exalted ruler's MESSAGE

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Happy February to you all and I hope you have a great month. It’s that time of year again when all of us Arizonans and our friendly snowbirds get to call back to our friends out east and mock them for having to put up with snow and freezing temperatures. It makes me so sad to remind all of my Illinois family that it is still short pants weather out here. I hope all the Elks have a wonderful Valentine’s Day, and if you are looking for something to do, come out to the Lodge for the Have a Heart party and help support AEMP. Sign up is in the lounge.

We had a great January at the lodge, and I would like to take a moment to say thank you to all the wonderful people who have supported our lodge throughout the NFL Season and for joining us for the Queen of Hearts. Your support of the Lodge has made a big difference in our bottom line, and that is uber important!!! Without support we cannot continue to grow and flourish.

Speaking of growing and flourishing, we are in need of support in the upcoming year. We have the need to fill many positions and committees to help continue to bring support to our community. It is always difficult to take that first step in offering your time, but once you have done it, you sure will feel good about it. When I was brought into the fold and was convinced (and it took some convincing!) to take on a committee or two and become an officer, I, like many, was very hesitant. Now that I have been involved for a while, I couldn’t be happier with my decision and have become extremely proud of all we do and what we, as Elks, represent. Please consider helping out and becoming a contributing member. You won’t regret it. Our incoming ER, Paul Slater, would love to hear from you and can tell you of the committees he needs assistance with.

Finally, I would like to speak a little on Membership once again. Our lodge is on pace to possibly break even or have a 1 or 2 person gain in membership this year. Sadly, membership in the South District is on a pace to have a negative year. If you know anyone who would like to have some fun, and do some great work within our community, please invite them to become a member. A lot of times we can gain new members just by inviting our friends, co-workers, or neighbors to lodge for a Wednesday meal, Friday

Queen of Hearts, or even a football Sunday. Once they have visited, seen our friendly faces, and have had a good time with us, they a hooked and it takes very little effort to get them to become members.

And a little February humor:

Jim asked his friend, Tony, whether he had bought his wife anything for Valentine's Day.

'Yes,' came the answer from Tony who was a bit of a chauvinist, 'I've bought her a belt and a bag.'

'That was very kind of you,' Jim added, 'I hope she appreciated the thought.'

Tony smiled as he replied, 'So do I, and hopefully the vacuum cleaner will work better now.'

One morning Emma woke up with a start. Her husband Jim asked what was the matter, she told him, "I just had a dream that you gave me a pearl necklace for Valentine's day. What do you think it means?" "You'll know tonight," Jim said. That evening, Jim came home with a small package and gave it to his wife. Delighted, Emma opened it - only to find a book entitled "The meaning of dreams".

I would like to wish everyone a happy Valentine’s Day! And hope to see you at the lodge to celebrate with us!

Doug

Happy New Year!

I trust that everyone is having a great start to 2025! Lots of changes coming, including

at our lodge as we head in to the home stretch for the Elks year, which ends on

31.March.

We continue to show our community that Elks Care, Elks Share. We demonstrate our charity with our community outreach with events like stuff a bag, our kids with the shopping events and of course our vets with more that $130,000 in donations. 

One of the biggest charitable things one can do is to share their time. As we approach the new Elks year, there are several committee chairs that I will be looking to fill. So if you have been wanting to be more involved, please reach out to me, or any of our officers and let us know! There are over 40 different committees, so there is something 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)

Take care,

paul

I know I sound like a broken record always talking about dues. It is an important part of my job and a big part of our operating budget. And with that being said, dues statements will be going out soon. Our dues

this year for regular members is $104.50 and are due by April 1, 2025. You can pay them by

Pay Pal, Cash, Check or Credit Card.

Please check the calendar as we have some fun events coming up.

LODGE STATS YEAR-TO-DATE

Membership to Date ............576

Candidates................................   18

Delinquents .............................   22

Transfers Pending..................      7

Life Members .........................    55 

Average Age ............................   70

Something to think about:

“The only person you should try to be better than, is the person you were yesterday.”

anonymous-