63rd National Convention

Metagenes Brothers at Convention

From March 25th through the 28th, Alumni and Actives from all over the country gathered in Virginia’s Capital, Richmond, for the 63rd National Convention of our fraternity.  All told, over 170 brothers were in attendance including 31 actives and alumni from Metagenes.  In addition to the daily business sessions at the Omni Hotel, participants participated in several breakout sessions on various professional and fraternal topics.  On Friday they toured the recently renovated grounds of the State Capital, designed by Thomas Jefferson, along with other sites around the city.

On Saturday, brother Jim Lytle took actives from Metagenes on a tour of his firm’s offices, Odell Associates, in the historic canal district.  Originally built in 1910 as a power plant for the adjacent Lucky Strike Cigarette Factory, Odell renovated the building in 2009.  The first floor conference and display space is wrapped around a 3 story lobby.  Above, the two story-studio space occupies the entire second floor.  Looking down on it all is a third floor loft that contains an employee break area and offices for associates.

Rick Jenkins & Vicki Horton
Brother Rick Jenkins is sworn in as Worthy Grand Scribe by Brother Vicki Horton

The weekend culminated on Saturday night with the annual awards banquet.  With Brother Rosen of Daedalus serving as Master of Ceremonies, the fraternity swore in officers including Vicki Horton, reelected to Worth Grand Architect, and our very own Rick Jenkins as Worthy Grand Scribe.  The Sostratus Chapter at Washington State University was officially installed, and numerous awards were handed out.  The dinner culminated with a keynote address by Brother Robert Ivy, who was elected to the classification of Master Architect by the convention earlier on Friday.