contributed photo
Shawn Venson and Julie Chmielewski
ANSONIA – A small act of kindness can lead to recognition at the highest level.
That is exactly what happened on Sunday, Oct. 14, when the James H. Wilkins Lodge #9 of Ansonia was selected for the 2017/2018 Lodge of the Year at the national conference of the Freemasons in Windsor.
More than 1,500 people were in attendance at the national conference on Sunday when the speaker began talking about a small town in Connecticut, where money was taken from the school budget, Shawn Venson, a custodian at AMS and a five-year member of the Ansonia Lodge, recounted.
The work of the Ansonia lodge – supporting a small program at Ansonia Middle School – caught the attention of the national organization. It is the first major award for the Ansonia Lodge in many years.
Venson recounted that last year, he found out that several teachers were covering the costs for a monthly pizza lunch for a group of students.
Several of those students are disabled and are enrolled in a life skills program that focuses on the skills necessary for performing activities of daily living. These disabled students are paired with non-disabled students, who act as their peer buddy. The name of the program is Best Buddies.
“We’re all about helping our community,” said Venson, describing the work of the Lodge.
After speaking with Julie Chmielewski, a speech and language pathologist who established the Best Buddies Program at the start of the 2017 – 18 year, he spoke with members of the Lodge about it. Many of the members, who are senior citizens, contributed their own money, and the lodge also agreed to contribute 10 percent of all future fundraisers to the Best Buddies Program.
“It’s on our agenda every month,” he added.
This past summer, Mrs. Chmielewski applied to the Valley Community Foundation for funding for the Best Buddies Program, to cover the cost of field trips for these students.
“The money will allow us to bring the students into the community so they can visit several service locations in town, including a Laundromat, the Ansonia Library, and the Ansonia Nature Center,” she said. “They will also be able to go to Ansonia High School to see the Life Skills Program, which focuses on pre-vocational training.”
The James H. Wilkins Lodge will also continue to provide money for the monthly lunches for the students and their peer buddies, Venson noted. The Valley Community Foundation approved the grant, which will provide $3,300 for the program this year.
Mrs. Chmielewski shared one more touching story about the support of the Masons. One of their members passed away two weeks ago.
“I told the students about it, and we did a lesson about bereavement,” she said. “The students wanted to make cards to give to the lodge to express their sadness.”
Venson picked up the story. “I took the cards with me to the convention and passed them around. When I got them back, they were wrinkled and dog-eared. I knew that everyone looked at them.”
Soon afterward, the Lodge of the Year Award was presented.
The Award will be front and center at the Lodge’s next meeting later this month, and Lodge members will be invited to visit AMS for one of their upcoming pizza lunches.
Mrs. Chmielewski said it will give her students the opportunity to thank them in person.
“This is just unbelievable,” she said. “It’s nice to know that people still care.”
