To my Kinderhook Elks friends and family,
It's 4am and I am up, mind racing, the to do list growing, the never-ending thoughts that run through my mind. What can we do to make things better at the Lodge? How can we attract more members? How do we get more members involved? You know, the everyday questions. This past Monday at our regular meeting Rick Stegmann made us all laugh, but what a great way to push for an event. He sat there with a coat on, now if you have ever attended a meeting it gets pretty warm down there as Sharon and I can attest to. When it came time, Rick stood up took off his coat and had a referee's shirt and whistle on to promote the March Madness Mac and Cheese event. Hats off to him for his initiative and unique way to promote the event.
This is supposed to be my last ER message, but as we all know from last year, I kept writing to try and keep everyone updated. I am proud of the many things that this Lodge does, from the Special Needs Prom and Luau, the Car Show, (BTW my favorite event), Marion Stegmann, the Field of Honor this past year, the Community Baby Showers, all the groups we support, the events we make happen, and the smiles we put on the faces of so many in the smallest way. Those, my friends, are a positive impact on the community. The thoughts are, when many hear about the Elks, that it is an old man's drinking club. Not so! Partly factual though, just kidding. We do!! WE pay to donate our time and talents to not only enrich our lives but to enrich the lives of our community, the Vets, and the kids. After all, that encompasses everything, the past the present and the future.
We are part of a domino effect. Every business, family, and individual becomes a tile. We support the sports teams, High and Mighty, Boys State, Boy Scouts, scholarships, and the list goes on. How we do that is by volunteering our time and talents to raise that money to give it away. In order for the tiles to work we need to remind everyone that we have meals and breakfast. It would be helpful if every family in every organization WE sponsor could support us by coming in every once and a while for breakfast, where the coffee is forever flowing. It’s a relaxed environment, we laugh, we joke, and we raise the funds to help others. There are also Friday Night Dinners, and other events you can help support. We have had plays, dance classes, and Karaoke nights. If we can get more support for our events, we can continue to keep supporting community events.
The Ides of March are upon us. There are 3 breakfasts with the Easter Bunny and all are going to be a buffet, so if you can help out on an extra Sunday or two, please do. If you can donate candy for the Bunny to give away or help advertise, great!! Every little bit helps.
Newsletter and placemat ad forms are out, so are car show sponsor sheets, vendor form and preregistration forms. They will all be on the table in the foyer as you enter the Lodge. Dues notices are out so if you haven't sent them back, please do so, every year we lose members because they are busy, and it slips their mind.
The calendar of events is in the newsletter but we will send out updates when we can. I know Kelly is looking for help with Sunday food, the March Madness preorder sheets are up but you can call my house phone and I will forward the request. The Easter Bunny is at Barnwell on the 24th at 2pm and in the Kinderhook square on the 30th, after which we will install new officers. Kelly is moving up to Loyal Knight, Rosemarie Neckles is stepping up to be Lecturing Knight, and John Piddock is taking the 5 year trustee position. Jerry and Joe are locked into their positions; however, we are in need of a Leading Knight and ER. Enough rambling let's have a great month!! Hope to see you around the Lodge.
PER/ER Annie