Please note that the lodge will be closed whenever Humboldt County is placed in the Purple COVID tier. Please check before visiting.
Exalted Ruler’s Column – December 2020
As you know we are in the red zone now. While we are in this zone, we will be open for dinner Wednesday, Friday, and some Sundays. In order to
protect our members, during this time the Elks Lodge will only be allowing members, no guests. This is to protect our member the best we can!
Please check your calendars to see what is on the menu. The bar will be open during meals only! Unfortunately, at this time we are limited to 80 people in dining room. ALL TO GO ORDERS ARE WELCOME! Please make reservations by 5pm the night before. Please remember to speak clearly, with your name, phone number, party number, and whether you would like your meal to go or for dining in. You can make dinner reservations by calling the lodge 442-6652, press 2 for reservations, then simply follow the prompts for the specific night you would like to attend. If you need any help or have any questions please feel free to call me. Thank you!
December 12th we will be having the Drive Thru Kids Christmas Party! Santa is going to be here to hand out gifts! Each child will receive a gift bag with cookies, a gift, and a craft project. Be sure to sign up your kids, grandkids, and/or great-grand kids! Santa will be here from 11am-1pm. Please sign up by December 5th! Don’t forget to include their name, gender, and age!!
December 20th is the Annual Elks Christmas Dinner! We will be having baked ham with all the trimmings! Reservations are a must, please call early! 442-6652 **Just a reminder the lodge will be closed December 24th -25th.**
December 27th my crew and I will be doing an old fashion fried chicken dinner at5pm!
December 31st we will be having a News Year’s prime rib dinner $35. Afterwards, we’ll celebrate with party favors and a champagne toast!! Come
celebrate New Year’s at the lodge with us!
*Due to the unfortunate circumstances, we will be rescheduling the memorial service!*
Sending my best wishes for Christmas and New Years,
Kathy Payne, Exalted Ruler
Veterans’ Committee – December 2020
Eureka Elks Lodge Veterans Committee secured the Beacon Grant to provide several high need Veterans with local “Food for People” food boxes along with a meal box from the Eureka Elks Lodge Veterans Committee. These boxes contained several non-perishable goods such as pasta, canned tuna, macaroni and cheese, oatmeal, along with many other dry goods. The Eureka Elks Lodge Veterans Committee meal box contained a meal for a family of 4 which included pasta, pasta sauce, a fresh salad, fresh bread and dessert. These boxes were distributed via a drive thru process where Veterans pre-registered and showed up the day of the event to claim their two “Food for People” boxes and their meal box. Veterans who had restrictions (i.e. no transportation or home bound) had their boxes safely delivered by the Eureka Elks Lodge Veterans Committee members or other Veterans organizations such as a Veteran partner like the Eureka Vets Center. Veterans were also given a resource bag that had items such as the local food bank and other organizations that support our Veterans in need. Veterans who also had not yet received a flu shot could also do so with the convenience of a local VA staff and staff
nurse available onsite as well. This event serviced over forty Veterans.
Casey Stephens, US Army Retired, Veterans’ Committee Chairman
Redwood Roamers – December 2020
The last Roamer outing for 2020 was at Benbow/KOA Park on November 6-8. Roamers enjoyed for good food, campfires and good fellowship. The Roamers will start in person meetings on the first Wednesday of each month if CDC Guidelines have been lifted for large meetings. If not, we will still be collecting Toys for Tots. You may drop an unwrapped toy off at the Elks Lodge by December 2. Thank you! Please stay safe, wash your hands, wear your mask, and practice social distancing. Happy Trails to You!
Dale A. Stockly, Wagon Master
Secretary – December 2020
I like to welcome our newest members: Jim Finney, Jaden Herkert, Cheryl Johnson, Kimberly Herkert, Laraine Ryner, Jack Brow and Barbara Fields, who were initiated Wednesday, November 18th. We were holding our own financially, but the latest COVID restriction will close us down except for meal times. We need member support. Please come by for dinner on Friday, Sunday, and Wednesday nights, or order “To Go” and take it home. These meals are
helping out a lot. Naturally, social distancing and face masks are required any time you are in the Lodge. The card tables and pool tables are closed. These restrictions are necessary as long as the County is in the red tier. The Lodge will close entirely when or if we go into the purple tier.
I want to thank those who are remaining members in spite of the COVID. It’s important to remember that this COVID crisis will end sometime in the not too far off future, and maintaining an active membership is important for you and your Lodge. It looks like a vaccine will be available in the spring, which should ease the restrictions.
I am pleased to report that many of our members will be receiving their Herd Talk via email from now on. This saves the Lodge a lot of money in postal and printing expenses. It also saves two day of labor for a team of volunteers that fold and label the paper Herd Talk. Additionally, it gives the Lodge a way to let our members know what is happening on a weekly basis by giving us a method of instantly communicating calendar changes, etc. Please, give us permission to use your email address for Elk business if you haven’t already done so by completing this form, and returning it to the Lodge. Your email address will remain confidential and only be used for Elk business.
