On Sunday, February 27, 2022, the Maine Elks Association held its State Ritual Contest at the Sanford Elks Lodge #1470. Only one team competed this year, and that was the Sanford Elks Lodge #1470. The team will be preparing to compete in the national contest held at the Elks Grand Lodge Convention in Atlanta in July 2022. The team scored a 94.4749 out of a perfect score of 100. Winning individual honors for their chairs are:
Exalted Ruler: Sheila Pilsbury
Leading Knight: Robert Shaw
Loyal Knight: Sheri Frechette
Lecturing Knight: Robert Wilkins, PER
Esquire: Roger Normandeau, PDDGER, PSP
Chaplain: Marise Anagnost
Inner Guard: Sooz Roberts
Candidate: Adam Brock
Coach: J. Andew Bolz
Judging the Contest were:
Floor Judge: Bruce Brunelle, PDDGER, PSP
Floor Judge: Wayne Cotterly, GLC, PDDGER, PSP
Floor Judge: Kathleen Cotterly, PDDGER
Floor Judge; J. Andrew Bolz, PDDGER, PSP
Word Accuracy: Frank Ricker
The Elks Ritual contest involves each team performing the Elks Initiatory Ceremony from memory. The contestants are judge based on their word accuracy, impressiveness, movements, pronunciation, and team appearance. Another ritual contest will be held on March 13, 2022 at the Rockland Elks Lodge. This will be open to any Exalted Ruler or Past Exalted Ruler to perform the 11 O’Clock Toast and the Flag Presentation from the Initiatory Ceremony.