Brother Fred Stewart, 32°, an orphan, had two passions in life, Freemasonry and children.

Brother Fred Stewart, 32°, (photo right) was about as close to being a force of nature as any man I've ever known. The tempo of entire rooms changed when he walked through the door. People in supermarket checkout lines suddenly found themselves deep in conversation about Freemasonry with a big, rugged man they'd never seen before. Whether it was membership, onion sales or charity-event tickets, things just "happened" when Brother Fred walked in.

He had two passions: Masonry and children. For the 15 years before his death last year, he combined the two in a way that will have a lasting impact on the children of the Valley of Phoenix. Brother Fred knew their needs firsthand and from painful personal experience. An orphan of the Great Depression, he came to a Masonic foster family in Kansas and was introduced to the Order of DeMolay. He renewed his ties to Masonry in 1985, when he petitioned Paradise Valley Lodge No. 61, now Paradise Valley Silver Trowel No. 29. He was initiated an Entered Apprentice on March 20, 1985; passed to the Degree of Fellowcraft on May 28, 1986; and raised to the Sublime Degree of Master Mason on July 2, 1986. In November of 1986, he became a Prince of the Royal Secret in the Valley of Phoenix, and on May 5, 1990, he walked the burning sands of El Zaribah Shrine Temple.

In Freemasonry, Brother Fred found an outlet for the tremendous energy that was his hallmark. That outlet was helping children. His Lodge is located in north central Phoenix, an area with a high percentage of low-income families. Bro. Fred discovered that one school in particular, Campo Bello Elementary School, had 53 percent Spanish-speaking children. He decided to help those children learn to read and write English.

And that's what this story is really all about. Today, what he started is known as the "Fred Stewart Bikes for Books Program," and it enjoys the sponsorship and endorsement of the Grand Lodge of Arizona. In the beginning, it was just Fred loading some bicycles onto his truck with the idea of giving some kids an incentive to read.

Here's how it works. Working with teachers, students are assigned several books to read. Parents sign a note affirming that the child has read the books, and each student must give a brief summary in class. Students reading 25 or more books are entered into a drawing and the winners presented with shiny new bicycles.

From the first moment at Campo Bello, the program was a hit, which meant that one school wasn't enough. Brother Fred, now with the support of his Lodge, introduced "Bikes for Books" into three other schools in the Lodge's neighborhood-Aire Libre Elementary, Palomino Elementary, and Greenway Middle School. While the kids were discovering new worlds in books, Bro. Fred was discovering something, as well. One 10-year-old boy, a resident of a group home, was accused by his friends of stealing the bike he had earned through the reading program. Bro. Fred came to the rescue and assured the other children the boy had earned the bike. In the process, he learned that the boy was a resident of a group home.

Group homes, he discovered, are operated by Child Protective Services of Arizona. There are seven such homes within a five-mile radius of the Lodge. They house 59 children ranging in age from 6 to 18. Fred and his wife, Betty, decided that at least two of these group homes would receive new bicycles from Santa Claus, not to mention turkey dinners. When asked why he devoted so much energy to helping children, Bro. Fred replied, "When I look into the eyes of these young children, I see myself 55 years ago. Today, I can do no less for them!"

A year ago last spring, Bro. Fred suddenly collapsed while preaching the virtues of Friend to Friend membership programs during a meeting at El Zaribah Shrine Temple. He was not quite 70. He did live to see other Lodges adopt his program, although it would probably embarrass him just a bit to learn that the program now carries his name.

In the corner of his Lodge room, the chair where he always sat is covered now in permanent mourning. It is a constant reminder that even forces of nature dissipate in time. That's not his real memorial, however. His real legacy is children smiling in delight as they ride their first new bicycle and discover a whole new world in books.

William H. "Skip" Boyer has been writing since he was three. His mother objected to crayon on the walls, however, and set his career back several years. A member of the Scottish Rite Bodies of the Valley of Phoenix, Arizona, he serves as master of Paradise Valley Silver Trowel Lodge No. 29. A native of Nebraska, he is Director of Executive Communications for Best Western International and serves as the company's Executive Producer and Senior Writer. He is a fifth generation Master Mason.