Coyote Hills a treasure and teacher for 50 years

“I think our theme is basically a story of connection between wildlife and humans.” That’s from Dino Labiste, a naturalist at Coyote Hills Regional Park. Supervising Naturalist Sonja Gomez thinks about how the rich diversity of this land supported people for thousands of years, and even though it’s now a park, there is still a reciprocal relationship. “When we care for our parks,” says Gomes, “our parks care for us.”

The park is turning fifty this year and it’s a good time to reflect on the history, the mission, and the future of the 1300-acre wildlife oasis.

Visitors to the park today traverse an area inhabited by humans for more than 2000 years. For millennia the land was home to Tuibun Ohlone villages, supporting them with a diversity of wildlife and plants. With the arrival of the first non-natives in 1769, changes happened rapidly as farming, cattle ranching, and eventually salt harvesting changed the face of the land.

In 1883, the abundant waterfowl gave rise to a duck-hunting club on the marshes. The University of California at Berkeley took an Archaeological interest in 1935, and the first excavations began.  Impelled by cold war politics the Army established a Nike missile base in the hills in 1955 because of the area’s strategic location. Remnants of the outbuildings can still be seen. Following the base’s decommissioning, the Stanford Research Institute occupied the area and used the marshlands as facilities for sonar research. Cal State Hayward led archaeological investigations at the site in 1966.

In 1967 the East Bay Regional Park District and Alameda County Flood Control District purchased the property on Coyote Hills and adjacent marshlands from the descendants of George Washington Patterson (whose home can be seen at Ardenwood Regional Preserve). The park was dedicated on May 23, 1968.

In the 50 years since the park’s dedication, millions of people have walked the trails, watched wildlife, and enjoyed one of the most unspoiled habitats in the Bay Area. The plants and animal populations that people come to experience, however, have changed drastically as the population of the surrounding area has grown, a trend that has not abated since the Gold Rush.

One of the lessons naturalists at the park hope to teach is the impact of humans on the natural environment. One of the greatest pressures on the land is the problem of maintaining a balance between enjoyment and conservation. “There are so many people that come here, and that’s a wonderful thing,” Says Gomez. “but, obviously, the more people, the more impact. All the little things that people do add up.”

The little things can also add up on the positive side. For instance, creating natural gardens with native plants is a good way to support some of our wild neighbors. Every additional garden helps keep butterfly populations healthy and encourages wild populations to thrive. Most importantly, gardens attract pollinators such as bees, which are a vital link in the production of many food crops.

People can come and learn how to make a nature garden in their backyard (or balcony) at the upcoming Bird and Butterfly Festival taking place Sunday, June 3. There will also be special talks, nature crafts for the kids, and a celebration of the park’s 50th anniversary with special exhibits and cake.

Tule elk once roamed Coyote hills. Condors soared and the abundant bay was home to plentiful fish, and even sea otters. Those populations will likely never return, but the park is looking to the future and finding ways to provide a rich environment for the current wild residents, such as muskrats, grey foxes, and numerous water birds (272 species of birds have been recorded!). One example is the park’s installation of dozens of nest boxes designed to attract Tree Swallows: every spring the boxes are full of new chicks. The parks ability to expand on similar programs was recently augmented with a grant of 300 acres.

In 2014 the heirs of the Patterson family donated nearly 300 acres of land valued at $10M. The land was the largest remaining parcel of developable open space within Fremont. Earlier this year, East Bay Regional Parks District invited the public to give it’s input on the future of the site. “Some people want more trails,” says Labiste, “but others want to keep it a natural habitat and buffer between the developments on the west side of Paseo Padre.” The park district “wants to get community input so the land can be used effectively. “After all,” says Labiste, “a lot of that funding comes from tax dollars.”

A conceptual site plan for the expansion approved in February includes habitat restoration, urban agriculture, and public access improvements, such as relocating the park entrance closer to Paseo Padre Parkway to develop a more prominent entry point to the park.

