First Lady Program

Ada N. May
First Lady of Kentucky Freemasonry

First Lady Ada N. May Selects RiteCare for Annual Support Campaign

More than sixty years ago, the Southern Jurisdiction of the Ancient & Accepted Scottish Rite initiated a program to aid children with speech and language disorders in Denver, Colorado. The pilot program saw great success and led to the establishment of RiteCare clinics to provide diagnostic evaluation and treatment of speech and language disorders, as well as learning disabilities.

Through the years, the program has grown and today more than 170 RiteCare programs exist across the United States, staffed with therapists eagerly awaiting children in need of their assistance. With the support of the Ancient & Accepted Scottish Rite, as well as the generosity of individual lodges and Masons, each of these facilities are staffed by speech-language pathologists and other trained personnel. Thousands of our nation’s youth have benefited from the treatment received as a part of this program.

The ability to communicate is integral to the success of students, both in the classroom and while interacting with their peers. With the treatment received in RiteCare Centers, children have achieved levels of success that are remarkable; and while they might have remained otherwise educationally behind for life, they can now speak, read and lead productive lives. In Kentucky we have eight RiteCare locations, including: Louisville, Richmond, Henderson, Cold Spring, Wilder, Ashland, Louisa and Prestonsburg.

First Lady Ada N. May is passionate about RiteCare due to her love for children, and her desire to continue the strong Masonic tradition of caring for children in need and enhancing education. In an attempt to promote RiteCare and raise the necessary funds to maintain our clinics here in Kentucky, our First Lady commissioned a pin which is depicted above. The design includes a row of flowers, indicative of our First Lady’s love for gardening and representative of the growth our RiteCare kids experience while receiving therapy. The flowers are positioned upon a sword and veil united. This emblem is reminiscent of our First Lady’s love for the Order of the Eastern Star and her service as Adah in Jeanette DeVenny Chapter No. 584, O.E.S. The color blue alludes to the virtue of fidelity, as does the motto positioned upon the veil. “Semper Fidelis” is the motto of the United States Marine Corps, in which our Grand Master proudly served, and is translated to mean “Always Faithful.” Our First Lady wishes to remind us to be always faithful to our obligations as Freemasons, aiding those less fortunate and spreading the light of education.

Supporting our First Lady’s initiative this year is a wonderful way to demonstrate your commitment to continuing this strong tradition of supporting our youth. Pins may be obtained, or donations made, by contacting your District Deputy Grand Master, or a member of the Committee on Masons Helping Masons, Committee on Veterans Affairs or Committee on Fraternal Programs.