Club Hours, Meetings
The bar will open at 4:00 pm and close at 8:00 pm on Wednesday and Friday nights unless there are customers in the club area. If there are customers in the club area, the club will remain open until the last customer leaves. We will continue to be open every Thursday night during the hours of 3:30 – 9:00 pm. However, the club will be closed on November 22nd, Thanksgiving Day. The Board of Trustees will meet at 5:30 p.m. on the 15th of November, while the Lodge Officers will meet at 7:00 p.m. District Deputy David Jacobson will be at the Lodge meeting.

Meals on Membership Nights:
The meals will continue to be catered by Hy-Vee on a first come first serve basis every Thursday night from 6:00 – 8:00 p.m. It was nice to see the numbers increase for meals from close to 40 to close to 50 for the month of October. There is always room for more people so give the meals a try, come down to make new friends, to play cards, or to visit and enjoy the Club. Once again, we would like to thank all those that consistently use the Club on any night whether it is to eat, to visit or to play cards. Your loyalty in using the Club is what keeps the Club going.

The meals for the month of November are:

Home Page and e-mail Addresses:
The home page address is www.brookingselks1490.org and the e-mail address is Elks1490@mchsi.com. Use the latter to contact the Lodge Secretary or the Exalted Ruler. Remember that the home page will normally contain all of the latest information and you should inform the Lodge if you have an address change, especially if you are about to go south call the office and change your address. Remember that the cost of a newsletter returned and forwarded by first class mail amounts to about $1.68 versus 15 cents?

Parties in the club area
If you are interested in having a party at the Club just give us a call. Remember that members get the Club area free of charge. As a member, all you pay for is the bartender and the drinks. The Bobcat Backers meet two Monday nights a month and we already have parties scheduled for November and December. Tell your friends about the Elks Club for birthday parties, graduation parties, wedding rehearsal dinners, class reunions, business and retirement parties.

Look at these facts
Of the current 19 members that have not paid their dues: one is on the Board of Trustees, one is a Past Exalted Ruler, five are currently life members, four will be life members within 5 years, and fourteen have been members for 25 or more years. These figures do not coincide with the statement that “young people don’t join organizations”, we should say that young people don’t join and frequently older people that have been members for a long time are quitting.

Future Events to put on Your Calendar:
1. The Free Pancake Feed for Veterans and families will be on November 11th from 6 – 9 am at the American Legion, which is located at 1229 Western Avenue. We will need volunteers to cook and to serve so say yes when Jerry calls early in November and asks for your help. If you are a veteran bring your family out and enjoy some food and great company.

2. Old Timers Night will be on November 9th from 6:30 to 8:30 pm. Reservations are required. Two weeks ago I sent an announcement to 233 old timers. So far, nobody has called and said they are coming. Unless we have 30 people attending by November 5th Old Timers Night will need to be cancelled so please make your reservations early. The meal is Baked Ham, fried Chicken, Scalped Potatoes, Salad, Apple Crisp and Ice Cream for $10.00 per person. Please call Jerry at 692-4640 or 692-1490 and leave a message with your name and the number of tickets you want. You must make reservations before November 5th. The State of South Dakota Elks President, James L. Van Osdel and his wife Kathy, will be at the dinner so let us show them why Brookings is someplace special.

3. The Elks Memorial Service for deceased members will be held on December 2nd at 4:00 pm in what used to be the Joe Garity Ball Room. Letters of invitation will be sent to all spouses of deceased members. The service, with refreshments, last about one hour. Try to remember your deceased brotherly Elks by attending the ceremony.

4. Tom and Jerry night will be at the Club on December 14th from 6 p.m. until the last person leaves. There will be free snacks and chili to go along with the free Tom and Jerry’s. Come down and have a great time just as we did last year. If you were not there last year then try it this year. Let the Officers and Trustees show the members that we really do care.

5. The Elks Hoop Shoot will be on December 16th at the 5th Street Gym with the doors opening for set up at 1:00 pm, registration at 1:30 and competition from 2:00 till done. Say yes if called to work. Kids love this and it is a great activity!!! If you don’t believe this is true just talk to Tracy Odegaard or Marty Johnson.

Jerry Bergum, ER