Pompton Lakes, NJ 1895

Founded April 1953

THE POMPTON LAKES ELKS LODGE # 1895

Founded April 1953

The Pompton Lakes Elks Lodge #1895 was founded in April of 1953. Due to the initial large membership of 384 men, the Pompton Lakes High School auditorium was used to initiate the new members into Elkdom.

The first Elk's Lodge was located on the second floor of the Janel building on Hamburg Turnpike. Although this location was fine for most Elks functions, the location was difficult to access by handicapped children and adults.

Property on Perrin Avenue became available in 1955, and was ideal for the needs of the Elks. The property had much historic value and was used by General Colfax, as a site to raise livestock and horses for General Washington's Army. A stone house and a barn were built on the site. In later years a hotel and eventually Dr. Baer's Training Camp for boxers existed on this property. Many of the great names in boxing, such as Joe Louis, Ezzard Charles, Primo Canera and Joe Walcott trained there.

The Elks Lodge purchased the property on Perrin Avenue and the members quickly refurbished the buildings for meetings and fund raising activities to support the many charitable projects the Lodge had undertaken. The location was ideally suited for easy access for handicapped children and for visitors from the V.A. Hospitals. By 1972 the mortgage was paid and many functions for handicapped children were held on the premises. However, in 1976 the Main Lodge was gutted by fire. Undaunted, the members quickly renovated temporary buildings on site to continue their charitable programs. An ambitious program to build a new Elks Lodge ensued and a new building was dedicated at the current location on Perrin Avenue in 1979.

The Order of Elks is a Fraternal organization dedicated to Patriotic and Charitable activities on Local, State and National levels.

Locally, the Pompton Lakes Elks Lodge supports the Cerebral Palsy center in Clifton. Many of our members actively serve on the Board of Trustees of this facility and our Lodge donates over $35,000 annually to its operation. The Lodge sponsors Little League, Soccer and Basketball teams in the Pompton-Riverdale area. Scholarships for $3,000 are distributed annually in the Pompton area. Also, an Explorer Post for handicapped children is sponsored at the Lodge along with Bingo parties, dances and Christmas parties. During Christmas, Easter and Thanksgiving the Lodge distributes Food Baskets to needy local residents. We send 10 handicapped children to Camp Moore every summer. For veterans in VA hospitals, the Lodge has monthly visits to area VA hospitals and we host approximately 30 veterans at the Lodge's monthly breakfast. On the National level, each Lodge contributes to the Elks foundation which distributes over $4,000,000 in Scholarships throughout the United States.

A key factor to the Lodge's ongoing success is the strong support of the Ladies Auxiliary of the Pompton Lakes Elks Lodge. The Ladies run many activities that contribute to the charitable efforts of our Lodge as well as conducting many other programs of special interest to the Ladies Auxiliary.

To be an Elk is to be a dedicated person, willing to share of yourself for your fellow MAN and your COUNTRY.