Category: Columns

One of the Lodge goals for this year is to familiarize membership with benefits and resources available
both on the local and national levels. One of these programs is the Elks National Drug Awareness
Program the largest volunteer drug awareness program in the United States.
Since 1982 working in partnership with multiple federal agencies including the Drug Enforcement Agency
and national organizations such as Pride Youth Programs, the Elks provides an effective, community-based
drug prevention program ensuring it addresses the leading drug abuse issues facing communities today.
The program’s Drug Awareness Program Resource Center provides parents, teachers and kids’ access to
educational materials including anti-drug literature, videos, coloring books, posters, public service announce-
ments and prevention tools for parents along with information on the annual poster, essay and video contests.
The importance of educating our youth on the impact of drugs and alcohol use is even more important today
as it was in 1982. Take advantage of the resources available. You can access to The Elks National Drug
Awareness Program directly at www.elks.org/dap or under Programs on the Elk’s Home Page, www.elks.org.

Jack Harris, Drug Awareness Chairman

Hello everyone!

We are going to get open again. We will be serving dinners
starting August 5th. We will have “Outside Dining” under canopies or “To
Go” dinners. Meals will consist of salad, main dish with pasta/rice/or
potato, vegetable, roll/bread, and dessert. Currently meal prices are $15 on
Wednesdays and $20 on Fridays, with tax being included. NOTE:
Reservations must be made by 5:00 pm the night before! NOTE: No
shows will be charged! This is to keep the costs down and not waste food.

I want to thank the many people who attended our Flag Day event. It was
a great success!

I hope you will come and support the Lodge by enjoying our delicious
meals, volunteering, and attending meetings and events. We plan to have
meetings on the first and third Wednesday nights, August 5th and 19th.
Masks must be worn, temperatures will be taken, and we ask you to
practice social distancing.

Kathy Payne, Exalted Ruler
“Get ’er Done and Let’s Have Fun.”

We are starting Friday Night Cook Your Own Steak Night on July 3. The price is $25.00. We have to pay $2.00 sales tax right off the top! Then, as I’m sure you know how much food prices have gone up! Our steak prices have risen at least $4-8 per pound. We have to buy charcoal, potatoes, vegetables, salad, dessert, and coffee or tea, plus we pay for the dish washers and meals for the volunteers.

We will start one of the BBQ pits at 6:00 pm for anyone who would like to eat early. The second grill will be ready at 6:30. To cook your own steak, we will have a volunteer putting your choice of seasoning on the steak for you. We ask that if you have a group of people, one person gets designated to cook the steak for the whole group. This way we can serve more people at one time. You MUST wear a mask when cooking and ANY time you are walking around. Someone will serve you at the serve table. If you want coffee or tea, you must ask for it.

As soon as the Health Department gives us the okay for the bar and entertainment again, we will be ready. Hope it is soon!!!

Kathy Payne, Exalted Ruler
“Get ’er Done and Let’s Have Fun.”

Things are moving along slowly, but they are moving. We have opened the bar (Sat.- Thur. 2-7 pm , Friday 2-9 pm) and kitchen back up, so come out and enjoy your Lodge. We are trying our best with social distancing and masks in the “New Normal” so be patient and respectful as we are learning to work through this together. Some things have been cancelled but we are working on new ideas and events.

I will be hosting the Second Annual “Purple Pig” Golf Tournament on Saturday, August 22nd. If you would like your business to sponsor a hole or would like to put a team of four together for the event, please give me a call (498-1895) or leave a message at the Lodge Office. I am also planning a Halloween Party (24th) and our annual Oktoberfest bash. More information will be forthcoming about those and other events as things open back up and return to normal. It has been a strange year and it’s already half over so let’s make the best of it. Fourth of July is right around the corner so put on your best red, white, and blue outfit and come on down to the Lodge and show your spirit and support. We will be having our Flag Ceremony and a lunch afterwards. I hope to see you there.

Scott Reinsmith, Leading Knight

We are slowly reopening and getting up and running after the COVID-19 closure. Nina, our clerk, has returned to work after a very long vacation and time off due to the virus. I want to thank Judy Sousa for coming in daily to open mail and answer phone messages as well as helping us clean the Lodge. There are a lot of behind-the-scene changes that influence the daily administration of the Lodge. Please feel free to come by and see what is different.

I want to welcome the new members initiated on June 17: Daniel Boballot, Tim Cruz, Katherine Kirkpatrick, Gary Ogle, Adam Pritchard, William Seramin and Crystal Velasco. Dave Frazer and Nicole Pacheco attended the ritual as well. We still have candidates waiting in the wings for initiation, which will take place during the second meeting in July.

The 1st meeting in July (July 1st) the drawing will take place until we have 2 $200 winners from in the room, because we missed the April Drawing due to COVID-19.
Brad Smith , PER, DDGER, Lodge Secretary