C. Fred Kleinknecht, 33°
Sovereign Grand Commander

Many special souvenirs and unique events, including Bicentennial Awards for Excellence in Publication, will mark the upcoming Bicentennial Biennial Session in Charleston.

2001 is a very special year, the Bicentennial of the Supreme Council. Our great Order was founded on May 31, 1801, in Charleston, South Carolina. We will return to Charleston, September 30 through October 3, 2001, to celebrate this great event at our Bicentennial Biennial Session. To make this occasion very special, we have developed a number of unique programs and items to honor the Bicentennial. There are, for instance, special Bicentennial lapel pins for the 33° and K.C.C.H. Honour Men Elects. These have already been distributed to the Brethren elected to these high honors so that they can wear them with pride from this time onward. Also, another Bicentennial lapel pin is available now for Brethren who wish to mark this great occasion.

Similarly, there will be an elegant commemorative plate manufactured especially for the Supreme Council by Wedgwood. It will feature new portraits of all 17 Sovereign Grand Commanders from 1801 to 2001. In addition, there will be a special gift for all Brethren attending the Bicentennial celebration. Other commemoratives items include a special medallion and an oversize, color-illustrated pictorial history of the Supreme Council. There will also be a special exhibit at the Charleston Museum; a gala concert by Ill. Mel Tillis, 33°, Grand Cross, and his company from Branson, Missouri; the formal dedication of plaques and monuments at several Bicentennial sites in Charleston; and many other unique events and tokens too numerous to mention here.

One celebration all Valleys and Orients can share is the 2001 Bicentennial Award Program for Excellence in Publication. This program is meant to encourage outstanding publications and interest in Scottish Rite accomplishments throughout the Southern Jurisdiction. Announced on September 21, 1999, by a Grand Commander's memo to all Actives, Deputies, Personal Representatives, and Secretaries, the program is as follows.

Excellence in publication, print and Internet, is central to the success of our Rite. To encourage each Orient's effort in this direction, I am announcing five 2001 Bicentennial Awards to be presented to five Orients at the Charleston Bicentennial Biennial Session, September 30 to October 3, 2001. They are:

All winners will receive a personally inscribed, handsomely framed copy of Don Connavaro's elegant pen-and-ink drawing of the House of the Temple, with the Grand Commander's signature and stamp, at a special Publications Award Ceremony at the 2001 Biennial Session.

Orients should submit a special printed Bicentennial Issue (ten copies) and/or an Internet site address, if the Bicentennial publication is presented on the Internet, to Ill. William G. Sizemore, 33°, G.C., Grand Executive Director, by no later than July 1, 2001. Content, format, and length are at the discretion of each Orient, but the printed and/or Internet versions must have been completely distributed/uploaded by each participating Orient at no charge to the Brethren prior to July 1, 2001.

In recognition of the Internet as an increasingly important aspect of fraternal communication, entries may be Internet only or in addition to a printed format. If at least 10 Internet sites are received, there will be a parallel presentation of all the awards noted above, but no Orient may receive more than one award. Each submission will be archived by the Supreme Council as a record of Scottish Rite accomplishment and significance in your Orient as of 2001.

I urge your voluntary participation in this special 2001 Bicentennial Award Program for Excellence in Publication.