Joining a service organization can bring personal satisfaction and help your community.
Elks, Lions and Moose are more than just animals: They’re also three fraternal organizations bound together for social, literary, religious, philosophical, athletic or philanthropic purposes. In the North Bay, these groups have made significant positive impacts on their communities over the years.
The Chinese are credited with the first beneficent fraternal organization (in the form of burial societies). Later, Greeks and Romans fostered fraternal societies with similar burial benefits. Jump forward to the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and one of the primary sources of health care and health insurance for the working poor in Britain, Australia and the United States were fraternal societies. As recently as 1920, more than one-quarter of all adult Americans were members of such groups.
In the United States and Europe, fraternal organizations still exist in full force. Three of them that have managed to flourish over the decades are the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks (BPOE) of the United States, Lions Club International and Loyal Order of Moose International. All three have in their mission the commitment to community service.
In 1868, the Elks had modest beginnings as a social club for actors and entertainers ; the organization, called the Jolly Corks, was established as a private club to elude New York City laws governing the operating hours of public taverns. When the unexpected death of a member left his wife and children without income, the club took up additional service roles, rituals and a new name. In February 1868, the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks was chartered and, with a new spirit and direction, began to help wherever charity, justice and brotherly love were needed.
But why the name “Elk”? According to the organization’s history, the name was selected because elk (the animal) have many attributes that are valued and emulated by members of the fraternity. A distinctively American animal, elk habitually live in herds. They’re fleet of foot and graceful in movement; quick and keen of perception; and, while it’s usually gentle and even timorous, it’s strong and valiant in defense of its own.
Founded as an all-male fraternal order, in 1990, the organization officially began to include women. The Elks motto is, “The faults of our members we write upon the sand, their virtues on the tablets of love and memory.” The principals upon which it’s based—charity, justice, brotherly love and fidelity—speak to the group’s mission to strengthen communities through selfless service.
Today, with approximately 2,000 lodges throughout the United States (there are no lodges outside the states), the organization is providing charitable services that help build stronger communities. Its major charity, the Elks National Foundation, is one of the largest grantors of scholarships in the United States. The California – Hawaii Elks Association, Inc. (CHEA), has been serving children with disabilities since 1950. “Among other things, CHEA provides services that include free access to occupational therapists for children of families who couldn’t otherwise afford it,” says Exalted Ruler Wayne Wilson, who’s been a member of the Elks for the past eight years. Other provided services include preschool vision screening, speech and language pathologists and occupational therapy.
According to Wilson, there are close to 1.3 million Elks nationwide (after a 50-year decline in membership, the group saw a slight increase in the past year). The Petaluma Elks Lodge, one of the oldest clubs in the Northwest district, was founded in 1904 and has more than 1,100 members. The Lodge meets twice per month and host regular events, including dinners every Friday night. The group helps raise money for many local causes, most recently including the Petaluma Music Festival, which provides musical instruments for local schools; Project Graduation, the local safe grad night program in Sonoma County; Mentor Me, which provides children with one-to-one relationships with caring adult role models from the community; and the Cypress School, a provider of special education services for children with autism and other developmental disabilities .
Nationally, Elks take pride in helping American veterans through its Veterans Service Committee, which focuses on how it can best serve returning veterans. Local Elks also provide resources for the Veterans Home in Yountville, along with helping fund the Rocca House in Petaluma, the first transitional housing project for veterans in Sonoma County (a joint effort by the city of Petaluma, HUD, the Veterans Administration and the North Bay Veterans Resource Center).
The Elks National Veterans Memorial and Headquarters in Chicago, Ill., was originally conceived as a memorial to the nearly 1,000 Elk brothers who were lost in World War I . The cornerstone was laid July 7, 1924, and the building was officially dedicated on July 14, 1926.
“The Elks are more than a fraternal organization,” says Wilson, “and belonging is a great opportunity to be able to perform charitable activities along with social activities.”
Lions Club International
The first Lions Clubs International began in the United States in 1917 when a group of independent clubs responded to an idea presented to them by a young Chicago insurance agent, Melvin Jones. His idea was to form a service group dedicated to fellow members without regard to politics, religion, race or personal interests. This was a departure from the trend current at the time, which was to form clubs basically with a commercial motive. Jones wanted to call the new organization “Lions,” because he was convinced the lion stood for strength, courage, fidelity and vital action.
In 1925, Helen Keller, an American educator who overcame the adversity of being blind and deaf and was one of the 20th century’s leading humanitarians, attended the Lions Clubs International convention. There, she challenged Lions to become “knights of the blind in the crusade against darkness.” The Lions accepted her challenge and, ever since, their work has included international preventable blindness programs and assistance with the visually impaired. In 1971, the Lions Clubs International board of directors declared June 1 would be Helen Keller Day. Now, every year, Lions Club International around the world implements sight-related service projects on Helen Keller Day.
At present, there are 46,000 Lions Clubs and more than 1.4 million members, making it the world’s largest service club organization. Northern California district governors oversee clubs spanning from north of the Golden Gate Bridge to Eureka, and east to Interstate Highway 5.
Deanna “Dee Dee” Byrne, president of the Santa Rosa Host Lions Club, has been affiliated with the Lions since the mid-1970s, when her mother, Nan Bardes, served as multiple district president and encouraged the young Byrne to become part of the Lioness Club. She’s been an active member of Lions since joining the Lioness Club in 2005 and was elected president in 2007. Byrne experienced the valuable contribution the Lions made to their communities, which inspired her to remain with them; she became president of the Santa Rosa Host Lions in 2013. “‘Lionism’ is the foundation of our organization,” says Byrne. “It’s a term used to mean ‘we serve,’ and service to the community is our highest priority.”
