WILTON – A reading incentive program rewarded a dozen local students with new bicycles and helmets at two Wilton schools Friday morning.
Wilton Masonic Lodge #156 is sponsoring Bikes for Books, a program focused on helping to develop in elementary school children a love of reading books. With each book read, a student submits an entry towards winning a new bicycle in a drawing held at the end of the program.
“I asked who read books for this,” Master Richard Lumb said, “and all the hands went up.”
Friday morning, students cheered as each name was plucked out of a bowl by staff members at the G.D. Cushing School. A girl and a boy in each grade from kindergarten through fifth grade was awarded a new bike.
The Masonic Bikes for Books program got its start in Maine eight years ago when Mike Theriault proposed the idea in 2006 to Euclid Masonic Lodge No. 194 in Madison where he is a past master. This year, 90 Masonic lodges throughout Maine will present nearly 1,000 bicycles to children participating in reading programs in local schools and public libraries.
In addition to the bikes, the Grand Lodge of Maine will be donating safety helmets to each winner. For more information regarding this program, you can contact the Grand Lodge of Maine at 207-843-1086 or check out their website at www.masoniccharitablefoundation.org.
