“I can’t do much from here,” 93-year-old Ray Limbo said from a comfortable chair in his Enumclaw assisted-living apartment.
Not true, countered Enumclaw High School juniors Bryce Johnson and Samantha Engebretsen, who are the 2015 recipients of the decades-old scholarship that now bears his name – the Ray Limbo Masonic Junior Achievement Scholarship.
“You have a legacy going,” Johnson said.
Johnson and Engebretsen plan to use their Masonic Junior Achievement Scholarship to attend a college or a military academy after graduation. They were two of 10 students awarded scholarships during an April ceremony at Enumclaw’s Crescent Lodge No. 109.
They are among the hundreds of students to receive the distinction through nearly five decades, including Enumclaw School District Superintendent Mike Nelson, who was a recipient in the early 1980s. Nelson proudly displays the plaque on his office wall.
A front-page Enumclaw newspaper story gave a brief description of the first Junior Achievement banquet: “The award program was sponsored by the Masonic Lodge in recognition of the public school system. This is the first program of its kind and is expected to become an annual event. It is part of a statewide effort by Masons to encourage youth.”
That was 1969. Susan Boere and Gary Osborne garnered the accolade. Tom Poe Sr. was the district’s recently-hired superintendent.
It is one of the longest-running scholarships offered in the Enumclaw community. At a time when few scholarships were available to graduating students, Masons began putting their money into education.
“We were spending money foolishly for other things and I thought we should help the kids,” said Limbo, recalling the Mason’s tradition to select one girl and one boy from the EHS junior class each year.
“They need education,” said Limbo, who most recently served as assistant grand secretary. Education was important to he and his late wife Zesta, who was a teacher.
“I knew education was what we needed, and I knew there were plenty of students who needed help,” Limbo said. “I said we should put our money into our kids and their education.”
Each year, the top juniors, based on academic standing, are invited to apply. Finalists are chosen based on grade-point average, community service, leadership, financial aid and an essay. Students are selected and are chosen as juniors, Limbo said, to get them thinking about their future.
Through the years, the Masons have been very generous. This year, the Masonic Education Council of Enumclaw will be awarding each of the 10 students with monetary awards. As winners, at graduation in 2016, Johnson and Engebretsen will receive $1,000 each.
The Masons raise the money for each year’s scholarships by hosting a pancake breakfast the second Sunday of each month at the Lodge, and through the generosity of private donors.
