Elks leaders' portraits find new home

McCOOK, Neb. -- A collection of photographs of the exalted rulers of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks Lodge No. 1434, McCook, has been donated by the Elks to the Museum of the High Plains in McCook.

The collection is preserved now in a notebook, starting with W.C. Bullard's picture in 1922. It will be displayed at the museum alongside a framed drawing of the Elks building done by Kathy Grant, the daughter of Marshall Grant, who was exalted ruler in 1978-79. The drawing has been donated to the museum by Kathy's parents, Jean and Marshall Grant.

When each of the photographs was in a frame, they hung on the walls of the Elks Lodge in the 900 block of East Seventh. Stan Quigley, who is the last exalted ruler of the lodge, said the McCook lodge was chartered on July 13, 1922, and the first members met in the large, two-story white house across the street south of what is now Norris Park, at 611 Norris Avenue.

The lodge moved into new quarters on East Seventh in 1955, Quigley said. Dan Stramel, who was exalted ruler in 2004-2005, said the new structure was designed with a dining room and the lodge floor, and that the building was expanded twice.

Starting with 207 men in 1922, the McCook Elks grew to its largest membership of about 3,500 in the late-1960s to early '70s, Stramel said, and drew in men from throughout Nebraska and Kansas. The focus of the early membership's benevolence was what was called its "crippled children's program." The Elks were very often involved in support of community projects, and helped to fund the college education of innumerable area high school graduates.

While the lodge became less active in later years, it still supported its community, said Roger Moreau, who was exalted ruler in 1993-1994 and has been secretary for the last four years. "The Elks has done many things for the community through the years, including the donation to the city of the Elks Park and tennis courts (located in the 500 block of West Fifth), and donating thousands and thousands of dollars to the construction of the new hospital (completed in 1974)," Moreau said

In 2004, the Elks building and surrounding property were sold to Perry Case, who, along with Steve Clark, (Elks exalted ruler in 1991-92) operated it as the Republican Valley Events Center.

The Elks continued to award college scholarships, and, Moreau said, most recently, donated to the creation of the new skate park in Bolles Canyon and to the operation of the Court-Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) program.

With Steve Clark's retirement from management of the events center, Case decided to donate the Elks building and surrounding property to McCook Community College. Case said, in November 2015, "We appreciate the college being able to work this facility back into the community. That has always been the goal."

The donation of the lodge building to MCC allows the Elks' legacy of benevolence, education and community support to continue.

Ryan Purdy, Mid-Plains Community College President, said at the presentation of the Elks property to the college, "This generous gift gives us the chance to look at upgrading technical programs, expanding degree options, athletic fields, extending partnerships with business and industry as well as enhancing and building on educational partnerships with the public school system in the form of career academies."

Moreau said the McCook Elks has not been dissolved, but its charter has been merged with the Cozad lodge. "This way, we don't lose our charter," Moreau explained. If someone, at some point, would want to restart an Elks lodge and club in McCook, it could retain the original lodge number, No. 1434, he said.

This is the list of exalted rulers since W.C. Bullard in 1922:

W.C. Bullard, 1922-1923; J.E. Kelley, 1923-24; E.F. Petersen Sr., 1924-35(and 1934-35); C.F. Dann, 1925-1926; H.H. Wollard, 1926-27; Ivan Collins, 1927-28; B.A. Dennis, 1928-29; Fred T. Hanson, 1929-30.

C.E. Hoyt, 1930-31; E.L. Bumpas, 1931-32; W. E. Haddock, 1932-33; E.F. Petersen, 1934-35; J.J. Rutt, 1935-36; R.H. McCann, 1936-37, 1937-38; W.R. Caine, 1938-39; A.M. Breland, 1939-40.

Harley Lofton, 1940-41; C.W. Morgan, 1941-42; Donald W. Gibson, 1942-43; L.H. Miller, 1945-46; W.K. Swanson, 1946-47; J.E. Anderson, 1947-48; C.T. Jewell, 1948- 1/2 year; Jack Molsbee, 1/2 year, -1949; Frank Salisbury, 1949-50.

J.T. Lilly, 1950-51; Thomas F. Colfer, 1951-52; Ray C. Langfeldt, 1952-53; Joe Rothmeier, 1953-54; Harry Drake, 1954-55; John Winston, 1955-56; Ivan Joy, 1956-57; Robert L. Kelley, 1956-58; Julian Calkins, 1958-59; Ervain J. Friehe, 1959-60.

Harold Lingle, 1960-61; Robert M. Bunstock, 1961-62; E.L. Bradshaw, 1962-63; Donald D. Shepherd, 1963-64; William A. Clifford, 1964-65; Ted Britt, 1965-66; Merle O. Confer, 1966-67; Robert S. Ault, 1967-68; Darrel Youngs, 1968-69; Dick Schneider, 1969-70.

Kenneth Foster, 1970-71; Donald Frick, 1971-72; W.C. Corrick, 1972-73; Bob Christie, 1973-74; Stan Quigley, 1974-75; James C. Carson M.D., 1975-76; Merritt Smith, 1976-77; Roger Taylor, 1977-78; Marshall D. Grant, 1978-79; Darrell W. Burke, 1979-80.

James A. Underwood, 1980-81; Jack Clark, 1981-82; Bob Trout, 1982-83; Robert Broomfield, 1983-84; Wayne Michaelis, 1984-85; Jack Bahl, 1985-86; Tom Bernard, 1986-87; Paul Fritsche, 1987-88; Don Schamel, 1988-89; Kent Osterhoudt, 1989-90.

Dennis Youngs, 1990-91; Steve Clark, 1991-92; Ron Perkins, 1992-93; Roger Moreau, 1993-1994; Barry Kohl, 1994-95; Bill Marshall, 1995-96, 1996-97; Chuck Beard, 1997-98; John Zlomke, 1998-99.

Wayne Bryant, 2002-2003; Doug Frank, 2003-2000; Dan Stramel, 2004-2005; Stan Quigley, 2010-2015.