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ELKINS -- The Local Knights of Pythias Tygart Lodge 76 will be presenting two scholarships to a pair of area individuals during the 2023 Grand Lodge State Convention scheduled for later this summer.
The three-day event will take place on July 13, 14 and 15 at the Best Western Conference Center in Bridgeport. During the convention a total of 10 scholarships will be given to youths hailing from West Virginia, including two young men from the immediate area.
Randolph County resident Logan Campbell and Wesley Strawderman from Parsons will both be presented with $1,000 scholarships at the event. Campbell and Strawderman are members of the local Pythias Lodge and both are planning to attend Davis & Elkins College.
"This is the first year the organization has given out these scholarships," Larry Ferguson, secretary for Pythias Tygart Lodge 76, told The Inter-Mountain. "We have 10 people who have applied and we are going to give each of them $1,000. This is something we are hoping to do each year moving forward."
Ferguson, who is a member of both the local Pythias Lodge and the area Odd Fellows organization, was instrumental in getting the Pythias scholarship fund going.
"Our Odd Fellows lodge gives scholarships out every year, so I brought it up at our Pythias State Meeting that we should do it as well," Ferguson said. "So they decided to start doing it this year."
Ferguson said the Knights of Pythias have always worked toward the same goals.
"The Pythias organization started after the Civil War," said Ferguson, who has been a member for the past 44 years. "It was created to try and get people united again, and to do things to help our fellow man."
Pythias Tygart Lodge 76 currently has about 18 members and is actively seeking others to join the organization.
"We are fortunate in our local lodge that we have some invested funds, so you can be a member and you don't have to pay any dues," said Ferguson. "The interest that comes in off the money takes care of our expenses."
Ferguson said one of the organization's big projects each year is supporting 4-H.
To join the local Knights of Pythias Lodge, contact Ferguson at 304-636-2072 or Chuck Spanitz at 304-636-2562.