Dances With Elks Not A Movie, But Newest Member’s Goal

Harriette Kamp is always looking for a way to get people to dance.

That’s how she became the first woman in Eastern Washington to join the Elks.

“This will give us another place to dance,” Kamp said. “That’s one of the main reasons I’m doing this.”

Kamp, a teacher of ballroom dancing, plans to bring her students to the Valley Elks Lodge to practice their moves.

In only the second public meeting at the Valley lodge, Kamp, 61, was initiated into the group along with two men Friday night.

With the lights off for some of the ceremony, Kamp repeated an oath in which she promised to maintain the confidences of the Elks.

One of the largest fraternal organizations in the country, the Elks decided last year to begin admitting women.

Lodges were told they can continue to exclude women for the time being, but if a discrimination suit is filed, the national organization will no longer pay the legal bills.

Members of the Valley Elks were excited about the possibility that Kamp could become the first woman to join the organization in the state but a Tacoma woman holds that distinction after joining a lodge in November.

Kamp teaches ballroom dancing at Gonzaga University and Spokane Falls Community Colleges. In the past, she’s taught physical education classes to prospective teachers and survival classes.

She was invited to join the Elks after expressing interest in bringing her dance students to the lodge on weekend nights for the live music.

A man who credits Kamp with teaching him to dance and helping him keep the use of his leg helped her join. “She’s done so much for me that I thought I’d help her,” said John Loesch, who sponsored Kamp’s membership with the Elks. “If it hadn’t have been for her, I probably wouldn’t be walking.”

Loesch received an artificial knee after a tractor accident. His doctors ordered him to exercise.

Kamp will be a great addition to the Valley Elks and could even boost their membership, especially because of her wide network of friends, said Dave Emerson, the lodge’s secretary.

In fact, he said 90 percent of those at the lodge Friday night for dinner, dancing and the initiation were friends of Kamp.

“If she can teach John and I to dance, she can teach anybody to dance,” said Ed Newman, who watched Kamp’s initiation.

Loesch and his wife met Kamp about 18 years ago when they took a dance class from her.

At the time, Kamp’s husband helped her teach the classes. Donald Kamp died in 1991 of heart failure while running Bloomsday.

He had been a member of the downtown Elks lodge. She used that lodge for the exercise equipment and went to see the Jim Baker Band with her husband there.

Since her husband died, her participation with the Elks became limited. But now she must attend the group’s monthly meetings.

She was a little worried that some of the members might not welcome a female presence.

“I hope there’s no confrontations because I understand there’s a few older men who don’t like the idea.” The change is a dramatic one for

some of the Elks. “It’s quite emotional for some, especially the older members,” Emerson said.

Despite her nervousness, Kamp thinks her entry into the Elks could be an exciting change.

“It’ll be different being one of the boys,” she joked.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color Photo