Frankfort Lodge #530 distributed 677 dictionaries, bookmarks and drug awareness ribbons to every third grader in the Franklin County and Frankfort Independent School districts, along with Capital Day, Frankfort Christian Academy and Good Shepherd Schools. Pictured above is Ms. Cracraft’s third grade class from Collins Lane Elementary along with Loyal Knight Mark Ruble and Elk member Leigh Skaggs, who chairs the Dictionary Project at Frankfort Lodge.

The Dictionary Project was founded in 1995 by Mary French of Charleston, SC. Its primary focus is to promote literacy to children in third grade as they transition from learning how to read to identifying and using information. Over the course of the program, nearly 15 million third-grade students have received dictionaries including about 2.5 million dictionaries donated in 2009.

Elks joined this movement in 2004. Nationwide they have donated more than 1.2 million dictionaries to third-grade students and their teachers as sponsors of The Dictionary Project over the last 6 years. There are 600 lodges that actively participate in the program. Along with contributing to our communities, this project is also a part of the Elks National Drug Awareness Program.

Big thanks to Bill and Sandy Moore for their support and guidance, to Leigh Skaggs for chairing this very important project along with help from Mark Ruble and Charlie Cunningham.

On November 20, Frankfort Elks Lodge #530 initiated 13 new members. If you see someone new to the lodge, please introduce yourself and offer a welcome to being a part of the Best People On Earth! If you know someone who would make a great member, bring them down to the lodge and get an application from the bartender.

Pictured from left to right:
Aaron Lester, Beverly Lester, Katherine Stephanski, Justin Lafayette, Albert Becker, Derrick Baily, Tracy Young, David Clark, Sara Morgan, Melody Stephenson, Kim Hart Vanderoort, and Randall Robinson

For years now, the Frankfort Elks Lodge has taken time out on the day before Thanksgiving to help our local seniors in need. This year, as in the past, we delivered meals and gift cards to several needy seniors. The seniors were selected with assistance from the Franklin County Senior Citizens Center.

Pictured above is Frankfort Elks Lodge #530 member Kela Simpson (center), and her granddaughter Chloe Simpson (left), delivering two turkey meals and $50 Wal-Mart gift card to Claudia Younger. These gift cards help seniors purchase eesentials that they may otherwise not be able to afford. Not pictured above but also helping deliver was Frankfort Lodge member Sandy Moore.

Thanks to those members that helped make this possible for helping our lodge live out the Elks motto, “Elks Care, Elks Share.” Want to find out more about how you could help make our community a better place as part of the Elks? Talk to a member about joining, or visit our membership page!

There are many homeless veterans that need our help, especially with the winter months upon us. In an effort to help those vets stay warm and safe this winter, the Frankfort Elks Lodge recently delivered over $2,000 worth of new sleeping bags, long johns, winter boots, and sock hats to the Lexington VA Center Clothing Room. These items will be provided to the homeless veterans in Fayette and surrounding counties.

Pictured above making the donation are (L to R) VA Clothing Room Supervisor Ana Miranda, Elk members Sandy and Bill Moore, and Paula and Ricky Groves, and VA Volunteer Alfredo Miranda.

The Frankfort Elks Lodge provides help to veterans throughout the year. If you’d like to learn more about our efforts to help veterans, and how you can become a part of the great work that our lodge does, check out our membership page!

Elk members, our annual Elks Family Picnic is coming up on Saturday, August 26!

This year’s picnic will, as always, kick off with a golf tournament at Lakeview Springs. If you’d like to play, plan to be at the golf course by 8:30 AM. Teams will be formed, and the tournament will tee off around 9 AM.

The picnic itself will kick off around 11:30, when we’ll start serving food. As always, we’ll have inflatables for the kids to enjoy, cornhole boards, plenty to eat and drink, and more.

You can also expect our normal silent auction filled with fun items (if you have something to donate, bring it along!), as well as the live baked goods auction, so bring your sweet tooth!

We’ll see you at the Hancock Pavilion at Lakeview Park this Saturday!