Eureka Elk’s Lodge NO. 652 held its 109th annual installation of officers on March 30th. The lodge was chartered in 1910 and first met in old town, current location of Oberon Restaurant. In the early 1920’s it moved to the corner on 5th and H Streets, current location of Umpqua Bank. It moved to its current location, 445 Herrick Avenue, in the 1970’s. It is one of the most active lodges in California with over 1400 members. The lodge is supported by its many volunteers, who work not only in the lodge but on the many charities the lodge supports in our community. Pictured left to right, front row: Treasurer, Gary Payne; Loyal Knight, Scott Reinsmith; Leading Knight, Kathy Payne; Exalted Ruler, Gwen Carroll; Lecturing Knight, James Kloss; Secretary, Ernie Nunes and Trustee, Pierre Carbonneau. Back row; Inner Guard, Ward Mengel; Esquire, Bard Smith; Chaplain, Eddie Morgan and Trustee’s Kevin Christie, Marta Martinez and Terry Long. Not pictured; Tiler, Dennis Doty and Trustee Robert Gish.
Exalted Ruler’s Column – April 2019
What is that saying, “Time flies when you are having fun?” It is definitely true! When I joined the Elks over six years ago, the idea
of being Exalted Ruler never crossed my mind. Even this last year, it seemed way off in the future. I even, when I heard my friend Dennis Hunter tell me, “This is something you’ll want to do next year,” it seemed surreal! But, guess what? It is real!!! It is here… Exalted Ruler.
I am looking forward to working with all the fantastic people who make up Elkdom. My theme, or motto, for this year is “Deeds Not Words.” So often we say we are going to do something and we don’t for one reason or another. So my goal is to “Git ‘er Done!” Your officer Corps has been practicing and working hard for the upcoming ritual contest, which is May 3, 4 and 5 in Ukiah. We will represent out lodge to the best of our abilities and hope to bring back some trophies.
In April, we will be having our annual Law Enforcement Appreciation dinner. It is scheduled for Thursday, April 11th. Then, that weekend, on Saturday, April 13th, we will be having another special event: our Elks Kid’s Easter Party. Don’t forget to sign your children or grandchildren up for this event and make sure to include the age and gender of your children. It is always fun to watch the children hunt for the Easter eggs and their excitement when they see the Easter Bunny enter the dining room. Look for more information regarding these events elsewhere in this edition of the Herd Talk.
Sidebar: Purple Pig—Barry Jacobson was the largest contributor. Second place went to Jack Nash and the decorated pig prize went to Pierre Carbonneau. Thank you to all who participated in this event and to Kathy Payne and her kitchen crew and a very special thanks to Shelly Dortch and Rendezvous Music and Vending for counting all the change.
Elkdom, American Values at Work. Eureka Elks Lodge #652.
Gwen Carroll, Exalted Ruler
Knight’s Corner – April 2019
First off I would like to thank all of the volunteers of the lodge – kitchen, bar, grounds workers, etc. and the dishwashers. Without all of your help and hard work this would not be the incredible lodge that it is.
Well, the officers made it through Step up Night, and I think we did quite well. We are all practicing hard for the Ritual Competition in Ukiah on May 4th and hope to put on a good performance and represent our lodge well. We curre ntly have two officer positions vacant so if you are interested or just itching to wear a tux, contact us.
Any donations to the Elks National Foundation are always greatly appreciated but those who donate $100.00 or more can have their name or a loved one’s name added to the ENF Burl on the wall by the fireplace. Please contact me at 498-1895 if interested. Lastly, I would like to thank Dennis Hunter and his lovely wife Karen for their wonderful service this last year.
Scott Reinsmith, Loyal Knight/ENF Chair
Redwood Roamers – April 2019
The Redwood Roamers met on March 6th. We recognized Howard Ritter for being named “Rookie Volunteer of the Year” in Eureka Lodge 652. We welcomed new members Dave/Jeanne Dorris and Ernest/Janis Branscomb. The major portion of our meeting was listening to reports on our outings.
Our first outing was the “Go Nowhere Winter Retreat” at our own Elks Lodge RV Park. As you can see, the weather was perfect and the event was a great success. We had 13 rigs and over 40 Roamers and Elk members participate.
We have also scheduled the following outings for the year:
- 49er RV Ranch in Columbia: April 26th—29th
- Host Redding RV Club at our Lodge: May 3rd-4th
- Lewiston: May 30th—June 3rd
- Reedsport/Winchester Bay: June 13th—17th
- Florence and Gold Beach: September
- Labor Day Weekend at Klamath RV Park: August 30th—September 3rd
Thank you to the Roamers who stepped forward to plan our outings. Our next meeting will be held on Wednesday, April 3rd at 4:30 pm at the Lodge. Any Elk member interested in joining the Redwood Roamers are welcome to attend.
Dale A Stockly, Wagon Master
Trustees Corner – April 2019
We have had another fantastic year at OUR lodge. As it closes, please thank our Past Exalted Ruler Dennis Hunter for a great year and welcome our new Exalted Ruler, Gwen Carroll. Mark Householter is retiring as he has served his 5-year term as a Lodge Trustee and is moving to Arizona. Thank you Mark for your service to this Lodge and its members. Pierre Carbonneau, a familiar face at the lodge and in the community is your newly elected 5-year Trustee and a loyal Veteran.
