On Friday, April 27th, 2018, Lincoln Lodge No. 80 and Grand Island Lodge No. 604 competed in the State Ritual Contest held in Kearney, Nebraska. Lincoln performed at 9:00 while Grand Island went on at 10:00 a.m. The results were announced at the 105th Annual State Conventions Awards banquet that Saturday evening. Grand Island won 2nd with a team score of 95.2031 and Lincoln won their 10th in a row (1st place) with a score of 96.2031. Top scoring officer receiving the Nutzman Award went to Lincoln's Esteemed Leading Knight Troy Pedersen with a score of 94.6590. Other 1st place finishers for Lincoln were Esteemed Loyal Knight, Harry Montag, Esteemed Lecturing Knight Jeff Sneller, Chaplain Mary Brooks and Candidate Brad Norton. Congratulations to all officers who competed. Lincoln won the 1st Place Traveling Trophy, 1st Place Team Plaque and 1st Place Coach Award. In addition, Laurie Montag won the 11 o'clock Toast and Stephen Wirth won the Tribute to the Flag, Awards. Again, thanks for all your hard work and dedication to another successful year for Lodge No. 80.

After a whirlwind of practices, travel and competition, your representative for the state of Nebraska's Ritual Team was successful once again. Lincoln Lodge No. 80 was one of 24 teams competing for the right to make the Final Four and ultimately the title of National Champions.
The first and second place teams in the Eastern Division were Best in the East, Tallahassee, Florida (94.8911) and last year's National Champion Bridgeport, Pennsylvania (94.1169). The first and second place teams in the Western Division were Best in the West, Lincoln, Nebraska (95.2491) and Carlsbad, New Mexico (94.7321). The Final Four was set for the afternoon of Monday, July 17th. The winners and Final Four scores were announced on Tuesday morning at the Grand Lodge Session. 4th Place, Pennsylvania (90.5076), 3rd Place, New Mexico (94.4389), 2nd Place, Nebraska (94.4778) and 1st Place, Florida (94.7978). So after the air cleared, Lincoln Lodge No. 80 finished Best in the West and finished 2nd nationally. We also had three (3) All Americans; Esteemed Leading Knight Laurie Montag, Chaplain Larry Schwindt and Coach Stephen Wirth. Thank you to all Elk members, families and friends for your continued support of Ritual in Lincoln as well as across the great state of Nebraska.

Lincoln Lodge No. 80 was crowned Nebraska's Ritual Champs for the 9th year in a row at the 104th Annual Nebraska Elks Convention held in Grand Island, April 28th, 29th, 30th at the Hotel Grand Convention Center Awards Banquet that Saturday evening. Coaches / PERs Doug Reinks and Stephen Wirth prepared the team well to meet the challenge. Lincoln scored a 97.7691 to finish 1st while Grand Island took 2nd with a score of 95.1991. Lincoln's Chaplain, Larry Schwindt with a personal score of 96.2130 won the Nutzman Award for the highest scoring officer of all who competed. In addition, Lincoln gets to retire the State Ritual Traveling Trophy to their trophy case. This makes the 3rd State trophy, 2017, which now stands proudly next to the other two that were retired in 2014 and 2011 respectively. A lodge Ritual Team is required to win the traveling trophy 3 consecutive years in order to claim it and retire it at their lodge home. Lincoln will now compete in the National Ritual Contest to be held at the 153rd Elks National Convention in Reno, Nevada, July 16th through the 19th, 2017. Lincoln is scheduled to perform on Saturday, July 15th at 3 p.m. prior to the start of the convention's Sunday opening ceremony. The following individual Ritual awards were presented: Lincoln; Exalted Ruler Mary Brooks, Esteemed Leading Knight Laurie Montag, Esteemed Loyal Knight Troy Pedersen, Chaplain Larry Schwindt, Inner Guard Bobby Clinkenbeard and Candidate Bradley Norton. Grand Island; Esteemed Lecturing Knight Jim Thompson and Esquire William Carstens. Additional awards include; Flag Tribute, Bradley Norton, 11 O'clock Toast, Larry Bratt and a new award presented this year is the Jolly Cork Toast won by Stephen Wirth.

Congratulations to all as we continue to work toward winning Ritual's Western Division, a spot in the Final Four and ultimately a 3rd National Championship.

