05/25/2026
๐ฝ๐๐๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐จ๐๐๐ฃ๐๐จ ๐ค๐ ๐ ๐ง๐๐๐ค๐ง๐ ๐๐ก๐ ๐จ ๐ข๐๐๐ก:
Fairhopeโs Elks Lodge 1879 is a busy place on Memorial Day. The Lodgeโs annual barbecue is no small venture with a handful of people showing up. Not when roughly 638 plates sell. Thatโs how many meals Lodge manager Karla Boyse tells me sold today--even in a pouring rain! โItโs currently the all time record,โ she says.
Scores of Lodge members arrive early in the day to make the event the success it was. While cooking crew members arrive as early as 12:30am--more than half a dozen help with cooking and cutting alone--others gather needed supplies, set up tables, tents and payment systems and work to get the building ready and signage up. With so many people involved, you might think the scene would be chaos. But everyone knows what to do. The teamwork is amazing to watch. Thereโs no shortage of hungry customers, as people line up inside the building and outside to buy a meal (I watch as one person drives up in the rain and buys four plates).
Thanks to fellow Elks members for letting me roam around a busy kitchen scene with a camera to capture this yearโs Memorial Day barbecue sale as it happens. Money raised from todayโs sale goes back into the Lodge to help support projects designed to help veterans and others in need in our local community. You could certainly make the case that the community stepped up to the plate today, so to speak.
Which dish is most popular? At 234 plates, Karla tells me that ribs take top honors (no surprise there), followed by chicken and pulled pork.
Elks care. Established in 1868, the Elks is a private, benevolent organization whose members regularly launch projects to help people in need. The four cardinal virtues of the Elks are Charity, Justice, Brotherly Love and Fidelity. In addition to helping the community, Elks also have a lot of fun, by holding events like todayโs Memorial Day barbecue.
Learn more about the Elks at:
https://www.elks.org/default.cfm
