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.
Constitution Signing Celebration
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.
Redwood Roamers – August 2018
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.
Trustees Corner – August 2018
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
Veterans’ Committee Update – August 2018
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
Exalted Ruler’s Column – August 2018
Thank you for the honor of representing Eureka Elks Lodge #652 at the Grand Lodge Convention held last month in San Antonio, Texas. Together with 8,700 other Elk members and guests, we celebrated 150 years of this fraternal organization. Collectively, Elks have donated over $6 billion to worthy children and adults over this 150-year span. That’s impressive! I had the opportunity to witness the installation of our new Grand Exalted Ruler, Michael T. Luhr and the District Deputy Grand Exalted Ruler of our own "Great" Northwest District, Sandy Gowan. I am proud to be one of "Sandy’s Rangers!"
Please take the time to read their impressive bios elsewhere in this Herd Talk. A big thank you goes out to Terry Long and his long list of volunteers. Our Fireworks Booth was once again a great success! A lot of hard work by a group of dedicated Elks members paid off and all the proceeds raised by these fireworks sales will go toward children’s charities.
August promises to be a busy month at the lodge. On August 9th in partnership with the Rotary Clubs of Eureka, Southwest Eureka and Old Town Eureka, we will be hosting our 4th Annual Cook Your Own Steak Night to honor the men and women who serve in the U.S. Coast Guard, Sector Humboldt Bay.
On Wednesday, August 15th, we will be initiating new members into our lodge and will be joined by our District Deputy Grand Exalted Ruler, Sandy Gowan, her Grand Esquire Ernie Nunes (yes, the same!) and her Auditor Tim Borges from Crescent City. Please join us for an excellent pot roast dinner, the meeting, and initiation.
Finally, remember to thank all who make the activities of the lodge possible: Our dedicated and hard-working volunteers. It takes all of us to run a successful lodge. Together – we’re Elks!
Dennis Hunter, Exalted Ruler
Fireworks Sales Help Youth Activities
Now that the Fourth of July has come and gone, I would like to thank everyone who helped with this year’s fireworks
event. From helping put up and take down the booth to those who worked in the booth selling the fireworks. It’s volunteers like you that help make the event happen. Again, thanks to all who helped and to all who purchase fireworks this year to support youth activities at the lodge.
Terry Long, Fireworks Chairman
Donations for this year’s Veteran’s North Coast Stand Down Needed!
There’s a box in the lobby closet for dona/ons for this year’s Veteran’s North Coast Stand Down to be held October 5th, 6th and 7th. We especially need sleeping bags, any rain gear, and winter coats or jackets.
About our GER
Michael T. Luhr was born in Petersburg, Alaska, on August 22 to Donald H. Luhr and Beulah E. (Reid) Luhr. Michael has one brother, Robert, and two sisters, Donna and Joyce. He attended elementary and high school in Petersburg, graduating in 1974.
Michael started his working career at the age of 9. He served as a janitor at a Ben Franklin store for two years, shelved boxes at a grocery store for two years, and worked at a fish cannery for another year. Through a school work program at the age of 15, Michael worked at a machine shop during the summers until graduation.
Upon graduating from high school, Mike worked with a logging company, a mining company, and a road construction company. In 1980, he purchased the floating machine shop where he worked as a teenager, becoming the fourth owner of the business.
In June of 1984, Michael met his wife Barbara (Barb) at the local daycare facility where their respective children were enrolled. Mike and Barb had their first child, Bradee, in 1989, and were married on January 8, 1991. Together they have four children: Sabrina, Francis IV (John), Justin, and Bradee, and five grandchildren.
Also in 1984, Barb joined Michael to operate the machine shop. They worked together as sole proprietors until 2011, when a group of fishermen approached them with an offer they could not refuse. With the support of 25 local fishermen, Mike and Barb bought the shipyard in Petersburg which had closed the previous year. Today, the business employs 17 people and provides a full-service ship store with vessel haul-out, engine service, and machine shop facilities.
Michael was proposed and initiated into Petersburg Lodge #1615 in November, 1977 by his father, Exalted Ruler Donald, along with ten of his lifelong school friends. He served as a Trustee from 1990 to 1998 and was appointed as Esquire in 1998. He continued through the chairs and was named Exalted Ruler in 2001-2002 and 2002-2003. He was elected to the Trustees again, serving from 2003 to 2008. He has served as the Lodge Treasurer since 2008.
