Club Hours and Meetings:
We will continue to be open every Wednesday, Thursday and Friday night during the hours of 4:00 – 9:00 pm throughout the month of January. The Board of Trustees will meet at 5:30 p.m. on the 12th and 26th of January while the Lodge Officers will meet at 6:30 pm on the same days. At the December 8, 2005 meeting those present voted to change the bylaws relative to Trustee and Lodge meetings. As soon as the national office approves of the change, we will start meeting once a month on the 3rd Thursday of each month.

Meals on Membership Nights:
The meals, catered by Hy-Vee on a first come first serve basis every Thursday night from 6:00 – 8:00 pm, have been doing extremely well. For those that have never tried the meals, you should bring some friends down to play cards to visit and to eat. Where in town can you get a full meal for $6.50 per person and free coffee?

Here are the meals for the month of January:

Past Events:
1. The Memorial Service held on December 4th went well. This is a service specifically designed to honor those Elks that have departed during the past year. Beside the Officers, there were only three active members that attended the service, which lasted about 30 minutes. Hopefully, more of the members will attend next year. I would like to thank the Officers, Pat Leary and Bill Zink for helping me out.

2. Tom and Jerry night was a smashing success. Any individual that thinks the Elks Club no longer exists should have been there with the other 60 plus members and spouses that enjoyed the festive evening. Everyone seemed to like the drinks and the food. We need to thank Jim Smolik and Jimmy Steen for arranging the Tom and Jerry’s and I would like to personally thank Dorothy Zuiderhof for helping me mix the Tom and Jerry’s, her husband Ron who helped me clean up and all the others who willingly offered to help so that I could also enjoy the evening. The party broke up when the last person left around 10:00 pm.

3. The Elks Hoop Shoot on December 18th was very successful. The list of winners representing the Lodge in Pierre at the State Hoop Shoot appeared in the Brookings Register on December 27th in the sport’s section, Page B2. I would like to thank Shirley and Philip Bergum, Dave Beste, Faith and Bob Bradley, Paul Brown, Don Denure, Kyle Elenkiwich, Chuck Kuechenmeister, Steve Leary, Roxane Long, Derek Martinson, John Ruffolo, Patty and Pat Solsaa, and Ken Yocom. Please forgive me if I forgot anyone.

4. This year the Board of Trustees and the Officers approved supporting the Angel Tree for the Habitat for Humanity children sponsored by Metabank. The picture of gifts given to the Angel Tree by the Elks Lodge appeared on page 8 of The December 27th Brookings Register. Helping those that need help is a major role of the Elks.

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. The Snowbirds need to remember to notify the Lodge when they head south. Remember that the home page contains all of the latest information.

Parties in the club area:
If you are interested in having a party at the Club just give us a call and we will do everything we can to make sure the party is successful. We have rented the culb for a New Years Eve party and two other parties are scheduled for January. There is no rent to use the club if you are a member of the Lodge.

Contract with the City
I have been informed that the City’s lawyer is working on a contract and should have it ready sometime in February. Currently, we seem to be getting along quite well with the Senior Citizen Group so there is a strong possibility that we will be allowed to stay where we are for a longer than expected period of time. We are not yet aware of the cost for utilities and rent but we have been told that these are negotiable.

Elks National Foundation
During the 2004-2005 Lodge year, the Elks of South Dakota donated $27,743.49 to the Elks National Foundation. In return, the Elks of South Dakota received $22,920 for Drug Awareness, the Hoop Shoot and the state’s major charitable project, $21,534 for educational, charitable and philanthropic programs supported by the Lodges of South Dakota, $22,000 for scholarships and $7,200 for hospitalized veterans. Yes, we received a grand total of $73,000 in return for the $27,743 we gave or $2,63 for every dollar we gave. This is a good return so help the Elks National Foundation by giving a pledge of $10 per year for the next 10 years. Contact the ER for more information. Here is wishing all of you a very Happy and Prosperous 2006.

Jerry Bergum, ER