Coos Bay Elks No.  1160 of the BPO Elks of  the USA will celebrate  100 years of service to the  community over the week  of July 16-18. Festivities  will include a public open  house from 2PM-4 PM on  Wednesday, July 15, and  5 PM- 7 Pm on Thursday,  July 16.  On Saturday, July 18, a  special open house for Elks  and their families will take  place from 5:30 PM – 7 PM.

Marshfield (Coos Bay)  Lodge was instituted on July  15, 1909 with a Charter  membership of 25. The first  initiation was held on  August 26th which added 20  more members and another  on August 30th added 19  more. The first Exalted  Ruler (President) was John  Goss, who was replaced by  Dr. George Dix who finished  that year and also  served the next.

The original  Elks Temple was located  on 2nd Street. It is now  located at 265 Central and  the Exalted Ruler is Mike  Huffman, Jr.  Coos Bay Lodge is one  of 2200 nationwide Lodges  in the Chicago-based charitable  organization. Last  year nearly 1 million Elks  contributed more than $303  million to charitable and  philanthropic programs.  These include youth athletic  and drug education programs,  college scholarships,  veterans’ service, and aid to  people with disabilities, the  major projects of Oregon  Elks. The primary beneficiary  of Coos Bay Elks is the  Youth. This year we awarded  $2,000 in scholarships  and currently providing  $10,000 to a local Snack  Pack Program.  Among the Elk dignitaries  who will be helping  the Lodge celebrate are  James Damon, a Past  National Grand Exalted  Ruler and Tim Deseve, the  Oregon State Elks  Association President for  the current year.