One boy and one girl from each of the Sumner School District’s eight elementary schools will have a chance to win a new bicycle – courtesy of a local Masonic Lodge.

The Mason Lodge of Sumner, Phoenix Lodge No. 154, recently presented 16 bicycles to the eight elementary schools as part of their “Bikes For Books” program.

According to Vaughn Schmitz, senior warden for the lodge, the program is a incentive for students to read more books.

Schmitz said that each of the eight schools received a boy’s and girl’s bicycle to be presented to the winning students.

“Each school determines and controls the entire reading program, we just contribute the bicycles,” Schmitz said.

The bikes are on display at each school.

“It makes a big difference when the children see the bicycles on a daily basis and know they have a chance to win,” Schmitz said. “We hope to motivate our elementary school students to higher achievement with the Bikes for Books program.”

Schmitz noted supporting the Sumner public schools has been a long-standing tradition of the Masons. For more than 50 years, the Masons have provided scholarships for juniors at the high schools.

Masons Gary Wolfe and Dewayne Clark delivered bicycles to six of the schools, while Schmitz and Hart went to two schools.