A member of the River Park Moose Lodge has turned in his blue jacket for one in a new color, symbolizing his rise to the top of the organization.
Brian Keane, of Chicago, has been a member of the lodge in River Grove for almost 15 years. He was recently awarded the rank of “Pilgrim” in the Loyal Order of Moose.
Pilgrim is the organization’s highest individual designation, and all pilgrims receive a gold suit jacket as a sign of their new designation.
Becoming a pilgrim isn’t easy — out of roughly a million Moose members in the U.S., Canada, the United Kingdom and Bermuda, there are only about 3,000 who are pilgrims.
This year, Keane was one of seven people to receive the pilgrim designation in Illinois and 141 internationally. On Oct. 3, members of the local lodge came together at River Park Moose Lodge to celebrate Keane’s achievement.
He said words have been hard to come by since he was named a pilgrim, especially when he had to address his fellow members at the event.
“I could hardly make a speech,” he said. “I forgot what I wanted to say. It’s the experience of a lifetime.”
Ron Padour, 60, has been a member of the lodge for 20 years and said the event was very enjoyable and emotional. He said he shed a tear when he saw Keane in his gold jacket.
“You know the guy and it’s touching,” Padour said.
Frank Clause, governor of the lodge, said Keane earned the position through his leadership in the lodge. Clause said Keane has held several prominent positions in the lodge and his involvement has finally been recognized.
“He’s been on so many committees,” Clause said. “It’s something like a lifetime achievement award.”
Keane said he originally joined the organization for simple reasons.
“I joined because I heard what the Moose was about,” he said. “It was about kids and seniors and I always wanted to help kids and seniors. When I saw what they were about, I didn’t hesitate to join.”
Twitter: @DavidDPollard
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