RANGELY I In May, Bernie Gantt, Dan Dewitt and Kevin Amack represented Rio Blanco Masonic Lodge #80 while presenting a certificate worth $28,000 to Hannah Turner, Rangely High School’s 2012 class valedictorian.
Each year six prominent Masons from all corners of the state come together to select the recipients of these scholarships. Each of these men is charged with the daunting task of selecting 14 scholarship winners from more than 400 applications statewide.
The Colorado Masons’ Benevolent Fund Scholarship Committee was established in 1966. Scholarships amounting to more than $8.5 million have been awarded to more than 700 students. These scholarships are awarded for up to $7,000 per year, and are renewable for four years for a total value of $28,000. The scholarship is awarded primarily for leadership, maturity, need and scholastic ability, without reference to race, creed, color, gender or Masonic relationship. The only requirements are that an applicant be a graduating senior in a public high school in Colorado and he or she attend an institution of higher learning within the state of Colorado.
This year Rio Blanco Lodge #80 AF&AM is honored to sponsor Hannah Turner as the recipient of the Colorado Masons’ Benevolent Fund Scholarship. Turner, and members of her family, were honored at a July 28 luncheon at the Red Lion Hotel in Denver, hosted by the Masonic Grand Lodge of Colorado, where she was presented her scholarship by Carl Hinkle, the Grand Master of Masons in Colorado.