Whatever the final result of the expansion, it is heartening to note that the emphasis is on enjoyment of the natural environment, a point of view that contrasts greatly with attitudes of 50 years ago. In her research of the park’s history, Gomez came across plans submitted by an outside developer back in the 1960s. “It had a golf course, a boat launch, a swimming lagoon, and all sorts of built amenities. Even in the dedication of the park, there was a mention—almost an apology—that the park is ‘virtually useless marshland’ whose value will rise as it gets developed.”

Fortunately, the public today appreciates the value of the natural habitat as a respite from our busy lives and an important piece of a healthy environment. It is still a place where natural wonders abound, full of life, right down to the smallest wonders. One of Labiste’s favorite moments as a park naturalist came during a tour of the Nectar Garden. “A butterfly emerged from a chrysalis right in front of a class of school kids. It was a miracle,” he says.

In addition to the Butterfly & Bird Festival on June 3, there will be a Memorial Day Celebration May 26 through May 28. “We’re giving a little history mini-series,” says Gomez. “We’re talking about salt harvesting on Saturday. Sunday is all about wildlife stewardship at the park over the years, with one of the district’s wildlife biologists, Dave “Doc Quack” Riensche, and on Monday Bev Ortiz, cultural services coordinator and founder of the Ohlone Gathering (itself celebrating 25 years) and a panel of Ohlone will talk about their involvement with park.”

Memorial Day Celebration

Saturday, May 26 through Monday May 28

1 p.m. – 4 p.m.

Butterfly & Bird Festival

Sunday, Jun 3

10:00 a.m. – 3:30 p.m.

Coyote Hills Regional Park

8000 Patterson Ranch Rd, Fremont

http://www.ebparks.org/parks/coyote_hills/

(510) 544-3220

Free. $5 parking

Family Fest celebrates 30 years of Music for Minors II

On Saturday, June 2 Music for Minors II (MFMII) invites you to a its Annual Family Music Festival taking place at Niles Town Plaza. Three stages featuring children’s performance groups will entertain you with singing, dancing, and an instrumental performance. The event is hosted by the acclaimed duo of RJ and Lori, and special guests are expected to delight young and old.

 Kids love to make music together and this exciting and interactive event is the perfect place to find out what MFMII is doing for our kids in the schools.

Founded by MFMII president Carol Zilli in 1988, Music for Minors II’s mission is to “nurture the love and literacy of music in children’s classrooms and lives and provide performance opportunities for them in the schools and community.”

MFMII trains musical “docents” and assigns one docent to a classroom where he or she gives one lesson per week throughout the school year. The program is oriented to TK though first grade, but opportunities exist for older kids as well. The half hour lesson per week teaches singing, rhythm and movement, and provides exposure to music instruments. Lesson plans—besides being purely fun—are adaptable to aid in reinforcing subjects currently under study.  In one class, the animal of the week was the llama. “I taught the class two songs with llamas,” says docent Nidhi Garg, “and the children just loved it.”

MFMII owes its staying power to founder Zilli’s sheer love of music and commitment to music education. In 1987 Zilli was playing piano for her son’s class at Hacienda School in Fremont when she discovered one of the students had been to Music For Minors (MFM) across the bay. Curious, Zilli investigated, eventually becoming a docent herself. When Zilli started bringing MFM to Niles Elementary, she received encouragement from MFM executive director Deanna Stock to start a similar program, which is today’s MFMII.

Zilli began with one class at Niles Elementary, but as parents wanted to get more involved, Carol trained docents herself. As the demand grew she arranged with Ohlone to feature the docent raining course, which she herself taught for 20 years. As the cost of tuition rose, Carol decided to offer training for free, and so took the curriculum and divided it into 22 two-and-a-half hour session. Today, responding to the needs of busy individuals, the course has been streamlined to eleven sessions.

Speaking to Zilli about the role of music in kids’ lives sparks the her enthusiasm. She is quick to point to research that indicates the study of music builds neuron bridges between the right and left halves of the brain thus integrating them. “the corpus callosum [vital for communication between the brain’s hemispheres] is bigger in individuals who study a musical instrument,” she says.

