It wasn’t until 1995 that women were permitted to join the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks (BPOE), a century-old fraternal and charitable organization with local lodges across the United States. Thirty years later, the Montague Elks Lodge #2521 is entering a new era of leadership with women at the helm of the 50-year-old lodge.

The Montague Elks, established in September 1974, has 14 officer positions that members can take on to expand their leadership within the lodge, and half of these positions, including the highest post of Exalted Ruler, are occupied by women – a fact that was pointed out to during this year’s Installation of Officers Ceremony for the 2025-2026 fraternal year, held on March 22.

“I kind of have a unique position in being the youngest person, and the youngest female in our lodge to be the Exalted Ruler,” said 27 year-old Allie Cooke, the new Exalted Ruler of the Montague Elks.

The Turners Falls native comes from a family of Montague Elks members, including her grandfather, George B. Cooke, who was one of the charter members of the lodge in 1974, and her father, George H. Cooke who is an honorary lifelong member of the Elks. She joined the Montague Elks in 2021, and she has been a member of the activities committee, eventually working up to the Inner Guard position in 2022, then Leading Knight in 2023.

Cooke had a chance to learn the ropes of the exalted ruler position from former Exalted Ruler Justin Demers, who held the position for three years. Now that she’s leading the lodge, Cooke said she’s seeking to balance both the tradition of the Montague Elks, and the future of the lodge.

“I have that unique position to build a future legacy,” Cooke says, “to be able to tie-in past traditions and things that the Elks had before, and tie them into what our future holds, like working along with the younger generation; wanting to bridge that gap between what was, and what can be.”

Joining Cooke at the upper-leadership of the Elks is Leading Knight Linda Morey, who moved up into the position that Cooke previously occupied. There are four knights within the Montague Elks, and three of those knights are women, including Cooke, Morey, and Esteemed Loyal Knight Wendy Wegiel. Esteemed Lecturing Knight Mike Shedd is the fourth knight and was just installed into his first officer position as a knight. Morey, who has been a member of the Montague Elks for the last seven years, said she was inspired by the speech that Cooke delivered at the installation ceremony.

“She worked really hard on it, and it was very inspiring,” Morey said. “I wish her well, I really do.”

Cooke hopes to retain the ritualistic elements of the lodge so that new officers can hold onto the traditions that have guided the Elks since it began.

Some of these rituals that she hopes to continue include the installation ceremony that she describes as a “story” – the roadmap for the officers to be guided by the principals of charity, justice, brotherly love, and fidelity that are the cardinal Elk principals. The Eleven O’Clock Toast is another important ritual she wants to uphold as a remembrance of lodge members who are absent, or who’ve died. “Living or dead, Elks are never forgotten, never forsaken,” is the statement associated with this toast.

“I want to promote the ritual within my new officers and show them how important it is to keep up with how the Elks started, and that’s how it has continued to grow and be so big,” Cooke says, “People just really embrace those traditions.”

Some of these older traditions at the Montague Elks that Cooke recalls are the Mothers Day and Fathers Day meals the lodge would host for members and for the public. She remembers going to these with her family, and this year, she’s hoping to bring back these meals after they went by the wayside.

The Elks has its origins in New York City, and the first BPOE was established in February 1868. News of the Elks spread, garnering membership interest. To allow for expanded membership, the Elks asked the New York State legislature to charter the establishment of a Grand Lodge with the ability to charter lodges across the U.S. In 1871, the New York Elks Lodge No. 1 became the first local lodge chartered in the United States. Since then, lodges have been established in all 50 states, with 55 lodges across the state of Massachusetts.

Future of the Montague Elks

While maintaining tradition, Cooke is hoping to establish a greater community presence, and making sure to continue recruiting new members to the lodge, especially a younger generation of Elks.

State President of the Massachusetts Elks Association Mike Delfino said he is encouraged by the Montague Elks’ community outreach and with the growth of membership in lodges across the state over the last three years. Millennial and Gen Z membership is something Delfino is seeing across lodges, and he believes the charitable element of the Elks is a sticking point for people who want to join.

Younger generations, he said, are “encouraged by the charitable giving that we do, and the things that we support, which is second to none.”

Delfino also expressed his appreciation for Cooke and her leadership at the lodge.

“I can’t say enough about Allie’s ascension to become the the Exalted Ruler of her lodge,” Delfino said. “She is our future. People like her are the future.”

Erin-Leigh Hoffman can be reached at ehoffman@recorder.com or 413-930-4231.