One Budweiser draught and a bag of peanuts. That’s all Col. Mike Matondi would have at the Franklin Elks Lodge #2136, where he visited every day in the late afternoon. He never paid a dime for those beers. That’s because whenever he entered the bar room, members would elbow each other out of the way to pay for his drink, said Joanie Casey, the Elks lounge manager. “They used to fight about it,” she said.

At the corner of the bar under a Red Sox clock is a plaque that reads, “The Colonel’s Corner.” It was dedicated to Matondi more than 15 years ago. It was an act of respect, said Randy Ryder, Loyal Knight at the Elks, third chair officer of the lodge. “When he walked through the door, people listened,” he said.