Glen Korstrom
Northern News Services

NNSL (May 08/98) - Her Royal Highness Queen Elizabeth II has visited it and babies have been born in its pool room.

The Elk's Hall on 49th Street has played a long and prominent role in the history of Yellowknife.

The building's upstairs has played host to the legislature and the NWT Supreme Court. Community groups still book events six or seven days each week.

Still, memories of May 16, 1966, help œesh out why the lodge has an image as a vital pillar, adding life-blood to the community.

The city's hospital burned down that night and lodge members instantly sprang into action to ensure the building could act as a temporary hospital for six to eight months.

"It got my son into some trouble," said Canadian Elk's Grand Inner Guard Roland Gagnon of his son Michael, who now is the president of the NWT Elk's Association.

"He told his teacher that he was born in the Elk's pool room and she wouldn't believe him."

Throughout its history the Elks have been known for their charitable work. In Yellowknife that includes a $400,000 grant to start up the ski club, enough regular donations to the Stanton Hospital audiology department that it was renamed the Elk's hearing centre and a $100,000 donation to the Baker Centre.

The Þrst Elk's Lodge formed in Vancouver in 1912, before clubs sprouted across western Canada. Now, lodges stretch from coast to coast in Canada, with NWT lodges in Yellowknife, Hay River and Iqaluit.

The Yellowknife chapter started in 1948, with 63 members. The upstairs was built in 1959.

The Elks pioneered the Caribou Carnival's predecessor, the Dog Derby, in 1952.

The heydey for Yellowknife Elks was in the early ¼70s, when Bill Hettrick was an activist president and made it his personal duty to sign up everyone he knew, propelling membership to about 425.

Today, membership has settled down to about 200, with regular meetings held the second and fourth Monday of every month.

"It's hard to say why people don't join," Gagnon said. "It's hard to get new members because there are so many other things to do."

Back in the early ¼70s, Yellowknife was a lot smaller and on the leading edge of a boom after being named the NWT capital in 1967.

"We didn't have all the TV stations and everything else going on," said the lodge's general manager, Dave Hurley.

In 1970, the city marked the 100th anniversary of the NWT joining Canada by hosting the Arctic Winter Games. The anniversary came complete with a visit from the Queen, who also visited the Elk's Hall.

"We've had a lot of prominent people through here," Gagnon said. "Pierre Elliott Trudeau has been in the building. Chretien has been here, (John) Turner and (Joe) Clark."

Though the Elks have a long history, they are a progressive organization, too.

A 1997 Canada-wide survey found 70 per cent of the members supported allowing women to join.

The constitution was changed in January and already in Yellowknife seven women have joined.

Helping the community

More than $430,000 was contributed by the Elks to 77 approved groups and individuals applying for assistance in 1997.

A large portion of Þnancial assistance is awarded to local youth-oriented activities. Major recipients include the 1998 Arctic Winter Games, the Yellowknife Elks 825 Air Cadet Squadron, the Elks Scholarship Committee, and the Yellowknife Kids Help Line.

Other examples of Elks' projects:

• Greatly concerned about noise pollution in the North, the Elk's Lodge has also played a major role in establishing the Yellowknife Elk's Hearing Clinic.

• The Elk's Lodge contributed a $50,121 blanket donation to the Arctic Winter Games held in Yellowknife this year. They also donated the Elk's Hall to serve as a drop-in centre for all participating athletes as well as set up over 400 beds in the Weledeh school to house visiting teams.

• Construction of The Yellowknife Ski Club and Elk's Youth Centre was completed in October 1997. The Elk's Lodge shared the $622,000 cost of building the multi-purpose facility designed for community events, including the Yellowknife Elk's 825 Air Cadet Squadron activities and Yellowknife Ski Club programs. The Elk's Lodge has been supporting the Air Cadets since 1972.

• This year the Elk's Lodge plans to award $20,000 scholarships in eight $1,000 and eight $1,500 awards to mature, academic, goal-oriented individuals who plan to aid in Northern development. The Lodge also oversees the Marion Slaven Memorial Scholarship awarded to aspiring medical students across the North. There are plans for another scholarship to be announced this fall.

• For the last six years the Elk's Lodge has supported the Yellowknife Kids Help Line, matching total contributions across the NWT up to $25,000. The relatively new Senior's Help Line has also received Elk's support and assistance.

• Hearing and speech impairment are a great concern for Elk's lodges across the nation. The Yellowknife Elk's Lodge has donated more than $400,000 for the establishment, equipment and maintenance of the Yellowknife Elk's Hearing Clinic at 419 Byrne Road.