Elks Lodge Hosts 200 Special Needs Guests at Summer Sock Hop

Mission Viejo / Saddleback Valley Elks Lodge (“Elks Lodge”) held its summer sock hop for 200 Special Guests and their care takers served by seventeen (17) Elk volunteers. Twenty (20) of the Special Guests were wheel chair bound which did not hinder their enjoyment of the event.
The event started with a causal summer lunch of hot dogs, chips, cookies and lemonade. Like a hot-rod on a summer day, the event shifted into high gear when the ten (10) piece band musical group High Hopes started their performance. High Hopes is a musical ensemble from Hope University in Santa Ana. The talented musical group, made up entirely of developmentally challenged men and women, is world renowned and has performed on national TV. The Elks Lodge donated $400 to the Hope University Music Department.   This annual event is one of two parties held by the Elks Lodge for the developmentally challenged men, women and children of Saddleback Valley communities. The second event is the very popular Elks Lodge Christmas Party. These special events are sponsored by the Elks Lodge Charity Committee.   The Mission Viejo / Saddleback Elks Lodge No. 2444, celebrating forty-four (44) years of service to the Saddleback Valley communities, is one of ten lodges in the Orange Coast District of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks (BPOE) whose headquarters is in Chicago, Illinois. The BPOE is a charitable organization with a 146 year history of giving, “Elks Care, Elks Share.”

Hal Mattson, Lodge Publicity Mission Viejo / Saddleback Valley Elks Lodge No. 2444