Event News

---

Well, we’re still hunkered down at home waiting for the community to open up.  The lodge will open. We can actually have some lodge activities again.  I know I’m ready to see some familiar faces and catch up on everyone’s lives. Who knows, maybe by the time you are reading this, the lodge may already be open. Hope so, see you all real soon!! NEWS FLASH: The new news is that the Lodge is going to open up on Friday May 29th at 1 PM. I’m so excited to see anyone and everyone who wants to come on down.     meal.  

Not too much going on here. We did present a check to Impact of So. AZ a few months ago to help feed some home-bound seniors. Going forward, I know we will find more worthy causes and projects to help out our neighbors. 

Howdy! 

By the time you get this month’s Bugle,

we will have hopefully opened the lodge to our

members. There has been a lot of discussions

about opening the lodge and how we do it as

safely as possible, and still maintain our great

atmosphere. It is truly a balancing act, and I

want to thank Monty, Jack, Ron S, Gloria, Alane

and the Bar Stewards for their help and dedication helping me with this task.

Obviously, our world has changed dramatically since we were

ordered to close. I wish I could say that in all this time we

would have a clear understanding of the Virus and the risks it

poses to us. Unfortunately, as I am sure you know, that has not

happened. In fact, it is probably more confusing for all of us.

So, in order to open the lodge we wanted to make sure that we

are doing everything we can to provide an environment that is as

safe as we can provide to our members. To do this, we are

changing a lot of our procedures, and I wanted to make sure that

everyone is aware so that when you do visit the lodge, you will

know what to expect.

So, here is a listing of those new procedures. Again, please read

them carefully.

1. No sitting in the Bar area, we will utilize the lodge room to

set up indoor seating, as well as outside seating on the patio both

with social distancing.

2. Use only one entrance to the lodge room, which will be the

door to the Lodge room (glass door). We will place notices at

the other doors indicating the single entrance.

3. Upon entering the lodge the member and their guests will

sanitize their hands (sanitizer will be available at the door). They

will be temperature scanned (100.4) as well as asked COVID-19

screening questions (fever, cough or been around anyone who

has the virus). Assuming that they are cleared, they will sign a

tracing log with their phone number. Anyone who refuses or

does not pass temp and questions will not be allowed into the

lodge.

4. Employees will be screened upon coming to work (self

temp scanning, COVID symptoms, etc)

5. Stewards will serve from the bar service area. We will set

distance makers on the floor to help with distance control. They

will also make rounds as reasonable to take orders.

6. Stewards will wipe down any table after members have

left. We will also have the disinfectant available to members if

they would like to clean the table as well.

7. Buckets of beer will be available in actual bucket (4 for

$11) to help minimize personal interactions at the bar.

8. We will use plastic/disposable cups in place of glassware.

9. Everyone will run a tab so that they pay once, again limiting

interactions with the Bar Steward

Post procedures on the website and in the lodge and entrance.

11. At the end of the shift the Bar Steward will do a terminal clean with a disinfectant that will be allowed to air dry to maximize the wet time on the surface.

I realize that these procedures may surprise some of you, but if you

have started to venture out, you will see most of these and more in place

in most businesses, hospitals and other places that are now opening

under this pandemic. All of these are being put in place so that we can

offer a safe environment for everyone. As always, if you have questions or concerns, you can always reach out to me via email

(pslates1987@gmail.com) or phone (520.268.2375)

Thank you, and stay safe and sane! Paul  

I would like to personally thank each and every one of you for your generous donations during the Mid-Year Convention! This has been our most successful year EVER for Arizona Elks Major Projects. That is because of each and every one of you and your dedication to bettering the lives of children across our great state and beyond. I am in awe of how generous the Elks are! When people ask me who the Elks are, my first response is “they are the most charitable people you will ever meet”. 

At the Mid-Year convention, I set a goal of reaching $250,000 in donations from lodges by the end of our fiscal year in March. I am excited to announce that the lodges have now donated over $250,000 and exceeded our goal! The vehicle raffle had a record-breaking year by raising over $70,000. This is entirely because of you. 

We have already begun our next vehicle raffle and I am excited to see what records we can break next year through the ticket sales. We will be raffling off a Honda Pioneer 1000-5 Deluxe and posters with raffle tickets will be sent out to your lodge very soon. 

Let’s finish out the year better than we ever have and continue saving and changing the lives of children in Arizona! 

Katie Murdoch, Executive Director katie@azelksmp.com 520-326-556