It was the hour of eleven when Nebraska's entry into the National Ritual Contest took place on Saturday, July 2nd in Houston, Texas. Lincoln Lodge No. 80 walked into the Western Division's competition room with high expectations as representing our state with the hopes of winning a third in a row National title. After posting a score of 96.8166 and waiting out the results of the remaining teams yet to compete, Lincoln won the Western Division Championship and had reserved a spot in the Final Four. Arizona finished 2nd with a score of 96.6177. The Eastern Divisions top two representatives were Ohio, 97.3274 and Pennsylvania, 96.6993. The top two teams in both division were now set to compete head to head on Tuesday, July 4th. The final performance and team scores is how each team finished. 1st, Pennsylvania (Bridgeport #714), 97.6457, 2nd, Ohio (Kenton #157) 97.1756, 3rd, Nebraska (Lincoln #80) 96.9730 and 4th, Arizona (Phoenix #355) with a score of 96.7167. Although Lincoln was somewhat disappointed as far as not being able to threepeat as National Champions, winning the Western Division for the 3rd year in a row and winning three more All Americans (Gerald Miles, Exalted Ruler, Mary Brooks, Esteemed Leading Knight and Coaches Bobby Clinkenbeard, Richard Todd and Stephen Wirth) was worth every minute after starting practice 10 months ago. Accomplishments; 1st in winning Practice Under Pressure, 1st in winning State Contest, 1st in winning Western Division and 3rd in the Final Four. The togetherness of the members of our team (performers and coaches) is significant and it only proves that hard work and dedication will keep a winning tradition alive for Lincoln Lodge No. 80 and the state of Nebraska. As we look forward to the future our team sights are now set for the 153rd National Convention and the chance to compete in the National Ritual Contest to be held in Reno, Nevada during July 2017. Thanks to all who have supported Lincoln financially as well as all the compliments and encouragement this past year. We are truly grateful.

On Friday, April 22nd, Lincoln Lodge No.80 started the contest off at 9:00 a.m. followed by York Lodge No. 1024 at 10:00 a.m. and Grand Island Lodge No. 604 at 11:00 a.m. The scores were tallied by the judges and announcements were made at the Awards Banquet held that Saturday evening. Lincoln finished 1st with a score of 96.7777, Grand Island finished 2nd and York finished 3rd respectively. Esteemed Loyal Knight Larry Bratt won the Nutzman Award for the highest scoring officer of all who officers who competed. This is Lincoln’s 8th State Championship in a row and will be making their 8th consecutive trip to the National Ritual contest which will be held this year in Houston, Texas, July 1st - 6th at the 152nd Elks National Convention. Lincoln will be defending its Back to Back National titles as they strive to threepeat in Houston. Note: It was 31 years ago that Lincoln won the Nebraska State Championship and performed in Houston in 1984. Bobby Clinkenbeard was the teams coach and Stephen Wirth performed as Esteemed Loyal Knight. Laramie, WY Lodge No. 582 won the National Championship that year. Coaches Bobby, Rich Todd and Stephen have the Lincoln team focused and we will do our best to bring back another title to Nebraska and for Lincoln Lodge No. 80. More State pictures and awards will follow in the upcoming July issue of the Elk-O-Gram. Congratulation Lincoln and thank-you members for supporting our Ritual Team.

Elk member of Lincoln Lodge No. 80, as well as all Elks across the State of Nebraska can be proud of the accomplishment of our Ritual Team in Indianapolis, Indiana during the 151st National Elks Convention the week of July 5th thru the 8th. The LEL #80 Officers team turned in another stellar performance which brought the National Ritual Championship back to Nebraska for the 2nd year in a row. Lincoln performed in the Western Division on Sunday, 07/05/15 at 1:00 p.m. and finished with a score of 97.6560 to win the West and a berth in the Final Four. In addition, by winning the West, Lincoln received 7 All Americans awards. On Tuesday, 07/07/15, Lincoln performed for a second time at 2:00 p.m. in the Final Four and finished with a team score of 96.9103. The announcement of the National Championship team wasn’t known until Wednesday morning at the awards presentation portion of the convention. The teams of the Final Four finished as follows: Dalton (#1267) Georgia, 4th, Blue Springs (#2509) Missouri, 3rd, Bridgeport (#714) Pennsylvania, 2nd and Lincoln (#80) Nebraska, 1st. And the hollering, cheering and general whooping it up, commenced. Your All Americans included Exalted Ruler Larry Bratt, Esteemed Leading Knight Larry Schwindt, Esquire Carrie Fiedler, Chaplain Troy Pedersen, Inner Guard Laurie Montag, Candidate Harry Montag and Coach Stephen Wirth. In addition, Esteemed Loyal Knight Mary Brooks and Esteemed Lecturing Knight Gerald Miles turned in solid performances and with the additional guidance of coaches Bobby Clinkenbeard and Richard Todd, the team won Back to Back (2014 / 2015) Championships. Congratulations one and all. Your dedication to Ritual has set the standards for many years to come.

