By TOM RUE ASAALH honors founder of local Masonic lodge
WOODBOURNE - Hundreds of family, friends and area residents crowded the Woodbourne Fire Hall to honor Bazeley E. Perry at the 15th annual Frederick Douglass Breakfast held February 12.
The Sullivan County chapter of the Association for the Study of Afro-American Life and History (ASAALH) sponsored the event.
Perry, 75, resides with his wife, Lynette Perry, on Cold Spring Rd. in Monticello. He has two daughters, Amber and Arienna Williams, and five grandchildren.
Perry distinguished himself as a career musician, playing drums professionally beginning in the 1950s. He was band leader at the Concord Resort Hotel in Kiamesha Lake for seven years. Before that, he was with with the Nellie Lutcher Band, criss-crossing the U.S. to play clubs.
Perry said he is a man of few words who enjoys children. "I like kids. I'm a doer. A musician don't be gettin' up and talking. He plays. And that's what I do. I play."
When the award was presented, Perry's remarks were few. Only, "I never thought people thought that much of me. I'm in the community and I just try to help people."
He then introduced his wife, Lynette.
Perry has led a long, diverse and respected life. As a popular black musician whose work was broadcast widely on the airways, Perry attracted the attention of other black leaders.
Listening to Perry and his group on a jail-cell radio, Malcolm X wrote to say how much he enjoyed the musicians' performance. The series of letters following this contact is now primary source material for historians.
Perry worked 10 years as a fraud investigator for the Sullivan County Department of Social Services, and for three years as a paralegal with Mid-Hudson Legal Services, he said.
In addition, he added, "I taught 300 kids drums," as a private music tutor. One former student he named -- Barry Sapperstein of Woodridge -- went on to play drums in Hollywood movies, Perry said.
He retired from employment in 1992.
Perry was described as "the key figure in establishing the Bethany Lodge No. 101, in South Fallsburg." Under the jurisdiction of Prince Hall Grand Lodge of New York State he was appointed the second master of Bethany Lodge in 1965. He also aided in establishing the Starlight Chapter No. 74, Order of the Eastern Star. He is the recipient of numerous honors and degrees reflecting years of dedication to Masonic values and institutions.
Prince Hall Masonry is a fraternal organization dating back to a charter in 1784 from the Grand Lodge of England. The order is named for an African-American soldier who fought with the British Army during the American Revolution.
Perry is the subject of an upcoming biography by William Browne, reportedly scheduled for completion by 1997.
Other honors and scholarships The following local high school graduates, all living successful lives, were presented plaques by ASAALH president Lewis Howard of Fallsburg:
Howard said ASAALH often helps local people get back on their feet, or out of financial emergencies. Usually, he said, economic assistance is provided confidentially. The annual awards breakfast -- held during Black History Month -- is the rare time ASAALH's good works come to the public's attention, he said.Fallsburg graduate Gwen Chisholm Smith, a government attorney and former legislative aide to the Montgomery Council in Maryland;
Liberty graduate Sam Sanders, Jr., director of recreation at Sullivan Correctional Facility;
Monticello graduate Gregory Johnson, a certified public accountant; Scholarships in the amount of $1000 each, to be used toward college expenses, were presented to two students:
Jesse W. York of Monticello, in social studies at SUNY-Utica with plans to go on for a masters from Fordham University School of Social Work.
Frank Drayton of Utica, scheduled to complete his bachelors degree in computer science this summer from SUNY-Utica.
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