L-R Renee Court, Lodge Chaplain, Marc Penz, Leading Knight, Bob Dyer, Past District Deputy, Mark Regan, Exalted Ruler, Tom Overman, Lodge Treasurer, Erynn Lowery, Lecturing Knight, and Louie Christie, Grand Esquire.
By Dave Warner
On Saturday afternoon, the Little Falls Elks Lodge #42 installed a new slate of officers to lead the organization for the following year.
The new Exalted Ruler for the Year is Mark Regan, who said people from five states and four lodges had come to witness the ceremony and thanked them all for coming.
“The Elks are two things. We’re a group of people that come together and have fun, carry on, shenanigans, and sing. We’re also a charitable organization. Charity means giving. That can be giving of time, mentoring, helping each other out, helping the food banks and food pantries, or scholarships,” he stated.
He continued, “One important thing that means a lot to all of us is a ceremony that we have around the U.S. at eleven o’clock. The lights are dimmed, and it’s called the 11 o’clock toast.”
The bell was rung, and the following words were read aloud by Leading Knight, Bob Dyer, “It is the hour of recollection. You’ve heard the tolling of eleven strokes. This is to impress upon you that with Elks, the hour of eleven has a tender significance. Wherever an Elk may roam, whatever their lot in life may be, when this hour falls upon the dial of night, the great heart of Elkdom swells and throbs. It is the golden hour of recollection. The homecoming of those who wandered, the mystic roll call of those who will come no more. Living or dead, Elks are never forgotten, never forsaken.”