Our 2019/2020 annual estimated positive budget draft is posted on the Lodge Bulletin Board for view. Please DO NOT REMOVE. Any inquiries or comments may be made at our first Lodge meeting on Wednesday, April 3rd. Approval and adoption will be made at our Lodge meeting on Wednesday, April 17th. Unexpended monies in the 2018/20129 budget, in the approximate amount of $80,000 will be moved into the Mortgage Loan Account and will be paid on our mortgage. The Lodge moved to surplus three items from the current lodge inventory:
1. A portable 220 V electric warming table. It needs work. Make an offer.
2. Portable Fax Machine. Make an offer.
3. American Brand Double stacked convection ovens. Natural Gas/120 V. Minimum Bid $600.00. Was
working when it was taken out of service in December 2018.
These item are surplused in an AS IS CONDITION and this Lodge and its members dissolve/release any Liability of these items in their future use. Please contact the board of Trustees if you have any interest. The Board is looking forward to another year serving its members.
Fraternally,
Kevin Christie, Chairman, Board of Trustees
Drug Awareness Essay Winner
The Eureka Elks drug awareness program had received essays for the 2018/19 contest and we are proud to announce our winner, Sierra Larson age 13 from Winship middle school. She is our $100 dollar winning entry. Thanks to all who made this year a success. We hope to have a great coming year with more activities for the kids regarding this wonderful program. Here’s the winning essay:
Life is made of many things—our feelings, our pain, our family and friends, our health and our pets! Drugs take that away in one way or another.
Drugs take away from family and friends. In certain situa-ons, drug users will lie to their family and friends to continue their use of drugs and make them untrustworthy. Family and friends would not want to hang out with someone who lies to them. Drugs that are illegal and parents who use them and are caught can have their kids taken away. Their kids get taken to foster homes and can get adopted to people who aren’t the best parents for them.
Drugs can take away our health or worst our life! Drugs have been scientifically proven to be bad for our health whether people argue or not. Drugs chemically change our brains and change how we act. I would like to accentuate how drugs can change our outward appearance. It can make us ugly and older and give us sores and breakouts on our faces. I have seen some pretty scary tweakers in Humboldt. Drugs can take our most valuable thing: our life. We could take drugs one -me and die. We could take it eleven times and die. Why take the chance?
People on drugs are only thinking of themselves when doing drugs and being selfish. Remember, family is always thinking of your best interests, so think of them and don’t do drugs. Drugs only take away pain temporarily. Do sports!
Secretary’s Note – April 2019
Well, we had another big initiation group for step-up night. Welcome to new members: Jon Adams, Ken Akana, Laura Avila, Glenn Bayless, Janis Bendle, Janis Branscomb, Brian Bynum, James Christiansen, Erica Farnum, Dylan Forbes, Carolyn Ford, Jon Gagnon, Scott Hicks, Jeral Johnson, Donna Landry-Rehling, Ashley Lehman, Jesse Nolan, and Willie Shiwaika.
Also, it should be noted there is a by-laws amendment in process. Article X, Sections 3 & 4 Dues and Fees. Reinstatement is $50.00. Due to a misprint, it is listed at $30.00.
I would also like to take this time to congratulate the officers for a great job at step-up night and to thank ER Dennis Hunter for a fantastic year and Mark Householter for five years of service on the Board of Trustees.
Ernie Nunes, PER, Lodge Secretary
Elks Donate to Eureka High Junior
Eureka Elks Lodge donated $500.00 to Melina McKenna. She is junior at Eureka High. The donation is going to help her attend the National Student Leadership Conference at Georgetown University. The conference is for 9 days and will have emphasis on law and advocacy. She will also tour the many monuments in Washington D.C. Pictured with Melina is Elks Exalted Ruler, Dennis Hunter.
RCMF Donation
Eureka Elks Lodge No. 652 donated $2,500.00 to the Redwood Coast Music Festival (RCMF). The festival will be May 9-12. Four days of music and dance with 85 stages, over 30 bands and 100 plus sets. Advance tickets available at web site rcmfest.com. Pictured from left to right: RCMF Board Member, Matt Niesen; RCMF Vice President, Yvonne Cooney; Elks Exalted Ruler, Dennis Hunter; RCMF President, Carol Lotentzen and Elks Board of Trustee Member Kevin Christie.
Exalted Ruler’s Column
It’s hard to believe that we’re Marching into the end of one year and into another in the world of Elkdom. My thanks goes out to so many that it would fill this Herd Talk. At the beginning of the year, my theme was “Together, we’re Elks.” My hope was that we would form a lodge-wide team to provide the best Elks Lodge for our members. From our chair officers, the Board of Trustees, our House Committee and many other member-volunteers, I feel this was accomplished. The dedication, time and energy spent by all these volunteers has been unbelievable! Volunteers will be honored at our Volunteer Appreciation Dinner on Sunday, March 3rd, at 5:00 pm. I hope you’ll join us.
To keep our lodge running at full efficiency, we need to constantly watch our income and expenses while remaining fair and competitive. To this end, there will be slight increases in certain wines, champagnes and well drinks. The last time any price increases occurred at the bar was eight years ago. This will go into effect on Sunday, March 31st. Thank you for your patience.
Finally, it has been a pleasure serving as your Exalted Ruler this past year. A big thanks goes out to my wife and your first lady, Karen. Her patience and perseverance has been unsurpassed.
Dennis Hunter, Exalted Ruler