ORANGE — A timely bluff prompted a thief who stole $3,000 worth of ornamental jewelry from the now-defunct Athol-Orange Lodge of Elks to return the stolen goods Thursday afternoon.
The jewelry, used in Elks ceremonies, was needed to be returned if the lodge was ever to reopen.
The 92 New Athol Road lodge was shuttered last Monday by the national Grand Lodge of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks because of unpaid debts and “financial difficulties,” according to Mike Blanchard, district deputy covering the west-central region of Massachusetts. Blanchard has been charged with closing the Athol-Orange chapter.
While Blanchard was talking to a reporter around 12:20 p.m., the door buzzer rang and a lifetime Elks member returned the stolen jewelry. He didn’t say how he came by the items but neither did Blanchard inquire. He was just pleased to have the jewelry back, no questions asked.
“We flushed the jewels out. They just got returned,” Blanchard said, opening a flat black box on a table in the billiards room containing large necklaces worn in ceremonies by Lodge No. 1837 leaders.
When a lodge closes, protocol requires all locks to be changed before the building is sold to pay debts. Before that happened here, Blanchard allowed members building access for a few days to retrieve personal belongings. That’s when the jewelry was discovered missing from an office drawer.
Blanchard immediately posted to the club’s Facebook page, announcing that video cameras had captured the thief in action — a statement that wasn’t entirely correct. While the building does have video cameras filming the billiards and bar areas, there aren’t any in the office (which has an adjacent exterior exit).
“We watched four and a half to five hours of video and didn’t find out who took them,” Blanchard said.
At some point, while members were entering and exiting, Blanchard suspects the thief slipped into the office, removed the jewelry from the drawer, and escaped out the side door. But all of that is in the past, and Blanchard said he’s not going to pursue any further action against the thief.
“I’m just glad the jewels are back. I didn’t sleep for two days,” he said.
Within the Elks club, ceremonial items have significance beyond monetary value, Blanchard explained. When closing, a chapter’s ceremonial jewelry, official charter and other documents must be returned to the national Elks organization.
Once all debts have been settled, remaining funds go into an escrow account for five years of safekeeping until everything has cleared. Then, the money goes to the state Elks association.
After those five years, if there are no further developments, the closed chapter can reapply for another charter. However, if each step isn’t completed properly when closing — including safely returning the jewels — reopening is permanently taken off the table.
Now that the jewelry has been returned, there’s a chance the Athol-Orange Elks Lodge can reopen in five years.
You can reach Andy Castillo
at: acastillo@recorder.com
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On Twitter: @AndyCCastillo