Elks Lodge goes smoke-free

The Elks Lodge 2540 went smoke-free Oct. 1, and a smiling Elks President Jimmy Gillin said this week, "So far, this has turned out pretty well for us."

Smoking in the workplace and most indoor public areas was effectively banned in Delaware with the state’s 2002 adoption of the Clean Indoor Air Act.

However, there are six exemptions to the law: private homes, residences and vehicles; indoor areas where private social functions are held; limousines under private hire; hotel or motel rooms rented to one or more guests where the total percentage of smoking rooms does not exceed 25 percent; fundraising activities and functions sponsored by volunteer fire, rescue or ambulance companies or their auxiliaries on their property; and any fundraising activity sponsored by a fraternal society on their property.

Elks Lodges, VFWs, American Legions and a host of other clubs fall under an exemption in the act for the indoor area where private social functions are held; and many of those clubs continue to exercise that right.

Times have changed, said Gillin, lodge president, explaining why the lodge, 18544 Beaver Dam Road in Lewes, decided to go smoke-free. He said some concerns about the change were raised, but the majority of members wanted it. So, he said, it happened.

“Everybody knows smoking is bad for you,” he said. “You can’t smoke anywhere in public these days, including the beaches.”

Gillin said arguments against the smoking ban included a potential loss of revenue because people would stop coming and that people knew it was a smoking-friendly establishment when they joined.

Gillin countered by asking if the smokers smoked in their homes, and, he said, most of the time the answer was no.

The issue was of such importance to the lodge, said Gillin, that nearly 170 members showed up during this year’s annual meeting to vote on the change. Normally, he said, 25 to 50 people show up. The measure passed by a vote of 111 to 52.

The Elks Lodge isn’t the only local establishment that has recently banned smoking.

Rehoboth VFW Post 7447, 101 State Road, went smoke-free more than a year ago and has a message announcing the change on the top of its website.

Bob McGinnis, post commander, said the reason for the change, besides health, was the post’s image. He said there was a push to change from a cigar-smoking, low-light hangout to a more family-friendly establishment.

Just as at the Elks Lodge, McGinnis said a number of members complained when the change was first proposed, but three or four months after the new policy was instituted people’s attitudes started to come around.

Members who had stopped coming, came back, he said, and they’re bringing their wives and grandkids.

McGinnis, who has never been a smoker, said he and his wife spend time in Florida during the winter months, and they’ll visit different American Legion and VFW posts, most of which still allow smoking.

“There such a difference,” he said. “In the ones with smoking, it’s difficult to spend much more than 20 minutes in there.”

Gillin said a few Elks Lodge members stopped coming after the change went into effect, but he expects them to come back. He said more than two dozen past members have returned and people moving into the new developments on Beaver Dam Road stop in all the time to ask about a membership.

The people moving here are glad the lodge went smoke-free, Gillin said.

Gillin understands that people are going to continue to smoke, so he built a simple structure with a roof at one exit that will keep smokers out of the elements during smoke breaks.

It’s better than nothing, he said with a shrug of the shoulders.