Word of mouth from Cicero-Berwyn earned us an invitation to Dixon, IL, population 15,000. The further we traveled west from the Chicago area, the lower gas prices trickled until they rounded off at about $2.98. Two and a half hours later, we arrived at lodge No. 744, just in time for Thursday night bingo.

The Dixon lodge has a membership of more than 1,000, clutching nearly ten percent of the town's population, due to its banquet spaces, Friday night dinners, Saturday lunches, and Wednesday night cookouts. The variety of events guaranteed, with only a few exceptions, that we met a new group of people every night. Since the membership was so large, our initial presence was mostly unnoticed.

Nearly 20 years ago, the long-standing downtown lodge burned in an overnight fire. It was a total loss.  Many records, awards, memorabilia, and photographs were destroyed. While members reminisce about the charm of the former building, nearly all agree that the current lodge has been important to the growth of the Dixon Elks and has ensured its future.

As the Dixon building was designed to be a multipurpose box, our documentation required more careful selection to avoid repetition. Augmenting the existing lighting with strobes gave us the option to emphasize details unique to the lodge. In contrast to the Cicero–Berwyn experience, our pace decelerated and our days became proportionally longer. The week in Dixon left us sapped and we turned to the Quad Cities for revitalization. Our next stop: Kewanee, the hog capital of Illinois.

Rachel Gargiulo is a current student of the Museum School. Matthew Gamber (MFA '04) is currently Editor-in-Chief of Big RED and Shiny, an online arts journal for the visual arts in New England.