Rajah Shriners host 75th annual Shrine Pretzel Bowl
· Yahoo Sports
Saturday was a perfect day for football in Reading.
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The home bleachers of Albright College’s Gene L. Shirk Stadium basked in the warm fall sun as a cool breeze softly swept by. In the distance, behind the visitors side of the stadium, the trees on Mount Penn were an eruption of yellows and oranges and reds.
The setting was ideal for a local gridiron tradition: the 75th annual Shrine Pretzel Bowl.
Since the 1950s, Albright has taken part in the annual contest that serves as a major fundraiser for Reading’s Rajah Shrine. Money brought in during the event helps to support Shriners Children, a network of hospitals and health clinics providing free care for kids across the United States, Canada and Mexico.
Local Shriners attended Saturday’s game, as did two very special kids. The event included the crowning of 10-year-old Saphara Wertz of Mohrsville as Pretzel Bowl queen and 11-year-old-Lennon McMurry of Reading as king. Both are patients at Shriners Children’s Philadelphia.
“Today lets us focus on why we are Shriners,” said Greg Lewis, past potentate and directed of public relations for the Rajah Shrine. “To see these kids, it’s incredible. It really is.
“It means a lot to the guys to see the kids.”
Saphara is a fifth-grader who enjoys painting, coloring, drawing, swimming and making bracelets. She has been a patient at Shriners Children’s Philadelphia since she was 3, receiving treatment for arthrogryposis multiplex congevita, or AMC.
Her condition impacts her joints, which led her to be dependent on leg braces to walk until just recently. Thanks to her treatment, she is able to walk on her own and even run.
Lennon is a social butterfly with a big personality, according to his family. He enjoys Dragon Ball Z, Chick-fil-A, reading comic books and playing the saxophone.
He has been receiving treatment for the past year at Shriners Children’s Philadelphia for scoliosis.
An official tally for how much was raised during Saturday’s event was not immediately available. According to Lewis, the event has raised more than $3 million over its history.