“I’ve emphasized the research recently because that’s where the culture is. We give [administrators] the science to bring them in, but then the heart of the music speaks for itself.” In other words, in many schools, the arts, especially music, have to show benefits to justify the time, even if it’s only 30 minutes a week. It’s not a given that the arts have intrinsic value on a par with STEM subjects. Zilli spends much of her time giving presentations that 2 demonstrate the cooperation, positive mental attitude, and self-expression children display when studying music. “Teachers tell us that socialization improves, that academics improve when we come to the classroom,” says Zilli.

MFMII provides exposure to youth-oriented entertainers like like Charlotte Diamond and Red Grammer. Zilli credits them with helping keep the organization going. Either through attracting children to their concerts and getting them turned on to music or helping raise funds through ticket sales, “we wouldn’t have been around this long without them,” says Zilli.

RJ and Lori are family friendly performing duo who also sit on the MFMII Board of Directors. For more than 30 years they have spread “Kids’ music with a GROOVE” all over the Bay Area. Their brand of kid-accessible music has earned them numerous awards, including recognition by the State of California and two Emmys for their work in children’s television. Speaking of her role as a performer and advocate of kid involvement with music, “it’s all about interaction and letting kids participate in the show,” she says. “When I talk about us [RJ and Lori], I am really talking about what MFMII is all about.”

Zilli courted RJ and Lori for two years to be on the Board. “We aren’t the kind of people who go around saying ‘I believe this’ or ‘I believe that,’” says Moitie. “We’ve always been wary of aligning ourselves with an organization; but Carol convinced us that we were a perfect fit. I am deeply honored that we get to help make decisions about bringing music to more than 5000 kids. It provides
a balance to the stressful technological lives they live.”

Volunteers like RJ and Lori and Nidhi Garg are the backbone of the organization. The quality of involvement and the quality of instruction has a special nature “when it is comes from the heart,” says Zilli.

Docent Nidhi Garg currently teaches two first grade glasses weekly, but is hoping for as many as seven next year. “Teaching music is the highlight of my day,” she says.

Watching Garg in the classroom is a treat. Her enthusiasm and patience are extraordinary and she clearly loves what she is doing; likewise, the children respond positively with their attention and their smiles. “I had no formal training, so I was apprehensive. Could I do that? But by the end of the training,” says Garg, I was ready! I couldn’t wait to get into a class room.”

“The transition from training to teach was very smooth.“ Says Garg. New docents simply observe their senior mentors for three sessions then have visits from them for a few until they are ready to fly solo.

There is plenty of material to teach. “We have so many songs.” There are six MFMII resource centers, one at James Leitch School where Nidhi teaches. They are stocked with binders full of songs, puppets, instruments, educational charts, and more—everything the teachers need, provided for free. Six thousand dollars from the School District and the Candle Lighters organization helped establish the first resource center at Niles Elementary in the 1990s.

Each resource center serves itself and neighboring schools where MFMII teaches, of which there are “36 or 37,” Says Zilli. “We have 99 docents serving 5000 kids a week.” MFMII provides its services for $10 per child per year. That not only gives a class a half-hour music lesson each week, but also provides for family music nights at the schools where parents and kids come and learn about the program, what it offers, and for the adults, to learn more about becoming a docent.

Even at $10 per child, or about $250 per classroom, (“A deal you can’t beat with a baton,” says Moitie) some schools are hard-pressed to find the funds. Still, “We’ve never turned down a request for our program because of money,” says Zilli.

If you or someone you know is interested in having MFMII at your school, or in teaching music to youngsters, visit http://musicforminors2.org/

If music in our schools is important to you, come out and show your support for MFMII on June 2. This free event will open your eyes to the gift that music is both to our children and the volunteers who teach it.

MFMII Family Music Festival

Saturday, June 2

2 p.m. — 5 p.m.

