Van Wert Elks #1197 Celebrate Flag Day

Van Wert Elks Lodge #1197, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks held their Annual Flag Day Ceremony on Wednesday, June 12 at the lodge. The annual event is sponsored by the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. Assisting this year was Harriet Schaadt who gave the Response.

 Boy Scouts from Troop 31 assisted in the program, carrying the flags.

ictured are the scouts with the various flags of this country.

The Elks is the first and only fraternal organization to mandate that every year, each Elks Lodge must conduct a solemn and beautiful Flag Day ceremony.

Beef! It's What's For Dinner...Many Many Dinners...

The Beef Raffle held by the Salem Lodge# 305 was a huge success!!! The winner was drawn during the NE District meeting held at the Alliance Lodge #467.

"Cowboy" the cow was donated by Wayne and his granddaughter Sophia with Jeff donating the tickets. So it was pure profit.

The monies will help to defray costs for when our own NE District, Salem Lodge #305 member Eddie Connors will become Ohio Elks Association State President 2021-22.

We would like to thank everyone who helped to make this such a great fund raiser.

Pictured is Connie Smith, ER; Wayne Gorby, PER; Jeff Chapman, PER; winner Roger Yauman, Secretary at Alliance #467; Eddie Connors, PDDGER and OEA Trustee Chairman.

Kent Elks Lodge #1377 Helps Local Safety School.

Kent Elks Lodge #1377 presented an Ohio Elks Association Community Service Grant of $750 to the Brimfield Township Police Department for their annual Safety school to be held in July.

Pictured are Chief Roy Mosley and Lisa Wadlow, PER and Grants coordinator for Kent Elks Lodge #1377.

Salem Elks Lodge #305 Helps Local Fire Department

Salem Elks Lodge #305 presented the Lisbon Fire Department a check for $750 to purchase two 300' static rescue ropes. These will be used to perform high angle and grain bin rescues. The goal is to obtain all the equipment necessary to create their own rescue unit and be able to assist the surrounding area with rescues.

Presenting the check is Kim Chapman, Leading Knight to Bobby Huffman, Training Officer of the Lisbon FD.

Chalmers P. Wylie Veterans Hospital Gets Visit from Re-Creation and South Central Elks

Chalmers P. Wylie Ambulatory Care Center for veterans had a special treat on Tuesday, June 11, 2019.  The Care Center arranged for the singing group, Re-Creation to visit the veterans in the Care Center waiting rooms. Re-Creation is a group of young men and women who travel the country singing at veteran hospitals, care centers, and veteran organizations. 

What part did the Elks play?  Two volunteers, Trustee Jack and member Mira Cremeans from the Columbus Grove City Lodge #37 along with the Ohio Elks VAVS Rep for Chalmers Wylie, Becky Underhill (Newark Lodge #391) accompanied the singing group providing snacks, fruit, and water to the veterans in the 6 waiting rooms where the singers performed.

The singers and the Elks were able to mingle with the veterans, talking with them and thanking them for their service.

It was a great day to be an Elk!

Re-Creation singing group.

Ohio Elks VAVS Rep for Chalmers Wylie Hospital Becky Underhill, Newark Lodge #391.

Jack Cremeans and his wife Mira, both members of the Columbus Grove City Lodge #37 where Jack is a Trustee.

Newark Elks Lodge #391 Awards Student of the Year

Newark Lodge Trustee Dave Underhill, PER, presented a $250 lodge award to Student of the Year Eowyn Frail. Eowyn, whose home school is Granville High School, is a recent graduate of C-Tech from the Fire/EMT program.

Congratulations to Eowyn and best wishes for a future!

Pictured is Trustee Dave Underhill, PER and Eowyn Frail

Upper Sandusky Lodge #83 Helps Local Youth.

Upper Sandusky Elks Lodge #83 recently held their annual Purse Bingo to raise funds for local youth charities. Over 250 people attended the event which raised $4,000. These funds will be used by the Wyandot Family and Children First Program and the Wyandot County Mentoring Program.

Presenting the check to Justin Swartz and Anne Denman are Elks members Megan Rowe and Donna Swavel.

Gallipolis Lodge #107 Presents $8,500 in Cerebral Palsy Grants

Gallipolis Elks Lodge #107 Past Exalted Ruler Nelson Dray, South Central District Cerebral Palsy Chairman, presented Cerebral Palsy grant checks to Superintendent Pamela Combs, Guiding Hand School, Gallia County Board of Mental Retardation/Developmental Disabilities (MR/DD) and Kay Davis, Director of Education, Meigs County Board of MR/DD. 

The grants, which totaled $8,500, were provided by the Ohio Elks Association Cerebral Palsy Fund Board.

