The Elks Fort Walton Lodge 1795 will celebrate its 75th anniversary Saturday at its waterfront location on Okaloosa Island, marking three-quarters of a century of community service and charitable giving in the area.

• The lodge was chartered on July 13, 1950, starting with approximately 40 members in Fort Walton Beach before relocating to its current property at 1335 Miracle Strip Parkway SE in January 1961. Today, the organization boasts 1,489 members and has become a significant contributor to local charities and community programs.

“A lot of folks think we’re just a social club on the water, and we have a multimillion dollar property, but we really aren’t,” said Taz WrightReynolds, Chair of the Board of Directors. “We’re not a club, we’re a fraternal organization. Elks Care. Elks Share.”

WrightReynolds emphasized the lodge’s unique location, calling it “the best Elks Lodge property in the entire United States of America, especially this side of the Mississippi River and south of the Mason-Dixon line.”

The lodge’s charitable efforts center around the Florida Elks Children Therapy Services, funded through the Harry-Anna Trust Fund established in the 1920s. The program employs 17 therapists who provide free physical and occupational therapy to children in their homes throughout northwest Florida’s 18th district, which covers from Pensacola to Tallahassee.

“Some of these families are families whose insurance has run out or their insurance doesn’t cover it,” explained Jamie Clemons, the lodge’s secretary. “We start at infancy and work our way up, and the therapists will stay with that child until that child is good enough to be on their own and mom and dad can handle taking care of them.”

• The Harry-Anna Trust Fund also supports the Florida Elks Youth Camp in Umatilla, sending 94 children annually from the northwest Florida district for a week-long camp experience. The program targets underprivileged families with children ages 9-13, providing outdoor activities, meals, lodging and equipment they might not otherwise afford.

“We saw a lot of underprivileged families sign up this year,” Clemons said. “We try to gear towards families who don’t have funds to send them to local camps. These kids need to get off the street and we try to get the word out that we’ll take them.”

Locally, the lodge distributes $25,000 to $35,000 annually to area schools, supporting sports programs, speech and debate teams, drama clubs and cheerleading squads. Their contributions extend throughout the Fort Walton Beach area and now include Destin High School since that city no longer has an active Elks lodge.

“Over the past decade, we have given to pretty much almost every single school within the Fort Walton Beach area,” WrightReynolds said, noting his personal connection to the lodge’s sports sponsorship dating back to the 1970s when he played youth baseball wearing an Elks cap.

Recent charitable recipients include Caring and Sharing Food Bank, PAWS animal shelter, and One Hopeful Place. The lodge has also supported the Hope Squad teen mental health initiative from its inception three years ago.

• “We have been with them from the beginning,” WrightReynolds said about the Hope Squad. “We give a nice donation to help that organization run.”

The lodge supports first responders and veterans through various programs, including the Army of Hope Fund, which provides financial assistance to military families facing hardships during deployments. 

The lodge’s founding members included John C. Beasley, who served as the first Exalted Ruler and for whom Beasley Park was named, and Luther Clary, the first Leading Knight. Judge Erwin Fleet, member number 103 when initiated in November 1950, remains the longest-living member at 97 years old and has maintained his membership for all 75 years without missing a payment.

• “He wrote me a little note last year,” Clemons said about Fleet. “He said, ‘I can’t thank you enough for thinking of me. Just want you to know I’m with you and I hope you guys continue to keep moving in the direction you’re going.'” The lodge plans to present Fleet with a special citation during Saturday’s celebration.

Marcia WrightReynolds currently serves as Exalted Ruler, making her only the second woman to hold the leadership position in the lodge’s 75-year history. Women were first allowed to join the organization in the late 1990s.

“It’s very exciting and very humbling,” she said about leading the organization during its anniversary year. “I think it’s just a wonderful time to be celebrating the Elks.”

The WrightReynolds represent another lodge milestone as the first husband-and-wife team to serve as Exalted Rulers at different times in the organization’s 75-year history.

The lodge has experienced remarkable growth in recent years, particularly attracting younger members. The average member age has dropped from 74-75 years in 2007-2008 to 62 currently, with the youngest member being 24 years old. The organization initiates 10-15 new members monthly and “hasn’t had an empty month in a couple of years,” according to Clemons.

• “We’re growing in younger members,” Taz WrightReynolds said. “What they finally realize is that there is something here for them and their families, and that they can have a good time.” He attributed the success to the lodge’s welcoming attitude toward different age groups and their ideas.

Clemons observed the intergenerational appeal. “When I watch some of the older folks come in, they’re taking it all in. They’re watching all the fun, the activities, the children out back playing, the family oriented side. They’re seeing that and seeing what they’ve helped this organization grow to be.”

The original two-room facility has expanded significantly over the decades. The current building features a large ballroom seating 250-300 people, a smaller ballroom, commercial kitchen, game rooms with pool tables and darts, and social areas. Outdoor amenities include a tiki bar, covered seating areas, a bandstand created from part of an old charter boat donated from Destin, and a 100-foot dock on Choctawhatchee Bay.

The lodge accommodates visiting RV travelers with four hookup sites providing electric and water service. “We have numerous members from all over the country that come here and they stop at our lodge,” WrightReynolds said. “That’s one of the things Elks like to do when they RV, is visit.”

Saturday’s anniversary celebration will be a members-only event featuring live entertainment throughout the day. “This is going to be a huge celebration,” WrightReynolds said. “This is a give back celebration to our 1,500 members and families.”

• The event will feature Paradise Bayou performing during the afternoon, followed by Vegas-style acts from Orlando in the evening. 

The Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks traces its origins to 1863 in New York, when a group of actors from England formed the organization to provide mutual support and assistance to members’ families in times of need. The group voted by a narrow 9-8 margin to adopt the elk as their symbol rather than the buffalo.

“If they had not voted to be an elk, we would’ve ended up being a buffalo,” WrightReynolds noted with amusement, referencing The Flintstones’ Water Buffalo Lodge.

The Fort Walton Beach lodge operates under the national organization headquartered in Chicago, which oversees more than 2,000 lodges across the United States.