EXALTED RULER’S MESSAGE

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I hope you all had wonderful holidays. Those of you who were not able to make our Christmas Eve celebration missed our secret Santa gift exchange which turned out to be an absolute riot. Hopefully we can do that again next year. 

If you’ve been by the lodge recently you have seen the work completed on the installation of our new septic system. A big Thank You to Larry Wittenborn for his help in the completion of this project! Another Thank You to Joe Palmer who was right there with Larry throughout the whole project. Joe even climbed into the septic tank with Larry to make the connection from the old tank to the new tank. Thanks guys ! Oh, and before I forget, we have installed seven new cameras that cover our entire facility. One of our new lights has been put in place and the other five should be installed soon to improve our parking lot safety and security. 

In our quest for expanding our lodge, the next step is to write a development plan for our entire property. If there are any members who have experience in writing such a document please contact me or Jack Baillargeon. 

As you may have noticed, we have some new Disability signs hung right in front of the building. There is room for 4 vehicles to be parked right next to the front of the building. I have received a number of complaints from our members who need to park in disabled spots but can not because cars without the proper plate or placard are parked in the reserved spots. Please help our members who need those parking spots by respecting the posted parking signs.  

In my speech at the installations ceremony in March I identified three goals I would be working on for my year. My third goal for the lodge was to identify a high profile project that would positively impact our community and bring awareness of our lodge. I have decided not to find one project but instead many opportunities to bring awareness to our lodge. Our connection to Impact of Southern Arizona has been an extraordinary partnership in the service to our community. I believe Impact has a more direct line to the needs of our area and will be able to continuously, point out to us the areas of greatest need. With that knowledge, we can better address those needs and maximize the impact of our contributions. 

My number one goal for my year was to reach a membership level of 600. We are no where near that goal but we do have a plan. We have some meetings set up in February that I think will help in meeting this goal. We can use your help in expanding participation of our Open House sessions. If you know of friends, neighbors whoever you think might be interested in learning more about the Elks, and what our lodge in particular contributes to our community, please steer or bring them to one of our Open House meetings.  

Happy New Year everyone! I can’t believe how fast 2018 went! I sincerely hope that you all had a very Merry Christmas and were able to spend it with Family, Loved Ones and Friends. 

Our annual Kid’s Shopping Spree was once again an amazing event. I did not shop this year but was at the Lodge when everyone arrived for the festivities afterwards. I do believe that the members that volunteered to take a child shopping had just as much fun as the kids! So many of them had such fun stories and you could see it in their eyes that they were truly touched by being able to make a difference in the lives of these children during the holiday season. All the kids couldn’t wait to eat their fill at lunch from pizza donated by Marcos, eat cookies and sip on cold drinks made by our amazing volunteers. Santa and Mrs. Claus arrived on the fire truck but they had to compete for the kid’s attention since the Firemen let the kids in the truck to see it up close and personal! These first responders were so kind and definitely full of the Christmas Spirit – thank you Golder Ranch Fire Department for doing your part to make the kids smile. The wide eyes, smiles and laughter were overwhelming to experience. 

Our Drug Awareness speaker, Officer Davis from Oro Valley Police Department, gave an amazing interactive talk that the kids took to heart. She is an amazing person and we thank her for her time. From those who cleaned the Lodge before hand, the set up and cleanup crew, the kitchen crew, the pizza delivery men, to the many donations of money, time and gifts from all, YOU are what Christmas is all about!!! I would also like to thank the volunteers that went to the Veteran’s Christmas party. I am sure that the Veteran’s really appreciated your visit and thoughtfulness. Please keep in mind that even though the holidays are over, there is always some way you can continue to be Charitable year round. 

Being a part of Catalina Mountain Elks Lodge #2815 is about more than just being a member, it is about finding out all the amazing ways you can touch the lives of those around you. Make 2019 a year that someone will never forget BECAUSE you made a difference in their life. 

Giving is not just about making a donation. It is about making a difference. ~Kathy Calvin  

The current Queen of Hearts game is still going strong. As I write this, the pot is over $10,000 and there are still many cards left to draw. Several percentage winning cards are still available and of course the Queen still survives. Hopefully the game will continue as it is a good thing financially for the Lodge. 

On January 2nd, we sponsored an event wherein a group of 70 special needs kids, many of whom were Special Olympians, and their chaperones got to see a showing of Mary Poppins at the Oro Valley Marketplace theater. They all were treated to soda’s and popcorn at the snack bar as well. The event cost over $600 and the PERA picked up the tab. 

I hope you all had a Merry Christmas and we wish you all a Happy New Year!  

Wow, how time flies by, to think another year has come and gone. By time you read this all the packages will have been opened and cookies eaten. I hope Santa was kind to all of you good Elks. 

My membership Committee and I will be working on getting the new dues cards printed and stickered up in the next couple of weeks. You will be getting a letter in the mail outlining your obligation to the Lodge for the 2019-2020 Lodge year. You can expect to see that letter the middle of February and I will begin to accept money at that time. Note: if you pay that early do not destroy your current card. The new ones will not work in the door until April 1st . 

I would like to thank my Committee in advance for the help in getting this yearly job done. It is very time consuming from start to finish. A huge thanks goes to Deborah and Monty Derting and to my husband Sig who spend hours folding letters and making sure that over 500 cards (and the process in between) get into the plastic sleeves. I don’t know what I would do without you all. It has been decided the last 2 years that the putting in the sleeve is not the job for Monty. He becomes all fingers. We know (wink wink) it is the plastics fault. 

It is a sad duty to have to send intent to drop letters to the members who have not paid their dues for this Lodge year. Those letters will go out also in the middle of February. For any member who has not paid these dues, you still have time to do so and not get one of those letters.  

Lodge States                                                                              Deaths

Membership 529                                                                       

Initiated 24                                                                                    

Affiliated 10                                                                                

 Transfers: 1  

Absolute Demits 3

Deaths 8                       

Delinquents 41 

Lapsation rate 8.28 % 

Life Members 78

Average age 70.63

In progress to become members 6