To help restore depleted funds in the Reis Memorial Scholarship, community volunteers hosted a casino night fundraiser at the South Byron Fire Hall this past weekend.
Members of the Reis family lost their lives in a fire in Byron on May 19, 2008.
The night's live auction included selling an apple pie made by Jean Allyn, grandmother of the three Reis children, Ginny, Emily and Tim, and mother to Cheryl Reis, who died in the fire.
The fundraiser included a basket auction with 32 baskets available.
The scholarship was formed in 2013 to reestablish a fund that was depleted in 2012. The annual scholarship awards $1,000 to a graduating senior from Byron-Bergen who demonstrates both academic merit and the admired characteristics of the Reis children. The 2013 recipient of the award was Kim Lovett, who is attending Nazareth College to pursue a degree in Physical Therapy.
The success of successive fundraisers by the foundation enabled the group to provide financial assistance to former community members whose home was destroyed in a fire this year.
Sponsors this year included: Dewey Produce, Stafford Painters. Ray and Jean Allen, Kircher Construction, Inc., Roberts Accounting, Ernie and Wendy Haywood, Crazy Cheap Cars, NAPA Auto Parts - Bergen , WNY Concerete, Pudgie’s Lawn and Landscape.
Info and photo submitted by Jon Flannery.
