Orient of Virginia in Action

Scottish Rite Day at ODU

The biennial visit to Old Dominion University (ODU) was held on July 24, 2024, at the Tidewater Scottish Rite Childhood Speech and Language Center. Approximately twenty members from the Valleys of Newport News, Norfolk and Portsmouth attended and were welcomed by Stacie Raymer, PhD, CCC-SLP, Professor and Chair, School of Speech-Language Pathology.

Scottish Rite Day at JMU

The theme of the July 17, 2024, visit to James Madison University (JMU) was “Scottish Rite on the Road.” Approximately twenty-five members from the Valleys of Alexandria, Lynchburg, Richmond, and Shenandoah attended and were welcomed by Ayasakanta Rout, PhD, Professor and Head of the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, faculty and forty-one graduate students, both residential and online.

Visit to Richmond Childhood Language Clinic

On Tuesday, July 2, 2024, the annual contribution from the Scottish Rite Foundation of Virginia was presented to the Richmond Childhood Language Center. Taking part in the presentation were: (left to right) Most Worshipful and Illustrious Douglas V. Jones, PGM, 33º, President of the Board of Directors; Susan Combee, Executive Director; and Most Worshipful and Illustrious Alan W. Adkins, PGM, 33º, GC, SGIG in Virginia.

Since its founding in 1991, the Language Center has served over 11,000 clients and provided over $3,000,000 to families needing financial assistance.

Radford’s RiteCare Clinic summer day camp

The Scottish Rite provide financial support for the five-week day camps, which help children develop and enhance their communication and literacy skills; it also offers graduate student clinicians invaluable training and experience. As they have in the past, on June 27 the Masons donated $33,000 to Radford's program. Check out the article here.

Scottish Rite Day June 12th, 2024

Brother Frank Wright Harris, III, ICCH, received his 50-year certificate and pin on May 10, 2024, in the Valley of Alexandria. Brother Frank is a retired Colonel in the United States Marine Corps and will turn 100 this October.

Valley of Shenandoah Installation of Officers - May 16, 2024

 Rite Care Visits Scottish Rite Childhood Language Center in Richmond- 2023

Susan Combee, Executive Director of the Scottish Rite Childhood Language Center, and Ill. & MW Alan W. Adkins, 33, GC, at a recent Board of Directors meeting where Ill. Adkins presented Susan with a check from the Scottish Rite of Virginia Foundation. 

 Rite Care Visits Radford University - 2023

On Tuesday, June 20, 2023, Radford University celebrated Summer Camp with a theme of “Sail the Seven Seas!”  Dr. Diane Millar, Director of the Autism Center and the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, welcomed everyone and introduced Dr. Bethany Usher, the new Provost and Senior Vice-President for Academic Affairs for the University, who responded with brief remarks.  In addition, she recognized the 2023 Radford University RiteCare Summer Scholarship Recipients; Bristol Choquette, Anna Craven, Emilee Lane, Elizabeth Maneval, and Amy Williams, who each presented a summary of their background and experiences working with children at the University.  Dr. Millar announced the Scottish Rite Foundation of Virginia has been supporting their program for thirty years.  Illustrious Leonard A. Rowe, 33°, Foundation Treasurer presented a check to Dr. Millar to support the Summer Camp and provide three Fellowships.  This year, there were several first-time attendees from the Valley of Roanoke.

 Rite Care Visits Longwood University - 2023

We have 25 incoming graduate students in the fall. We also have 26 second-year graduate students. So, in total we have 51 graduate students that we have in our classes, our clinic, and communities all over the U.S. Some of the challenges we are facing right now is that we want to accept a larger cohort of students but we have to compete with James Madison, UVa, Radford, ODU, and Hampton for externship sites. It is really challenging to find pediatric and adult placements for each of our students each semester when the bigger schools are also trying to do the same thing. We have been successful so far in that, and I feel sure we will continue to be successful but the more students we accept, the more clinical sites we have to find. We also are busting at the seams in our clinic (which is a good problem to have), but we have had to start a waitlist for services because we just don't have the timeslots for any more clients. Each client/clinician pair has to have a certain amount of supervision and we just don't have the staff to make sure we can provide the quality supervision our clients and graduate students deserve. We are brainstorming ways to be more efficient with our time, but as you know, we all LOVE to be involved as much as we can with the clinical side of our jobs. 