Guiding Hand School and Meigs County MRDD each received a check for $400 to cover expenses for one of their students to attend a summer camp.   Guiding Hand School is going to use their grant money to purchase a Boardmaker Plus! for Windows and an assortment of games while Meigs Co. MRDD will purchase a giant, interactive smart board for the students.

This year, the Ohio Elks Cerebral Palsy Fund Board provided $229,800 to Cerebral Palsy treatment centers throughout Ohio.  Presenting the grants is PER Nelson Dray to Pamela Combs, on the right, and Kay Davis on the left.

Athens Lodge #973 Awards $9,000 in Student Scholarships

Athens Elks Lodge #973 presented nine College Scholarships in the amount of $1,000 each to local students. Congratulations to all recipients.

From left to right, Rich Russell Elks Exalted Ruler, Kyla Henderson, Ashley Cooper, Braden Henderson, Tessa Kaaz, Dylan Mecum, Tom Donnley Elks Scholarship Chair. Not pictured and also receiving a $1,000 scholarship are Lilly Mills, Mickenzley Springer, Jaide Allison and Connor Farley.

Ohio Elks Northeast District Golf Outing Raises Funds for ENF, CP, and State Endowment.

Ohio Elks Northeast District golf outing  was hosted by Alliance Elks Lodge #467 at Tannenhauf Golf Club. Twenty-three (23) teams participated in a shotgun start. The Elks National Foundation Charity hole collected $327 and the Cerebral Palsy hole collected $875. The event raised another $170 for the Ohio Elks Endowment Fund.

First Place Alliance Lodge #467 - Rob Kirk, Shalon Kirk, Sam Kirk, and Drew Kirk

Second Place - Alliance Lodge #467 / Cody Schwin, Steve McCarthy, Mike Rubin, and Matt Rhodes

Third Place Team - Parma Lodge #1938 - Wade Harris the III, Toney Citroaro, Ryan Helman, and Thatius Kastelick.

Salem Elks #305 Helps Improve Safety For Local Police And Citizens

Connie Smith, Exalted Ruler of the Salem Elks Lodge #305 presented Chief Allen Haueter of the Leetonia P.D. with a check for $750 to help with the purchase of 2 additional, PatrolEyes, body cams. This is for the safety of not only the officers but the public as well.

Ohio Elks Making A Difference For Those With Cerebral Palsy

Robert Bycroft received a grant from the Ohio Elks Association CP Fund Board for $3,213. Andrew Garber, Principal accepted the funds from Connie Smith, Exalted Ruler of Salem Elks Lodge #305. The grant will be used to purchase a new Rifton Supine Stander which will give those unable to stand on their own a chance to experience the world in a whole new way.

Van Wert Elks #1197 Helps Local Salvation Army

Van Wert Elks Lodge #1197, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks Golf Committee recently made a donation of $300 to the Van Wert Salvation Army.

 The monies will assist the Salvation Army with their Wednesday lunches as well as the food pantry.

 Van Wert Elks Lodge is proud to be able to assist the Salvation Army with these projects.

Pictured, left to right are: Jim Sowers, golf committee member; Joshua Bookman representing the Salvation Army and John Jones, golf committee member.

Salem Elks Lodge #305 Hosts Soccer Shoot

Salem Elks Lodge #305 local Soccer Shoot held Sunday, May 19th at the Community Center's indoor soccer field.

Front row: 8-9 girls 1st Olivia Lewis & 2nd Nora Sheen; 8-9 boys 1st Andrew Irwin , 2nd Jack Brown & 3rd Ronin Limpose; 7 & Under girls 1st Sophia Gorby & 2nd Claire Sheen,  boys 7 & Under 1st Austin Lewis and participant Cameron Martin. Back row: Connie Smith,  Exalted Ruler; 12-13 girls 1st Emilee Lewis; boys 12-13 1st Luke Davis & 2nd Austin Johnson; 10-11 girls 1st Allison Irwin; boys 10-11 1st Luke Stephens,  2nd Jake Davis,  3rd Aiden Davis; Andrew Null, Soccer Shoot Chairman and participant Gavin Clemens. The first place winners will proceed onto the NE District level on Saturday,  June 15th  at Progressive Soccer Fields in Mayfield Heights.

Cuyahoga Falls - Akron - Barberton Lodge Rolls on Memorial Day

Cuyahoga Falls-Akron-Barberton Elks Lodge #1923 participated in the City of Cuyahoga Falls annual Memorial Day Parade with 6 local Veterans riding in3 total cars.  The sides of the vehicles have each Veteran’s names on the cars so when we went by the grand-stand, they read off the names of our Veterans and announced who we were.  It was a lovely day.  There were over 80 folks in the parade, we were number 41.

Pictured are members of Cuyahoga Falls - Akron - Barberton Elks Lodge #1923 and US Veterans during the Memorial Day Parade in Cuyahoga Falls.