Niles Town Plaza, Fremont

For more information: http://musicforminors2.org/ or (510) 733-1189

Free

Grammy-winning drummer headlines Cal State Jazz Fest

This month, Cal State East Bay will present its annual Jazz Festival with special guest artist, three-time Grammy winning percussionist Terri Lyne Carrington. The festival features an evening concert with Carrington and the East Bay Jazz Orchestra Friday, April 13 and two stages on Saturday, April 14 where a variety of talented middle school, high school, and college jazz bands will perform for the public while being adjudicated (visit https://www.csueastbay.edu/class/departments/music/areas/jazz-studies/annual-jazz-festival/schedule.html for schedules). Carrington will also perform on Saturday at 12:15 p.m.

On the occasion of this exciting and important event, it is worth noting the festival format is a late development in the history of jazz.

This uniquely American music, largely the result of experimentation and sophisticated innovation by African American musicians, has spent much of its life in small clubs, bars, and other intimate settings. Not because this was where the musicians preferred to play, but because that’s where the jobs were, where jazz formed the soundtrack to drinking, dining, and dancing. The great jazz districts of the past, such as Fillmore Street in San Francisco, Central Avenue in Los Angeles, and Greenwich Village in New York City all attest to the fact. Concert settings, such as auditoriums, theaters, and concert houses weren’t as available to jazz musicians, most often because of the color of their skin.

One of the great breakthrough moments in jazz history, therefore, was the establishment of the Newport Jazz Festival, first held in Newport, Rhode Island in 1954. The early popularity of the event underlined jazz’s acceptance across racial boundaries. Even though the white socialite of environment of Newport offered a degree of resistance to the influx of the younger audience that jazz attracted, subsequent years saw the festival changing venues multiple times because annually increasing numbers of concertgoers put a strain on existing facilities.

Newport became the model for many famous subsequent festivals across the country. The Monterey Jazz festival debuted in October of 1958; the first Playboy Jazz Festival happened in 1959 (though the second had to wait until 1979) and in 1967, the famous Montreaux Jazz Festival arrived on the shores of Lake Geneva in Switzerland. A survey of the top-drawing jazz festivals across the U.S. reveals their presence from Monterey, San Diego, and Long Beach to Detroit, Chicago, and New Orleans, to North Carolina, Connecticut, and New York.

The Cal State Jazz Festival is somewhat unique because the adjudicative aspect of the event focuses attention on jazz education, a topic important to headliner Carrington, an instructor and ensemble leader at the esteemed Berklee College of Music in Boston.

Carrington, the first female artist to win a Grammy for Best Jazz Instrumental Album, has been in the music business more than 40 years, first having made a name for herself as a whiz kid prodigy, who at age ten was the youngest musician in Boston to ever get a union card. Magazines featured her, and TV shows employed her. Icons in the jazz world have played with her, including Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Al Jarreau, Stan Getz, David Sanborn, Woody Shaw, Cassandra Wilson, and countless others.

In 2005, Carrington returned to her hometown where her alma mater conferred an honorary doctorate and appointed her a professor. She holds the position of Zildjian Chair in Performance in the Berklee Global Jazz Institute. She is also the Artistic Director for both the Beantown Jazz Festival and Berklee Summer Jazz Workshop, and Co-Artistic Director of The Carr Center of Detroit.

Reviewers have acclaimed all eight of Carrington’s albums. Her 2015 release, ‘The Mosaic Project: Love and Soul.’ featured an exclusive cast of female singers and musicians. Said James Reed of the Boston Globe, the album “is so good that the performances and the caliber of musicianship overshadow any distinctions based on gender or even genre. It doesn’t need to come with an ingenious backstory; it just needs to be heard.”

As an educator Carrington realizes the difficulty of teaching the unteachable essence of improvisation; however, she also says, “I think education creates a solid foundation for people that really want to learn the music, but it’s just a foundation. You have to do a lot more work to become a great player or a great writer or whatever you’re trying to do …Just because you [get the foundation], that doesn’t automatically put you in the jazz community. I tell my students that is a process of self-discovery. There’s a lot of work to do after the foundation is laid but it gives you a head start.”

As a female in the jazz world for four decades, Carrington has had time now to consider the relationship between women and jazz. “At this stage of my career,” says Carrington, “I find myself speaking more about gender and equity, issues we’ve faced with this music all along.

“I’ve had a great career, but that’s not good enough; its not about the exceptions, it’s not about being accepted into a boys club, it’s about changing the environment to be more welcoming to women. I take ownership of this music, it’s my music, and a lot of women don’t get to that point.”

Jazz at it stands today embodies a simultaneous acceptance of all the developments that have made it what it is. The blues, traditional jazz, bebop, fusion, free jazz, afro-cuban, and more all find their way into today’s recordings. “I think this is a really exceptional time,” says Carrington, “because so many people have had permission to merge indigenous music based on their cultural background, traditional music—if that’s where their heart is—as well as the things they grew up listening to, be it indy rock, or R&B. This kind of genre merging is very exciting.”

Concertgoers to the East Bay Jazz Festival are sure to encounter a variety of styles, but if anything is true about the music, in the words of Terri Lyne Carrington: “Once you get bitten by the jazz bug, you’re there forever.”

Cal State East Bay Jazz Festival

Friday, Apr 13

7:30 p.m.

University Theater

Saturday, Apr 14

8:15 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.

University Theater (Stage A)

Studio Theater (Stage B)

Saturday, Apr 14

12:15 p.m. Guest artist performance

University Theater

Cal State East Bay

25800 Carlos Bee Blvd, Hayward

(510) 885-3000

http://csueastbaytickets.universitytickets.com/

$10 General admission

Docents reveal Coyote Hills’ treasures to kids and adults alike

Coyote Hills is a beautiful piece of land on the East Bay Shoreline with much to teach, and every year thousands of school children, as well as adults, come to this East Bay Regional Park to learn about the two most important aspects of this site: its natural history and its role in the lives of the first East Bay inhabitants, the Ohlone.

The docent program at Coyote Hills is the backbone of the park’s mission to perpetuate respect for the land and the people who called it home long before Europeans settled in the East Bay. Through activities and talks, volunteer docents lead programs that result, it is hoped, to an appreciation of what Coyote Hills means both in terms of understanding the local ecosystem, and its role in the lives of native peoples.

Student Aide Saatvika Deshpande

demonstrates the ‘Cart of Curiousities’

Throughout the year, docents, trained representatives of the park district, work with school kids in what are called ‘immersions.’ Five stations are set up around the visitor center where docents demonstrate Ohlone games, such as stick and hoop, staves, and crafts like string making.

Starting April 5 and running every Thursday for four weeks from 10 a.m. to 12 noon, volunteers can participate in a training that educates them in the history and mission of the parks, as well as the particular activities that they will lead. Additionally, docents will learn how to interact with large groups and understand different learning styles in order to effectively interact with visiting classes. For people who have teaching experience, the transition to docent is easy, but for those who have never had the experience of being in front of a group, the docent training is a great way to learn a valuable skill.

Docents also learn how to combine a variety of teaching styles that engage kids who learn best by listening, and kids who learn best by doing. Many people who go through the program find that it is great training for other teaching situations they might encounter if they continue in natural history and cultural learning programs elsewhere. Some docents have gone on to be naturalists with the park district

Naturalists in the park system are the paid employees who develop the programs for the park system and lead the major nature walks and events, while docents take the information and curricula developed by the naturalists and present it, often in their own unique style, to visitors and school kids.

Docents can choose from a variety of activities. It might be sitting with a display of caterpillars munching milkweed at the entrance to the butterfly vivarium, arranging a display of furs and bones of local mammals at the visitor center, or teaching animal tracking. It also might be leading games and activities on the immersion days, where efficient docents will encourage chaperoning parents to get involved in the fun!

Activities go on all year long, generally slowing in the winter; however, in dry warm winters like this one, the daily visitor count can exceed two thousand. There’s always something going on. A popular attraction is Kristina’s Cart of Curiosities, featuring rotating displays ranging from natural history examples including skulls (replicas), furs, and plant specimens, to Ohlone artifacts such as pottery, tools, and arrowheads. These objects are intended to rouse kids’ curiosities and spark questions, which the docents are happy to answer.

Some of the docents have been with the program for years, and though East Bay Regional Park Districts’ (EBPRD) docent program has existed for around 35 years, the twelve-year-old Coyote Hills program has active volunteers who came on board at the beginning. For those docents who put in 25 hours or more during the year there is an annual volunteer dinner; docents also receive a parking pass that exempts them from the Coyote Hills $5 parking fee. There is ongoing training, as well as enrichment programs, and occasional field trips. Recently Coyote Hills docents were invited by the docents of the Oakland museum to have a museum tour for free.

Coyote Hills turns 50 this year and is perhaps best-known as the site of the annual Gathering of the Ohlone, a tradition begun many years ago by EBRPD Cultural Resource Specialist, Bev Ortiz. It is a time to remember cultural ways and have some fun, but it is also an opportunity to reflect on the close bond between the land and its ancient inhabitants. One of the landmark events of the year, the Gathering is open to all docents who wish to volunteer. In fact, docents are welcome to help out at any event, even at other park sites, with the appropriate training, though the April docent training is good for Coyote Hills alone.

Park Naturalist Kristina Parkison was herself a docent at the Long Marine Lab in Santa Cruz some years ago. There, after graduating college and before entering the Peace Corps, she learned to lead groups and deliver prepared information. “I had had no experience teaching, but being a docent prepared me for talking to groups and delivering informational talks,” she says.

Learning about Ohlone culture is part off the curriculum for local elementary schools and the kids coming through the park for the cultural programs are usually third and fourth graders. Kindergarteners through second graders typically fill out the nature walks. Regardless of age, the park offers both a refreshing natural experience and an opportunity to learn.

Kristina Parkison and her co-workers Francis Mendoza and Dino Labiste lead the trainings, which consist of both written materials and hands-on experience. Is there anything else, beside experience, satisfaction, and knowledge that a docent can expect to gain? Says Parkison with a smile: “People do get a special vest.”

Coyote Hills Docent Training

Thursdays, Apr 5 through Apr 26

10 a.m. – 12 noon

Coyote Hills Visitor Center

8000 Patterson Ranch Rd

For more information: (510) 544-3213, or email Docents.Coyotehills@ebparks.org

http://www.ebparks.org/about/getinvolved/volunteer/docent

Free (trainees will also receive passes for free parking)

Elks turn 150 but their values are timeless

Five years ago Steve Kay was staring down cancer, his wife Jo Ann beside him every step of the way. “But you know who was supporting her?” says Steve. “The Elks.”

Steve Kay has just finished his one year term as Exalted Ruler (think president) of Fremont Elks Lodge 2121. “My Father was an Elk; my father-in-law was an Elk. When I was a kid, my cousin got Elk support to get the surgery he needed to walk. ” Seeing the good work Elks did, and having the family connection, it was no surprise that Steve became a member decades ago. When he had young kids, he truly appreciated the Elks’ support of youth programs and sports.

This year the Elks celebrate their 150th anniversary. With more than 2000 lodges across the country, and around a million members, The Elks National Foundation has recently passed the 6 billion dollar mark for charitable giving since its inception.

In today’s social media world where online relations are often unfulfilling, people of all ages are rediscovering the joy of working alongside others to do good works for their communities. The list of the Elks charitable activities is long: essays contest for scholarships, youth programs, drug awareness campaigns, providing clothes for victims of sexual abuse, fundraising on behalf of numerous charities, and much, much more.

