One of the best-attended meetings each year is the September dinner, welcoming our newest 50-year members and our UNO scholarship recipients. Over 100 Scottish Rite Masons and their ladies and guests came to a great roast beef dinner.
Bennie Kugler, 32°, Venerable Master for the Lodge of Perfection served as master of ceremonies for the evening. He called on John Maxell, 33°, who came up for a surprise presentation. Over the past few months, the Scottish Rite has welcomed Samantha Peatrowsky to Lodge dinners while her husband Kevin has been serving in Kuwait. John jokingly chided that the first place Kevin brought his wife on his return home was to a Scottish Rite meeting! To help him provide a slightly better dinner than the Scottish Rite, he surprised Kevin with a gift card for $50 to Sullivan’s Steakhouse.
Bennie then called up our 50-year members present – Don Wilkie, 32° and his wife Patricia and Hal Daub, 33° and his wife Mary. Dan Wellendorf, 33°, Deputy to the Supreme Council, joined them to present 50-year certificates, dues cards, while their wives placed the pins on their husbands. Bennie lead a round of applause to Don and Hal, and the other 50-year Brethren not able to be present.
Seven of our 2022-2023 scholarship recipients attended with their families, receiving certificates. Frank Kroupa, 33° came up to present a certificate in his name to Abigail Logeman, and we recognized Christina Augilar, a graduate student in Speech-Language Pathology, whose scholarship is given in memory of F. Jerome Given, 33°.
Our speaker was Distinguished Scholar recipient Abigail Logeman, a junior. She spoke how an early passion for sports has informed her life. Getting outside her comfort zone with tennis, she soon found herself playing in all-state championship, and now coaching 4 to 17 year olds. Supporting her throughout her practices and games, her parents and brothers created a constant in her life where Abigail learned to be a leader and the best teammate possible.
Aspects from sports follow into daily life: how to be a leader, a supporter, and a drive to work for what she wants. At UNO, her work ethic is leading her toward Dentistry, studying chemistry and biology. She thanked the Scottish Rite for presenting her with a scholarship that helps her grow as a person in college.
For over 30 years, the Scottish Rite has funded $2,000 scholarships to UNO students, and each year, members are genuinely impressed by the extraordinary caliber of students at UNO .