Influential grandparents honored in Philadelphia

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- Philadelphia honored ten local grandparents Tuesday in recognition of National Grandparents Week across the nation.

All of the honorees are leaders and role models in the city.

They represented 16,000 grandparents who reside in Philadelphia, influencing their communities and providing a foundation for their families.

With seniors representing a third of the nation's population, grandparents are making contributions to their communities that are worthy of celebrating every day.

Grandparents like former fire commissioner Lloyd Ayers.

"I remember my grandparents and the things that they taught me and the opportunity that I to have to work with my grandchildren. It's just fun," Ayers said.

Also honored today were Geneva Black, Sonia Collazo, Wilfreedo and Sonia Ganzalez, and Wilhamena Golden-Reeder who was a crossing guard for 29 years, but is now legally blind.

"It means a lot, Lisa. I am so happy. I'm proud that I'm here to accept this," Golden-Reeder said.

"They represent all that is good in traditional family values in terms of keeping their families close," Councilwoman Maria Quinones Sanchez said.

"It's a woeful reminder that if we're lucky enough, we can get to be grandparents, too," Councilwoman Blondell Reynolds Brown said.

Today's event was sponsored by Gateway Health.

"We want to make sure that they are awarded for what they are doing in the community," Carol Allen of Gateway Health said.

Among the honorees was Dorothy Kapenstein, Gloria and Praxedes Tirado, and former mayor W. Wilson Goode, who has two granddaughters.

"I text them every morning. I always close by 'I love you,' and they respond, 'I love you, Pop-Pop,'" Goode said.

The idea for Grandparents Day originated with a housewife in West Virginia. President Jimmy Carter made it official in 1978 and 36 years later, this week continues to recognize hundreds of thousands of productive grandmoms and pop-pops across the country.