Masonic ‘Bikes for Books’ a big hit at middle school

    GUILFORD, Maine — Friday marked the first-ever “Bikes for Books” event at Piscataquis Community Elementary School, a program sponsored by the Mt. Kineo Masonic Lodge and the Grand Lodge of Maine to encourage youngsters to read more often.
Judging by the reaction of the students, teachers and parents in the packed gymnasium, it won’t be the last.
    “This is great,” said Herb Libby, a past master of Mt. Kineo Lodge in Guilford. “Just look at their reaction when we pull a winning name out of the box.”

    Fourteen lucky students — seven boys and seven girls from grades K-6 — rode home on brand new bicycles and helmets after their names were picked from a random drawing.
    The “Bikes for Books” rules are quite simple. Students from the six elementary grades read as many books as possible starting in mid-February and wrote a report on them. For each assignment completed, they earned a raffle ticket in their grade category  for the bicycle drawing. So the more books they read, the more tickets they earned.
    The Masons also brought in two Shrine clowns — Digger and Gizmo — from the Anah Temple in Bangor to entertain the youngsters and keep master of ceremonies Scott Hoyle of Three Rivers Lodge in Brownville on his toes.
    Principal Anita Wright predicted that more students will probably participate in next year’s “Bikes for Books,” now that they’ve seen the results of the first event.
    “The whole idea is to encourage reading, and this program certainly worked,” Wright said. “We’re very grateful to the Masons for bringing this program to our school.”
    During the 2013 academic year, more than 90 Masonic Lodges throughout Maine presented nearly 1,500 bicycles to children participating in this reading incentive program in schools and libraries.