Danbury Elks Club Reinvents Itself While Clinging To Traditions

DANBURY, CT — Elks Club lodges pretty much define volunteerism, it's what they're built for, it's what they do. Since its inception in 1868, the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks has grown to include nearly 1.2 million men and women in almost 2,200 communities.

Ray Ward first joined the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks in 1981, and was active for six years, before stopping to raise his family. He re-upped 30 years later. Now he is the Exalted Leader of Danbury Lodge #120, one of 31 lodges in Connecticut. He's been the top Elk since April.

For the Danbury Elks, as for everyone else, it's been a bumpy six months.

"COVID changed everything," Ward said.

Money that lodges collect from members comes back to them in the form of grants from the Elks National Foundation. The lodges then gift these endowments to local organizations. The ENF currently has more than 100,000 active donors and an endowment fund valued at $704 million, according to its website. Most recently, Lodge #120 gave grants to the Ridgefield Food Pantry and Amos House, which assists homeless women and their families in Danbury. The lodge typically applies for, and disburses, 6-7 grants a year.

In addition to dues, that money is collected from pasta dinners, "hoop shoots" and other events, all organized by Elk volunteers. They've had to cancel some of those events recently due to lack of interest and an insufficient number of those volunteers. Only four people signed up for their last pasta dinner. The Danbury lodge has an on-paper membership of 297, but Ward estimates that only about 30 are what he would call "active."

Elks Lodge #120 closed at the outbreak of the coronavirus, and reopened "softly" in May, Ward said, but there is nowhere near the normal level of pre-pandemic activity. It doesn't help that the average age for a Danbury Elk is 63, making that average Danbury Elk understandably COVID-skittish.

Truth to tell, volunteerism at fraternal orders such as the Elks was on the wane pre-pandemic.

"This is what happened: there are now other things to do. Families are now being run by the kids, and they are constantly on the go," Ward said. "Young families are not going to put the time into an Elks Club or a Knights of Columbus or any of those fraternal organizations."

Local volunteer fire companies and emergency medical services are hurting for the same reason, according to the Elk leader.

"We desperately need 20-somethings, 30-somethings, to carry the message into the next generations," Ward said. He's a "legacy" Elk, joining the organization at age 21 and following in his grandfather's footsteps, just as his own 23-year-old daughter is now following in his.

"It really has to come from within, and be a family thing," said Ward, a teacher.

Absent that, Danbury Lodge #120, located at 36 Sugar Hollow Road, has had some success drawing young people in with a few concerts.

"And while they're here, some will say, 'What're the Elks all about?'" The membership, of course, is happy to break it all down for them.

Ward is a savvy marketer, he knows the importance of defining and reinforcing his organization's brand. It's just that he's pushing the best steaks in the world in an age when everyone is turning vegan. Another tent-pole tenet of the organization is patriotism.

"You got kids today... a 14-year-old kid in Waterbury would not stand and respect the flag during the Pledge of Allegiance," Ward said. "He felt it was against his 'Constitutional right.' What, are you kidding me?"

The Elks are one of the few fraternal organizations to still hold a Flag Day ceremony. This year, Lodge #120 enlisted members of the Civil Air Patrol to assist. They've cancelled their annual autumn dinner for area veterans due to coronavirus concerns, and are instead focusing their current efforts on Wreaths Across America. That's a national effort that coordinates wreath-laying ceremonies at more than 2,100 locations across the United States

Hammered, but still hopeful, Ward believes "the pendulum will swing the other way. It's just going to take time."