Two years ago, the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 46 was around in name only.

It was dormant for years, and only a few members were active.

Then Rocky Mount police Officer Ricky Parks came along.

"Once he got involved, he started selling the FOP, and the membership doubled," N.C. FOP President Don Penix said. "He went out and got people involved. He motivated people.

"An individual lodge to increase that much is unusual."

In addition to increasing local membership rolls, Parks has helped rejuvenate programs like Shop with a Cop and the blue bow campaign for the Peace Officers Memorial Service.

The lodge received state and national recognition for its rise from the ashes, as the group not only provided legal support for its members but became active in the community. Statewide FOP membership is about 5,400, and there are about 324,000 FOP members in the U.S.

"I didn't want it to be about me," Parks said. "I wanted the focus to be on what we were doing for the community."

Parks then was elected the N.C. FOP sergeant at arms, and his responsibility includes 15 counties in Eastern North Carolina. Six of those counties don't have chartered FOP lodges, so he plans to push to establish local lodges in those areas.

When Parks decided to devote more time to his state FOP duties and not seek re-election at Lodge 46, several local members asked Probation/Parole Officer Tonya Sconyers to take over the job.

"I felt really honored to be nominated," she said, adding that she plans to continue a membership drive and remain active in the community.

That's good, Penix said, because he uses the Lodge 46 success story over the past two years as a motivational tool for other lodges in North Carolina.

"Other people see what he's done," Penix said of Parks.

But Parks ended his two-year run as local FOP president Tuesday night when he swore in the new officers for the local lodge. Sconyers takes over the reigns of an organization that went from an inactive group of 69 members to a working organization of almost 150 law enforcement officers from five different counties.

"The next president is going to have some big shoes to fill," Penix said. "But as long as she keeps the motivation going, they can't go nowhere but up."

But that rise in community involvement almost didn't happen.

Parks said he declined three requests to take over the local organization in 2004 before he finally agreed to take over the helm because, he said, he saw the need to strengthen the bonds among law enforcement officers in the area.

"And we've made huge strides," Parks said. "I'm proud of what we've done in the past two years.

"And that's just the tip of the iceberg."

So why is he stepping out of a leadership position when the organization is on the rise?

Technically, he's not, he said. He still plans to be "massively involved" in Lodge 46.

"We have the potential to keep the (local) lodge moving forward and maybe take it to another level," Parks said. "I didn't want to spread myself too thin.

"And although I plan to still remain active in the local lodge, (Sconyers will) have my full support. I've got confidence in her abilities to take it to the next level."

The first step is getting moved in completely to the organization's new lodge, a former carpet store on Country Club Drive.

"Chambliss and Rabil is allowing us the use of it until we find a permanent home," Parks said. "It will probably be torn down in a couple of years because of the road widening project."

But until then, the FOP Lodge 46 has a place to meet – and grow.

"We're extremely excited about getting in there," Sconyers said.