EXALTED RULER’S MESSAGE

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Due to COVID-19 concerns, our 2020-2021 new Officer Installation has been postponed so therefore I am technically still the Exalted Ruler. Monty and I thought it best if I wrote part of the ER message and I was very happy to. I wanted to report on the Spotlight Grant Stand Down event we had in March. Thirty Three Veterans and wives packed 210 backpacks with hygiene products and clothing items. These were then taken to the Tucson Veterans Helping Veterans Stand Down event on March 11th and 12th. This event is a place homeless Veterans can come and receive a large variety of assistance including a job fair, medical attention, Legal aid and pet care. Thirty eight representatives from our Lodge handed out all the backpacks to those in need. $2000 was from our grant, $2400 from member donations, $500 from Veterans fund and $505.26 from the Queen of Hearts, wow, what a great team we all make! Thank you all so much for your hard work and compassion shown at the event. Please stay healthy and safe during this difficult time and we look forward to seeing you very soon!  

Greetngs to all of my fellow Elks. As Gloria noted I and our new team of officers won't be of installed until Apr. 11. The first thing I would like to do is thank Gloria for putting up with me and patiently guiding me through my Leading Knight year. Thank you Gloria and God Bless you!! Thanks to all the wonderful members who have offered their support for me for this coming year. Special thanks go out to all the Committee Chairs who have agreed to stay on and continue their wonderful work AND those who have stepped up to fill some vacancies. Thanks to our Officers who have agreed to stay on for another year!! I am especially grateful to the new Officers coming in, specifically Ron Starjnsky, Bonnie Mason, Dan Letchford and Marie Starjnsky!!! Thank you all. There is no one I can Thank or Appreciate more than my greatest supporter, my best friend, my wife, Deborah! 

My mission and goal for this year is to protect our Charter and maintain the Health and Wellbeing of our Great Lodge. Our Lodge is already Wonderful, we’ll only get better with the great works that we do. All because of YOU, our Elks Family!!! Thank you All, Monty  

Our new lodge year is off to quite a start. As I write this, the lodge has been closed for 8 days; it sure seems longer. I sure miss seeing everyone, but also am happy to be home and helping combat this terrible virus. I’ve done some deep cleaning and taken a lot of walks. I’ve learned too much news can make it harder to cope in this situation.

As many know, I was the lodge treasurer for about 8 years before moving into the Loyal Knight position last year. Since my career was spent working in finance and accounting, I’ve been very comfortable as the lodge treasurer. Now, I’m moving out of my comfort zone, but am happy venturing into new areas of responsibility within the lodge.

For the past month, I’ve been working to learn the Leading Knight part for the initiation ritual. In this new time of Covid19, much of the initiation ritual has really hit home and is helping me put things into perspective. The motto of the Leading Knight station is “Charity”. Two lines from the ritual are especially pertinent right now. “The daily gifts we bestow increase our own riches. The help we give to those in need is added to our own strength.” If we keep these words in mind during this crisis, we may be better equipped to cope. The hoarding of food and household items is not helping our fellow mankind. By sharing or not purchasing more than we need, will help our fellow man. If possible shop for a neighbor, or simply stay home and practice social distancing at all times. If we do these simple things, we will be living the Elk motto of charity, and might even feel a little better.

In my neighborhood, I’ve witnessed some neat things over the past week. First, many more people are out walking at all times of the day.  Walking is a great stress reliever and is good for the body and soul. We’ve also got posters on our mailboxes from some kids who are willing to shop for their at-risk neighbors or simply come visit - outside a safe distance. We’ve also got a group of families who have happy hour out on the sidewalks. Chairs are lined up on both sides of the street and family units are separated by the proper distances. They’re joking, telling stories, relaxing and wave at every car that goes by. It’s great to see that we can do some simple things to socialize and not isolate ourselves while still following CDC guidelines.

As many of you know, Steve and I are golfers. I’d be in rough shape without golf right now. We generally walk; it’s easy to stay a safe distance from other players (I’m typically in the rough). Rakes have been removed from the bunkers; we don’t get in trouble for not raking! We never miss a short putt anymore because within 2-3 feet of the hole don’t need to be putted. We can play all 18 holes without touching anything other than our ball, tee and golf equipment. Please be creative, and stay happy and healthy.

If you’re not comfortable shopping or need help, I’d be happy to help or help find someone who can help. If you email me or leave a message for me in the office, I will follow up and do the best I can. My email address is alaneasp@hotmail.com and the office number is (520)825-0893. 

 I hope all are staying healthy and safe with all these virus germs floating all around us and that you all stocked up on toilet paper. How crazy is that? Of all things to have a shortage on.  

Dues: Even though the Lodge is closed at the present time, the operations of the normal day to day office work has slowed down, but has not come to halt. 

We are still processing the memberships dues and sending cards out in the mail. We are normally further ahead on the number of members paying their Dues at this point of the Lodge year. As of today (March 26) we are only about half way through the roster of those whom have paid for the next Lodge year. I realize we are living in a whole different and crazy world that we just are not used to, but I ask if you can please get these paid as soon as you can. If you can not pay these now, remember there is never a penalty for paying after April 1. You can pay on Catalina Mountains website. there is a link that goes to pay pal. 

You can drop a check in the mail or you can call me and I can take your credit card information and can run these cards at the office. Home phone: 825- 3300 Cell phone 358-6339. Hope to see you all real soon at the Lodge!!  

Total membership 569 

Initiated 44 

Affiliated 17 

Reinstated 5 

Waiting for Initiation 12 

Average age 70.74 

Delinquency 31 

Life members 82 

 A big thank you to all our members who have helped our lodge by playing the Queen of Hearts. As you probably already know our Friday night get-togethers cheering for our weekly winners have been suspended until further notice. Our pot, after hitting our half way mark of 26 cards drawn, is presently at $12,500. 

As I mentioned last month, the PERs okayed a check for $582 for the Stand Down event that took place on 3/11 through 3/13. Many veterans from our lodge helped to deliver 220 backpacks filled with essential items for both our men and women homeless veterans. A big thank you to Dan Bradshaw for heading up this event! I also want to express a special thank you to all the individual contributors who helped to support this initiative by contributing many hundreds of dollars for this wonderful event! There were, at last count, 34 veterans and membership volunteers who stepped in on Saturday, March 7th to load up the back packs. With all that help we had all 220 packs filled and stored in Lee Cooks truck in 50 minutes! 

Because of the Coronavirus, the PERs did not meet for their normal March monthly meeting. We will reevaluate the meeting suspension after the first of April to see what our next step will be in battling this virus.  

Bob