By 0300 last Wednesday, fifteen Elks from Mission Viejo Saddleback Valley Lodge #2444 lifted themselves from their slumber and steeled themselves for a 20+ hour day. Mr. Harvey Boelts, MVSV Elks Bingo Charity Chairman, had spent many weeks leading up to this day, organizing this important Elks community service event. With his Bingo Troops mobilized before sunrise, they assembled a convoy of vehicles at the Elks Lodge by 0400.
The Elks cargo holds were filled with plenty of fixings for a Marine mess hall, destination Camp Pendleton. By 0430 these Elks were on the road with all the necessary cooking and serving equipment, 1,200 fresh cooked sausages, 50 dozen loaves of bread, 25 gallons of cracked eggs for scrambling and dunking French toast, 700 pancakes worth of milk and pancake mix, 120 pounds of fresh Fuji Apples, 100 pound of ripe bananas, 300 cups of coffee, 500 cups of orange juice, 480 bottles of water, and 350 camouflaged backpacks filled with goodies.
It was an awesome sight to behold and it was clear from the get-go this Elks expedition was ready for serious business. The Elks mission was to meet up with 315 Marines of Combat Logistics Battalion 11, under the Command of Lt. Col. P.J. Reynolds, Commanding Officer, and to serve those Marines a nutritious breakfast before their deployment that same day. By 0630 the Elks were on site, cooking, and conducting a well-received Elks breakfast to our Nation’s finest serving in our military.
Many of these fresh faced men and women were just weeks past high school and ready to head out to their first deployments. They were all physically fit and “squared away” and it seemed the Marines were as appreciative of the Elks as we were of them. We were thanked by so many in the battalion, including a huge show of support from Lt. Col. Reynolds, that we left Pendleton with a tremendous sense of pride and humility. We are not sure who was happier to be there, but it was safe to say we all enjoyed each other’s company a great deal.
OPSEC prevents disclosure of the Marines deployment destination but we later learned that amphibious assaults were possible in these Marines’ near future. At 1300 hours that afternoon, those same Marine boarded buses bound for San Diego, then boarded three Navy Ships transporting them to points east and into harm’s way. We were the last of civilian support they would see for the next seven months, so the event was quite special for them and certainly for us as well.
By 1130 hours we KP’d the Marine mess hall and surrounding grounds, said our goodbyes to the Marines, then headed back to our Lodge to unpack our community service tools.
By 1600 hours, most of Harvey’s Bingo Troops were back into their weekly routine, providing Bingo entertainment to the Mission Viejo Saddleback Valley community. Each Bingo Trooper was feeling a bit more fatigued than normal, knowing their day still had hours to go, but each carried the glow of accomplishment from their mission well done and the inspirational feeling generated by serving those who serve our Country.
Participating Elks, in addition to our Company Commander Harvey Boelts, were Larry Colgan, Dennis & Laura Lumley, Mike & Vicky Long, Ed & Pam Mackey, Frank Scarpine, Dennis Andrews, David Tucker, Sandy Bergen, Sandie McClure, Charles T. Hart, and Barbara King. Special thanks to Stephanie & Bill Bongartz for contributing the backpacks and many of the other goodies.
Pictures R. Dennis Lumley; text by R. Dennis Lumley and Mike Long
