Welcome to new members who were initiated on August 15th: Mike Alcorn, Mike Dearden, Gareth Earhardt, Mark Geiser, Don HoFacker, Terry Stafford, Mike Strickland, Rena Forbes, Garrett, Bill Goodman.
If you notice some areas of the property have been cleaned up, give a BIG thank you to the Redwood Roamers RV group. They had a work party on August 15. Thank You!
Summer is winding down and what a summer it has been! I am so sorry for the people and families who have lost their loved ones and their property. I am praying for rain!
Now to look forward to fall, I want to remind everyone that come November we will once again be having our "Men’s Fashion Show." I’m hoping that some of our officers will set up to the plate and join in the fun but the rest of you men can be a model too! If you are interested in that, contact me soon so I can give you the low down on it!
I am very excited with what I am planning for Valentines!!!! I am planning to have the lodge dining room set up in a very intimate manner so dining will be cozy and romantic. I will be giving you more information on that in the months to come but if anyone would like to be involved with the planning and / or working it, get in touch with me. This will be something completely different than the usual for our lodge. For now, MARK YOUR CALENDARS for February 14th!!!
Thursday, August 2, we had a total of 7 rigs at the Elks RV Park north of the town of Florence, Oregon. This is an absolutely beautiful Elks RV Park! We had our usual Heavy Hors-d’oeuvres. and no lack of food in-cluding breakfast provided over at Loren & Sue’s trailer – the gathering place, each morning by Greasers, Hank and Mitzi Beck. Each evening Tom Gill & Loren lit our firepits in front of Loren & Sue’s. Friday morning most of us ventured downtown to the waterfront for some recreational shopping and lunch. After lunch we headed to Sandland Adventures for the Dune Buggy Ride. A great time was had by all. Friday night we had a fantastic dinner at the Elks Lodge #1858 in Florence: great meal, great company. Saturday morning some of the gals went to the Garden Store. Several of us went to the fascinating Oregon Coast Military Museum out at the airport. Others went back to Sandland Adventures for Mini Golf. We gathered at the RV park playground for Washers and a BBQ. We had Sirloin Steak Hamburgers with all the fixins’. Of course, WAY too much food. Then the usual evening firepit to roast marshmallows.
Sunday we headed south to Gold Beach. We were going to stay at a park on the river, because there were so few going, Hank took us 15 miles inland to Quosatana Campground in the Siskiyou National Forest. Since it is a National Forest campground, Seniors with Senior Passes only paid $10 for the night. This is the most beautiful National Forest Campground I have ever seen. So quiet, wild turkeys an deer right in our camping spaces, AND, a million blackberries! Hank, Mitzi, Loren, Sue, and Tom Gill had a beautiful evening right on the Rogue River with the campfire (real wood) and the stars. The Brugas needed hookups so they stayed in an RV park close to town. Art was feeling a little wimpy but survival is our mantra. After picking gallons of blackberries the smoke was coming in on Sunday morning from the fires up stream so we packed it up and headed to the most beautiful spot on the coast, Eureka, we found it.
On Friday, August 18th, 15 Roamers gathered at the Lodge to do some weed-eating, cutting blackberries vines and general clean up. It was a great crew and we got a lot done. The Lodge served us a great lunch at noon. A big thanks to everyone who attended. We might schedule another cleanup and mowing in a week or two. The next meeting is September 5th at 4:30pm.
Your Trustees have been very busy this last month with our DDGER Visitation which includes Lodge Safety inspections and Audits with Sandy Gowan’s staff. We have repaired and completed the west side of the lodge entrance off Herrick Avenue. Thank you to Wendy Brown who painted the Patriotic address painted on the east side entrance curb. Many, many thanks to the Lodge’s Redwood Roamers RV group that spruced up the outdoor yard/lawn area. Looks great!
Summer is rapidly coming to an end and schools are beginning to start up. Please be extra mindful when driving in and around our school areas. If you have any concerns, questions or safety issues at the lodge, please contact our Exalted Ruler, Dennis Hunter, or myself, or write your concerns and place that in the ER Suggestion Box located in the hall next to the office.
The annual U. S. Coast Guard Appreciation Dinner featured barbecued steak dinners for more than 120 U. S. Coast Guard Sector Humboldt Bay personnel and their guests, an annual thank you to the members of the Coast Guard who keep North Coast seafarers safe. In addition to steaks barbecued on the giant grills of the Elks Lodge for the guests in attendance, more than one dozen steak dinners were cooked, boxed and delivered to on-duty personnel who were unable to attend the event. The dinner, a yearly collaboration among the three Eureka Rotary Clubs—Eureka, Southwest Eureka, Old Town—and Elks Lodge #652, celebrates the Coast Guard’s August birthday and the deep ties between the Coast Guard and the City of Eureka. In 2000, Eureka became the second city in the country to be designated as an Official Coast Guard City by the U.S. Congress—it is one of only 20 cities in the country to receive that designation.