On Friday April 24th, Lincoln's Ritual Team competed at 8:00 a.m. along with Grand Island at 9:00 a.m. and York at 10:00 a.m. for the right to be crowned State Champions. Lincoln will be making its 7th trip (in a row) to Nationals which will be held in Indianapolis, Indiana, July 3rd - 8th during the 151st National Convention. Lincoln finished at State with a score of 98.2462. Grand Island was second with a score of 95.0998 and York finished third with a score of 93.0772. Lincoln swept all 1st Place Award positions including the Nutzman Award which is presented to the highest scoring officer between the 3 competing teams. Lincoln's Leading Knight, Larry J. Schwindt, PER, won with a high score of 95.240. In addition, Lincoln took home the traveling team trophy which will be displayed alongside two other team trophies which the team has previously won. When a team wins the state award 3 years in a row, the team trophy is retired at their lodge. Lincoln won 6 years in a row, hence the two trophies. Since State, Lincoln has been practicing to defend their 2014 National Championship, which was won in New Orleans, Louisiana last year. Ritual coaches, PERs Bobby Clinkenbeard, Richard Todd and Stephen Wirth will have the team ready to meet the challenge. Thanks you State Trustees and all members of the Nebraska Elks Association for your continued support as we strive to win Back to Back National Championships.

After two incredible performances, scoring 98.6 to win the Western Division and then scoring and almost unbelievable 98.2 in the final four competition, Lincoln's own Ritual team won the coveted Benjamin plaque, emblematic of the BEST RITUAL TEAM IN AMERICA.

The margin of victory over the second place team in the Western Division, New Mexico, was over one point and over the Florida team in the finals competition was just under a point. Usually the difference is a tenth of a point or a few hundredths, indicating how superior our team was in New Orleans.

Individually, the team excelled with 5 All Americans. To win an All American you must score higher than anyone else in the West in your chair. Larry Schwindt, Exalted Ruler; Larry Bratt, Leading Knight; Gerald Miles, Loyal Knight; Doug Rienks, Chaplain and Stephen Wirth, Candidate all won their chair. Congratulations to the other team members who obviously scored very high: Mary Brooks, Lecturing Knight; Laurie Montag, Esquire and Troy Pedersen, Inner Guard.

In addition, the highest scoring officer of all the officers on all the teams was our own Larry Bratt. He won the William King award for the second time - a rare feat.

The team would like to Thank everyone, locally, who donated to our Ritual travel fund and thanks to the Nebraska State Elks Association, for without their generous support it would not have been possible for us to attend the contest.

Lincoln Lodge No. 80 was successful in defending their State crown, by winning their 6th consecutive title. On Saturday, at the April 26th Awards Banquet, Lincoln received all 8 first place individual awards in their respective positions. Team score was 97.9900 and good enough to bring the Hope Blackledge traveling trophy back to Lincoln for its final resting place. Lincoln has two traveling trophies that are now retired in their trophy case. Each one covers 3 years. Larry Bratt, Leading Knight, won the Nutzman Award which is presented to the highest scoring officer of the 4 teams competing. Larry's score was 96.209 and is now his 2nd Nutzman Award, back to back. He also won this award as Lecturing Knight in 2013. Lincoln's Ritual coaches PERs Clinkenbeard, Todd and Wirth had the team prepared. Many dedicated hours by individuals and coaches in preparation for the State competition paid off. Lincoln will now start preparation for the National Ritual contest to be held at the 150th Elks National Convention in New Orleans July 13th - 17th.

