Stavely Elks #112
The Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks Canada was founded on
December 27, 1912 with the institution of Vancouver Elks Lodge No. 1.
The influence of Elkdom quickly moved across the Dominion. Alberta’s
first premier, the Right Honorable A.C. Rutherford served as Grand
Exalted Ruler in 1917. Right Honorable R.B. Bennett joined Calgary
Lodge No. 4 in 1929, one year before becoming Prime Minister of
Canada.
The Stavely Elks Lodge was instituted on July 17, 1925 and was active
until 1942-45 when it became inactive during the war years. In 1945 a
meeting was held and the lodge was restarted. It continued to grow
reaching a high of 304 members in 1980. We presently have 176
members and are the largest lodge in Canada outside the major cities.
Members generally come from the M. D. of Willow Creek, but we also
have members from High River, Calgary, Grande Prairie, and even as
far away as Vancouver. These far away members are usually people
that joined while living in or around Stavely and have just retained
their membership over the years. We guess they do this so that when
they come back to Stavely to visit they can come out and attend a
meeting or if it is a supper meeting they can enjoy an excellent meal
with a number of friends.
It is worth to note that every year we have a new leader and have only
“recycled” an Exalted Ruler twice since 1945. The last time that a
member was Exalted Ruler for two years was 43 years ago in 1962.
The Stavely Elks held their first New Year’s Eve Dance in 1925 and it
continues to the present time. Santa Claus first assisted the Stavely
Elks to present candy bags to the kids on December 22, 1925 which
we still do to this day at the School Christmas Concert. The Stavely
Elks started the first annual kiddies picnic in the summer of 1928 at
Willow Creek Park and continues it today at Centennial Park in the
town of Stavely.
The Elks were instrumental in building a covered curling and skating
rink in 1927/28 and, when it burnt down in 1958, helped with funding
and volunteered time for separate covered buildings in 1959. The
skating rink/arena was renovated in 1975 to include artificial ice, and
1980 with new dressing rooms and lobby renovations (with monetary
help form the Elks). Sadly in 1983, it burnt down again. Undaunted
the Elks stepped up and helped with money and many volunteer
hours to build yet another new arena in 1984. In 2002 the ice surface
was expanded and the Elks contributed once again to this worthwhile
project.
Our Motto and Vision:
The Elks Motto is: “Promoting and Supporting Community Needs”
The Elks Vision Statement is: “To be the most progressive family
focused organization in Canada. Meeting community and member
needs and expectations.”
To learn more, please visit the following links:
