To help it overcome typical perceptions and become known for being more than just “a golf course and bar,” the Hillsboro, Ohio, property now features a new and completely remodeled restaurant, and a revamped lounge and game room. New activities are also being planned and scheduled that The Lodge hopes will help to attract younger members.
Earlier in its 121-year history, the Hillsboro (Ohio) Elks Lodge was known as a place where families could come and enjoy time together, The Times-Gazette of Hillsboro reported. But the property has recently taken steps, both by upgrading facilities and enhancing programming, to go beyond the typical perception of a lodge and become known as more than ‘a golf course and bar.”
“It’s a place where young and old can come together and have a good time, and it’s great,” the Lodge’s “Exulted Ruler,” John Hern, told The Times-Gazette.
“What we want people to know is that we do a lot for the community, we’re more than a golf course, and we welcome new members,” Hern added. “We’re trying to rebrand ourselves to attract youth, because young people are our future.”
Added Diane Jones, President of the Hillsboro Emblem Club that serves as an auxiliary to the Elks: “We used to have a lot of events going on, but that kind of went away, and that’s what we’re trying to get back to.”
The Frog and Club, a new restaurant at the lodge, is open five days a week, reports The Times-Gazette. “I think it’s as fine a restaurant as there is in the area, and it’s a wonderful addition to what we offer,” said Gerald “Buzzard” Wilkin, who works with veterans and youth for the Elks.
At the beginning of 2018, The Times-Gazette reported, the Hillsboro Elks had 216 members. Now it has 243, according to Hern.
“We don’t know for sure, but we may be the fastest-growing Elks organization in the state,” Hern said. “We’re excited about what’s going on, and we want to share it.”
The Sand Trap Lounge, the 60-year-old on-site bar and lounge that is open to members and invited guests only, has been remodeled into a more comfortable sports lounge, The Times-Gazette reported.
The lounge, which is also open five days a week, features three TVs, a re-covered pool table, dart boards, a ping-pong table, other games and more, according to The Times-Gazette.
The golf course at the lodge is open to the public seven days a week,
Membership at the Hillsboro Elks Lodge runs $80 per year and interested members must “be sponsored by an existing member, be over the age of 21, be a U.S. citizen, believe in God, and cannot be a felon,” according to The Times-Gazette. Both men and women are welcome.
There are more than one million Elks members and over 200,000 lodges nationwide, The Times-Gazette reported. and since the organization’s inception lodges and their members have contributed more than $3.6 billion in cash, goods and services to charitable causes.
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