Brooksville Elks Lodge 2582 Celebrates Ribbon-Cutting, Highlights Community Mission

The Greater Hernando County Chamber of Commerce recently held a ribbon-cutting at Brooksville Elks Lodge 2582, formally marking a partnership between two of Hernando County's most established civic institutions. The lodge, situated at 13383 County Line Road between Anderson Snow Road and Mariner Boulevard, operates under a mission "to inculcate the principles of Charity, Justice, Brotherly Love and Fidelity; to recognize a belief in God; to promote the welfare and enhance the happiness of its members and community."

Leading Knight Gary Ashness heads a lodge that traces its local roots to 1978, when it was chartered and originally housed at what is now Great Life Church on Cortez Boulevard. In 2014, the lodge purchased its current building from the Slovenian American Club, relocating to County Line Road in a move that, while initially accompanied by a membership decline, left the lodge with 341 active members today.

The 158-year-old national organization itself began far removed from Hernando County's oak-lined roads. Founded in New York in February 1868, the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks was initially known as the "Jolly Corks," a troop of 15 actors, entertainers, and others associated with the theater. It has since expanded to 1,900 locations nationwide, each operating under the same core values that guide the Brooksville lodge.

Programming at the County Line Road location extends well beyond membership meetings. The lodge's more than 5,000-square-foot event hall hosts the 11 O'Clock Toast as a solemn tradition, along with a monthly Steak Shoot and Sunday breakfasts. The lodge has also served as the venue for Representative Gus Bilirakis' Heroes Among Us Congressional Awards and recurring golf classics. The chamber's monthly membership breakfast, held at the lodge, preceded the ribbon-cutting and reinforced what the lodge described as a relationship it intends to maintain going forward.

Community giving forms the backbone of the lodge's identity. Brooksville Elks Lodge 2582 sponsors People Helping People, New Beginnings, A New Generation, K9 Partners for Patriots, Hernando Youth League, Life Center of Hernando County, United Way, local homeless veterans, and local foster children. Those efforts are driven entirely by volunteers: "There is no paid crew behind the curtain. Just neighbors helping neighbors. That is the Elks way," the lodge stated in a post on its social channels in October 2025.

The lodge's next public fundraising event is the Casino Night Fundraiser, scheduled for Saturday, March 21, 2026. The lodge is open Sundays from 2 to 6 p.m., Tuesdays from 1 to 4 p.m., Thursdays from 6 to 9 p.m., and Fridays from 5 to 9 p.m. The lodge can be reached at (352) 799-7148. The Greater Hernando County Chamber of Commerce, which coordinated the ribbon-cutting, is located at 15588 Aviation Loop Drive in Brooksville and can be reached at 352-796-0697.