Sean C. Morgan
The Sweet Home Elks Lodge is no longer for sale.
Things have turned around, and lodge members have taken their building off the market.
A core group of members have stepped up and voluntered for all kinds of work around the lodge, located at the south end of Osage Street off Highway 20.
“Before, it was cold and dark,” said Exalted Ruler Ron Sharrah. “Now it’s warm and light.”
Volunteers have built new counters and woodwork throughout the lodge, rebuilding the main display and bulletin board, adding card tables and a new window in the game room, replacing old TVs with flat screens and much more. Lottery games can now be enclosed so children can now move around almost everywhere in the lodge during events. The exterior also was painted recently.
“We’re trying to name our lounge,” Sharrah said. “We have a bunch of suggestions.”
The winner will be picked the first of the year, he said.
“Everyone’s taking such an increase in interest that we didn’t have before in our lodge,” Sharrah said. “The lodge is not for sale. We put it up not because we wanted to. It takes a lot of money to maintain a building this size.”
The Elks Lodge didn’t have the participation from members to support the building, so it was looking for a smaller building. To maintain the lodge, it was constantly dipping into savings.
In 2009, “we started turning it around,” Sharrah said. The lodge was paying its bills from revenues in the lounge, kitchen and lottery.
Dues were saved, and repair funds that no one would touch during a time of uncertainty were freed to make repairs.
The lodge has gained 15 new members since April, Sharrah said. Membership is increasing, and delinquency on dues is decreasing.
“We’re thrilled,” Sharrah said. “We’re very proud of what this lodge has accomplished as a body.”
The lodge is still looking forward though, he said.
“We’ve never had a concerted effort to encourage new memberships,” Sharrah said. “We never had a membership drive.”
The Elks never needed to, he said. Now, more often than not, when Elks are out and about at events, they’re promoting the lodge and what it does and seeking members.
The aquatics advocates went up to the lodge to give a pitch to the Elks, Sharrah said. He told them, as with others, that the Elks’ activities should be a two-way street.
The Elks helps out with all kinds of charitable projects, including $1,000 to help keep the Sweet Home High School swimming pool open.
But to do this sort of work, the Elks needs members, he said. Parents of children on the swim team should consider becoming members to help strengthen a platform that can help their families.
Last week, the lodge donated $2,000 in shoes and school supplies to Sweet Home schools. It provides scholarships and cash for the Oregon Eye Clinic in Portland. It also helps those with hearing and speech impairments.
Children and veterans are the Elks two primary interests, Sharrah said. They contribute to veterans organizations every year, most recently providing a free Veterans Day dinner to veterans, with an attendance of more than 80.
“It’s tremendous what we can do because of who we are,” Sharrah said. The Elks has numerous committees that need people to help them complete their mission, which is to help the community.
“That’s our sole purpose to exist,” Sharrah said.
People don’t join for a variety of reasons, he said, and sometimes, people think they have to know someone.
“We have a whole bunch of people who would be happy to sponsor someone,” Sharrah said.
Membership is $98.15 per year, he said. The Elks have a one-time application fee of $25.
With that membership comes access to the lodge, which has a lounge, game room, fitness gym, a sauna and more, he said.
For more information about the lodge, contact Sharrah at (541) 231-7303 or the lodge at 367-3559.
The lodge is open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., and the lounge is open 3 p.m. to 10 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday, although someone is almost always present.