Cuyahoga Fall - Akron - Barberton Lodge Helps Local Women's Center

Cuyahoga Falls - Akron - Barberton Elks Lodge #1923 hosted “Music on Mission”. It was an evening of live music at our lodge, all donated by our Songwriters group named Pandora’s box that meets at our lodge the second Wed of every month.

Two of these songwriters are Elks members. This evening, they had 5 different bands set up, played 30 minute sets, and during this they asks for funds, and donations of supplies for Hope and Healing Battered Women’s and Rape Crisis Center that provides amazing services for all of Summit and Medina Counties.

We raised over 17 large clothing baskets full of much needed toiletries and supplies, plus almost $500 in monetary donations. The two members who coordinated and ran this great event are Bev Hutchins and Wendy Benes.

Cuyahoga Falls - Akron - Barberton Lodge Helps Local Animal Sanctuary

Cuyahoga Falls - Akron - Barberton (CAB) Elks Lodge #1923 held a family friendly event at the lodge all day and into the evening, where we hosted and raised funds for Happy Trails Farm Animal Sanctuary out of Ravenna which rescues neglected, abused and injured Farm Animals in Summit County and beyond. 

Pictured from left, Fred Lefton Volunteer Coordinator Happy Trails, Mayor Don Walters, Missie Kline PER, Eddie Hayek, Sarah Whitford Leading ER, and Mandy the Pot-Belly Rescue Pig.

Pictured is Mayor Don Walters, Mayor of Cuyahoga Falls.

It’s our 2nd year hosting this event at our lodge and we raised $1,900 in monetary donations for Happy Trails, plus feed and supplies for the organization.

During the day, we had Peanut the Goat, Mandy the Pot Belly Pig and Poppy the Baby Lamb on site for the kids to pet and get to learn about Farm Animals. We had over 100 people, members, guests of members, and children attend.

We had a coloring and craft station set up, all farm animal themed for the kids of course. In honor of our rescue guests for this event, all food folks brought and shared was “meatless” and everyone really did a tremendous job making wonderful dishes to share.

Berea, Lakewood, and Willougby-Cleveland Elks Fight Hunger

The Berea, Lakewood, and Willoughby-Cleveland Elks Lodges volunteered at the Cleveland Food Bank earlier this month to help pick and pack more than 36,000 pounds of fresh produce that will serve about 1,000 families across Northeast Ohio. Seventeen Elks from the three lodges worked together to help our neighbors in need.

Upper Sandusky Elks #83 Honor Students of the Year

Upper Sandusky Elks Lodge #83 presented their annual Student of the Year Awards at the Upper Sandusky Middle School Honor's Program on Thursday night. Pictured presenting the awards is Elk member/teacher Bert Dible along with winners Kenzi Cunningham and Jason Barr. Each month (6) middle school students are selected as Student of the Month. They then are asked to write an essay on Leadership and School Pride and Kenzi and Jason were selected as the top students. They received a plaque and gift card for their efforts.

Van Wert Elks Announce Soccer Shoot Winners.

Van Wert Elks Lodge #1197, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks held their Soccer Shoot on Saturday, May 4, 2019 at the Elks Lodge.   Approximately 25 students participated in the event and were cheered on by parents and grandparents.

In the girls, U-7 age group, placing first was Arianna Kline, 2nd place was Rayven Hunter & 3rd was Alexandria Scott

In the boys, U-7 age group, placing first was Bryce Miller, 2nd place was Brody Mills & 3rd was AJ Florence.

In the girls, 8-9 age group, placing first was Paylin Gray and 2nd place was Aubree Mills.

In the boys, 8-9 age group, placing first was Ryder Brown, 2nd place was Wyatt  Wilson and 3rd place was Carson Miller.

In the girls, 10-11 age group, 1st place was Keira Pollock, 2nd was Riley Brown and 3rd was Tiana Kline.

In the boys, 10-11 age group, 1st place was Alex Davenport and 2nd was Peyton Muhlenkamp.

In the girls, 12-13 age group, 1st was Allison Geib, 2nd was Natalie Lawrence and 3rd was Serenity Hunter.

In the boys, 12-13 age group, 1st was Micah Reeder

The first, second and third place winners each received a trophy.      All the participants received a participant medal

The first place winners will represent Van Wert Lodge at the Northwest District Soccer Shoot to be held in Findlay, Ohio on Saturday, June 1, 2019.   The winners at the district level will advance to the state contest, which will be held at Coschocton, Ohio on Saturday, July 27 2019.

Van Wert Lodge is proud to be able to provide this contest each year for the area youth to participate in.   They would like to thank all the parents who brought out their children and stayed to cheer them on stated Shane Mills, Lodge Soccer Chairman.

Pictured are the contestants and winners.