RUMFORD – Rumford Lodge of Elks 862 received a visit from national Grand Exalted Ruler Amos McCallum on Sept. 9 for the initiation of Melissa Letarte to membership.

McCallum, the first person from Maine to serve in the national position, is a member of the Biddeford-Saco Elks Lodge. He was initiated into the lodge in June 1963, served as exalted ruler in 1972-73, state president in 1982-83 and was elected to honorary life membership in 1986. He was the first state scholarship chairman.

In 1983 McCallum was appointed as the first chairman of the new Drug Awareness Committee for the Maine Elks Association, serving in that capacity for 11 years. That same year he co-founded the new State Association Major Project – the Maine Children’s Cancer Program.

In 1983 he was appointed special deputy grand exalted ruler for Maine, serving in that capacity to July 2003. He retired from the Kennebunk School System in June 2000. McCallum and his wife, Barbara, have two sons and five grandchildren.