Michael began his service at the State level in 2004 when he was elected as Trustee. He was elected and served as President of the Alaska State Elks Association in 2009-2010 and continues to serve as Chair of the ASEA’s Charitable Trust Fund, Advisory Committee Chair, and on the Lodge Development Board.
At the Grand Lodge level, Michael was appointed District Deputy Grand Exalted Ruler of Alaska’s East District in 2005-2006, 2007-2008 and 2008-2009. He was appointed as Special Representative to the Alaska East District in 2001, serving through December 2017.
In 2012, Michael was elected to represent Area 8 on the Board of Grand Trustees, serving as Building ApplicationsWest Member in 2012-2013, as Secretary of the Board from 2013-2015, and Vice Chairman in 2015-2016. He was appointed as Special Deputy Grand Exalted Ruler for the State of Alaska from 2016 to the present. At the G/L Convention in Reno, Michael was elected and installed as Grand Esteemed Leading Knight and served in that capacity for 2017-2018 fraternal year.
On a personal level, Mike was very active in baseball growing up and is in the Little League Hall of Fame. He coached women’s softball and Little League for many years until the Elks became his passion. Children John and Bradee, as well as son-in-law Adam, are all Members of the Elks and were initiated by Michael.
About our DDGER
Sandy was born on Father’s Day, June 21, 1959 in San Francisco. She is the oldest of two girls, as she was born 16 minutes ahead of her twin sister, Linda. The twins grew up in Palo Alto, California where their Mom still resides in the home they were raised in starting with their junior high school years. After graduating high school, Sandy went on to study at the University of California, Berkeley and received a Bachelor of Science degree in Nutrition and Food Science in 1980, a week shy of her 21st birthday.After college, she went to work in retail at Emporium-Capwell where she entered the field of Human Resources. In 1987, she started working at Basic American Foods, a privately-held food manufacturing company. Sandy’s career progressed and she became professionally certified as a Benefits Professional in 1996 and a Senior Human Resources Professional in 1998. After almost 25 years, she retired as the Director of Human Resources in 2012.
It was at Basic American Foods where she met her husband Dan. They worked together for several years and became close while serving as training coordinators for the company’s quality program. Sandy and Dan married in July 1996 and live in Fairfield, California. They enjoy their neighborhood as it is filled with numerous dog lovers and have met many dogs (and their humans) while on their countless dog walks on the area’s walking paths with their now dog angels, Bailey, Sundance, and Bear. Dan has two grown sons both married to wonderful young women. Cory and Alice live in Oakland, and Andy and Rachel live in Los Angeles with their two sons, Milo and Felix.
Sandy was initiated in the Vacaville Elks Lodge #2638 in 2006. She most recently served as Lodge Secretary 2015-2018, but has also served as Treasurer, Inner Guard, Chaplain, Tiler, Loyal Knight, Leading Knight, Exalted Ruler, and Lecturing Knight. Sandy’s predecessor and successor as Secretary is her husband Dan who she is proud to say was CHEA Secretary of Year 2004-2005. Sandy has also served on many committees throughout the years, was the Newsletter Publisher for three years, and is currently the Lodge’s Grant Coordinator. Sandy caught the Ritual bug when she was the Candidate in the 2008. Since then, she has competed in 6 District Ritual contests, and was fortunate to compete with her team at CHEA Convention during her ER year. She was Elk of the Year in her Lodge for the 2006- 2007 Lodge Year, and Officer of the Year for the 2015-2016 Lodge Year. Sandy has served her District as Lodge Activities Chair 2014 – 2015, Auditor to the District Deputy Grand Exalted Ruler 2014-2015, Grant Coordinator 2015-present, and as one of the Trustees for the Defunct Vallejo Lodge. She counts her year as Association Vice President 2016-2017 representing the Northwest District as one of her best years in Elkdom. As an enthusiast of our great Rituals, she is delighted to be a Ritual Floor Judge for the last two years. Sandy is proud to be a member of the John F. Malley Society and Permanent Benefactor of the Elks National Foundation, and a Century Club member and regular donor to the CHEA Major Project. In her spare time, Sandy enjoys rooting for the San Francisco Giants, wine tasting, golf, crossword puzzles, and of course, dogs!