Bring the Spirit….The Time is Now
BBQ Wagon
Just follow the sweet smoke and linger in the company of friends old and new.
Dictionary Project
Over 12,088,555 children have received a dictionary thanks to the generosity of sponsors who have participated in the Dictionary Project.
Scouting Project
The Elks are quite active with both the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) and Girl Scouts of America.
Elks Care, Elks Share!
BPOE Thousand Oaks Lodge #2477, serves Conejo Valley, Westlake Village, Agoura Hills, Moorpark and Camarillo. With membership spanning over 2,000 lodges across the country, the BPO Elks are one of the largest and most active fraternal organizations in the world! Committed to the ideals of charity and patriotism, the Elks have disbursed more than 3 billion dollars in cash, goods, and services to the nation’s youth, veterans, disadvantaged, and handicapped; as well as patriotic and civic programs. Moreover, the Order ranks as one of the largest private providers of college scholarships in the nation.
Thousand Oaks Elks Activities
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Charles Vivian The moving spirit for the Elks
It All Began With the Jolly Corks.Starting as as a group of actors and entertainers bent on having fun AND avoiding a New York Excise tax in 1867 (Sundays were the ‘dry’ day), this convivial group called themselves the Jolly Corks(for a clever trick with corks they performed on the uninitiated to win rounds of drinks).That same year as membership grew, some members saw the vision to become more helpful in the community. Alas, two feuding factions split the group over different philosophies. Fortunately, the latter faction moved forward with their new ideals and in February of 1868, the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks was chartered–and with a great new spirit and direction, began to help Veterans, Scouting, Scholarships and more–wherever Charity, Justice and Brotherly Love were needed!
Read the complete beginnings of the Elks.