If you take a leisurely drive through Northwestern Lancaster County, you can’t help but come across Rte. 283. This stretch of highway is the main corridor between Harrisburg and Lancaster and is one of the most heavily traveled roads in the area. It also means that it is one of the messiest thanks to the debris of passing motorists. This piece of road also happens to pass right through Elizabethtown, which is home to Ubar Grotto. When the members learned that a portion of it was up for adoption for litter control, the Prophets jumped at the chance to help the community (and get the Ubar name on a road sign.)
On Saturday, September 15, 2012, 6 members of Ubar Grotto met near an exit of Rte. 283 and completed the first highway cleanup sponsored by the Grotto. Pro. Abe Shaffner, Highway Cleanup Coordinator, pulled the group together and led them as they picked up trash along a two mile stretch of road on both sides of the busy four lane highway. A non-scientific count showed more than 30 bags of litter and debris were filled thanks to the hard work of Ubarians.
While it may not have been a chain gang that cleaned up the road, it was certainly a Masonic “chain of union” that made the highways of the Commonwealth a bit tidier this fall.
