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The Elks Ritual

Elks Ritual

11 O'clock Toast Rules

  1. NEW RULE 2025 - ANYONE MEMBER IN GOOD STANDING AT THE TIME OF THE CONTEST IS ELIGIBLE TO COMPETE.

  2. The Grand Lodge Ritualistic Committee will be responsible for the Contest, rules, and any changes in the rules of the Contests. States will be notified of any changes in the rules after the Grand Lodge Session the year before the next Grand Lodge Contest.

  3. The 11 O’clock Toast Contest will use the Toast listed on page ii in the Ritualistic Manual (519900). This is the Toast used during the Ritual Team Contest.

  4. The 11 O’clock Toast Contest will be held before the Flag Charge Contest. The time of the preliminaries is subject to change in accordance with the Grand Lodge schedule. Any change of time will be announced preceding the Grand Lodge Session.

  5. There will be an EASTERN OR WESTERN DIVISION breakdown in this Contest. The top 2 contestants of each Division will compete in the Finals before the Ritual Final Four performs on Monday in the same room as the Ritual Finals.

  6. The contestant’s order of appearance will be done by the Grand Lodge Area their State is located. The contestants need to check in with the Ritual Committee before the Contest. The time of check-in is subject to change. Each State will be notified of their performance times by their Area Representative of the Ritualistic Committee.

  7. The Contest and scoring will begin when the Contest Chairman says, “It is the hour of recollection.” There will be no restarts if a contestant commits some mistake. Only restart allowed is if there is an obvious distraction from any outside source.

  8. The contestant must be pre-registered for the Grand Lodge Session they will be competing.

  9. The dress will be business, coat, tie, or Lodge attire.

  10. The contestant must be the 11 O’clock Toast Contest winner from their State or the runner-up of that State Contest. This will be the State Contest held previous to the Grand Lodge Contest.The State’s Secretary and State Ritual Contest Chairperson must verify that the individual has won or is the runner-up and competing in place of the winner at least 15 days before the 1st day of the Grand Lodge Session of the Contest. 

  1. If, for any reason, the State Association does not hold a State 11 O’clock Toast Contest, and they want to send an individual to the Grand Lodge Toast Contest, besides meeting the criteria listed above in items 8, 9, and 10, that individual must be approved by the State President or the State Ritual Chairperson.

  2. Once an individual wins the Grand Lodge 11 O’clock Toast Contest, they cannot compete in any future Grand Lodge 11 O’clock Toast Contest.

  3. There is a .25 penalty for a repeat performer (one who has competed in this Contest at Grand Lodge) in the Eleven O’clock Toast Contest. Florida State competition will waive the .25 penalty at the State competition if you have not competed in the prior three years.

  4. Scoring will be based on the Grand Lodge Ritualistic Committee’s 11 O’clock Toast computing, not the Ritual Contest. The primary difference is the Toast Contest will not be scored on Deportment. Impressiveness will count for 60% of the score instead of 50%; Word Accuracy counts for 30%, and Pronunciation makes up the remaining 10%. The Judges will place a separate score for each contestant as they do the Candidate in the Ritual Contest, at the bottom of their sheet, based on a point system of 1 to 100 (THIS IS USED ONLY AS A TIEBREAKER). If there is still a tie, the individuals that are tied will be named the winner of that position. 

  1. All 14 Ritual Judges at Grand Lodge will be used to judge the Contest. There will be 5 Ritual Judges and 2 Word Judges judging in the East and the West. The Judge with the highest score and the Judge with the lowest scores are thrown out, just as in the Ritual Contest. In the Finals, all 10 Ritual Judges and 4 Word Judges will be used. The highest two (2) scores and the lowest two (2) scores will be tossed during the Finals of the Toast Contest. The Grand Lodge Ritualistic Committee will compute the scores.

  2. The first four (4) places of this Contest will be introduced during the Ritualistic Committee Report at the Tuesday morning Grand Lodge Session.

  3. The first four (4) places will be recognized by having their names placed on the Grand Lodge website in the same location as the All-American Officers, Final Four of the Flag Charge, and the Final Four Ritual Teams.

  4. The winner of the Eleven O’clock Toast Contest will be awarded the “Ted Callicott” plaque, named in honor of PGER Ted Callicott, a ritual man. The Tennessee State Elks will sponsor the plaque.