Killarney Guide

BY KIM LANGEN

Members of a local service club were somewhat amazed recently after they added up some numbers – and made it to a million.

It turns out that the Killarney Elks #238 have compassionately handed out $1 million in donations to community causes since their inception way back in 1937.

“When we heard, it was a little overwhelming,” said Marilyn Lamb, an Elks member for 15 years, and the current publicity manager and treasurer for the Killarney charity. “I think everyone was pleasantly surprised. We discovered this when we were going through the books a few months ago, and we were calculating how much had been donated since 1937, the year we started here. And it was a million dollars.”

The Elks sponsored the annual Elks Provincial Bonspiel here at Killarney’s Shamrock Centre, from Friday to Sunday, January 11 to 13. 

Elk lodges around the province take turns to host the bonspiel each year, said Lamb, and it’s also a great time to meet and mingle with other members.

“We had nine rinks, from Killarney, Altona, Elkhorn, and Carberry,” said Lamb. “And we had a banquet at the Legion Hall on Saturday evening. That’s when the Exalted Ruler for the Altona Elks, Guy Mullen, presented us with an award of recognition to commemorate the million-dollar-mark. We are going to have it framed, and hung in the Elks Lounge at the Shamrock Centre.”

The Ninga Café ladies served up a roast beef dinner, with great desserts, she added, and 55 Elks sat down together for the wonderful meal. 

The Killarney Elks membership numbers run at just 40 people these days. The group would love to see some new faces pop up at their meetings, especially younger ones that can help them carry on with the fine work 
they do.

And if you love helping kids, and your community, it might prove a good fit, said Lamb.

“For me it’s all about the betterment of the community, and the lives of youngsters,” she said. “We help with providing hearing aids for children, we have donated to the playground, to the hospital, and we help in situations with fires, and with bereavement. A big part of our overall mandate is speech and hearing. But to continue to be successful, and to do the things we want to do, we need new people – people who want to help their community.”

To find out more about the Elks and the charitable work they do, and what joining them might be like, you can contact Marilyn Lamb at 204-523-8388. You can also call the Killarney Elks Exalted Ruler, Delores Mason, at 204-523-8588.

MARKING A MILLION DOLLARS – After hearing the news that the Killarney Elks Lodge #230 had recently surpassed a million dollars in donations to local causes and kids since 1937, the Altona lodge decided to create an award of recognition for the gang. Holding it (left) is Guy Mullen, Exalted Ruler with the Altona Elks, as he hands it over to Delores Mason, Exalted Ruler for the Killarney Elks, on Saturday evening at the Legion Hall.