Masonic Village Honored by PA Therapeutic Recreation Society

Esther Enck, a resident of the Masonic Village at Elizabethtown, attended the Pennsylvania Therapeutic Recreation Institute's Annual Awards Dinner in June with Liz Grosh and Rhonda Conaway, recreation coordinators. She was invited as a show of appreciation for her help with the recreation department, so when her name was announced as Volunteer of the Year, she was surprised to learn she was actually a guest of honor.

"I was shocked when they started talking, and after I looked at Liz and Rhonda, I knew they were talking about me," she said. "It was something I never dreamed of. I didn't start volunteering to win awards. It was really nice." The Volunteer of the Year award is presented to an individual who made an outstanding and significant volunteer contribution within some facet to therapeutic recreation/therapeutic activities.

Enck helps Masonic Village organize various events by preparing food, folding napkins and making centerpieces, among other things. She doesn't keep track of the hours or days she volunteers; she is there whenever staff need her. "I prefer to keep busy," she said. "I can't just sit here and do nothing."

"There is always much to do, many needs to address and lots of residents who are in need of special assistance of one kind or another," Grosh said. "Esther volunteers side by side with recreation staff doing anything that requires time and energy, her two hands and her jolly disposition."

Enck, a resident since 2004, was previously employed in the food services department at Masonic Village full-time for 13 years and part-time for five years. In addition to volunteering, she also enjoys playing shuffleboard and recently participated in the Lancaster Senior Games.

Also at the awards dinner, the Masonic Village received the Outstanding Special Event Award for its USO Tribute Show, which, after several months of planning, was coordinated by staff and residents last November. The show featured poetry, prose, personal accounts and music honoring America's veterans - past, present and future. More than a dozen variety acts including dancing, singing and comedy were performed; a USO Celebrity Alumni Parade recognized past celebrities, such as Bob Hope, who have contributed their talents to USO shows; and at the conclusion of the show, all attendees gathered for a social.

The Outstanding Special Event Award is given to a therapeutic recreation or activities department from Pennsylvania for an event that demonstrated a unique and innovative service, benefited residents in a unique way and/or brought recognition to the therapeutic recreation field. This is the sixth time Masonic Village has won the programming/special event award since the award's creation in 1999.

Additionally, a Special Event Program - Honorable Mention was awarded to Andrea Updegraff, recreation therapist, and staff from the Lafayette West neighborhood in the Masonic Health Care Center, for the annual October Fire Fest in which staff and residents roasted marshmallows for s'mores and drank hot chocolate around a courtyard fire pit. Becky Kandrac, recreation therapist, received a Presidential Citation, which is given for outstanding service to the Pennsylvania Therapeutic Recreation Society (PTRS). Kandrac received this in acknowledgement of her work as an author of the PTRS's "Practical Guide to Planning and Programming for Persons with Dementia."

For more information, please contact:
Debra L. Davis
(717) 367-1121, ext. 33529
ddavis@masonicvillagespa.org

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