Nina and Alan Kerner always knew they wanted to move to a retirement community in the northeast. While living on Long Island, New York, all their lives, they had always enjoyed spending their leisure time in Pennsylvania. Both having Masonic backgrounds, they also knew Masonic Village was the right place.
They moved to Masonic Village at Dallas in 2023 for its beauty and carefree living, as well as the many opportunities for Nina to continue volunteering.
“This was a lovely place to begin our retirement years,” Nina said. “It has truly become home. When we first arrived, I knew that I wanted to get involved in various activities, so I could meet people within the community and find out more about my new surroundings. We have made new friends and have been welcomed into this community with open arms.”
Soon after she arrived, Nina volunteered as co-chair of the Social Committee at Masonic Village and was also elected to the Executive Committee for a two-year term. She served as vice president in 2024 and president in 2025, with her term concluding the end of November.
“It is important to volunteer in the community if you can because it makes you feel so good to help others, to make them smile and offer a part of yourself to help another person,” she said. “I truly believe that it is indeed better to give than to receive.”
Nina enjoys public speaking and has served as emcee twice for Masonic Village’s annual community Veterans Day program and community Christmas party. She is also an officer with the Dallas Chapter No. 396, Order of the Eastern Star (OES).
“We serve our community by helping with blood drives, feeding the homeless and donating food and many other items to local families and our veteran groups,” she said of her OES chapter.
Nina was inspired to join OES more than six years ago, thanks to Alan, who is a 50-year Mason and OES member, as well as the fact that the couple owns a company, Happy Glass, which supplies OES emblematic regalia and jewelry. They travel to many Eastern Star Grand Chapter jurisdictions in the United States.
“I have had the good fortune to sit with many sisters and brothers who I would never have had the opportunity to meet unless I was a member,” Nina said. “It is a wonderful fraternal organization of women and men that fosters brotherly love through charity and helping the community.”
Volunteering isn’t a new interest for Nina, rather a renewed one. During her career in the insurance industry and as a member of the Insurance Professionals of Long Island, she helped raised several thousand dollars over the years for local charities, such as breast cancer research, Special Olympics, a domestic violence safe home and Toys for Tots.
“We can all make a difference in this world, no matter how big or small the gesture,” Nina said. “Random acts of kindness are so special. Saying ‘good morning’ to a stranger with a smile, checking on a neighbor, helping someone in any small way – it all matters.”
