The Limestone Masonic Lodge No. 214 has always been involved in their community, whether holding fund-raising suppers or donating a large number of girl’s and boy’s bikes to all the second-grade students of Limestone Community School.
The “Masonic Bikes for Books” program was held at LCS on May 23, and is an event the Masonic Lodge in Limestone has been participating in for a number of years, as the bike giveaway has become an annual event that has been going on for five years with the help of LCS second-graders, who are challenged with reading a certain number of minutes before they can earn their bikes. Masonic Lodge member, Randy Hopkins admitted the Masons do a lot for the community, but they certainly aren’t doing it for the recognition.
“This is just one of the programs that the Masons do to support the community we are living in and close to, but it is the most visible. We as Masons do things to support and help our communities but remain out of the public eye because it is not the attention we seek,” said Hopkins. “We just believe in doing what is right.”
Second-grade teacher Ryan O’Neal was in charge of keeping track of these minutes and determining who was eligible for the bike giveaway.
“The goal the Masons set for the kids was 1,000 minutes,” said O’Neal. “Every student easily surpassed that mark. A few of them even read more than 3,000 minutes.”
This year, the Masons awarded 16 bikes to the school’s second-graders, which just happens to be the same number of grade-two students attending LCS. This, of course, means that every student participating in the “Masonic Bikes for Books” challenge was able to reach the reading goal set by the donators.
“We feel it is a great thing to do in helping to motivate children to read. We believe it will help set a good foundation for their education and future, in general,” said Hopkins. “Whether it be electronic media, printed newspapers or books, everyone must be able to read in order to succeed. If we can help them learn to enjoy reading as a child, they will be more likely to continue reading as they grow older.”
All of the second-grade students from the school came out the back doors of the school in a frantic run, as they excitedly made their way to a long line of brand new bikes, there for the taking. The boys were all given red and black bikes, while the girls were presented with pink and white bikes. However, the color of the bikes was not the most important thing for the students, or the Masons who were generous enough to donate these bikes. More importantly, each bike came with a helmet, the students needed to put on before being able to test out their new two-wheeled toys.
Many of us can remember back to a time when riding our bikes in the yard was an everyday occurrence, and it was often with a lack of safety precautions. It is only within the last 10 or 15 years that bike helmets were considered mandatory by law, but for the second-grade students of Limestone, there was no argument or hesitation when it came to bicycle safety. The excited students may have had a difficult time containing their elation, but they were not so distracted by the shiny new bikes that they would forget that safety is first and foremost.
When asked why he felt the bike giveaway was important, Randy Hopkins, a Masonic Lodge No. 214 member and head coordinator for the event, replied by stressing how important it is for young students to read.
“We really like providing the bike donations to Limestone’s second-graders every year, because it’s important to give them more motivation to read,” said Hopkins. “These students are already great, as they all easily achieved the 1,000 minute goal, but it never hurts to have a little extra motivation.”
Each student approached his or her bike to find a brand new helmet hanging across the handle bars. Without hesitation the students, along with help from teachers and parents who came to watch the donation take place, put on their helmets and geared up for a ride around the LCS parking lot.
The idea, Hopkins said, came from our Grand Lodge of Maine Charitable organization as another way to give back to our local communities that support the Masonic Lodge No. 214.
“Limestone Lodge has a breakfast for the community to support this program exclusively. Without the support of the community stopping by to enjoy and participate in the breakfast, we would not be able to raise a portion of the funds needed, said Hopkins. “We also get support for this, and all our programs, from our local businesses such as Mikes IGA, Hometown Fuel, Brooker’s Construction, Talk of the Town hair salon, Caldwell’s Auto and Poitras’ Service. We would also like to thank the schools for their support for the Masonic Bikes for Books program for without them this program would not succeed.”
After the students were all wearing helmets and ready for their first test drive, they pulled up their kickstands and began to cruise around the parking lot, during what would amount to an extra special and extra exciting recess.
