Frank O. Garland was born in Colfax, Wash., and worked for the Seattle-Tacoma Shipyards until August, 1942, when he entered the United States Navy. Garland served in the Navy as an instructor until December 1945. His career in Elkdom began upon his return from the Navy, with his initiation in the Centralia, Wash., Lodge. Garland was a Trustee of the Washington State Elks Association and a member of the Board of Directors for the Major Project. He was elected President of the Association and appointed District Deputy Grand Exalted Ruler. He served on the Grand Lodge State Associations Committee, Board of Grand Trustees, and was the Grand Esteemed Leading Knight. He was elected Grand Exalted Ruler in 1984. Garland joined the ENF Board of Trustees in 2003, and serves as a member of the Hoop Shoot Grand Lodge Advisory Sub-committee.

Garland worked for the Eubanks Glass Company, eventually acquiring half-interest, and retiring in 1983­. Garland worked diligently on behalf of his community, as a member of the Centralia City Planning Commission, the Centralia Chamber of Commerce, and President of the United Way Campaign. He has received an Outstanding Citizenship Award from the Centralia Rotary Club, and served on the Board of Directors of both the Centralia Industrial Commission and the West Coast Savings and Loan. [Spouse: Polly.]

Sponsor States: None

Robert J. Sabin was born in Chicago, Ill. He was initiated into the Chicago North, Ill., Lodge in 1951. Dedicated to the Order’s Rituals, he served as a ritual judge. He earned his Life Membership as a member of the Arlington Heights, Ill., Lodge. Sabin chaired a multitude of Illinois Elks Association committees, was elected Illinois State President, and was appointed as a District Deputy Grand Exalted Ruler. He served as a Grand Lodge Convention Ritual Judge and was a nine-year member of the Grand Lodge Judiciary Committee. He also served five years as Justice of the Grand Forum. He was elected Grand Exalted Ruler in 1988. Sabin joined the ENF Board of Trustees in 2000.

Sabin received his J.D. from DePaul University College of Law in 1949. He opened his own law office and practiced in the fields of Real Estate, Probate, Partnership and Corporation law until he retired in January of 1987. Community activities include his local Chamber of Commerce, Director for a number of Corporations, Parliamentarian and Advisor to the Chicago Confederation of Police, and a member of the Special Agents Association for more than 30 years.

Sponsor States: None

Donald D. Dapelo was born in Madera, Calif., and joined the Coalinga, Calif., Elks Lodge in 1952. He served as Exalted Ruler in 1963-64, and was a member of various district committees before being appointed a District Deputy Grand Exalted Ruler. He served the California-Hawaii Elks Association as Youth Activities Chairman, Major Project Board of Trustees member, State Association President and was the first Rose Parade Float Coordinator. He received Honorary Life Membership in 1980, and was elected Grand Exalted Ruler in 1989. He joined the ENF Board of Trustees in 2001, and serves as Advisor of the Auditing and Accounting Committee as well as Chairman of the Grand Lodge Advisory Committee Evaluation Sub-committee.

Dapelo received his Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from Stanford University in 1952. Immediately following graduation, he entered the armed forces and served as a crypto­graphic specialist in the Army Signal Corps in Korea. He spent 35 years in the hardware-appliance business in Coalinga until his retirement in 1986. He was elected to the City Council and served four years, the last three as mayor, and was chosen Citizen of the year in 1982. He led the city through its recovery from the earthquake crisis of 1983. Dapelo is a member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, American Legion and Navy League. [Spouse: Nancy.]

Sponsor States: California, Hawaii, Nevada, Utah

Charles Valentine Bates was born in Leesburg, Fla. After receiving his B.A. in Political Science from the University of Florida in 1964, he joined the United States Air Force. He was assigned to the National Security Agency as a communications Intelligence Officer, and was awarded the Joint Services Commendation Medal for meritorious service during the Vietnam War. He received his law degree from the University of Florida Law School and joined the Gainesville, Fla., Elks Lodge in 1974. Bates served the Florida State Elks Association on the Judiciary Committee, and is the legal advisor for the Harry- Anna Trust Fund. A past State President, District Deputy Grand Exalted Ruler, Grand Lodge Judiciary Committee member and Board of Grand Trustees member, Bates was elected Grand Exalted Ruler in 1998. He joined the ENF Board of Trustees in 2004, and is a member of the Elks National Veterans Service Commission and is the Grand Lodge Membership Committee Advisor.

