Although it was originally opened as a retirement home for indigent Elks, the Elks National Home today houses residents who are self-supporting and enjoy a beautiful, safe, fun environment with a highly dedicated staff.
Although it was originally ope
HE Annotated Stat- utes of the Order, sec-
tion 14.010, states, “A Member of the Order cannot be a Mem- ber of more than one Lodge at the same time.” However, there is one place where this doesn’t exactly hold true—the Elks National Home and Retirement Center, in Bedford, Vir- ginia. Every Elk who moves into the Order’s retirement home au- tomatically becomes a member of the Home’s unchartered “lodge” while maintaining membership in his or her actual lodge. Member- ship, as they say, has its privileges, and retiring among friends at the Elks National Home has been a privilege of Elkdom for more than a century.
An Institution
The establishment of the Elks Na- tional Home as a place where impover- ished, elderly Elks could be supported by their subordinate lodges and the Grand Lodge was first recommended at the Grand Lodge Session in 1901.
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in 1915–1916 and replaced by parts of the current facility, which were dedicated on July 8, 1916. Since the Home’s in- ception, about 4,200 Elks from all fifty states, the District of Columbia, and American terri- tories have chosen the Elks National Home as their permanent address. Al- though the Order still helps support the Home by collecting a one dollar annual assessment from each member; today, unlike years ago, all the residents of the Elks Na- tional Home are self-supporting.
Aneeta Brown
The following year, the Order acquired the Hotel Bedford, in Bedford, Virginia, in a public bankruptcy sale and opened it as the Elks National Home in 1903. By 1911, however, it was apparent that something larger was needed, and the Grand Lodge made the decision to con- struct a new Home near the same site. Accordingly, the hotel was demolished
Retiring among Friends
Elks National Home Executive Di- rector and PER of the Arlington- Fairfax, Virginia, Lodge Dr. Ronald Plamondon says, “In the old days, mem- bers had to get approval from their local lodge before they could move into the Home. That’s not true today. We’re licensed for 230 residents, and we wel- come all retired Elks who are members in good standing.” Although only men
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PHOTO: COURTESY OF THE ELKS NATIONAL HOME
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