Club Hours and Meetings
We will be closed on Thursday, November 25th for Thanksgiving. Except for Thanksgiving, the Club will continue to be open from 4:00-9:00 p.m. every Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Also, because of Thanksgiving, the Board of Trustees will meet at 7:00 p.m. on the 10th and the Lodge Officers will meet at 8:00 pm on the 11th. The budget will be one of the main topics of discussion.

Meals on Membership Nights
Hy-Vee will continue to cater the meals on a first come first serve basis every Thursday night, except Thanksgiving, from 6:00 – 8:00 pm at a price of $6.50 per person. Come down and be a winner in the drawing for a free meal or $6.50 in free drinks. Since we had over 40 people for two nights in a row, we have increased the number of meals ordered. TRY ONE!! Here are the meals for the month of November.
Nov. 4th – 3 pieces of golden fried chicken, AuGratin potatoes and green beans,
Nov. 11th – Baked Ham, Bushes Baked Beans, Baked Potatoes.
Nov. 18th – Stuffed boneless pork chops, AuGratin potatoes, and Cole slaw,
Nov. 25th – Closed for Thanksgiving.

Friday Steak Nights
Come on down and support this new attempt to have members use the club. On November 12th and November 26th, from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., we will be having 6 oz sirloin steaks with baked potatoes, mixed salad, vegetables and desert at a cost of $8.50 per person. The steaks will be catered by Hy-vee. On October 22nd, because the fish fry was cancelled due to illness, I sent out and e-mail to over 110 people informing them that we would be having steaks instead of fish. Hy-Vee did the catering and we ran out of steaks because we ordered 25 meals and 31 people showed up. This won’t happen the next time. No reservations are needed. If these two nights are successful we will continue to have them every month.

Newsletter and e-mail address
Our present e-mail address is Elks1490@mchsi.com. So far, only 110 of our 595 current members have contacted me about receiving the newsletter by e-mail. Send me a message saying that you want the newsletter by e-mail and help the Lodge save some money. Furthermore, messages about changes can be sent faster to the members and it is easier to keep up with address changes. We are currently looking at a home page for the lodge, when this is ready things will even work better. Snow birds please send me you winter address.

Special Events for November
The food for the Pancake Feed for Veterans and families has been ordered. This event will be on November 11th from 6 – 9 a.m. in the American Legion building at 1229 Western Avenue. What we need now are 11 more volunteers to cook and to wait on tables. Call 692-1490 or 692-4640 and leave a message to volunteer if nobody answers. So far, fourteen (14) people have volunteered. Thank Hy-Vee for supporting our charitable work.
The turkeys for the Charity Turkey Raffle have been ordered. This event will be on November 24th from 6 to 9 pm. There will be ten (10) regular Bingo games (25 cents per card) and fifteen (15) paddle raffles (1.00 per paddle). Each winner will receive a 10 lb turkey. The final drawing will be for a 20 lb turkey at a $1.00 per chance. This will be held at the club in the lounge and dining area. All proceeds go toward local scholarships. Come on down and take a turkey home for Thanksgiving.

Furture Events
The Elks Memorial Service will be on December 5th at 4:00 pm in what used to be the dining area of the Elks building.

Tom and Jerry night will be at the Club on December 15th from 6-9 pm. There will be free snacks and chili to go along with the free Tom and Jerry’s.

The Elks Hoop Shoot will be on December 19th at the 5th Street Gym with registration at 12:30 and competition from 1:15 till done. We need 25-30 volunteers so call to help out. So far, we have only 8 volunteers so we need 22 more helpers.

What’s New for the Lodge and Club
The senior citizens will have moved in by the time you get this letter. The city did a great job of remodeling the building and working with us as they did this. So far, the contract between the senior citizen group and the Elks is still in the drafting process. Remember that we have a contract with the City which allows us to stay in the bar area for 2 years if we vote to do so. As soon as the contract is completed, the Board of Trustees and the Officers of the Lodge will examine it. If accepted then a copy of the contract will be sent to all active members and a meeting date will be set to make a motion on whether we should or should not accept the contract. A vote on the motion will then be taken at the next regularly scheduled meeting. The Lodge and Club belong to the 396 members that have paid their dues. The 199 delinquent members will not be allowed to vote.

Something to think about
We cannot continue to depend on 5 or 10 people to run the Lodge and the Club. We need 3 new members on the Board of Trustees and 4 new members to serve as Officers of the Lodge. If we want the Club and the Lodge to continue then we need people willing to serve as a Trustee or an Officer. How many of us can’t afford 1 hour a month to keep things going?

Remember that the Club and Lodge belong to the paid up members so help us out if we ask for your help or call and tell me, the Exalted Ruler, how you would like to help out. The club and Lodge are only as strong as its members.

Jerry Bergum, ER