exalted ruler's MESSAGE
Paul Slater, PER
Howdy!
I hope that everyone had a great holiday season, and that you were able to spend it with family and friends.
Last month went amazingly fast and it is hard to believe that 2026 is now here. The highlight of the month for me was our Elks Memorial Service held on Dec. 6 th . While it is always hard to say goodbye to our friends and members, it is also an honor to have known them and to say goodbye in such a beautiful ceremony. I have said it many times, if you are not attending some of the Elks ceremonies, you are missing a huge part of being an Elk. My New Year’s wish is that you attend at least one in 2026. I promise it will be time well spent.
A quick update on the lodge expansion project: we have had the preliminary plans up in the lodge room and lounge. Please take some time to look them over and let us know your thoughts or questions. We would love to hear from you and ensure that our new lodge will be incredible. We have formally submitted our request to the Grand Lodge to move forward with permits, plans, etc. You will start to see information on our fundraising projects for our new home, as we still have a lot of work to do to make this vision a reality for our lodge. I will be looking for members to join a fundraising task force to develop ways to increase our impact. If you would like to be a part of this group, please let me know.
Happy New Year, and 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)
Take care, paul
LEADING Knight Message
Kim McIlonie, Leading Knight
Happy New Year!!!
I hope everybody had a wonderful Christmas full of family, friends, love, and laughter.
Iron Elk cooking contest returns on January 17th at 3:30pm. If you have not been part of this event yet, please try to attend. We would love to have more cooks join in the fun. But you do not have to cook, you can be a judge for $5.
We also have the Grill Your Own Steak on the 31 st at 5pm with our amazing cooks Jim & Kyle manning the grills.
I found a cute poem online and used AI to make it all about Elkdom, I hope you enjoy it.
A New Year in Elkdom
A New Year dawns with promise bright, A chance to serve, to lead, unite. With lessons learned from years now past, We stand in strength—our bond steadfast. In Charity given, freely shared, In Justice sought and lives made fair, Through Brotherly Love in all we do, And Fidelity strong, steadfast, and true. We stand for Veterans who have served, With grateful hearts and purpose firm, And for our children—hope made strong, The future shaped where they belong. These guiding principles light our way, In Lodge and community, day by day. No task too small, no call too far, Each Elk a light, each Lodge a star. So as this year unfolds its way, May Elkdom guide us day by day. With Faith, Hope, and Charity anew, We step ahead—proud Elks, renewed.
Fraternally, Kim McIlonie Esteemed Leading Knight
SECRETARY’S CORNER
Mimi Wittenborn - Secretary
From the Secretary’s Desk:
For those of you that don’t know, Kathy Hernandez, my office buddy and your treasurer has resigned her post as treasurer. I will miss her but am so grateful for the years of working with her and all that she has taught me. She is looking forward to helping the Lodge in other ways. Welcome to our new treasurer, (to be announced in Jan.) looking forward to working with you.
Can you believe it is 2026!!! Where did this past year go? And there are only three months left of the Lodge’s fiscal year. Dues statements will be mailed out soon. I want to thank Deborah and Monty for putting all those stickers on your cards, and our Elves for separating the cards and placing them in with the key cards. Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!
Happy New Year.
Something to think about:
“Spread love everywhere you go. Let no one ever come to you without leaving
happier.” Mother Teresa
LODGE STATS YEAR-TO-DATE
Membership to Date ...............629
Candidates................................ 06
Delinquents ............................. 46
Life Members ......................... 48
Average Age ............................ 69.87
**As a reminder to all committee chairs, please get your activity reports into me ASAP after an event.
Past Exalted Ruler Association
Past Exalted Ruler Association - Douglas Harpold, PERA President
Hello Everyone.
I hope your Holiday Season was Merry and Bright, and I know that you all got everything you asked for from Santa because there are no naughty Elks!
We are still going strong into the New Year with our Queen of Hearts. We have had several members take home some good prizes with some high percentage cards being drawn, but we still have a pot over the $15,000 mark. Well worth a trip into the lodge to try and win some vacation money (or however you would like to use it), and have a great meal. If you haven’t been in recently, Ann Girvin has been doing a wonderful job in the kitchen coming up with some really good meals at a very reasonable price. She has some wonderful helpers as well, and even though I can’t name them all, I must say that Joel LeFaive has been a pretty constant fixture as a helper/cook!
