Royal Purple (District No. 6) had their 57th annual meeting in Cut Knife at the Legion Hall May 1, with 39 members of three lodges - North Battleford, Cut Knife, and St. Walburg - attending.
Also visiting were Eileen Baptest from Unity lodge; Past Supreme Honoured Royal Lady Doreen Kelly, from Camrose, Alta.; and Supreme Lecturing Lady Marg Brown from Lloydminster.
District DeputyAudrey Griffith of the North Battleford Lodge No. 173, led the meeting. Upon registering, each guest received a small tatted bookmark beautifully made by Alice Rutley. The mayor of Cut Knife, Germaine Vany, brought greetings from the Town of Cut Knife to the meeting. Also greeting the women was Delbert Rewerts of the Elks of Cut Knife. A wonderful lunch was prepared by the ladies of the Royal Purple, just as they can, with the tables festively set in purple and white. Everybody felt refreshed and ready for the meeting after lunch.
At the 2010 Convention, a one-year ad hoc committee was developed to look at ways and means to ensure the existence of the Royal Purple. Supreme Lecturing Lady Marg Brown of Lloydminster reported, at the district meeting in Cut Knife, the results and recommendations of the committee. There is a need for national, provincial, district and lodge strategic planning for the future. The committee is also looking at ways to get new and younger members of the public involved in the Royal Purple. They are also providing leadership in developing a plan that will enable the Royal Purple of Canada to take a proactive approach to a sustainable future.
The ad hoc committee did two surveys that were helpful in putting a picture together of what the members wanted.
The four principles of the Royal Purple are justice, charity, love and fidelity. This organization will be 100 years young in 2014, and our communities will be the losers if the Royal Purple ceases to exist. The members of the Royal Purple are prepared to work very hard to get new members. They need all the support of the communities they serve so very unselfishly.
Our communities will be so much poorer if lodges close down due to lack of support and new members.
The Royal Purple of Canada is a national, fraternal, charitable women's organization identifying and addressing community needs through the volunteer efforts of its membership. The Royal Purple vision is to be the leading national women's organization helping communities and offering personal development by providing training for leadership skills, conflict resolution, public relations and public speaking to give today's women an opportunity to be active and vital members of the community.
The Royal Purple was incorporated in 1914 in Vancouver and will celebrate its 100th year in 2014. As of 2011, there are 165 lodges across Canada, with national representatives in every province as well as the Northern Territories. Each province is divided into several districts which have several lodges in each district. They are overseen by the district deputy whose job it is to see local lodges are running according to the national rules. She also visits each lodge annually and brings a message from the Supreme Honoured Royal Lady.
What started out as wives supporting their husbands who are Elks, is now a fully self-sustained organization who applied for charter by act of parliament. Over the years the Royal Purple membership has fallen off and at present they are looking for women age 16 and up who are Canadian citizens to join their team. As well Royal Purple is open for men to join if they wish.
The main charity of the Royal Purple is the Elks and Royal Purple Fund for Children. It is a national registered charity and is called their Personal Assistance Program. It was founded in 1956 as the Elks Purple Cross Fund. The name was changed in 1998. The purpose of the fund is to provide financial assistance for any purpose whatever that is for the good and welfare of individual residents in Canada prior to attaining their 19th birthday. Approved funds may be used to purchase hearing aids, auditory trainers, medicine, crutches, braces, technical aids, books and many other items required by a child including transportations, food and lodging for children to be treated or assessed medically in Canada.
The Saskatchewan Pre-Auditory Rehabilitation Centre is located in Saskatoon at Royal University Hospital, and annual walk-a-thons have raised over $1.5 million since its conception. This centre helps children all over the province with hearing disabilities.
The Royal Purple and Elks are raising money for the new children's hospital in Saskatoon, with the selling of tickets for a lottery and prizes ranging from a first prize of $50,000, second and third prizes of $20,000 each, eight prizes of $1,000 and two early bird prizes of $1,000. For more information, contact your local Royal Purple or Elks organization.
The Lodges of the Royal Purple of Canada focus primarily on the promotion and support of needs in communities through the local and national programs. Some of these programs include the Elks and Royal Purple Drug Awareness Program and the Elks and Royal Purple Literary and Poster Contest. In Saskatchewan there is a DARE program delivered by specially trained RCMP officers. It is a 17-week program for Grades 5 and 6 designed to equip elementary school children with skills to recognize and resist social pressures. There are also teasing and bullying prevention kits available to schools in the province, which can be used as teaching aids or resource manuals.
The closing ceremony concluded the meeting with the final closing of the Bible that was followed by taking down the flags for safekeeping and the singing of "God be with you until we meet again," a prayer and the singing of God Save the Queen.
