Americanism Essay Contest

Theme: “Why I am proud to pledge allegiance to our flag”

            We have recently finished reviewing our essay contest entries and sending our district finalist’s to the State Association for their consideration.  I am proud to report that every lodge in our district participated in this contest and, through the hard work and dedication of our lodge chairpeople, were able to collect over 3,700 essays.  I am confident that the Southeast District will once again lead the state in entries submitted.  One of the most important missions of the Elks is to instill the spirit of Patriotism in our young citizens, and after reading these essays I can assure you that we are doing just that.  They are heartwarming, thought provoking, inspirational and sometimes even amusing.  The one thing that they all have in common is the fact that these children have taken the time to understand the words and the meaning of the Pledge of Allegiance.  As Elks, we recite the Pledge before each meeting, sometimes too routinely, without giving thought to the meaning.  After reading many of these essays, I am left to wonder if we should be teaching the children, or having the children teach us. 

Great work by the committee chairpeople, members and especially the school teachers who worked with us to create this amazing display of talent!  The State Association is collecting all of the essays submitted.  Those that are non-contest winners are being sent to our active duty military and to our soldiers in Veteran’s hospitals. They need to know that the Elks organization and the young citizens of the future generation care about them, care about our country and care about the spirit of patriotism.  Every member of the Elks should feel proud of what we do better than any other organization in the country – promoting patriotism and love of country.