Michael Staples, ER

January’s ER Message

Hello again, this is my first letter of 2012.

The term has sure gone fast! It doesn’t seem that long ago when we were practicing for rit- ual. We had some challenges this year, as we have made great strides in our Lodge and the community.

I would like to thank a few people for their contributions to our Lodge and the com- munity: Rhys Severe is our Youth Activities Chairman. We had a vey successful soccer shoot and just recently our Hoop Shoot! This was held at PV High School on Sunday, De- cember 18. The winners will get to compete in the District Competition. Thank you again to Rhys, Norm & Betty Stump, Rick & Kim Schmid, Terry Horne, Gus & Mary Borchers, Joe Lusher, Matt Goddard and many others.

I would also like to thank Kim Thorpe for another amazing Children’s Christmas Party. Kim organized, set-up, purchased and wrapped over 190 gifts, and held the best Children’s Christmas party so far! We were able to pro- vide over 70 children from the community with activities, gifts and lunch. To top it all off, Santa Claus was able to attend. The children got to tell him what they wanted and got a pic- ture with Santa Claus. There were many people who helped set up the day. Thank you to Matt & Jen Goddard, Norm & Betty Stump, Brian & Jenny Artzen, the Patterson family, my lovely wife, Victoria. I think I even saw our District Deputy Wade Thorpe there! It’s a great charity event our members and their kids get to share with our community.

Well, I hope to see you all at the New Year’s Eve party and remember to invite friends and family who are not Elks to come and see what we are about, because it’s amazing!

January Elks Bowling News

The Chico Elks bowling league finished the fifteenth week, with the Treasurers team in first place with 11 wins and 5 losses. Team members are: Gary Nagle, Jack Barnes, Jim Hair, Scott Swi- gart, and Sub, Carl Lorenzen.

On December 5th, the following ladies held their annual bake sale for the Major Project. This brought in $248.50. The ladies were Carolyn Nagle, Joanne Navarro, Sharon Engle, Allie Miguel and Sheryl Barnes.

A special “Thank You!” to Marlys Moak for the great Raffle prize. This was won by Donald Schumacher.

The League will start getting ready for the Men’s City Tournament held at AMF Orchard Lanes the last two weekends of February, 2012. All eight teams will be entered in this.

Elks Travel League
The Elks Travel League bowled on December 18th at AMF Orchard Lanes. As a result the stand- ings are: Red Bluff/Chico with 13 wins and 3 losses.

Chico #5 is tied in first place with 13 wins and 3 losses. In second place is Chico #9 with 10 wins and 6 losses.

The League leaders to win High Scratch and High Handicap for the men at the end of the season are: High Scratch Series is Mike Kelly with 665; High Scratch Game is David Ebright with 268; High Handicap Series is Mike Ridley with 692; High Handicap Game is David Jones with 258.

The Women’s League leaders are; High Scratch Series is Linda Vollweiler with 523; High Scratch Game is Pat Williams with 201; High Handicap Series is Frances Arellano with 676; High Handicap Game is Bethany Whippo with 241.

The League will be bowling at Java Lanes in Corning on January 15, 2012; the starting time is 1:00 PM.

ELKS’ LADIES
The Elks’ Ladies that bowl in the Stardusters League on Monday nights at AMF Orchard Lanes are: The Elkettes with 27 wins and 29 losses; Elk Chicks with 27 wins and 29 losses.

Placing in the Stardusters’ League standings from the Elkette’s team is: Linda Nickas holding second place in Highest Handicap Series with 241; Second Highest Pin with 51 pins. This was done on the 14th week of the League.

Royce’s Girl won the first half. Team mem- bers: Jodel Ebright, Bethany Whippo, Darlene Fogleman, and, Sub, Joanne Navarro.

There are several of the women that bowl in this League that are wives of the men that bowl in the Chico Elks’ League: Mary Wright, Brandee Kelly, Jodel Ebright, Linda Vollweiller, Darlene Fogleman, and Cheryl Ridley, Joanne Navarro and Paula Franklin.

