Youth Appreciation Day Celebrated at the Masonic Homes

The Masonic Children's Home at Elizabethtown celebrated its 79th annual Youth Appreciation Day with an awards banquet in the Brossman Ballroom of the Freemasons Cultural Center on May 24. All 36 children residing at the Home were recognized for their varied activities throughout the year and several were given special recognition for outstanding achievements in the areas of creativity, scholarship, vocation, athletics, and citizenship.

Special focus was on this year's graduates, Liz Pilkerton and Rus Skidmore. Liz will attend Indiana University of Pennsylvania this Fall and will major in nursing. Rus will attend Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology this Fall and will be a resident student in the carpentry program. Along with their graduation certificates, Liz and Rus were presented with a Bible from the Rev. and Bro. A. Preston VanDeursen, Director of Pastoral Care at the Masonic Homes.

Marvin A. Cunningham, Sr., R.W.G.M., extended special congratulations to the youth from the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania and the Committee on Masonic Homes for their accomplishments and an extraordinary year. He also recognized the two graduating seniors and told them they will continue to be a part of the Masonic Homes' family and the values, skills, and friendships they have formed will help them attain personal goals as responsible adults in the community.

In attendance were parents; relatives; friends; Dr. Allan Thrush, Dr. Donald Donley, Richard Schwarzman and Steven Houser, all from the Elizabethtown Area School District; Masonic Children's Home staff members and residents; and the Committee on Masonic Homes.

Rus Skidmore built a bench in memory of the late Donna Kruel, former Secretary to Children's Services, and the late Bro. Gerard Migrala, former Assistant Director of Children's Services. The bench was dedicated and placed in the Memory Garden at the Masonic Children's Home.

To commemorate the day and conclude the ceremonies for the seniors, a tree was planted on the grounds of the Masonic Children's Home.