You may have noticed in the dining room/ Lodge Room that we now have a thermometer on the wall to track us paying down the mortgage and helping us to move forward with the new building. Any help that you may be able to give to support this ongoing project would be amazing and appreciated as well. It will take all of us to come together as a lodge to bring this project together and make it come to fruition.
I want to wish you all a Happy and Healthy New Year filled with Love, Laughter, and Friendship!
Beginning October 1st, 2025 All Queen of Hearts tickets will be required to have your name and Phone number on them, as is required in the rules. ANY TICKET THAT DOES NOT HAVE BOTH WILL BE DISCARDED AND A NEW TICKET WILL BE DRAWN—NO EXCEPTIONS.
Douglas Harpold, PER
ENF Report - Ron Starjnski, PER
Hello Everyone!
Around the holidays, it’s easy to imagine being in a town like Whoville: a place where every lamppost is dressed and the Whoville band marches in their Christmasy best, where holiday cheer and whimsy are a way of life. While this town from How the Grinch Stole Christmas may be fictional, one Elks Lodge is turning its own version of Whoville into a reality. Using a Beacon Grant from the Community Investments Program worth $4,000, Westminster, Md., Lodge No. 2277 partners with a local nonprofit organization to host a Christmas giving event. The organization, Live Hope Laugh, is dedicated to making an impact on the lives of children and teenagers who live with chronic illnesses. Together, the two have hosted the event at the Westminster Lodge for 10 years. When community members enter the Lodge’s backyard at the start of the event, they immediately step into another world: a Christmas town with lights, wrapping paper, inflatables, s’mores, Santa Claus—and even the Grinch! They are also treated to a magic show, a DJ set, and plenty of delicious holiday food. But the magic of Christmas town isn’t the only way the Lodge helps spread holiday cheer. While the children keep the Grinch at bay, Lodge members sneak away to the parking lot and load every car with gift baskets. Including food and presents from each family’s individualized wish list, like sheets, bedding, socks, clothes, and school supplies, these gift baskets are the perfect way to send families home with hearts that have grown three sizes. It may not be Whoville, but with its Beacon Grant, the Westminster Lodge is spreading holiday cheer and making meaningful differences in the lives of its neighbors. Not every Lodge can create their own Christmas town, but no matter the project or the time of year, Elks are always there for their community. If you would like to make a meaningful difference in the lives of your neighbors, please volunteer to help with CIP grants. Applications close January 21; don’t delay! Our Lodge, Catalina Mountain Lodge # 2815, is currently 3rd in the state for both donations and per member, $11,824 and $20.281 respectively. Donate today and let’s try for first place by the end of the year. Thank you all and if you have any questions my email address is rstarjnski@gmail.com
I will see you at the lodge.
Ron Starjnski PER, ENF Chairman
New Building Update—Kathy Hernandez, Treasurer
As your outgoing Treasurer, I sincerely hope everyone enjoyed the holidays and that everyone is ready to embrace this New Year with enthusiasm. Just look around – the bar is buzzing and the dinner nights (both Wednesday and Friday) are filling the lodge room. You can all recognize we need more space – and if you haven’t noticed the concept design in the lodge room, please take a moment to check it out. We have sent the application for approval to Grand Lodge to continue our efforts to bring this concept to life. In the mean-time – we need to “Burn Down” the mortgage we currently have in order to fund the new building. Please watch for the thermometer visual to be displayed in the lodge room as we track our progress on the mortgage reduction. We just celebrated the Lodge’s 25th Anniversary on October 11 and honored those of our founding members that made it happen. We are now the next generation that will bring the new building to fruition. If you are able – and would like – to help our efforts in this aggressive mortgage burn down, please make any contributions to the Lodge with the message “Mortgage Burn Down”. All additional funds will go directly against the principal - $69K as of 12/9/25. Let’s start the year with a “Can Do” attitude! While not your official Treasurer, I am still involved!
Kathy Hernandez