December’s ER Message

Hello, again! Well, Chico Lodge is in full swing with the holiday season. Manzanita Place is very busy with outside events as usual this time of year, as well as our Lodge events. This is great for our Lodge’s success and future. With that, any members who have suggestions regarding the op- erations of our facility need to bring those ideas to the House Committee or Trustees, not directly to our management.

We had a DD Clinic on November 20th, a lot of great information was shared. Just a reminder to all members these are not exclusive to officers of our Lodge. All members are encouraged to attend, especially if you are considering running for an officer position.

Just a recap, we had several breakout sessions to discuss business of the Lodge: Norman Stump, PDDGER, current officers on what to expect; Sim Nathan, PDDGER, protocol; Wade Thorpe, DDGER, on life after being an Exalted Ruler. Russ Fortier, PER, and John Knitter, PDDGER, did an in -depth overview of ritual. Kim Thorp had a clinic for the spouses of officers to help them with any questions, etc. There were a lot of topics discussed and Wade Thorpe, DDGER, will be doing another clinic in the Red Bluff Lodge, January 22nd at 9 AM.

Well, I hope everybody has a wonderful holi- day season and we’ll see you around the Lodge!

December Elks Bowling

The Chico Elks Bowling League finished the first third with the Leading Knights winning with a total of 25 wins and 15 losses. Team members are Scott Jones, Paul Arnold, Donald Schumacher and Rhys Severe.

Second place went to the Exalted Rulers with 25.5 wins and 15.5 losses. The Team mem- bers are Gene Wright, Ernie Ridley, Stan Haley and Jim Becker. Scott Swigart bowled a 294 game in week #9. Congratulations, Scott!

ELKS’LADIES BOWLING The two teams of Elks’ Ladies bowling in the Stardusters League on Monday nights are the Elk Chicks with 19 wins and 21 losses. The Elkettes had 15 wins and 24 losses. The Ladies score! now have shirts with team name and a Elks logo on them. Darlene Fogleman is the Secretary of the League.

ELKS TRAVEL LEAGUE The Northern Elks Travel League will be bowling at Shasta Lanes, in Redding on Novem- ber 13th and then at AMF Orchard Lanes in Chico on December 18th. This is the Christmas finger food day. Our starting time is 1 PM.

Standings as of the first third are:

Chico #5 12 wins 0 losses
Red Bluff/Chico 10 wins 2 losses
Chico #9 9 wins 3 losses
Chico #7 7 wins 5 losses

Mike Kelly bowled a 279 game last month at Tall Pines Center in Paradise. Great bowling

Chico Elks Lodge 423 Veteran’s Day Celebration

Come down to the Lodge and join our Veteran’s Day Celebration.

Friday, November 11, 2011 at the Chico Elks Lodge #423, 1705 Manzanita Avenue The Chico Community Band will start playing at 10:30am and the Veteran’s Day Program will start at 11:00am

There will be Honored Guests and presentations by the Boy Scouts Troop 423 as well as the Elks’ History of the Flag of the United States Program.

The Boy Scout Troop 423 will be holding a Flag Retirement Ceremony at 1:00pm, after the Veteran’s Day Program, this will be located at the fire pit near the Elks’ Picnic Pavilion in the back of the Lodge.

Hope to see you there.

November’s ER Message

Hello Brothers and Sisters. It’s been getting busier and busier around the Lodge and that’s great! October’s Birthday dinner was very nice with over 100 in attendance. Please keep making time for your Lodge and it’s activities.

Our new Lodge Manager, Amber, is up and running and doing a great job! It’s a lot of work and she welcomes it, so please, next time you see her say, THANK YOU! She is managing a lot of up coming events which is great for our Lodge. I’ve seen lodges that don’t have our facility and trust me, without Manzanita Place, we would be struggling! So please remember to be supportive of all our staff that keeps our doors open.

On the topic of other lodges, I have been to Yreka for our State President’s visitation. It was very nice to meet Wayne Howard and his wife, Coleen. Our first stop was to Mount Shasta Lodge for breakfast. The next stop was a US War Memorial that was very moving in Yreka. Welded statues and dedications to POW’s, the Korean War, Vietnam, WWI and WWII and the current conflicts in which we are engaged. If you are ever in the area, it’s a must see. We then went to Past State President, Doug Larsen’s home for a social. Then off to the Yreka Lodge for dinner and a message from our CHEA President.