As far as clinical sites, we place our students in schools, hospitals, long-term care facilities, outpatient clinics, VA facilities, early intervention sites, and home health opportunities. If an SLP works in an environment, we have placed our students there!

The below items occurred in 2022 and earlier . . .

Rite Care Visits Longwood University - 2022

On Tuesday, June 15, 2022, Longwood University hosted Scottish Rite Day from 11:00 AM to 2:00 PM at the Communication Sciences and Disorders Department. Approximately twenty Scottish Rite Masons and their wives from the Valleys of Danville and Lynchburg were in attendance, along with Illustrious Alan W. Adkins, Sovereign Grand Inspector General; Illustrious Clifford A. “Skip” Parker, Orient Personal Representative; Illustrious Philip N. “Phil” Rhodes, President, Scottish Rite Foundation; and Brother Phil Shortt, Major Gift Officer (Mid-Atlantic), Supreme Council Development Office.

The attendees were welcomed by Dr. Shannon Salley, Chair of the Social Service/Communication Sciences and Disorders Department, who introduced several faculty staff including Dr. Ken Perkins, Dr. Jeannine Perry, and Dr. Lissa Power de Fur. Gabriela Vallejo, Scottish Rite Graduate Assistant, gave a presentation on her career path that led to being a Speech Pathologist. The presentation by the students of the Longwood Life program was well received. During lunch, questions and answers were entertained and a check for $10,000 was given to Dr. Salley from the Scottish Rite Foundation; after which, a tour of the SHLS center was conducted.  Another highlight of the day was the University’s 2021 Friend of the Communication Sciences & Disorders Award to the Scottish Rite.  Due to the pandemic, the award was not able to be presented last year.

Tidewater Scottish Rite Foundation Celebrates 25th Year of Support to Old Dominion University

Summer time always provides for a flurry of activity with visits to the several Childhood Language Clinics throughout the Orient. One such visit occurred on June 30th at the Old Dominion University Clinic in Norfolk. Our SGIG, Ill. & Mt. Wor. Alan Wayne Adkins, as well as the Personal Representatives and members from the Newport News, Norfolk, and Portsmouth Valleys, were hosted by Dr. Corrin Gillis and the staff from the clinic. The facility provided tours of the various therapies and procedures used to overcome language and hearing disorders.

The clinic started in 1989 and approximately 165 fellowships have been awarded. Additionally, we sponsor a summer camp each year for children with severe communication disorders, children with language and literacy disorders, and adolescents with social communication disorders.

Our graduate student fellowship funding, summer program funding, client scholarships, clinician funding, and various gifts from the associated Scottish bodies have totaled over $1, 755,000.

Valley of Roanoke Visits Radford University

On Tuesday, July 12, 2022, a contingent from the Valley of Roanoke along with Illustrious and Most Worshipful Alan W. Adkins, 33 Sovereign Grand Inspector General; Illustrious and Most Worshipful Clifford A. “Skip” Parker, Orient Personal Representative; Phil Shortt, Major Donor Officer, Mid-Atlantic Region, Supreme Council; Illustrious and Most Worshipful Louis Kerry Campbell, Personal Representative; and Illustrious Leonard Rowe, Scottish Rite Foundation participated in the 2022 Rite Care Summer Program at Radford University. The theme for the day was “A Marvelous, Magical Carnival.” We had an opportunity to meet the children, families, graduate students, and faculty supervisors. The five 2022 Radford University Rite Care Summer Scholarship recipients were presented and recognized by Dr. Diane Miller, Professor, and Director of the Autism Center and Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders. The new President of Radford University, Bret Danilowicz thanked the Scottish Rite for their continued support of the Rite Care Program.

His wife, Kay happens to be a licensed Speech Pathologist. A check for $33,500 was presented to support the Summer Camp and three Fellowships.

Scottish Rite Foundation of Virginia Donation

On Monday, July 25, 2022, a check on behalf of the Scottish Rite Foundation of Virginia was presented to the Richmond Scottish Rite Childhood Language Center. Pictured left to right: Samuel E. Dunn, Personal Representative for the Valley of Richmond; Alan W. Adkins, SGIG in Virginia; Susan Cumbee, Executive Director, Scottish Rite Childhood Language Center; and Claude A. “Buddy” Bass, Jr., Board President, Scottish Rite Childhood Language Center.