Captain Gregory T. Fuller, Sector Commander, United States Coast Guard, Sector Humboldt Bay presented commemorative plaques to the evening’s hosts, saying that “this steak dinner is the best event of the year for the women and men of the Coast Guard.” (Amended from swrotary.org)
Eureka Elks Lodge No. 652 presented $2,000.00 to Families Advocating AutismNow ( FAAN). FAAN was founded in 2009 by seven mothers of children with autism. They provide grants for Equine Assisted Therapy, Aquatics, Autism Awareness Book Donations and educational Grants for teachers. They also host monthly, Motion Picture Sensory Screenings, Fun for FAAN Open Gyms and a
Parent/Caregiver Support Group. They are working to create new programs to help spread autism awareness. Sandy Gowan, District Deputy Grand Exalted Ruler (DDGER) was present to be part of this very important donation. Her district is the Pacific Northwest from the Golden Gate Bridge to the Oregonborder. She is very involved in helping local Elks Lodge improve their membership and community involvement. She was very proud to be part of this donation. For further information on FAAN, visit the web site humboldtfaan.org. Pictured from left to right: Sandy Gowan, DDGER; Rachel Williams, Treasure FAAN; Kaileigh Klammes, President FAAN; Kathy Winter, Board Member FAAN and Dennis Hunter, Exalted Ruler Eureka Elks Lodge NO. 652.
Eureka Elks Lodge No. 652 is pleased to invite you, your family and guests to a celebration of the signing of the U.S. Constitution on Sunday, September 16th at 2:00pm at Humboldt Masonic Hall, 517 G Street, Eureka. The Elks Lodge, with the following organizations will be presenting a history and tribute to the Birth of the American Flag from the early revolutionary flags to todays 50 stars and 13 strips. Humboldt Masonic Lodge No. 79, Eureka Emblem Club No. 298, Eureka Commandery No 35 Knights Templar, Scouts of America Troop No. 54, Jobs Daughters Bethel No. 86, Rainbow for Girls Assembly No. 216 and Mad River Honor Guard.
On July 3rd, 2018, eleven rigs headed north on the open road to rendezvous at the Klamath River RV Park with the sole purpose of Doing Nothing Well: pull up a chair, read a good book, take a nap and look at the mighty Klamath was the mantra of the trip. Some were distracted by the jet boat tour, Trees of Mystery, the Drive Thru Tree, Paul’s Smoked Salmon and the Pey Mey fueling station, while others thought about breakfast at the Log Cabin Diner and dinner at the Steelhead Lodge.
Three rigs went to McCloud over the weekend of July 13-16. We camped at Dancer’s RV Park on cement pads and had lush green grass around us. We went to Dunsmuir Saturday starting at the city park Botanical Garden, the Railroad Park, Castle Crags and had lunch in Dunsmuir, then went back to the trailers where we could get into our air conditioning! It was 100 outside! Sunday we took a tour of Weed, having a great time with plenty to eat as usual! Next meeting is on August 1st at 4:30 in the lodge.
I hope everyone is enjoying this warm sunny summer we’re having, with very little fog. This has made for some nice late afternoon fishing in the bay.
Trustees will be meeting Tuesday, August 28th at 6:00 pm to review the first 3 months of this
year’s budget to insure our business is on track. As with any meeting, any member in good standing is welcome to attend.
The trustees and house committee will be scheduling another lodge and yard work day before winter to be scheduled later in September. Our last work party was short on volunteers and large on things to be accomplished. Thanks to Donna Jordan, Ann Poole, Nina Strang, and Terry Long for your hard work Don’t wait for a work day There is always something to do at the lodge, Always very appreciated and not always acknowledged properly.
The RV lot is full with Elks from all over the nation, Introduce yourself and make new friends from all over. Great Elks members!
Kevin Christie, Chairman, Board of Trustees
Greetings from the Veterans Council. Can you believe that we are already into August? At the end of June, the Lodge and Eureka VA Clinic had our 2nd Annual Veterans Car Show. The car show had an awesome turnout with 56 cars and motorcycles! We served 164 people at dinner that evening to honor 19 WWII Veterans with the assistance from staff from the Eureka VA Clinic, Boy Scout Troop #27, and volunteers from the Kohls Cares Program. Thank you to the Lodge and the Veterans Council for their continued support of our Veterans programs. Without all of you it would not be possible to do these things for our Veterans and our Veteran Community.
October 5, 6, & 7th is this year’s North Coast Stand Down. We need clothing donations. If you have donations, please bring them to the Lodge or notify me or another Veterans Council Member so that we can make sure that they get added to our donation pile for the Stand Down.
November 8th is this year’s R.E.D Friday Event for all Veterans. We are in need of monetary donations for this event. If you would like to donate to the Elks Veterans Council for this event, please speak to me.
Casey Stephens, US Army, Ret. Veterans’ Committee Chairman