C. Fred Kleinknecht, 33°
1733 16th Street, NW, Washington, D.C. 20009-3103

Jenn Hill, MA, CF-SLP, a therapist at the Walker Scottish Rite Clinic for Speech and Language Disorders in St. Louis, Missouri, works with three-year-old student Caleb. Photo: Sharon Young, Administrative Assistant

It gives me great pleasure to be at this fourth biennial national conference dedicated to our Scottish Rite mission of assisting children to speak, to hear, and to understand. It bears the title RiteCare Conference because that is who we are and what we do. We are the Scottish Rite and we Care. As our new RiteCare logo says (see p. 10), we are "Scottish Rite Masons Helping Children Communicate" through "Speech, Language, and Literacy." Also, as the rising sun image of the logo suggests, we are at a very significant moment in our flagship philanthropy. In a few short months, we will celebrate a half-century of service to America's children. Next year, 2003, we will observe the 50th anniversary of the Scottish Rite Foundation through which we support the charity closest to our hearts, the nationwide network of Scottish Rite Clinics, Centers, and Programs.

It all began in Colorado 50 years ago. Only the most visionary could have realized at that time how the case of one child, when addressed by the Denver Scottish Rite Brethren, would grow into the treatment by our Order of, on average, over 28,500 children every year.

Today, each person attending this conference, supported by Brethren throughout the Southern Jurisdiction, is a part of that great work. But let me tell you just a little about the beginning of our mission. In 1952, a public welfare worker contacted Ill. Bro. William G. Schweigert, 33°, Almoner of the Rocky Mountain Consistory in Denver, Colorado. The welfare worker sought financial assistance for a four-year-old boy receiving speech therapy at Children's Hospital in Denver. The youngster's mother, a widow, worked as a secretary earning $265 per month. She was providing for two young children and could no longer afford speech therapy for her son.

Bro. Schweigert conferred with the child's speech therapist. Moved by what he heard, he, as the Consistory's Almoner, committed to funding the boy's treatment for at least a month. He took that time to educate himself about children's issues in the areas of language and learning. After attending the therapy sessions of several children and witnessing a child move from unintelligible sounds to clear pronunciation, he realized that many affected children, if left untreated, would be handicapped throughout their lives. He felt, and here I quote Bro. Schweigert, that "they might have the chance of developing toward a normal, or near normal life, if some dedicated organization would enter this new field of humanitarian service." Bro. Schweigert determined to make the Scottish Rite that "dedicated organization."

He reported his findings to the then Sovereign Grand Inspector General of Colorado, Judge Haslett P. Burke, 33°. Illustrious Burke, in turn, appointed the Almoner of Denver's other Consistory, the Colorado Consistory, to confer with Illustrious Schweigert. Together, the two Almoners consulted with the Denver Brethren and met with staff members of Children's Hospital. Then, at a joint meeting of the two Consistories on November 25, 1952, they presented their findings.

Although it was a cold, snowy night, the Brethren turned out in force, nearly filling the Colorado Consistory's auditorium. After hearing the Almoners' reports, they approved the creation of a Scottish Rite Foundation to support this specific children's philanthropy. Then, on February 3, 1953, the Colorado Scottish Rite Foundation was officially chartered, followed on July 1, 1954, by the incorporation in Maryland of our jurisdictional Scottish Rite Foundation, S.J., U.S.A.

In the program's first year, 1953, 14 children received Scottish Rite Foun-dation assistance. Today, on average, we treat over 28,500 children a year!

Have we grown? You bet we have! Do we provide a valuable service? You bet we do! Statistics prove that nearly 10% of all children have some type of language or learning difference, a difference that hinders their ability to learn.

We also know that these same children are generally of normal or above-average intelligence. They simply learn in special ways. The result is that without access to proper therapy-administered by trained speech-language pathologists, reading and learning specialists, tutors, or other professionals-these children get frustrated, fall behind in school and, in some cases, never catch up again. If treated, however, they can overcome their learning differences and become happy students and productive adults.

All this is particularly and personally gratifying to me since, during my tenure as Grand Commander, I have seen our network of Scottish Rite Clinics, Centers, and Programs grow from 35 in 1985 to 161 today in the 35 states of the Scottish Rite's Southern Jurisdiction, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico! What a wonderful accomplishment for our Order! What a fantastic service to America's children! And none of this could have happened without the generous support of the Scottish Rite Brethren, our many donors and, of course, your caring spirit and wonderful service as professional administrators, clinicians, audiologists, and speech-language pathologists. You make it all happen!

Without your working one-on-one with children, without your counseling for parents, and without your learning new ways to help-nothing could have been accomplished and no child helped from silence to speech, from isolation to participation, from frustration to happiness. Thank you so much for all you do!

Nearly every day of every year, I hear stories of how much we have accomplished together. I call these "miracle moments." Masons say, "We take good men and make them better." That is exactly what we Scottish Rite Masons do in this great RiteCare philanthropy: "We take good children and make them-with your help--better." It is a wonderful mission, and we thank you for sharing it with us.

Given our past and where we are now, it is fair to ask, "Where do we go from here?" Take the half-century of accomplishment by the Scottish Rite Foundation. Consider what I have seen in my more than half century as a Scottish Rite Mason and 17 years as Sovereign Grand Commander. Add to that the commitment of the Scottish Rite Brethren today, the dedication of the speech-language professionals, reading and learning specialists, tutors, and other professionals helping us, and the growing number of donors from the general public who are recognizing our philanthropy and coming to our cause. Together, these add up to a very bright future indeed!

I expect to see more and more RiteCare Clinics, Centers, and Programs started in each new year of this new century. I anticipate seeing more and more children diagnosed or treated each year. Now, each of the Orients in the Southern Jurisdiction has at least one Scottish Rite children's facility. Many states have several. Florida, Texas, and California have over 10 each. In 1994, the Northern Masonic Jurisdiction of the Scottish Rite, comprised of 15 states, initiated their own facilities, called 32° Masonic Learning Centers for Children. They now have 39 learning centers in operation with a projected goal of 57 centers by 2005.

I foresee more and more states throughout America increasing their clinics, centers, and programs until we, the Scottish Rite Fraternity, have multiple facilities in every part of the nation. Then, no American child will ever go unassisted. No child will ever "fall through the cracks" because a school district budget was short, because an insurance company would not authorize therapy, or because a parent could not afford treatment.

We, the Scottish Rite of Freemasonry, will take up the slack. We will fill the gap. We will be there-with your help-to see that every child in America can speak, learn, and understand!

---

Note: This article is the keynote address of Grand Commander Kleinknecht to the Fourth Biennial National RiteCare Conference attended by clinicians, clinic directors, and interested Brethren from across the Southern Jurisdiction. The conference was hosted by Ill. Earl K. Dille, 33°, S.G.I.G. in Missouri, and held at the Frontenac Hilton Hotel, St. Louis, Missouri, September 13-14, 2002.