Georgie Stevenson Memorial

You maybe asking, "Who was Georgie Stevenson?"

Let me tell you a little about him. Georgie became ill at a tender age of six. His leg and foot became weak and turned to the side. Georgie made many trips to A.I.Dupont in Delaware and Children's Hospital in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He was in the hospital from one week to, as long as, six months at a time on some of his trips and had eleven major surgeries and two minor surgeries. Georgie was found to have spinal cancer. He had to go two hundred miles a day five days a week for two years for treatment. It was not unusual to see Georgie in the hospital walking the halls, pushing a stroller with a child in it while both of them were attached to I.V. poles, and receiving chemotherapy. Georgie's dream was to become an Evangelist. All during his six years of illness, Georgie helped raise money for ill children and adults. His favorite saying was, "I might not have what they have, but I know what hurting is and I must help those who are less fortunate than me." Georgie was on TV, talk radio, and numerous newspapers and magazines all over the country. He would often come home from the hospital and go out on his cane and wearing his braces to pray for older people and had many calls from people just for an encouraging talk. Georgie did more good in his short lifetime than most of us will do in many years on this good earth. Georgie battled cancer for six years before he lost his battle at age 12. Before passing, he asked his parents to carry on his work. He also, for his work, was named Citizen of the Year in 1978 by The Optimist Club and received a citation from The House of Representatives. Georgie had one of the largest funerals ever in Pottsville. Pennsylvania. He had twenty-nine honorary pallbearers and forty-nine cars in his funeral. Most of the pallbearers were people he worked with in his fund raising efforts, including Mayor and Council of Palo Alto, Pennsylvania. The Georgie Stevenson Memorial has many ways of raising money. Our biggest event is The Georgie Stevenson Memorial Stock Car Race held at NASCAR's Big Diamond Raceway in Minersville, Pennsylvania. This race is held every July.