ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, February 17, 1997 TAG: 9702170083
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: BEDFORD
SOURCE: JOANNE POINDEXTER STAFF WRITER
Joy Witt may have been the first woman to join the Lynchburg Elks lodge, but don't think of her as an advocate for women's rights.
She just wanted to be part of the group that her husband belonged to and reap some of the benefits. She wanted to continue her frequent visits to the Elks lodge in Lynchburg and be eligible to live in the national home when it begins taking women in a few years.
"I'm not a feminist, that's for sure," said Witt, who tried to get three other women to join with her, but "they chickened out." She has sponsored about six women since she was initiated.
It seems appropriate that 61-year-old Witt be the lodge's first female member. She has been the barber at the Elks National Home for 15 years and calls all of the residents by their first name.
"The Elks kind of took pride in being a men's organization for so long," Witt said. "I was brave."
Witt could have joined an Elk auxiliary, but currently those women - wives and daughters of Elks - aren't eligible to live at the home.
Her husband ,Talmyr, a recently retired farmer, has been a member of the lodge about as long as Witt has worked at the national home. He often talks about the two of them moving into the home after she retires. They often go to the lodge hall for meals and dances or just to see friends.
"It's a good place to socialize, and you don't have to be bothered with outsiders coming in," Joy Witt said. "You feel safe there."
Witt thinks she might enjoy living at the home. She and Talmyr have no children and might want to give up housekeeping when she retires in about three years.
Besides, she's familiar with the programs and services at the home. Some of the current residents say it would be nice if she were the first female resident.
Many Elks National Home residents have supported their barber as a member, but some have mixed emotions about having women in the home. She has heard that other women were discouraged from seeking membership, and she knows several who are afraid their applications will be denied.
Although her husband encouraged her to join the order, he thought it would be a conflict of interest to sponsor her.
When another Elk submitted Joy Witt's application, though, "some men called and chewed him out," she said.
"They picked at my application, and I had to fill it out twice," she said. Someone apparently thought she wasn't giving direct answers. But, she said, "everybody was wonderful" during her initiation.
Although Joy Witt will not talk about it, some Elks say at least one of her customers chose another barber when she became an Elk.
She prefers to overlook such incidents.
"I can understand how the men felt," she said. "I guess they used the lodge to get away from home and shoot the breeze. But it works both ways."
Women, she said, not only "would put a little spice into the home," but they also would boost membership.
The Elks' membership has declined in recent years. At its peak, the order had 1.6 million members; there are now about 1.2 million, said Frank Garland, chairman of the Elks' national advisory committee.
Joy Witt said she doesn't plan to take a leadership role in the organization.
"I'd just like to go and let the men go on as they have been," she said.
LENGTH: Medium: 69 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: JANEL RHODA STAFF Joy Witt completes Nat DeLeo's monthlyby CNBtrim at the Elks National Home. Witt was the first woman to join the
Lynchburg Elks lodge. About 250 women have followed suit. color.