The Lodge continues to see improvements from out front to the bar. If you haven’t seen the Elk out front, you must come by and be amazed at how impressive it is. Our Thursday night Queen of Hearts dinner is still providing funds to improve our bar area. Most recently, funds were used for the underside of the bar. The wood that PER Terry Horne so graciously donated for the top, side and overhang has been 2/3’s installed. The bar top and sides have been finished and they look great A big thanks to our own Rick, “The Fix-it Man”, Schmid and his volunteers came in on a weekend and had all the wood removed and the new wood installed. The busy helpers were Jan Bratcher, Norm Stump, Al Smith, Foz, Steve Bailey and Matt Goddard.

As we approach the holiday season, please remember all of the events we have coming up ~ just to name a few, we have Italian Night, Veterans Day activities, Elks’ Memorial Service, Thanksgiving, the Christmas Brunch followed by the Children’s Christmas Party, and New Year’s! Watch your Elkhorn Press for more details and dates.

Also, remember that membership is our life blood; this is the greatest Fraternity in the world, in my opinion. So when somebody asks you why you’re an Elk, ask them, “Why are you not an ELK?”

October’s ER Message

Hello again everybody. We are quickly approaching our busy season, which is good. Now that our summer break is over, meetings are back to regular schedule, the second and fourth Wednesdays of the month. Please make a point of attending as we are conducting the business of the Lodge, and with 900 plus members, we have roughly 20 to 30 of them making decisions. Please attend because they are not all initiation nights and I see that they go rather quickly.

There have also been some changes around the Lodge. Evan Billman has decided to take his talents into the wine industry and we wish him much success and hope to see him around the Lodge when he has time.

The bar improvements are continuing with new wood below and above the bar. A big thanks to Terry Horne for donating the wood and Rick Schmid, Al Smith, Bill Dixon, Kevin Ahlswede, Scott Bechhold, Jan Bratcher, Mike Efford and Don Schumacher for demo and installation of the new wood.

The long awaited Elk is here! The generous donation from an anonymous member of the amazing Elk statue is in its place and looks amazing! Rick Schmid, Duane Fosdick and Andy Wood have cleared, formed and placed the statue in front of the Lodge and if you haven’t seen it, please come down and have a look.

Football season is under way! So come on down to the Lodge and support your favorite team and support your Lodge. There is also Monday Night Dinners at the Lodge. Elks and their guests only at these events, so please call ahead if you plan on attending.

As we all know our Deputy District Grand Exalted Ruler is our very own Wade Thorpe (PER, Trustee, PVP.) With our new Grand Lodge rules not requiring us to perform an initiation for him, we will not. So please attend the meeting ton October 26th to get the background and message from our Grand Exalted Ruler, David R. Carr.

Lots of Activities at Our Lodge I have not been a member of this Lodge as long as many of you have, but in my time I’ve made some really great friends and been able to work with several of you. Jim Fowler, a friend and brother has recently passed. His dedication and leadership to this Lodge and the Order will forever be missed. My deepest condolences to the Fowler family.

Scholarship News

It’s that time of year again…scholarship time!

There are many great scholarship programs for graduating high school Seniors and for continuing college students also.

The Most Valuable Student Scholarship is available on line @ www.org/end/scholars and is open to any graduating high school Senior. These applications are due December 2, 2011, in the Chico Elks Lodge office.

Legacy Scholarships are open to Elks’ children and grandchildren. Applications are on line at the www.elks.org/enf/scholars website and are due in the Chicago office by February 1, 2012.

Chico Elks Lodge Merit Scholarship Application for 2012 will be available for the 2012 year October 1, 2011. Merit scholarships are open to Chico Elks children, grandchildren and/or great grandchildren who are Seniors in high school or who are Freshmen, Sophomore or Juniors in College.

Vocational Grant applications are currently available in the Lodge office as are Emergency Grants.

If you have questions about any of the scholarships or grant programs offered by the Elks, please contact the Lodge at 343-1431.

And, of course, if you would like to help with our wonderful scholarship programs by volunteering, you are always welcome.