CHAPTER IV

Delay in the dedication of the Lodge did not dampen the ardor with which the brothers announced to the world that they were officially in their new home.

The time was May 19-20, 1911.

As noted before, Grand Exalted Ruler Herrmann annointed the building with his blessings during the evening of May 19. All that day the building had been open to inspection by the general public with punch and cookies served.

By this time, lodges from all over Southern California complete with bands, drill teams, barber shop quartets, and Jolly Boys who kept the brothers in stitches by their antics in the Lodge room, again took over the town.

The brothers financed the day - May 20 - by selling copper cast medals with bar. The bar bore the word "Dedication" and one side of the medal was a replica of the building with a giant-antlered Elk's head protectively emplaced on the roof and peeking over the cupola. On the other side was centered "B.P.O.E. Dedication 1911" encircled by the legend "San Pedro Lodge No, 966, San Pedro, Calif."

The medals sold for $1.00 and an entry on May 8, 1911, declares that "1600 badges were sold with 1100 still out". Approximately 3,000 were fed at a barbecue which included beer furnished by the Maier Brewing Company.

Nearly everyone wore one of the medals which indicates that the 1100 referred to above were sold but there is no record of this in the minutes.

The barbecue brought about the first alteration in the new building. Tables were set out on the tennis court (now an auto park) at the south end of the lot, In order to speed serving, a hole was cut in the southwest corner of the galley and food was passed out to the sons of Elks who waited on the tables.

A large number of the brothers failed to make their trains that night and specials were put on the next morning to get them home. It would be interesting to have a log on some of the "Dear Boss" explanations.

Now that the Lodge was conceived, born and housed, the brothers turned their attention to making it solvent, They wanted to get rid of that mortgage as quickly as possible.

The Lodge drove for greater membership, it sponsored dances, picnics and barbecues, sold life memberships and every so often the Trustees were empowered to turn over certain amounts to the Building Association which, together with the rents it was getting, managed to retire the mortgage in 1922.

Again this was a signal for the Herd to stampeded joyously. Orange County Park was the scene of the burning of the first mortgage. This was one of the early effects the automobile had on the Lodge. Because the automobile was by this time way ahead of ol' Dobbin and the brothers who owned one felt they could go further afield and still draw a large turnout. After all, a 1922 automobile was still something to behold.

The highlight of course was when Brother Monroe, the lodge's then oldest member, was given the honor of placing the mortgage in a shovel and setting it afire.

Meanwhile, an organization within the Lodge, the "Ruf-Neks" and "Yellow Dogs" came into being. No history of the Lodge would be complete without mention of these groups.

The "Ruf-Neks" came first, their natal day being March 5, 1917. This organization was a throwback to the "Jolly Corks", those 15 gay young blades, mummers of their day, who met in New York in 1868 and created B.P.O.E. No.1.

Like the "Jolly Corks", the "Ruf-Neks" program was dedicated to having fun and providing entertainment for the members but keeping in mind the overall objective of the Order - "Charity for all."

The "Ref-Neks" assembled in the southwest corner back of the Trustees who suffered red faces from good natured jibes.

For several meetings the funsters were without a titular head. Then they decided a "King of the Ref-Neks" was needed. So the late C. R. "Daddy" Berry, manager for the old Garbutt and Walsh ferry, was elected.

Jeff Jamar, P. E. R. ('38-'39) was the second "King" and it was during his reign that the "Yellow Dogs", the ritualistic team of the "Ruf-Neks", became part of the Lodge's history.

The "Yellow Dogs" were originated by the "Ruf-Neks" as a funster unit whose main forte was putting on initiations parodying the regular initiation rituals.

B.P.O.E. 966 "Ruf-Neks" heard about the "Yellow Dogs" but did not follow suit until one day some of them found a cur dog, as yellow as could be, who was managy, hungry, and desperately in need of a friend. They took it to a veterinarian who nursed it back to health and it became the "Ruf-Neks" mascot.

This experience, of course, caused the 966 members to organize their own "Yellow Dog" initiation ceremonies. Jamat held dual titles of "King of the Ruf-Neks" and "Chief Bull Cur of the Yellow Dogs." Many an Exalted Ruler was a graduate of these inner-Lodge organizations.

The "Yellow Dog" initiations were always conducted during the Good of the Order and always followed regular initiation rituals. 966’s "Yellow Dogs" so improved the initiation technique that they were invited to put on the ritual for other Lodges and traveled all over Southern California.

They found a plaster "tiger" that had been used for advertising purposes, remodeled it to look like a dog after the fashion of the famous "his master's voice" Victor dog. They wired it for wild electric shocks and had hilarious fun with it during conventions.

At one Catalina Island gathering they induced young bathing beauties to sit astraddle the dog while a "cameraman" complete with movie camera with cap turned bill backward would grind away in a "movie test." That the camera was without film and dog was wired would soon become evident to the would-be stars. One lady was so incensed at her electric treatment she threatened to sue.

This type of entertainment gradually lost favor and the "Yellow Dogs" became defunct in 1926 although the "Ruf-Neks" continued unbroken. Roy Gordon, P. E. R., D. D. E. R., Trustee, revived the "Yellow Dogs" when he was on the entertainment committee in 1933-34.

Someone dog-napped the plaster hound in 1935 and the order collapsed. Nor has it been revived to date despite the oddity that in 1953, LeRoy Byrne, P. E. R. '53-54, received word the dog was at El Centro Lodge and caused it to be brought "home" where it is now in storage.