Bates served his state as a member of the Governor’s Council on Criminal Justice and his community as Chairman of the Santa Fe Work Release Center Advisory Committee. He is a recognized expert in the field of commercial law litigation and has lectured on the subject, written a published text, and is a Florida Supreme Court Certified Mediator. He is admitted to practice before all Florida Courts as well as the United States Supreme Court and the United States Court of Claims. [Spouse: Claudia.]

Sponsor States: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Puerto Rico

Lester C. Hess, Jr., was born in Wheeling, W.V. He joined the Wheeling, W.V., Elks Lodge in 1965. A member of his Lodge’s Youth Activities Committee, PER Association President and Editor of the Lodge newsletter earned him Elk of the Year honors in 1981. In Ritual, he was All-State Chaplain and All-State Exalted Ruler. He was appointed a District Deputy Grand Exalted Ruler, served as a Justice on the Grand Forum, was elected State President and helped incorporate the West Virginia Elks Major Project in 1988. He was elected Grand Exalted Ruler in 1991. Hess became a member of the ENF Board of Trustees in 1995. He is an advisor to the Grand Lodge Public Relations Committee and a member of the Elks National Convention Commission.

Hess graduated from Vanderbilt University with a degree in English. He spent time at various newspapers before becoming an English teacher and basketball coach in Bay City, Michigan. As a reporter, his headline stories on the era's racial tensions and civil rights were read throughout North and South America and across the European continent. He earned his law degree in 1966 from West Virginia University's College of Law. He has been recognized as a conscientious and skilled legal practitioner, amply qualified even in the United States Supreme Court. Hess is a partner at Bachmann Hess Bachmann and Garden PLLC. He is a Fellow in the American College of Trial Lawyers and served as West Virginia Chairman of that group. [Spouse: Rebecca.]

Sponsor States: Kentucky, Virginia, West Virginia

James W. Damon was born in Pasadena, Calif., later moving to Mt. Vernon, Ore. He enlisted in the United States Air Force in 1947, serving with the Air Training Command and the 20th Air Force Heavy Bomb Group, before being honorably discharged in 1950. He joined the John Day, Ore., Elks Lodge as a Charter Member in 1950. Damon was President of the Oregon State Elks Association, served on its major project committee, helped form the Oregon Federated Organization of the O.S.E.A. and was selected to the O.S.E.A. Hall of Fame in 1983. Damon was a District Deputy Grand Exalted Ruler, member of the Board of Grand Trustees, and a Special Deputy Grand Exalted Ruler, before being elected Grand Exalted Ruler in 1990. He joined the ENF Board of Trustees in 2005, and is the Chairman of the National Memorial and Publication Commission and Elks Veterans Memorial Restoration Trust.

Damon was manager of the local telephone company, and earned recognition as the President and CEO of Oregon Telephone Corporation. He served on the Board of Directors of the United States Telephone Association, and was honored in his field by being presented with the Outstanding Service Recognition Award in 1978. He has been active in civic affairs having served on the Mt. Vernon City Council, District School Board and Chairman of the Blue Mountain Hospital District. [Spouse: Barbara.]

Sponsor States: Idaho, Oregon

Dr. Bristol was born in New York City. An Elk since 1950, Dr. Bristol was initiated into the Saranac Lake, N.Y., Elks Lodge and received Honorary Life Membership in 1957. He served as the New York State Elks Association President, chairman of the state scholarship committee, District Deputy Grand Exalted Ruler and member of the Grand Lodge Activities Committee before becoming Grand Exalted Ruler in 1978. He has been a member of the Elks National Foundation Board of Trustees since 1993. Dr. Bristol is also a member of the Grand Lodge Advisory Committee Programs Subcommittee.

Dr. Bristol received his Doctorate of Medicine from the Long Island College of Medicine in 1944, and earned national recognition as a member of the Clinical and Research Staffs of the Trudeau Sanatorium and the Edward L. Trudeau Institute. His community activities include the Knights of Columbus, American Legion Post No. 447, and the Saranac Lake Rotary Club. He also served on the Saranac Lake Central School Board of Education and was a member of the Board of Directors of the New York State School Boards Association. [Spouse: Virginia.]

Sponsor States: Massachusetts, New York