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Flag Day Observance 2018

The Eureka Elks Lodge No. 652, with Emblem Club No. 298, held its annual Flag Day Observance on June 10th. The program gives the history of the early revolution flags of ” Don’t Tread On Me” and the “Pine Tree” flag to today’s 50 stars and thirteen strips. This program was started in the early 1900’s by the Elks Grand Lodge and is observed by all Elk Lodges throughout the
United States.

From left:  LeAnne Morini; Dora Kaliamos; Nelia Goodwin; Stephanie Carlson; Emblem President, Nina Strang; Eureka Exulted Ruler, Dennis Hunter; Joanne Mell; Suzie Piazza; Fran Argo and James Barry.

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Elks Raise Funds to Help Youngsters with Disabilities

Eureka – More than $3,000,000 has been contributed this year by members of Elks Lodges throughout California and Hawaii to be used in treating children with disabilities.

Dennis Hunter, Exalted Ruler of Eureka Elks Lodge #652, of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, contributed $20,237 which was raised by members of the Lodge.

“We are pleased and proud that members of our local Eureka Elks Lodge were so generous with their dollars and time in this important undertaking,” Hunter said.

Since 1950, the 84,000 members from throughout California and Hawaii have turned over more than $117,000,000 to the California-Hawaii Elks Major Project, Inc., which administers the non-profit charitable corporation.

All of the funds are devoted solely to providing vision screening and therapy treatment to children with a broad range of disabilities.  Without the Elks supported donations, many of these children would not receive such treatment.

The year-long fund raising campaign is capped by an impressive ceremony at the annual Elks Convention when representatives of lodges from throughout California and Hawaii present their donations to Major Project and Elks Association leaders. Eureka’s donations kicked the grand total over the $3,000,000 mark!

The raising of funds to aid children with disabilities is just one of the many philanthropic and patriotic projects which mark the Elks’ contribution to our community.

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Exalted Ruler’s Column – June 2018

I hope you enjoyed the Memorial Day weekend – the unofficial opening weekend of summer! We had a very successful month of May at the lodge, highlighted by the EMT/Firefighters Appreciation Dinner on May 10th and a great Mother’s Day Service and breakfast on Sunday, May 13th. Congratulations to Fatima Naylor, our 2018 Mother of the Year.

Thanks to Terry and Gil for their day-long trip around the lodge with lawn mowers. Way to keep ’em short and green, guys!

Congratulations to our ritual team for a job well done in our annual District Ritual Contest held recently in Ukiah. Ritual is considered to be the backbone of every Elks Lodge. Our team placed second, only 0.22 points behind first-place Vacaville. Five of your seven chair officers placed first or second in their respective positions.

Be sure to enjoy all the lodge activities in June that are featured in this edition of Herd Talk. I always put the calendar on our refrigerator so I don’t miss any and I encourage you to do the same. Don’t miss our Flag Day ceremony on Sunday, June 10th at 10:00 am to commemorate the adoption of the flag of the United States. “As this emblem is first in our hearts as loyal Americans, so is it close to our Altar as loyal Elks.” This is a great chance for your children to witness our country’s history.

On Sunday, June 17th, the Emblem Club will be cooking a great Father’s Day breakfast. Then, on Friday, June 22nd, come and meet our State Vice President, Randy Logan and his lovely wife, Jackie as they share the important message from our CHEA President, Robert Duitsman. More details on all these activities appear elsewhere in this Herd Talk.

As I walked across the stage May 19 to present the $20,371.25 our lodge raised during the last year for the state’s major project (Purple Pig), the state surpassed $3 million! Our slide was up for five minutes while over 1,500 people cheered! Remember, this is your lodge. Come on out and enjoy it. If you have questions or suggestions, pass them along. See you at the Lodge!

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Leading Knight’s Corner – June 2018

I would like to thank everyone who helped put on a great Cinco de Mayo! Thank you to everyone who attended. Your presence made this event successful and fun!

The State Convention in San Diego was a great event. We were exposed to some fantastic ideas that will im-prove our already great lodge. I believe you will be seeing some of these ideas being implemented in our lodge in the near future. Thank you members of Lodge 652 for affording the Exalted Ruler, Chairman of the Trustees, the secretary and myself this opportunity. Remember Sunday, June 10 will be the celebration of Flag Day in our lodge. Plan on being there! Don’t for-get Father’s Day is June 17th.

As we head into summer, I hope you will all be safe. Don’t forget this is your lodge too! Come on out and bring your friends!

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Redwood Roamers – June 2018

The Roamers held their meeting on May 2nd. The first outing took place on May the 3rd thru the 6th in Fort Bragg. We had 15 RVs with 28 Roamers attending. Everyone had a great time and we had plenty to eat: hors d’oeuvres on Thursday, tri tip BBQ Friday and pizza on Saturday. Also pancakes, eggs, ham and bacon breakfast on Saturday morning. Places we visited include: botanical gardens, Glass Beach, Pudding Creek Trestle, Point Cabrillo Lighthouse and Noyo Headland trail, shopping in Fort Bragg and Mendocino, and local nurseries. We had a peewee golf tournament on Saturday, team 2 won team title, (Corinne Stromstad, An-nie Cornwell, Rick Priolo and Bob Holt). Tom Gill won individual title. Glen Stromstad beat out Bud Slagle to win the washer tournament.

The next outings will be to Lewiston on May 31st thru June 3rd. Reed-sport, Oregon, June 15th thru 18th and Klamath RVs Park on July 3rd thru the 6th.

