Volume 238, Issue 230 Brainerd Elks Lodge #615 February, 2017

ER Message WOW, what a temperature swing. From -31F on Friday to +31F today. Only in Minnesota can you have such temperature swings. I believe that our January thaw is here. Maybe more snow to follow?

February is a rather quiet month in Elkdom in Brainerd. As you may have noticed the membership committee is in the midst of another push. Our goal is to add and initiate at least 4 new members by the end of March. That would bring our roster to +1. This is very doable. PLEASE ASK A FRIEND, AQUAINTANCE OR RELATIVE TO JOIN OUR ORGANIZATION. With help from EACH AND EVERYONE of you we can accomplish and exceed our goal. Please join me in thanking and expressing our appreciation to the family of Bob Rohlfing for their EXTREMELY generous donation of $10,000.00 to the youth activities fund for the express use in furthering the cause of youth activities and scholarships. Your lodge offic-

ers will be meeting to decide how these funds are to be used. I would also like to use this column to express our appreciation to Regina Barker and Sheri Houle for their hard work over the last few years. These women have spent countless hours knitting mittens and caps to be donated to worthy youth in the Brainerd area. While I am in the thanking mode thank you to all members and volunteers for all you have done in providing meals for various events to support club operations. Without your dedicated service, it would be very diffi-cult to continue the operations as we now do.

Once again, THANK YOU AND KUDOS to all who con-tribute to the success of Brainerd Elks Lodge #615. If you aren't already involved, please consider donating some of your very valuable time. We need YOUR help. Upcoming events this month include first Sunday breakfast AND Super Bowl party at the club one 2/5/17 and Polish feed on Wednesday, 2/8/17 from 11:00 am to 1:00 pm. Please consider attending these and other events as published by your PR person extraordinaire Jim Van Duyn. Please remember, Fraternally yours, Bill

Elks Birthday The Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks will observe their 149th Birth-day on February 16, 2017. Brainerd Elks Lodge will celebrate from 3:00 pm – 8:00 pm that day so come on down and enjoy a piece of cake and entertainment provided by Good Sa-maritan Bowl. It is also a Burger Night. Come for a burger or chicken basket between 5:00 – 7:00 pm.

Antlers

Help Brainerd Elks GROW the newest youth program! Activities are driven by goals of youth: service, patriotism, leadership and family Meet one-two times per month All youth between 12-20 years’ old are welcome Charter members receive free first year dues and T-Shirt Additional adult mentors needed

Antlers Valentine’s Day Pizza Party, February 12 at noon at Brainerd Elks Lodge. Bring a friend.

Alison K Schmitz Student of the Month Isle High School

Alison K Schmitz, Isle High School Senior is Brainerd Elks Student of the Month for February 2017. She intends to attend the University of Minnesota – Duluth pursuing studies in Children’s Psychology/Law Enforcement. Alison is a mild mannered soft spoken young woman who is sincerely excited about future goals. She has completed numerous rigorous PSEO college courses and is still able to maintain a GPA of 3.4 throughout her high school career, reports her counselor Sue Carlson. As a member and president of the National Honor Society, Alison is also a repeat class president. She has been active in band and choir and served on Student Counsel. Out of school Alison participates in Chess Club and After School Enrichment. She does tutor-ing and works as a childcare helper. In her free time she enjoys hanging out with family and friends, watches Netflix and knits.

Nicholas Joseph Ranweiler Student of the Month Lake Region Christian School

Nicholas Joseph Ranweiler, Lake Region Christian School Senior is Brainerd Elks Student of the Month for February 2017. He has applied to NDSU to enter the Mechanical Engineering program. His counselor indicates that Nick has been a great example as to what a student should be like. He has been at LRCS since kinder-garten and has been a great role model for others to follow. It will fun to see how the Lord uses Nick in the future. Warrior Robotics, soccer and basketball are important extracurricular activities for Nick. He is on the A Honor Roll and is a member of the Yearbook staff. Out of school Nick does volunteer work at Kids Against Hunger and becoming an entrepreneur. He has been doing construction work since 2013 during the summer months and spends hours working on his business. He enjoys video editing and 3d CAD drawing for leisure time activities.

Poster Contest Winners Announced Winners of the 2

nd Annual Drug Awareness Poster

contest have been forwarded to District level compe-tition. Advancing are Ericah Folden, Lowell Elemen-tary 4

th Grade; Tobias Jacobson, St Francis 4

th

Grade; and Arial Volberding, Lindberg Elementary Little Falls 4

th Grade, announced Bruce Bonafield

committee chair. Students in third through fifth grades in Brainerd Elks Lodge 615 area schools were invited to participate. Five schools-- St Francis, Remer Elementary, Lowell Elementary, Lindberg Elementary and Discovery Woods Montessori entered a total of 57 posters. The eventual state winner will be forwarded to the

national competition and possibly selected for the

next online Elks coloring book.

Brainerd Elk Lodge 615 Members

As you may know, each year the Past Exalted Rulers of our Lodge, as a committee, provides the Exalted Ruler with a list of members who would be interested in becoming an officer in the Lodge for the new year. This is a great way to get a new member active in our growing Lodge. The process to propose a member for an officer chair is simply to approach a Past Exalted Ruler, and, submit a member’s name that will be-come part of a slate of proposed officers. This slate of proposed officers will be presented on the floor of the Lodge at the 1st meeting in Feb-ruary 2017. Voting on the proposed slate of officers will be held at the 1st Lodge meeting in March 2017. Names of Elk members interested in becoming a chair officer in the Lodge, can be submitted to any Past Exalted Ruler for consid-eration up to, and including the 1stmeeting in March. Our Elks Lodge new year starts on April 1st, 2017, and runs through March 31, 2018. Stop into the club and view the framed photographs of Past Exalted Rulers to get a name of a PER to pass along an Elk members name who is inter-ested in becoming an officer in the Lodge. Sin-cerely, James P. Runberg, President Past Exalt-ed Rulers Committee

Ask your Family,

Friends, Neighbors

to become an Elk

Today!

