Although Royal Purple Lodge Number 276 in Thompson has seen a decrease in membership in recent years, the members that are still involved are dedicated to ensuring the group stays a vibrant part of the community.
The lodge is part of the Royal Purple in Northern Manitoba, which includes Flin Flon, Snow Lake and Thompson. Once a year an annual district meeting is held and each lodge takes a turn to host it. The Pas used to have an active Royal Purple chapter but because of lack of membership ended up folding.
Vicki Fleming has been a member of the Royal Purple in Thompson for 53 years. She says that, like many charitable organizations, the Royal Purple has gotten smaller over the years, with close to 100 members when the lodge opened on March 24 in 1962 and down to around 13 members currently.
Fleming says that over the last three years all of the officers have stayed in their same roles. The group currently meets twice a month on Saturday afternoons at the YWCA, now that the Elks Club in Thompson sold their hall about three years ago, due to lack of membership, to the Manitoba Metis Federation. There are currently only three active Elks, the male counterpart to the Royal Purple (although now men can join the Royal Purple and women can join the Elks Club).
"Before the Elks sold their hall, we used to have catering and bingo when we owned the hall. But everyone's getting older and the young people always say, 'What's in it for me?' or 'Do I get paid?' so no one wants to join. But we did get a new member last December," Fleming points out.
Fleming stresses that anyone who would like to be a member of the Royal Purple is welcome to join, and she says she hopes she sees more members join soon so the group can continue its work in the community.
"Over the years we've done an awful lot with kids and seniors. We do the Adopt-a-Highway program. It's down to five of us cleaning it and the youngest member is 61, I believe. But we still do it, except this year because Smook is building on it," Fleming explains, saying the portion of the highway they clean is on Highway 6 heading down towards Winnipeg. "We also help the seniors out. We've done a luncheon and entertainment at the Northern Spirit Manor. We've gone to Rotary Place."
Royal Purple members in Thompson also take part in an annual Christmas stocking draw, which is currently the only fundraising activity they take part in. All of the members donate a gift and place it into a five-foot stocking. The club then sells raffle tickets and a percentage of the ticket sales go to a national fund called the Elks and Royal Purple Fund for Children. This fund helps to assist children with the necessities of life.
"We all donate any percentage of money from money making projects we've bought glasses for children at schools, and for single parents who can't afford it. If there's a fire we've helped out."
The Royal Purple in Thompson helped to raise money to buy the original jaws of life that were used in the community of Wabowden.
