Jackson County’s Masonic Lodges win PRIDE award
August 8, 2013 by clackey
Congressman Hal Rogers presented the PRIDE Volunteer of the Month Award to representatives of Jackson County’s four Masonic Lodges (Pond Fork, RH Johnson, New Zion and Indian Creek). Left to right: Doug Neely, James Cody, Dee Neely, Kenneth Cole, David Tankersley, Scott Tussey, Earl Flannery, Joe McKinney, Void Turner, Donald Tincher, Barry Spivey (Jackson County PRIDE Coordinator).
PRIDE has honored the four Masonic Lodges of Jackson County for being good stewards of the county’s magnificent landscape for a decade.The Pond Fork, RH Johnson, New Zion and Indian Creek Masonic Lodges won the PRIDE Volunteer of the Month Award for August 2013.
The four lodges have volunteered to pick up litter during the annual PRIDE Spring Cleanup since 2003. This past April, 45 volunteers cleaned over eight miles of roadway and collected 500 pounds of trash.
The lodges adopted Beulah Lake in 2004 and over three tons of trash and 35 tires were collected during the first lake cleanup. They clean Beulah Lake on the first Saturday in October and collect an average of 300 pounds of trash.
The lodges also participate in the Jackson County litter abatement program, which rewards groups that commit to performing roadside cleanups. Each lodge cleans 10 miles of roadway through the litter abatement program every year, and they earn money to support their activities.
“The Masonic Lodge is a big component of Jackson County PRIDE,” Barry Spivey, Jackson County PRIDE Coordinator.
The PRIDE Volunteer of the Month program recognizes hard work and dedication to the PRIDE initiative, which promotes environmental education and cleanup efforts in a 42-county region. With corporate sponsorship from TECO Coal, WYMT-TV airs commercials about each PRIDE Volunteer of the Month.
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