Ritual Chair
Jessica Mitchell, Harrisburg #1058
The Ritual Contest Poem
Manuals for Download
The text for Ritual Competition :
Ritual items for your additional your memorization:
Members all-
Another Grand Lodge Convention has come and passed. This marks the Elks year being ¼ of the way over and the calendar year half-way through. Incoming District Deputies have been installed and a fresh batch of PDDGERs are now enjoying their time off! I hope those of you that made the journey enjoyed the fellowship, conducted your business accordingly, made it home safely, and maybe even learned a thing or two. 😉
As with all things Ritual, I had the immense pleasure of shadowing Missouri Elks Associations Ritual Committeeman, Clif McDonald, while he conducted the State portion of the National Ritual competition in Kansas City. I have lots of ideas on how I want to make Chicago a bit smoother, but for the most part it ran like a well-oiled machine. And those teams!…… I’m telling you, if you ever get the opportunity to watch….GO WATCH the final 4. It will give you chills. I was presented with the privilege of acting as Contest Tiler for Reno NV lodge #597. I made so many new friends and learned so much about how other states operate regarding Ritual. I’m sure it will be argued that I didn’t need anymore of a reason to be excited about Ritual. 
You all have seen my shenanigans at the state meetings, BUT that was the spark I needed to come back to you all. I would LOVE to see Illinois back in the mix of all of this. I know we have Lodges out there that could do this. Does it take time and dedication?….Absolutely…..Is it worth it? Ask Carthage, NY #1762, Reno, NV #597, Santa Clarita, CA #2379 or Kenton, OH #157. The difference between 1st and 2nd…….a mere 0.0121! Seeing the pride in their officers, the cohesiveness of the officers, the discipline, the dedication, the drive to do a good job was just magical.
Think one step further….if YOUR officers could be that dedicated to the Ritual, how would your Lodge operate differently in general for the better? If your Officers became a TEAM and not just placeholders for the year, how would that affect the overall day to day operations of your Lodge? And not only that, but understanding Officer rotation, it would help your Lodges to understand expectations. I guarantee you your membership would notice. Would it happen overnight? Absolutely not. Would it be worth it in the long run?…..I believe so.
Fun fact I learned about Reno, NV #597, while their Officers won’t be installed for their new positions until March 15-April 15th per 12.010 of the Annotated Statues of the Order they will still begin memorizing their NEXT station as soon as Ritual is completed and will begin weekly practices as early as January so that they are prepared, polished and ready to compete for their state competition with intentions of being ready to compete at Grand Lodge in late June/early July. THAT’S DEDICATON! These members are no different than us in Illinois. How do we get that fervor back in our state? How do we inspire our Officers to excel to that level? These are the things I’m trying to figure out, so that as State Chair I can help bring that passion, that desire, that drive for excellence back into our Ritual program.
With that said, I want everyone to give Jacob Cowger of Effingham Lodge #1016 a huge round of applause and appreciation for representing IL in the 11 o’clock toast. We appreciate the support in keeping all things Ritual alive and well. It made me so proud. I look forward to seeing all ERs and PERs compete for this prestigious award next year. Rules and requirements for Grand Lodge competition can be found here: https://www.elks.org/grandlodge/ritual/NationalToastContest.cfm or pages 6-7 of the Ritualistic Manual attached. Additionally, John Tucker has graciously put this information on our State website, located here: https://illinoiselks.org/iea-ritual/
As you all know, we did not have anyone compete in the Flag Charge this year. I’d be lying if I didn’t tell you that stings my soul a touch. Similarly to the 11 o’ clock toast the only requirement is that you are an ER or PER to compete. Please consider competing at our January state meeting. Information can also be found in the Ritualistic Manual attached, or at the Illinois website referenced above.
Additionally, I’m confirming with Ray, but I believe there is nothing stopping you on the state level from competing the year after you have won either the 11 o’clock toast or the Flag Charge. The ONLY stipulation I can find is on the GRAND LODGE LEVEL. You cannot compete on the Grand Lodge level once you have won GRAND LODGE. So, if that’s the case, I expect to see all past State Winners back in the mix in January. If I am misspeaking, I have NO Doubt that Ray will correct me and I will issue an amendment…..until or unless that happens…this is the stance I am taking.
For all Ritual manuals available for easy download, please refer to this site. Note, you must be an Elks member login info to access elks.org mermbership section. Signing up is easy creasy. You just need to have your membership card on hand (unless you know your membership #) in order to do so. https://www.elks.org/grandlodge/ritual/manuals.cfm
All this said, I am starting to see a slow burn begin in our state as far as bringing Ritual back. I want to thank those of you who have reached out to me with questions, comments, and compliments. I cannot do this alone. It’s going to take the 60+lodges we have in the state to make this work. With that said, I am looking for one of the “middle” Districts to help me out and perform an initiation at the January meeting for the Leading Knights UNLESS we can get a lodge who really wants to try and compete at Nationals…….I REALLY REALLY REALLY want us to get back to having a State Ritual competition.
Those who have been the last couple of years to the January session of Leading Knight training know that my lodge, Harrisburg #1058 started this tradition 2 years ago in light of us losing interest among lodges for Ritual. Des Plans #1526 took charge and lead the way for the North last year. I’m not asking that anyone performing be National Competition ready…..although I do hope we eventually get to that point. I simply want to show the Leading Knights the EFFORT. I want to inspire them to desire to continuously improve and do better so that they continue to do better for and by their incoming members.
I will update everyone with January State Competition in the next Quarterly report out after the September State meeting at the Crown Sept. 25-28. I will have information available for the 11 o’clock toast competition, Flag Charge and Ritual available at that time. Please consider swinging by the Ritual room during that Session so you can take information back to your Districts and Lodges.
Remember, Excited Elks Excel!