Brad Smith , PER, PDDGER, Lodge Secretary
Humboldt Heroes Award
Elio Bertolini, recipient of the World War II Victory Medal, Asiatic/Pacific Area Campaign Medal and American Area Campaign Medal received the Humboldt Heroes Award as part of his 100th birthday, Saturday, November 7th. Members of Eureka Elks Lodge No.652 honored him with a drive by celebration with signs, balloons and bells. Elio has been a member of the Elks Lodge for over 70 years and served as Exalted Ruler 1977-1978. Pictured back row left to right: Exalted Ruler, Kathy Payne; AMVETS, Pierre Carbonneau, Mark Nelson and Barry Smith. Seated Elio’s wife Janice and Elio.
Exalted Ruler’s Column – October 2020
We had a visit from the DDGER Randy Logan and his wife Jackie. He said he felt we were doing a great job trying to keep things going during the COVID-19 disaster.
The Blood Drive on September 2nd was very successful. We had 26 people donate blood. Good job everyone!
I appreciate the members that paid their dues after the last Herd Talk. I am asking again to please pay them if you can as it would help your Lodge out. We will be cooking a Prime Rib dinner on October 9th. This dinner will be $25.00. We are limited to 50% of our seating so please call early for your reservations. On Sunday, October 18th I will be cooking a Fried Chicken dinner. The cost will be $15.00. I hope to see you there.
A great big Thank You is warranted to all the volunteers who have helped to keep our Lodge open—this includes cooks, waiters, bartenders, cleaning and set up crews, and all who contribute to the Herd Talk. Thank you! Thank you!
If you would like to help in any way, call Kathy at 834-6612.
When you come to the Lodge, please use hand sanitizer. We check temperatures. You must wear face coverings and maintain social distancing. Finally stay healthy; we will get through this together. I hope to see you soon.
Kathy Payne, Exalted Ruler
“Get ’er Done and Let’s Have Fun.”
Leading Knight – October 2020
September has come and gone. We had a great visit from our DDGER Randy Logan and the Car Show fundraiser was a lot of fun. I want to thank everyone who came out and participated or helped at the event. I want to thank all the volunteers. We can’t put on all these dinners and events without your help and support. I and your lodge thank you VERY MUCH! Some of our long-time helpers are “retiring” or stepping down from volunteering, and rightfully so, as they have worked many long hard hours for our lodge. If you feel you can help the lodge in any way please sign up to be part of a fun team of volunteers that support the lodge and contribute to making #652 the amazing lodge that it is. October is E.N.F. month and we will be having our big Oktoberfest on Saturday the 24th, so come on down and enjoy the fun and food. There will be a costume contest, 50/50 raffle and prizes. Jim Kloss, our Loyal Knight, is our new E.N.F. chairman. If you want to help him or have any ideas for E.N.F. fundraising please reach out to him. 2020 has been hard on everyone with Covid-19 and all the fires, but our community is strong and resilient. Together we can get through this. The lodge is coming back strong. We have more and more people coming back for dinners and events. We are a big lodge and have plenty of room for social distancing so come out for dinner and drinks, spend a little money, or better yet volunteer and get a complimentary dinner.
Scott Reinsmith, Leading Knight, Major Projects
Elks National Foundation Scholarship Programs
The 2020 Most Valuable Student Scholarships are available starting August 5, 2020. Applicants must be a High School Senior and a U.S. Citizen. Applications will be judged on scholarship, leadership, and financial need. You must access the application online at enf.elks.org/mvs. Deadline for completing the application online is November 15, 2020.
The Elks National Foundation Scholarship Program provides 2.44 million dollars in scholarships annually. Three boys’ and three girls’ applications will be selected from our lodge to compete at the District, State, and National levels. Five hundred four-year awards will be presented in the spring of 2021.
Legacy Awards Scholarships are for college-bound high school seniors who are the children or grandchildren of dues-paying Elks. Applicants compete against other children and grandchildren from the state of the sponsoring Elk Lodge. Applications are judged on the core values of the Elks National Foundation. Applications must be accessed online at enf.elks.org/leg. Application must be submitted online by February 5, 2021, at 11:59 a.m. Central Time.
Dale A. Stockly, Lodge #652 Scholarship Chair
Scouts – October 2020
I am proud to announce that Troop 54 has 5 new Eagle Scouts!!! This is the highest rank that can be achieved in the Boy Scouts and has only been earned by about 4% of scouts since 1911 when scouting began. On August 31, we were able to have an Eagle Court of Honor to celebrate their awesome achievements using standard Covid precautions. Due to restrictions, we had to make this a family only event, but it was still a wonderful ceremony to recognize these exceptional young men. Our distinguished guest speaker was 4th District Supervisor, Virginia Bass. Mr Akana was able to present each of the Eagle Scouts with an American Flag procured through the office of Congressman Jared Huffman and flown over the United States Capitol.
There was a wonderful slide show narrated by Scoutmaster Frank Jager showing the progression of each of these boys transitioning to young men along their journey through Scouts. The Eagle awards were presented to the scouts by Jack Haase, Troop Committee Chairman. Our 5 new Eagle Scouts, from left to right are Cody Cook, Dimitri Stefanakis, John Rydz, Morgan Harper, and Kevin Akana.
Thomas Rydz, Scouting Chairman