exalted ruler's MESSAGE

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The first order of business in July was to attend Grand Lodge Convention in Tampa, FL. I attended the opening ceremonies, all business sessions, and several workshops. The experience was wonderful and prepared me to serve the lodge over the remainder of the year. Several resolutions were proposed and voted on. A summary of the resolutions is included in the Bugle; my voting record was in line with the final voting tally. Phoenix Lodge 335 represented Arizona in the national Initiation Ritual competition. Steve and I were able to watch their performance in the Western U.S. competition where they placed first. They were incredible! The top two teams from the East and West divisions competed again for top honors. Phoenix 335 finished second. This year, a new ritual competition for the 11 O’Clock Toast was added. Diane Bodwell, PER from Phoenix 335, was the national winner. Arizona Elks can be proud.

September is going to be busy! Flags will fly on Labor Day, September 6th, and again on Saturday, September 11th. Volunteers will be needed at both 7:00 am and again at 5:00 pm. Friday, September 17th, is National POW/MIA Recognition Day, and the officers will be performing a ceremony at 5:00 to commemorate the occasion; colors will be posted by Boy Scouts from Troop 211. Joyce Garcia is busy with the dictionary project and expects to make her deliveries to area third graders this month. Planning for the Soccer Shoot is under way as well. 

PDDGER Jack Baillargeon, PERs Bob Kielsa and Sig Danielson, and House Committee Chair Paul Slater have been working on reviewing and updating our lodge By-laws and House Committee rules. The proposed changes were read at the August 26 lodge meeting and are summarized on page 8. Voting will occur at the lodge meeting on September 9.

Ken Adams of Sierra Vista Lodge 2065 was installed as our region’s District Deputy Grand Exalted Ruler at Grand Lodge Convention. He will be making his official visit to our lodge on Thursday, September 23. He will be evaluating our lodge performance to ensure we are following Grand Lodge Statutes and Procedures. He will meet with some key officers and committee chairs and 

he will visit with personnel at 4:00 pm and the entire officer team at 6:00 pm. During the lodge meeting, our officers will be initiating several new members.

On Tuesday, September 28, the officers and key committee chairs will be hosting an Open House for all members. We are seeking volunteers to fill opportunities within the lodge; the House Committee currently has several needs as well. Members initiated within the last two years will receive an invitation, but all lodge members are welcome to attend. Refreshments will be served.

Finally, the Elks National Foundation Scholarship season begins on September 1. Financial assistance is available for college-bound high school seniors for the following programs: 

· The Legacy Scholarship program is available to children or grandchildren of Elk members who can apply for a $4,000 scholarship award. Log on to the Elks’ website: enf.elks.org/leg for full eligibility details. More than $1.4 million is awarded in scholarships. Applications close February 2, 2022.

· The Most Valuable Student Scholarship program is available to all high school seniors or equivalent who are U.S. citizens. To apply, visit enf.elks.org/mvs for further details. This program awards more than $2.4 million in scholarships. Applications close on November 15, 2021.

· The Elks National Foundation also provides Emergency Educational Grants for children of deceased or totally disabled Elks in the form of renewable, one-year grants up to $5,000. They must be used for educational assistance only and are not intended to cover the entire cost of college. Requests for assistance can be made by calling (773) 755-4732. 

Alane. 

 Greetings fellow Elks!  I hope everyone is well and hasn’t floated away yet.  I never thought I would see the day when I would say that I’m ready to dry out for awhile. Ha!

There’s still time folks to buy your tickets for that beautiful Yamaha! Proceeds from those ticket sales go to our Arizona Elks Major Projects—a great way to help benefit our Youth Camp and the Steele Children’s Research Center. Plus, you may even win!

Patriot’s Day is just around the corner. This is the 20th anniversary of that horrible day, September 11th, 2001.  As we did last year, we’ll be donating a check to Impact in honor of our First Responders to help assist those in need here in our community. I noticed a donation jar in the lounge for anyone who would like to contribute to this cause.  I know that more charity works are in the planning stages, so stay tuned.

Until next month,  Be Safe, Take Care Monty

The PERA-sponsored event at the lodge on the 4th of July sounds like it was a lot of fun. Forty burgers and forty brats were served along with watermelon and sides for all who attended. I couldn’t attend because Alane and I were in Tampa at Grand Lodge Convention. We had an interesting time there, which included surviving a hurricane! Actually, it didn’t hit Tampa that badly, but we were warned that it could be a problem.

Our Shotgun Raffle was concluded at the July 4th event. It raised more than $1,200 for the PERA charitable giving fund. Thank you to all who participated in the raffle. The lucky winner was Fran Roberts. That’s her in the picture holding her shotgun, surrounded by several PERs, including her husband Neal Patronsky.

On August 23rd, our Lodge hosted a Golf Outing at Oro Valley Country Club to benefit Arizona Elks Major Projects. Nine foursomes showed up for the event, and combined with hole-sponsored donations and the PERA-sponsored lunch, we donated about $2,000 to AEMP.

Steve Asp, PER