Front Royal Elks wrap up busy holiday season

FRPD officers gathered with Santa at the Front Royal Elks Lodge to offer a little Christmas cheer to the community’s kids. Courtesy Photos/Elks LodgeFront Royal Elks Lodge members are taking a breather at home for the holidays after another busy season entertaining kids and the elderly.

On Saturday, December 9, at the lodge on Guard Hill Road, 50 needy children met Santa Claus, who with the help of 10 Front Royal police officers, handed out almost 400 Christmas gifts – twenty-five-hundred dollars worth from the Elks National Foundation – to the children who ate 23 pizzas donated by The Melting Pot, Anthony’s Pizza and Fox’s Pizza.

In addition, Walmart donated, through the Elks, sufficient food on December 16 to provide 240 dinners for the elderly and infirm.

These are annual events for the Elks. The first is helped along by the police department and elementary school counselors who recommend the names of the children. Santa arrived, if not by reindeer, with a holiday-festive police escort.

Local churches, nursing homes, and the Senior Center are invited to participate in the annual event.

Early delivery – over 400 presents waiting to be opened by the 50-plus children who came to meet Santa at the Elks Lodge on Dec. 9.