The time for celebration and pageantry is once again at hand with the Marine Corps Birthday Ball set to take place this Saturday evening, Nov. 11, and you are invited. Join our local Brookings area Calvin E. Murphy Detachment 578 this Saturday evening at the Elks Lodge, 800 Elk Drive, Brookings, at 5:00 pm to celebrate the 242nd Birthday Anniversary of the United States Marine Corps.
Be a part of the celebration and experience the traditions and symbolism that represent this black-tie event. Take part in the Silent Auction and help fund the numerous charities that these men contribute to throughout the year.
Experience the formality of the traditional cake cutting and passing of the first piece of cake.
See the Remembrance Table and learn and understand what the symbolism the settings on this small table represent to members of their profession who are missing from our midst and cannot celebrate with us today.
This is your chance to meet local dignitaries and guests of honor including guest speaker retired Lieutenant General Joseph F. Weber, USMC, State Representative David Brock Smith, Brookings City Manager Gary Milliman, Master Chief Kirk McKay Officer in Charge U. S. Coast Guard Chetco River Station, and many others.
Also, you can help our local detachment say goodbye to our own WWII US Marine Veteran Fred Pate after 20 years of dedicated service here in Brookings.
A formal ball would not be complete without a formal meal of Prime Rib or Chicken, an Awards Ceremony and dancing well into the night.
To Marines around the world, and to Gen. John A. Lejeune, the history, mission, and traditions of the Corps meant a great deal. On Nov. 1, 1921, Lejeune issued Marine Corps Order No. 47, Series 1921, which directed that the order is to be read to every command every year in honor of the founding of the Marine Corps.
Gen. John A. Lejeune’s order will certainly be read in Brookings at the Elks Hall Saturday, November 11th, as well as across the United States and around the world wherever Marines might be found.It was Commandant Gen. Lemuel C. Shepherd Jr.in 1952 who directed the celebration of the Marine Corps Birthday to be formalized throughout the Corps. The details were included in the Marine Corps Drill Manual approved in 1956 and helped bring together the inclusion of a cake ceremony and other traditions still held every year at the Marine Corps Birthday Ball.
One key piece is the passing of the first piece of cake from senior to junior Marines. This tradition represents a symbolic gesture of the passing of experience and knowledge. That tradition begins in recruit training and at Officer Candidates School, where knowing where one comes from, knowing our past and living up to that example set is emblazoned in the minds of those in training.
Marine Corps Birthday Ball will take place Saturday evening, Nov. 11, and you are invited. Join our local Brookings area Calvin E. Murphy Detachment 578 this Saturday evening at the Elks Lodge, 800 Elk Drive, Brookings, at 5:00 pm. Admission is $40.00.