Local Masons award 11 scholarships
Staff report
LAURINBURG — Accomplishments of members of Poplar Hill Lodge 331 were highlighted Friday night during the 39th annual Scholarship and Recognition Banquet at Bright Hopewell Missionary Baptist Church in Laurinburg.

Submitted photo
Poplar Hill Lodge 331 awarded 11 scholarships on Friday to: Shani P. Nicholson, Jessica LeGrand, Mileania Diggs, Michelle McLeod, Darren E. Corpas, Kalan Ingram, Jannika Watkins, Tiarra Watkins, Chantelle Nelson, Kiera Powell and Olajuwon Covington.
Curtis Ingram, 48, of Hamlet, was recognized as Mason of the Year for the local lodge at both the county and district levels. Ingram will now represent the district for state recognition. It’s the second time Ingram has been selected as county Mason of the Year. He has been a lodge member for five years.
Ingram thanked lodge and event sponsors for their support.
“Without them … they help us make everything else a success,” Ingram told The Pee Dee Post.
For the second consecutive year, Poplar Hill Lodge 331 took home 29th Masonic District Lodge of the Year honors.
The program opened with song, “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” and nearly 300 people were offered words of welcome by Brother J.W. Jacobs, Worshipful Master of Golden Leaf Lodge 124. Brother Earl Brown, past master, of Mount Scottish Lodge 188, offered the invocation and grace.

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Curtis Ingram, of Hamlet, was selected as Mason of the Year for Richmond County and the 29th Masonic District.
Music was provided by The Singing Disciples of Rockingham around a dinner menu that included fried and baked chicken, roast beef, rice and gravy, yams, rolls and said.
Poplar Hill Lodge 331 awarded 11 of the 25 scholarships announced during the banquet. Scholarships were awarded to: Shani P. Nicholson, Jessica LeGrand, Mileania Diggs, Michelle McLeod, Darren E. Corpas, Kalan Ingram, Jannika Watkins, Tiarra Watkins, Chantelle Nelson, Kiera Powell and Olajuwon Covington.
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