Dennis Hunter gave a report on club activities. Howard Ritter gave a presentation on updating the web site for the lodge and RV Park. Also, there will be a grounds and RV Park clean up on June the 3rd at 8am. Any volunteers will be greatly appreciated.

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2018 Mother of the Year Award

Eureka Elks Lodge No. 652 held its annual "Mother of the Year Award". This year’s recipient was Ms. Fatima Naylor. She was born and raised in Eureka. She is active in Kiwanis and last year won "The Woman of Distinction Award". She is also a member of Soroptimist and Rotary. Naylor is most passionate about raising awareness for Autism, she is a mother of two children with Autism Spectrum Disorder. She is a founding member of "Families Advocating Autism Now". She and seven other mothers started the non-profit in 2009. In October, 2014, she and her husband were honored in Las Vegas for all of their support for the Ernie Els Foundation for Autism and Awareness. Naylor is also very involved with Special Olympics. Pictured from left to right, front row: Father in Law, Jack Naylor; Son, Caden; Mother of the Year, Fatima Naylor; Son, Tate and Mother in Law, Joyce Schmitz. Back row: Elks Exalted Ruler, Dennis Hunter; Sister in Law, Alicia Naylor; Family Friends, KC Moore and Emily Paul.

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Exalted Ruler’s Column – May 2018

What a successful month we’ve had to kick off our new year at the Lodge! Both the Board of Trustees and House Committee have been working hard to make this year even more enjoyable for our members. I thank each Trustee and House Committee member for your dedication to the lodge!

This year’s Big 4 Night was a huge success with over $22,000 going into our building fund. My thanks goes out to Kathy Payne, her kitchen and serving crew for the delicious dinner – especially those raviolis and apple fritters! A heartfelt thanks also to the auction volunteers led by Jeani Vallee. Great live and silent auction items! Thanks, too, to our tilers, cashiers and volunteer bartenders who served almost 300 members and guests.

As of this writing, your chair officers are putting in some grueling practices to get ready to represent the Lodge in the Ritual Contest held in Ukiah. We’ll be com-peting against eight other lodges in the District. We’ll announce the outcome of this contest at our first meeting next month on Wednesday, May 7th. Regardless of the outcome, my thanks to all our chair officers along with coaches Sherie and Kurt Bialous and Ernie Nunes for all your hard work. We’re all coming home winners – ready to impress our new members in upcoming initiations.

We have another busy month ahead at the Lodge, starting with Cinco de Mayo on Saturday, May 5th, and I encourage you to come on out and enjoy yourselves. Highlights of our May events are featured throughout this issue of Herd Talk. Don’t forget. This is YOUR lodge. I would appreciate any suggestions you may have. Either contact me in person or drop your suggestions in the Exalted Ruler’s suggestion box in the hallway.

Remember our theme for 2018-19: "Together, We’re Elks!"
Dennis Hunter, Exalted Ruler

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Message from the Secretary – May 2018

Welcome to new members who were initiated on April 18th: Daniel Arbuthnot, Juan Barreto, Roseann Buchner, Katherine Clague, Eric Clark, Kathleen Cloney-Gardiner, Jamie Cox, Antonio Donofrio, Chad Fite, Arturo Gasdik, Dan Herron, Loni Hollenbeck, Jack Kolshinski, Barry Mendenhall, Danielle Meyer, Lee Miller, Kyle Pruitt, Roberto Rodriguez, Sott Rotherham, Terry Safko,
Emily Silveira, Jaymes Silveira, James Sterling, Bill White, and Sam Williams.

Ernie Nunes, PER, Secretary

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Leading Knight’s Corner – May 2018

By the time you are reading this, Ritual Competition may be over and I hope we have brought back trophies for the lodge. We have all been working very hard to represent our lodge in the best light, win or lose!!!

I have been working on the Cinco de Mayo celebration here at our lodge and I am hoping you will join us on Saturday, May 5th. The menu is as follows: Taco Bar featuring beef & fish tacos with all the fixings along with chicken fajitas, carnitas, beef & chicken enchiladas, and chili rellenos. Did I mention all the fixings? Well, of course there will be rice, beans, salsa, and guacamole. We will be having Margaritas for $20 per pitcher. We may even be selling shots of TEQUILA by roaming bandits. I think we have been the subject of an APRIL FOOLS, it was reported in the April Herd Talk the time of the event but it starts at 5:30 for cocktails and dinner @ 6:30 and it was stated the price was $15 but in actuality it is $20 per person. Join us for a fun evening at your lodge. The proceeds will be going to Major Project.

Gwen Carroll, Leading Knight

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Redwood Roamers – May 2018

The Roamers held their monthly meeting on April 4th. Topics for discussion were new Roamer jackets. The jackets look very nice. Keep an eye out and you may see the Roamers wearing them to the Lodge. Also, the up coming outings for 2018.

  • The first outing will be to Fort Bragg, May 3rd thru the 6th.
  • The second outing will be to Lewiston Old Bridge RV Park, May 31st thru June 3rd.
  • Third outing will be to Reedsport, Oregon. June 15th thru the 18th.
  • McCloud RV Park , in mid July.
  • Gold Beach, Oregon in August.
  • Florence, Oregon in August.
  • Apple Hill in September.
  • Benbow RV Park in November.

We are all excited to get going.
Doug McIssac—Wagon Master