? If you consistently serve your order wherever there is a need, you should have no difficulty in answering this question.
In the Masonic family we recognize the worth of the individual as a primary consideration. The officers are not deemed to be of greater worth than the individual member on the sidelines. Above all things, the work of our order is attending to the advancement of the individual members—their welfare, their participation, and their understanding are the motivating factors in our work.

The above is edited from a speech given Apr. 27, 2005.