Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks

The Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks had modest beginnings in 1868 as a drinking club (then called the "Jolly Corks") established as a private club to elude New York City laws governing the opening hours of public taverns. Early members were members of theatrical performing troupes in New York City. It has since evolved into a major American fraternal, charitable, and service order with over a million members, both men and women, throughout the United States. Current members are required to be U.S. citizens over the age of 21 and believe in God. Image File history File links Elkb. ... Image File history File links Elkb. ... 1868 (MDCCCLXVIII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar or a leap year starting on Friday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar. ... Nickname: Big Apple, City that never Sleeps, Gotham Location in the state of New York Coordinates: Country United States State New York Boroughs The Bronx Brooklyn Manhattan Queens Staten Island Settled 1613 Mayor Michael Bloomberg (R) Area    - City 1,214. ... United States citizenship is membership of the United States political system. ... This article discusses the term God in the context of monotheism and henotheism. ...

An interesting physical artifact of the order is the number of communal cemetery plots once favored by the group. Often these are marked with impressive statuary. Graves at Green-Wood Cemetery, Brooklyn, New York A cemetery is a place in which dead bodies and cremated remains are buried. ...

The headquarters of the Elks organization is located in Chicago Illinois at 2750 N. Lakeview Avenue. This is known as the Grand Lodge. Local Elks Lodges, also known as Subordinate Lodges, are located in many cities and towns across the United States and its territories.

A Grand Lodge Convention is held each year in a principal city in the United States. It is at this meeting that delegates from the Subordinate Lodges vote on the next new Grand Exalted Ruler. Other business, as deemed appropriate, is also conducted at the Grand Lodge Convention.

The local Elks Lodges are known by their Lodge number and the name of the city in which they are located. For example, the first Lodge, located in New York City, is Lodge 1, while the Lodge in Nashville, TN is Lodge 72. As of 2006, Elks Lodges number over 2100. When a Lodge is closed, its number is retired, but if re-instituted at a later time, the City Name and Subordinate Lodge Number can be reinstated by the Grand Lodge.

Due to the willingness of most Elk Lodges to respond to community needs and events, it is common to turn the BPOE abbreviation into a backronym for "Best People on Earth". A backronym or bacronym is a type of acronym that begins as an ordinary word, and is later interpreted as an acronym. ...

In popular culture

• In The Honeymooners, Ralph Kramden and Ed Norton are members of the Raccoon Lodge and in one episode they are both candidates to be voted the Raccoons' "High Exalted Mystic Ruler". This is likely a parody of the Elks and the Shriners as well as The Mikado.
• In The Flintstones, which takes much of its inspiration from The Honeymooners, Fred belongs to the Loyal Order of Water Buffaloes Lodge No. 26 with a "Grand Pooh-bah".
• In The Simpsons episode "Homer the Great", Abraham Simpson claims to be a member of the Elks.
• In Stephen King's The Dark Tower (2004 novel), Roland and Susannah come across a skeleton that is wearing a ring that identifies him as an Elk.
• In Scene Nine of How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, during the act "Brotherhood of Man", with the lyrics "Now, you may join the Elks, my friend, and I may join the Shriners".
• In Hunter S. Thompson's short 1990 essay "Tarred and Feathered at the Jersey Shore", included in his book Songs of the Doomed, he recalls of his time living in the abandoned coal mining town of Jersey Shore, Pennsylvania: "I had to join the goddamn Elks Club in order to get a drink there on weekends."

For the film, see The Honeymooners (2005 film). ... Logo of the Shriners The Shriners, or Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, are an Order appendant to Freemasonry. ... The Mikado, or The Town of Titipu, is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert, their ninth of fourteen operatic collaborations. ... The Flintstones, an American animated television series produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions, is one of the most successful animated television series of all time. ... For the film, see The Honeymooners (2005 film). ... Simpsons redirects here. ... Homer the Great is the 12th episode of The Simpsons sixth season. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Stephen Edwin King (born September 21, 1947) is an American author best known for his enormously popular horror novels. ... The Dark Tower is the seventh and final book of novelist Stephen Kings Dark Tower series, published September 21, 2004 (Kings birthday) by Donald M. Grant Publishers, and illustrated by Michael Whelan. ... How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying was a humorous book by Shepherd Mead. ... Hunter Stockton Thompson (July 18, 1937 – February 20, 2005) was an American journalist and author. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Jersey Shore is a borough located in Lycoming County, Pennsylvania. ...

External links

• Official website