Brigantine Elks Lodge …. ALL HANDS ON DECK !

Brigantine Elks Lodge
Brigantine Elks Lodge

 ALL HANDS ON DECK!

We’ve got work to do. I know many of you who have stopped by the Lodge have probably left saying to yourselves “this looks impossible”. Impossible you say? You don’t know what the word means. If you want to know what impossible is, you should have been here in the Spring of 1975 when we bought this property. All that was here was a big empty barn, 4 cinder block walls and a bare wood truss roof.

The was no heat, no running water, no lights except for a handful of pigtailed light bulbs hanging from two bare wires running the length of the building. Where the lounge is now was the boat hoist motor and winch and a machine shop where boat motors were repaired or rebuilt. The main hall was boat storage with big wooden sliding doors on either side.

Where the ceiling steps down and the service bar is, there was a wall enclosing a new boat showroom and a unisex head with just a hopper, no sink no nothing. Well, all 150 members got to work, working literally in 24/7 shifts for nearly a year and a half to make the place habitable and functional As work began to wind down on the original building, manpower was shifted to our first addition on the Bayshore Avenue side. We built the game room, entrance hall, front bathrooms, storage room and kitchen downstairs.

Upstairs the Lodge meeting room, Lady’s meeting room and offices for the Secretary and Treasurer were constructed. Nearly all this work was done by the members alone since we couldn’t hardly afford to pay outside help. Finally, on June 22, 1977 (my third wedding anniversary) the Lodge was formally dedicated, followed by a grand party that lasted until dawn the next day.

Today, with 781 members, what do you think we can accomplish? Remember, and I quote Admiral Coombs, founder of the Navy’s Seabees, “The difficult takes time, the impossible just takes a little longer.”

Bye, George.

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