EXALTED RULER’S MESSAGE

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Summer is finally here but we were sure lucky to have such a wet winter and cooler than normal spring. 

According to many of the guests in attendance, our Flag Day ceremony was the most memorable yet! If you missed it, you have to make plans to attend next June 14th and I promise you will not be disappointed. The speakers, singers, Officers and dancers put their heart and souls into making it so moving. I thank each and every one of you for your dedication to this patriotic ceremony and especially to PER’s Larry Megahan and Jim Cox for the many hours they put in to make this such a beautiful event. 

At the printing of this Bugle, I will be in St Louis, MO at the Elks National Convention. It is an honor to represent our Lodge there and sit with all the other Exalted Rulers from all over Arizona. Arizona has great Elks pride and it shows at the annual convention as we wear our red vests and host an amazing hospitality room. There are meetings to attend every day as well as cheering on the Arizona Ritual team as they compete for the National Title. Thank you for entrusting me to go and vote on issues that affect the future of the Elks on the Lodge’s behalf. I will give a full report in the September Bugle. 

We will be trying something new for our Vice President’s visit September 21st and that will be a poker run. This is open to members in cars, trucks and motorcycles. We will have three stops on our route which will include the Coolidge/Florence Lodge so if you have never visited them, the poker run would be a perfect opportunity to. If you have never done a poker run, you should come find out what it is about and join in, they are fun! There is a flier covering the event in this Bugle and you can sign up in the Lounge or call in. You can do the poker run and then join us for an Italian dinner that evening or just do one of the events. 

Just a reminder that there will only be one Bugle sent out which covers July and August. You won’t receive another one until September. We will also only be holding one Lodge meeting each of those months and it will be the fourth Thursday. 

Have a great summer and hopefully you have some great vacations planned. The Lodge is nice and cool so stop by anytime and visit with our friendly staff and fellow members. Check the calendars out in this Bugle for all the fun events we will be having to keep you out of the heat!  

Greetings all fellow Elks. Well, we know that summer is here because the temps are in the 100's and a lot of our Brothers and Sisters are smart and are heading off to cooler climates and to enjoy visits with families and friends, and just have some nice vacations. I just want to wish you all safe journeys and have a wonderful time. Hopefully, during your travels you will have opportunities to visit some of our other Lodges around the country and meet some new friends. While gone don't forget that your Home Lodge is here for you when you return. 

We were blessed to recently receive a grant to purchase some food staples and deliver them to Impact for distribution to the needy in our community. I don't have all the details on that, as that is just one of the things that somehow just silently gets done behind the scenes. 

As the Leading Knight, CHARITY is the motto of my station. I am totally amazed and almost overwhelmed at all of the good works that the Order of Elks and especially our Catalina Mtn. Elks Lodge do to help the needy, support our community, assist the Veterans, and just to uphold our standard. 

ELKS CARE, ELKS SHARE  

We are Elks, this is what we do. 

Thanks to our members our Queen of Hearts funds grow each week through your continued participation. The funds the PERs collect is available for charitable purposes, lodge maintenance and/or improvements. The following are a few examples of your contributions at work.The latest numbers of our Queen of Hearts game 7 has allowed for a total of $16,515 paid out to our lucky winners and $9,967 spent on lodge priorities such as altar cloth, shelving, multiple donations to charity events, open house materials, food for various events, food for Impact of Southern Arizona, a fry table and flags. 

I’m happy to report that the PERA of our lodge, along with our Veterans Committee, has provided $1,620 for the support of our Paralyzed Wheelchair Veterans group this year. There will be a welcome back luncheon for those competing in the various events on Saturday, July 27th, which all are welcome to attend. 

I’m happy to report, as of 7 PM Friday, June 28th, we have 9 cards remaining. The total pot should be approximately $14,000 on July 5th. Good luck to all you players! 

Now that summer is in full swing, so is the heat. I can hardly wait for it to get worse in the next coming weeks with the humidity during monsoon season, but we do need the rain. Why not come to the Lodge and visit with your friends and take advantage of the mist system on the patio, enjoy our air-conditioned lounge or maybe enjoy a burger for lunch or a Wednesday night dinner. 

The remaining dues payments are coming in very slowly. We have 54 members who have not paid their dues for this Lodge Year. The Lodge needs us all. The old saying goes it takes a village. This applies to the Lodge also, the more members equate to greater things for our Lodge and to all the good works, our Order stands for. Encourage any member you may know, who has not paid these dues, ask them to come back to the Lodge and see what is happening at “our” Lodge or help if they can. 

Reminder: July and August newsletters are combined to give the newsletter staff a well-deserved vacation. Thank-you to you all for keeping us all informed on a monthly basis. Have a great summer and try to stay cool!! 

Lodge Stats 

Current members: 534 

Initiated: 11 

Affiliated: 4 

Reinstated: 3 

In process: 3 

Delinquents: 54