Northern California programs supported by the Lions include four main charities. Santa Rosa’s Earl Baum Center provides life skills education and training for the blind and sight-impaired. The Lions Clubs International Foundation (LCIF) provides grant funding to assist in developing and implementing large-scale humanitarian projects; these humanitarian grants help Lions expand their outreach and increase their impact to serve even more people in need of vision services and health care around the world. The Lions Eye Foundation performs eye surgeries for people who don’t have insurance. The newest program, according to Byrne, is the Lions In Sight program, which collects more than 15,000 used eyeglasses annually, completely refurbishes them and distributes them both locally and to impoverished countries around the world.
Byrne is also excited about her club sponsoring its first “Leo Club,” which was started at Maria Carrillo High School in Northeast Santa Rosa. She believes it will help teens get more involved in their community and gain a deeper understanding of the importance of giving back.
Byrne is encouraged by this—as far as she knows, it’s the only service club with a bilingual component. “Hispanics and Latinos have great leadership abilities and so many wonderful qualities. I want to get them involved and we wanted to sponsor the new club,” she says.
Molina was impressed with the Lions’ mission, “To empower volunteers to serve their communities, meet humanitarian needs, encourage peace and promote international understanding through Lions Club.”
“When I read that, I knew that the Spanish-speaking community would benefit,” she says. Her goal, along with Magda Retamoza, the chapter’s president, is to create a pilot club that will develop and implement a structure that can be replicated statewide for Spanish-speaking communities. The idea is to help individual members develop the skills needed to promote the principals of good government and mutual understanding—which, in turn, will help people understand the importance and benefits of community service.
Molina learned through creating the new chapter how supportive the Lions Club is to its members. To date, there are 25 charter members of the club. “It’s so that people speaking Spanish and English can interact with one another in a fun and engaging environment while serving the community,” she says.
One of the most fulfilling things Molina witnessed was the impact of providing more than 200 free vision screenings at local health fairs. “I felt I was doing something important for all members of our community, especially children and the uninsured, because vision is priceless,” she reports. According to Byrne, “That’s what Lions is all about: supporting one another and providing community service.”
Loyal Order of Moose International
Though the Women of the Moose (originally termed the Women of Mooseheart Legion) received formal recognition as a Moose auxiliary in 1913, they, at first, had little structure of their own beyond the chapter level. That changed in 1921, when James J. Davis (who was the first to suggest the organization should be caring for children in need, such as those who’d lost a parent or whose parent had become disabled) met and hired a remarkable woman named Katherine Smith.
They met when Smith, a tireless worker on the presidential campaign of Warren G. Harding, was appointed director of public employment upon Harding’s election. At the time, Davis was serving as secretary of labor.
When the 19th Amendment had granted women the right to vote in 1920, Smith (from Indianapolis), reasoned that women in politics would be a “growth market.” She served as the organization’s first grand chancellor for the next 38 years, until her retirement in 1964, at which point the Women of the Moose boasted 250,000 members. (It’s since grown to more than 450,000.)
The organization was founded in the 1888 as a men’s social outlet. Shortly after Davis joined in 1906, it was reinvented to include both men and women who set out to build a city (located in Illinois and called Mooseheart) to care for children across the United States. It’s now a family fraternity open to all people. The founders chose the Moose because, “He takes only what he needs, nothing more…yet for his great size and strength, he lives in peace with other creatures. The moose uses his size and power not to dominate but to protect, not to spoil but to preserve. He is a fierce protector, a loyal companion and a generous provider who brings comfort and security to those within his defending circle.”
According to Wehrmeister, the first Moose Club lasted only 16 years and was on the “verge of extinction” before Davis revived it. Following his suggestion to provide for children, the group restarted as a program for young tradesmen who would build a community for children who otherwise may be destitute. From 1906 to 1913, Davis traveled the country, talking about this concept. At the time, the organization had less than 300 members; by 1913, it had 400,000.
What evolved from this was the development of two important components of the Loyal Order of Moose and Women of the Moose. They built Mooseheart, which opened in 1913 and has housed as many as 1,000 children of all nationalities who are in need due to circumstances of death, divorce or despair (it currently houses about 300). The dues from membership support this facility as well as another, Moosehaven, which opened in 1922. Moosehaven is a city in Florida for elderly Moose members who wish to retire (at the age of 65 or older) and who’ve been members for at least 15 years consecutively.
Full circle
Membership and active participation in a community service club such as those profiled here can benefit both individuals and their communities. Most will provide the opportunity for satisfaction from accomplishing something worthwhile and the opportunity to meet new people, make friends and learn new skills.When you think of an Elk, Lion or Moose member, it’s important to see that they represent millions of hours of service and millions of dollars of donations that are supporting human beings in need, along with valuable and lasting social interaction.
Like an Animal
Animal symbols have many meanings and, according to Native American Totems & Their Meanings, individuals or groups are attracted to the energy of a certain animal. The three fraternal organizations in this article have included powerful animals in their names and created successful service organizations in the United States and abroad. In researching this story, I’ve found it interesting to look at these animals and what they might represent to these groups.
Elk: Strength and agility, pride, majestic, independence, purification and nobility
Lion: Family, strength, energy, courage, guardian and protector.
Moose : Headstrong, longevity, steadfastness and wisdom
National Headquarters
Visit each organization’s website to view chapters in your area.
Lions Clubs International
300 West 22nd St.
Oak Brook, IL 60523-8842
(630) 571-5466
Moose International
Supreme Lodge
155 S. International Dr.
Mooseheart, IL 60539
BPO Elks of the U.S.
2750 N. Lakeview Ave.
Chicago, IL 60614-1889
