PHOTO: COURTESY OF THE ELKS NATIONAL HOME
The Order acquired the Hotel Bedford, shown here sometime prior to its demolition in 1915– 1916, in a bankruptcy sale in 1902 and opened it as the Elks National Home in 1903.
were permitted to reside at the Elks National Home during the first ninety-five years of its existence, the Home has had both male and female residents since 1999. More Virginia Elks have lived in retirement at the Elks National Home during the course of its existence (a total of 501) than Elks from any other state. However, over the last 108 years, more than one hundred residents have come from each of eleven states: Pennsylvania, New York, Florida, Ohio, New Jersey, California, Indiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, West Virginia, and Illinois. Current residents of the Elks National Home hail from all across the United States, and those who come here soon learn that retiring to the Elks National Home means meeting people with all kinds of stories from all over Elkdom. Eugene Kosa, of the Beacon, New York, Lodge, for ex- ample, moved to the Elks National Home seven years ago. Gene is a retired high school math teacher. Peter Gorant, of the Lewistown, Pennsylvania, Lodge, is also a former teacher. Before moving to the Elks National Home, the men had never met, but at the Home, they discovered that they had taught school just two
T H E E L K S M A G A Z I N E
miles away from each other. “It’s a small world,” says Gene. Now the two men share a table in the dining room every day. Sheridan Besosa, of the Cape Henlopen, Delaware, Lodge, is
originally from Puerto Rico and holds the distinction of being the only resident of the Home who has lived there both as a child and as an adult. “During World War II,” Besosa explains, “sons of Elks living in
u Peter Gorant, of the Lewistown, Pennsylvania, Lodge, (left) and Eugene Kosa, of the Beacon, New York, Lodge, never knew one another before coming to the Elks National Home but now share a table in the dining room every day.
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PHOTO: COURTESY OF THE ELKS NATIONAL HOME
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