Charles City Elks Lodge celebrates 125th anniversary with a day of activities

By Travis Fischer, tkfischer@charlescitypress.com

It was a day of festivities out at Elks Lodge on Saturday, June 3, as the Elks club celebrated its 125th anniversary.

“Everything went great,” said Lodge #418 Exalted Ruler Jennifer Schwickerath. “We had a fantastic turnout.”

Kicking the day off with a youth fishing tournament, the Elks hosted a variety of activities for all ages. Competitive euchre and bags games were held in the afternoon while kids enjoyed balloon animals and face paint.

“I was really happy that we had so many families and kids show up since we had all those great activities going on,” said Schwickerath. “Everybody was having a lot of fun.”

Along with celebrating 125 years of service to the community, the festival also served as a recruitment drive to encourage community members to learn what the Elks club is about and consider joining up. Schwickerath said she doesn’t have a final count on new prospects yet, but is optimistic about bringing in a group of new members.

“I’m hoping we’ll get maybe half a dozen new members out of it,” she said.

Later in the evening, visitors enjoyed live music provided by local fan-favorite band “Som’r,” who performed into the night, taking a break after sunset as the lodge launched a fireworks show.

“The fireworks turned out fantastic,” said Schwickerath. “People were dancing even out to 11. It was a really good time.”

Next up on the Elks’ calendar will be the annual Flag Day ceremony, scheduled for 6 p.m. on Wednesday, June 14, in Central Park (or at the lodge in the event of rain). There they will have speakers talking about the history of the flag and its different iterations throughout the years.

In the meantime, Schwickerath is recuperating from the busy weekend of events and thankful for everybody that made their 125th Anniversary celebration a success.

“I’m so appreciative of everyone in the community that came out to see what was going on,” said Schwickerath. “I can’t thank my team out at the lodge enough. They really gave it all so we could have this good party.”