Foundation continues Mason Smoak's legacy

Nearly a year ago when Mason G. Smoak died in a plane crash, his family and friends struggled with the sudden loss, but they also resolved to continue Mason's legacy of community involvement.

"Mason did a lot of good while he was here on Earth and we definitely believe he's watching over us in a better place," Mason's widow, Tracee, said Wednesday. "Every day was lived to the limit and he reached out and did just little things for people all day long."

The creation of the Mason G. Smoak Foundation is also for their three children to be able to see Mason's goodness live on, Tracee said.

The non-profit foundation's mission is to raise funds for scholarships, grants and help in areas close to Mason's heart, like agriculture, leadership, conservation, church, students and families.

"And, just doing good for people," Tracee added.

The foundation hopes to partner with other non-profit organizations, Mason's brother, Ed, said. "We want this to grow every year and meet opportunities and change as it needs to."

Foundation board member David Summers said, "we'd prefer not to have this foundation; we'd rather have Mason here and let him continue doing what he did, but it's been a real honor to help Mason's legacy live on."

Foundation board member Matt Elliot said, "he Mason didn't think little; he thought big; he was a blue-sky thinker as many of the people on the board.

"Nobody knows why God took him, but there was a reason and I think we all have come to terms with that - this is the good that is coming out of it, one of the many things."

Along with Tracee, Ed, Elliot and Summers, the foundation's board members include Laura Barben, Mark Wheeler, Andrew Bible, Ray Hodge and Paul Koukos.

The foundation recently presented the 2009 Mason G. Smoak Memorial Scholarship awards to a student at each of the county's three high schools: Amy Brewington - Lake Placid High School, Caleb McGee - Sebring High School, Jerry Lee Wright - Avon Park High School.

Smoak was 33 when he died in a plane crash June 20. He and biologist, Dave Maehr, were completing an aerial survey of the Highlands County black bear population when the plane crashed near Lake Placid.

For more information about the foundation and its events, go online to masongsmoakfoundation.org.