Club Hours and Meetings:
We will continue to be open every Wednesday, Thursday and Friday night from 4:00 – 9:00 pm throughout the month of August. The Board of Trustees will meet at 5:30 p.m. on the 25th of August while the Lodge Officers will meet at 6:30 pm on the same day. We still only have 3 trustees since nobody has volunteered to take one of the two remaining vacant seats. Why is it so hard to say yes and help out the club?

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 well. The last time we had steaks we served 55 meals. The next week we served 49 Salisbury steaks while a week later we served Spaghetti and Meat Balls to 41 individuals. There is a rumor going around town that the Elks no longer exist. Maybe these gossipers should visit the club. The price for a meal remains at $6.50 per person.

Here are the meals for the month of August:

Bring a friend, especially one interested in being an Elk. Remember that you can have free coffee with your meal. Where else can you get free coffee with a meal? By the way, we need to thank Roger Mellendorf and Ron Deutsch for doing another fantastic job of cooking the steaks in June.

Renewal of Dues
As of July 26, 2005, 347 people renewed their dues. This tells us that there are still 67 delinquent members. Of these 67 individuals, 16 are lifetime members, which means that they have been a member for 30 consecutive years and are 65 or older. It turns out that 41 of the remaining 51 delinquent members have been with the Lodge for 15 or more years. Why is it that after being a member for so long, you have chosen not to continue to support the charitable work we do by paying your dues? Please sit down, write a check and mail in your current due’s payment. Instead of searching for reasons to drop your membership, look for reasons why you should stay on as a member. For example, during the month of July, we gave $168 to the Activity Center for chair cushions, $150 to the Brookings Area Community Band and $300 to the Boys and Girls Club. Your dues continue to help programs in the community. You can also help the Lodge by encouraging a delinquent or dropped member to renew his or her dues. Ask Jennifer or Wendy to see the list at the club, pick out a name, give them a call and get them back. So far, the ER has picked up 8 delinquents or dropped members. You could help a great deal by just getting one to come back.

Home Page and e-mail Addresses:
Just a reminder that the Lodge home page is www.brookingselks1490.org. You need to check this out, as it will always contain the most recent newsletter as well as other pertinent information concerning the Lodge and the Club. Any member that has access to the Internet will be able to read all the posted information. Save this address in your FAVORITES FOLDER on the Internet and send me any comments or corrections. Our e-mail address is Elks1490@mchsi.com and this can be used to contact the Lodge Secretary or the Exalted Ruler. You will help the Lodge save some money if you send a message saying that you want the newsletter by e-mail.

GOLF TOURNAMENT
The Bobcat Backers are having their 7th annual Bobcat Backers golf tournament on Saturday, August 6th at the Brookings Country Club starting at 8:00 am. We are looking to sponsor a team of four individuals willing to play in the tournament. Notice that the Lodge will pay the entry fees. If you can get a team together just call the Lodge and leave the names of the four individuals in a message. If we don’t have a team we will sponsor a green. It is my understanding that the people who play in this tournament have a great time and all the profits go toward helping any student that participates in extracurricular activities at the high school or middle school. Here is another way to help the club make Brookings a better place to live.

THE FINANCIAL PICTURE
For the past six months, we have made a substantial profit and things seem to be improving. In fact, this is the first time in over five years that we’ve had a profit for six consecutive months. When will we get a new building of our own? We can only get this if we have more members willing to return. Before getting a new club, we need to hire someone to do what the ER is currently doing. We could afford a part time manager right now but a result would be little or no monthly profit. Is this what you want? We need to discuss this at one of the meetings in October or November.

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 can have parties on nights other than when we are scheduled to be open. For example, we can have parties on a Saturday night. If interested just call and visit with the ER.

Jerry Bergum, ER