Ritual coach and judge, Bobby Clinkenbeard, won the George B. Klein Award for his dedication to Ritual. He not only helped Lincoln in preparation for the contest, he was also recertified as a judge and assisted the State Ritual chairman in judging the state contest. Additional awards received were presented to Larry Schwindt, 1st place Flag Tribute and Larry Bratt, 1st place 11 O'clock Toast. Lincoln Lodge No. 80 also won 1st place in the Lodge Bulletin contest.

When it comes to Ritual and Lincoln Lodge No. 80 is involved, excitement is always in the air. From the time members of our team departed from, and back to, Lincoln/Omaha either by car or plane, you knew there would be stories and memories made. Lincoln stayed at the beautiful Grand Sierra Resort and Casino Hotel along with other Nebraska State and lodge representatives. It was about a 10 minute ride by bus to the downtown Reno Sparks Convention Center where the 149th Annual Elks National Convention was held as well as the highly anticipated Ritual Competition. Lincoln competed on Saturday, July 13th at 10 a.m.

Our team put on a strong performance with a score of 95.5887. We actually held the number two spot for a short period of time. Our dreams of making it to the Final Four were dashed as Littleton Colorado #1650 dropped us into third place after the Ritual Committee posted their score of 95.9973 by 3 p.m. However, Lincoln had some excellent individual scores that kept us all in anticipation of possible top awards in the Western Division. Then Carlsbad New Mexico #1558 posted a score of 97.2867 on the third day of competition. When all the teams in the Western Division had finished, Carlsbad and Littleton finished 1 and 2 and Lincoln's coaches were informed that three of our officers, Exalted Ruler Doug Rienks, Lecturing Knight Larry Bratt and Esquire Gerald Miles had been in first place individually until Carlsbad, NM performed. All three of Lincoln's officers finished second which is still a monumental accomplishment.

Overall, Lincoln's Ritual Team finished 6th out of 14 teams in the West. Eight teams had a score in the 95's, no teams in the 96's and one team in the 97's. The rest were 94's or below. The scoring was generally very consistent in both the Eastern and Western Divisions. Final Four: results are 1st Littleton CO #1650, 96.4654, 2nd Carlsbad NM #1558, 96.3494, 3rd Kenton Ohio#157, 95.3349 and 4th Dover MD, DE, DC #1903, 95.3263. To the officers and coaches of Lincoln Lodge #80's Ritual Team, thank you for all your hard work, the many hours of practice and your dedication to the Initiation Ritual process. All the members within our lodge jurisdiction and members state wide, can be assured that Lincoln will not settle for less than, at least another chance to perform at the highest level in 2014. Get ready New Orleans, Lincoln is coming.

Lincoln Lodge No. 80 was successful in defending their previous 4 crowns once again. On Saturday evening, April 27th, 2013 at the awards banquet, it was announced that Lincoln won the State Ritual contest and will represent Nebraska a the National Ritual Contest to be held at the 149th annual Elks National Convention in Reno, Nevada July 13th through the 17th. The team scored a record 98.0860, the highest of any Lincoln Ritual Team to date. All seven officers were awarded individual 1st place trophies for their respective positions.

Our candidate, Laurie Montag, took 2nd place honors for competing for her first time at state level. Larry Bratt, Lecturing Knight, won the Nutzman Award which is presented to the overall highest scoring officer with a score of 96.665. Other awards received were the 1st place Hope Blackledge team plaque along with the Hope Blackledge traveling trophy which will stand in Lincoln's trophy case for another year. It looks real nice along side of the other traveling trophy which doesn't need to travel anymore. Once the team wins 3 state titles in a row, the trophy is then retired. So the 2nd trophy needs one more state title from Lincoln to be able to land permanently in our trophy case. Ritual coaches, Richard Todd and Stephen Wirth, both PERs, are very proud of the individual and team efforts put out by this fine group.

In addition, Larry Schwindt won the 1st place Flag Tribute and 1st place 11 O'clock Toast award competition. Lincoln also won 1st place in the Lodge Bulletin as well as 3rd place in the All-American Lodge contests respectively. Please support the Ritual team with the many fund raising events listed in this issue of the Elk-O-Gram as they make their way to the Final Four in Reno.