West Central District

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Written by Rita Smith

On Aug. 22, the Exalted Ruler of Tampa Lodge, Rita Smith, dropped off a bag of costume jewelry to be used as prizes for bingo and other games at the Hillsborough County Barksdale Senior Center. The value of the donation was approximately $240 and was donated to the lodge by Jeanne Reinhart, PDD.

Pictured is Charles from the Barksdale Senior Center with the donation.

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Written by Rita Smith

Two members of Tampa Lodge volunteered to help Ms. Hand, a fellow Elk and the school sponsor for Club Chivalry, organize her classroom Aug. 4. Betty Orcutt, Past Lady President, and Doug Grant, lodge trustee, organized classroom decorations and several metal cabinets full of school supplies.

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Written by Rita Smith

On July 13, Tampa Elks Lodge #708 voted to award a $400 scholarship to Kristina Chowning, Ph.D. The scholarship will help her attend an invitation-only course to become a certified educational trainer, which means she will be certified to train other educators on the processes outlined in her recent doctorate dissertation. 

Pictured July 21 are Douglas Grant, five-year trustee; Dr. Kristina Chowning; and Camden Lynn, Leading Knight. 

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Written by Rita Smith

An Eagle Court of Honor for Troop 53’s Will Richter was held at International Moose Lodge 912. George Hilficker, Tampa Lodge’s House Committee Chair, presented him with the Elks Eagle Certificate. Richter did his Eagle project on MacDill Air Force Base (AFB) at the camping pavilion. The pavilion sits on a beach on Old Tampa Bay and had sustained some storm damage over the years. He led a team that rebuilt the fire pit, replaced some benches, rebuilt the roof of a wooden storage shed and pressure washed the concrete pavilion.

Pictured are Rich Jackson, Troop 53’s scoutmaster; Will Richter, Eagle Scout; and his mother, Karla Richter, who has just retired from active duty at MacDill AFB. Her son is the third Eagle Scout from Troop 53 this year.

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Written by Rita Smith

Tampa Lodge held its annual Flag Day ceremony June 14, with all the lodge Ritual officers participating. There were approximately 40 Elks, members of the community and scouts in attendance. Each received an American flag lapel pin. BSA Troop 53 assisted in the ceremony, showing up an hour early for a practice. The scouts did a great job presenting the flags at the proper time and in the proper order. Richard Florance, PER, Lodge Americanism Chair, read the mandatory Response. The ceremony was filmed and shown on Fox 13’s 11 p.m. news. Following the ceremony, lodge trustees served hot dogs, baked beans, macaroni salad, watermelon, cake, soft drinks and water, all at no cost to attendees.

Pictured are Rita Smith, Exalted Ruler, and scouts.

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Written by Rita Smith

Club Chivalry’s last event of the year was April 29. Member Tommy Moore and Rita Smith, Exalted Ruler, joined teacher/club sponsor Caroline Hand for the senior meal field trip to Fred’s in Riverview. They left the school at 9:30 a.m. with 13 seniors and arrived in time for the students to visit the breakfast buffet. When breakfast closed, they held a small ceremony to give out honor cords to the seniors who did four years of Avid classes, to the seniors who were Club Chivalry officers, and to the seniors who participated in Relay For Life and had $150 in fundraising. The students then went to the lunch buffet and were back at the school by 12:30.