PRESTON – The Elks Lodge in Preston is preparing for one of their biggest fundraisers of the year, the Demolition Derby. It will be held on Saturday, June 20 during Father’s Day Weekend.
The Demolition Derby is one of the Elks Lodges’ most popular events of the year and brings money to be used for their Christmas Boxes in December.
The derby will be held at the Preston Rodeo Arena located at 198 W. 2nd N. St in Preston.
Jesse Keller, this year’s Exalted Ruler of the Preston Elks Lodge, said they gave about 650 food boxes to families in Southeast Idaho and Northern Utah.
“We put it out there to bishop and community leaders to tell us who could use help for Christmas,” he said. “We were looking for underserved families and community members who needed help.”
Last year they put together and delivered 650 food boxes for people in Smithfield to the south and all-over Southeast Idaho to the north.
The Elks Lodge hopes to fill the rodeo arena which holds over 6,400 people.
The organization also is holding a flag retirement ceremony on Friday July 1, at Benson Park.
“We will start at 7 p.m. and we have around 800 flags we have collected from Franklin County and Northern Utah,” Keller said. “We expect Mayor Dan Keller and representatives from the Preston Police Department and Fire Department to be there.”
Kenneth Davidson, an army veteran and member of the Elks Lodge, will direct the ceremony.
“We will get the fire as hot as we can get it,” he said. “We will retire as many flags as we can.”
Mayor Keller asked members of the Preston Elks Lodge to cook hotdogs for the 250th celebration of the Declaration of Independence. The event will be held at Craner Recreational Complex located at the entrance to the city on the south side of Highway 91.
“We will start serving hotdogs about 5:30 p.m.,” he said.