Of the many areas the Elks support, veterans receive some of the most benefits. Recently, a grant from the Elks National Foundation paid for 36 baskets of supplies for veterans leaving the Palo Alto VA Hospital for new living situations. The ‘Welcome Home Baskets’ included basic household items such as cleaning supplies, aluminum foil, and paper towels to give the vets a little jumpstart.

“I’d have to say that working with veterans has been the most rewarding of my experiences with the Elks,” says Steve. “There is a line in the Elks pledge: ‘So long as there are veterans, the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks will never forget them.’”

The history of the Elks relations with Veterans goes back to World War I when Elks funded and equipped the first two field hospitals in France and built both a 72-room community house in Camp Sherman, Ohio, and a 700-bed rehabilitation hospital in Boston.

After World War II, Elks Foundation loans to 40,000 returning veterans for college, rehabilitation, and vocational education were the precursor of the GI Bill. During the War, the Elks were the only civilian organization asked to help recruit construction workers for the military, a task that was completed three months ahead of schedule.

Whether donating blood, providing for soldiers’ recreation with books and facilities, or providing comfort and material support to veterans back home, the Elks have a strong bond with the men and women who protect our freedom.

Another popular Elks sponsored activity is the Hoop Shoot. In this free throw shooting competition, kids 8 to 13 compete at the Lodge, District, State, and Regional levels, leading all the way to a National Final. Winners receive medals and have their names ensconced in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame alongside the greats of the game.

The idea behind the Hoop Shoot is that by instilling the values of persistence and patience, reinforced with practice and goal-setting, youngsters will transfer that skillset to their academic and, eventually, workplace environments. In other words, by developing ‘grit,’ young people are embracing the quality most likely to help them succeed in life.

The Elks’ commitment to youth is also reflected in the strong relationship the Order has with the Boy Scouts of America. Visitors to the Fremont Lodge’s recent gala dinner celebrating 150 years of Elks would have seen a display of scrapbooks and memorabilia going back decades. There, a recent photograph shows a Scout troop at Space Center Houston during a trip made possible with Elks fundraising support.

Working with the Scouts is a high priority, as the organizations share so many values and goals. Elks that volunteer are eligible to receive a special award, the Boy Scouts’ Marvin M. Lewis Award named for the Honorable Marvin M. Lewis, a former Grand Exalted Ruler. Established 1998, it recognizes significant contributions to Scouting and the development of America’s youth.

The Elks of today have come a long way from their roots as an actors’ social club in Ney York in the late 1860s.

The son of a clergyman, Charles Algernon Vivian was a twenty-five year old singer when he who arrived in New York in 1867. A moderately successful variety performer, he attracted a number of fellow performers who lamented the closing of the bars on Sunday. They began meeting under Vivian's leadership and they made sure the meetings were well-stocked. When a members died shortly before Christmas 1867, the group decided it ought to help the widow, an act which eventually led to framing the organization as a benevolent society, choosing the strong, peaceful, majestic elk as its mascot and namesake.

As much as the Elks do for the community, they are equally committed to providing fellowship for the membership. From karaoke to weekly darts tournaments, square dancing to car shows, the Lodge has something for everyone. Wing Wednesdays are a big hit, and members look forward to special events like the upcoming St. Patrick’s Day and Easter brunches.

It’s arguable that nineteenth-century America had a particular view of women and non-whites that influenced the early membership of the club; unfortunately, many of those biases persisted, Finally, in the 1970s, restrictions to membership on the basis of race and gender were abolished. Today, the Elks open their doors to everyone. “The Order,” states the Membership page of the Fremont Elks website (http://fremontelks.org/membership/), “is a non-political, non-sectarian and strictly American fraternity. Proposal for membership in the Order is only by invitation of a member in good standing. To be accepted as a member, one must be an American citizen, believe in God, be of good moral character and be at least 21 years old.” Steve Kay adds, “We don’t define God for anyone. It’s the God that you believe in.”

Civic-minded people who enjoy giving of their time and like socializing in a fun and friendly environment should visit http://fremontelks.org/membership/ today.