On Feb. 18, Merritt Island Elks Lodge #2650 held a combined awards dinner for the winners of the Americanism essay contest and the Drug Awareness poster and essay contests.

The theme of the Americanism essay contest was “What Does It Mean to Love Your Country?” The essay word limit was 300. A judging committee of Ralph Gordon, Rod O'Connor, Jim Gregg, David Crocket, Lynn Brooks and June Horgan evaluated each essay for originality, development of theme, and mechanics and neatness. Division I (fifth and sixth grades) did not have any entries but four winners were selected in Division II (seventh and eighth grades).

The theme for the Drug Awareness contests was “The Better Me Is Drug Free.” The poster contest was for third through fifth grades and the essay contest was for sixth through eighth grades. The lodge contacted all Merritt Island schools (Audubon, Mila, Jefferson, Tropical, Edgewood, Lewis Carroll, Merritt Island Christian, Stevenson and Brevard Private Academy) and provided direction to get teachers and students involved.

Pictured in the middle row are Ralph Gordon, Exalted Ruler; Danin Horton, Americanism first place; Devin Schylaske, Americanism second place; Mathew Hosmer, Americanism honorable mention; and Emma Dixon, Americanism third place. Ken Hill, Americanism Lodge Chair, is in the back left. At the end of the middle row is Maddalyn Tonhauser, Drug Awareness essay first place. In the front row are Eme Walter, Drug Awareness poster second place, and Lana Delaney, Drug Awareness poster first place. Ernie Tonhauser, Drug Awareness Lodge Chair, is in the back right.