Happy Birthday Greetings February

01 Lane, Richard E 02 Fruth, Gary N

05 Mogensen, Nathanial C 14 Johnson, Arnold S

17 Ehrich, Fred L 17 Lyscio, Richard G

19 Swenson, Dale 24 Pelphrey, Matthew

25 Heglie, Rodney L 26 Marchand, Jeff

26 Ployhar, Roy

Every Wednesday All Day @ the Elks Club

50 cents off every drink

375 Edgewood Drive N.

Baxter, MN

Phone: (218) 828-4601

417 8th Ave. NE

Brainerd, MN

Phone: (218) 828-1816

The Elkorama is published monthly by the Brainerd Elks Lodge #615. 215

South 9th Street, Brainerd, MN 56401 It is mailed to members, widows and

widowers of members.

Social Committee Update Once again, the Social Committee is busy putting together our Annual Super Bowl Party on February 5th!! COME ONE COME ALL BRING A FRIEND (could be a potential new member) Buffet Lunch, Prizes, Buy your Favorite Team But-tons, Drawings, etc. Our committee recently met and it was decided to purchase items for our Kitchen. Items bought: 3 doz. coffee cups, 2 dozen water glasses, 3 coffee decanters, a Mandoline slicer (with glove), freezer containers, 4 1/2 QT. sauce pan, oven thermometer and updated several uten-sils from scrapers, tongs, basting brushes to pie markers. We will continue taking an inventory of other needs for our kitchen to be used by all who donate their time preparing the wonderful meals for us. A donation to KIDS AGAINST HUNGER was ap-proved and a check was delivered by Cheryl Bai-ley. Submitted by Carol Browne Social Committee Chairperson

Thank You Dear Elks Club Members, I want to thank you for for your kind invitation to share our Imagination Library update. Your contin-ued support allows us to get a free book to over 1,900 children every month. You are making a difference in the lives of chil-dren. With our gratitude, Tammy and your United Way Staff

District Hoop Shoot Twenty-four Minnesota Elks Central District Hoop Shooters converged recently at Lake Region Christian School to send six qualifiers to the Elks State Hoop Shoot contest in Hutchinson on February 18. Advancing include three Wade-na Lodge 2386 entrants and one each from Alexandria Lodge 1685, Brainerd Lodge 615 and Hutchinson Lodge 2427. Pacing all shooters was Kale Misegades, Wadena, in the 8-9-year-old Boys division. He blistered the net with a perfect 25/25 score. Kyler Card, Wadena, captured the 10-11-year-old bracket. Isaac Maddock, Alexandria, netted 22/25 for top finisher in the 12-13-year-old class. Maci Martini, Brainerd,12-13-year-old, topped the girl hoops nailing 23/25 attempts. Amber Czech, Hutchinson, needed 30 attempts to outdistance Kelsi Martini, Brainerd. She hit 17/25 and 5/5 in a shoot off. Wadena’s Taelyn Card was the 8-9-year-old winner. Paul Ackland, Central District Hoop Shoot chairman thanks Brainerd Elks Lodge for their participation in lining up scor-ers, line judges, rebounders and concession help. He also welcomed and thanked all shooters, parents and family sup-porters. (Pictures on page 7) Results of the Central District Hoop Shoot: Girls 8-9 1st Taelyn Card 2nd Leah Maddock 3'd Katie Roste Nikki Haats Lily Wood Boys 8-9 1st Kale Misegades 2nd Tollef Birkeland 3'd Tren-ton Van Nyhuis 4 Tryection Erickson Girls 10-11 1st Amber Czech 2nd Kelsi Martini 3d Maya Radniecki 4th Adelyn Plagge Boys 10-11 1st Kyler Card 2nd Owen Godfrey 3'd Brayden Spiczka Girls 12-13 1st Maci Martini 2nd Savannah Schlueter 3'd Kylie Crabtree Boys 12-13 1st lsaac Maddock 2nd Cooper Johnson 3'd Aid-en Erickson 4th Dylan Hardebeck 5th Tyler Fiskum

Thank You Merry Christmas & Happy New Year from your local Boy Scout Leadership. Thank you for all you do to support Scout-ing! Loren Meinke, District Chair; Kenneth Toole, District Executive; Dan Vogt, District Commissioner

Five Reasons Why We Love the ENF!

We have entered the season of love, and what better way to show you care than to serve your community. The steadfast Elks National Foun-dation is there to help. So, in honor of Valentine’s Day, here are a few reasons why we love the ENF.

The Elks National Founda-tion is a trusty source of in-formation that we can use to

promote the Elks. The Elks Scholar Service Trips were created in

2015 to encourage Elks scholars to connect with one another and with Elks members all while serving in the name of the Elks.

The Hoop Shoot encourages development of grit in its young participants, through shoot-ing hoops. Youth can gain skills that help them succeed in life and connect with the community, while having fun!

The Elks National Veterans Service Commis-sion assists veterans, military members and their families. In 2015-16, the ENF pledged $4 million over four years to the Elks Nation-al Veterans Service Commission to help end veteran homelessness.

The Community Investments Program has been a mighty force in turning passion into action. The CIP invests $9.77 million to help Elks build stronger communities. Don’t forget the deadline to donate to the Elks National Foundation to meet the GER’s per-capita goal for the Gratitude Grant is March 31.

With nearly 800,000 members and more than 1,900 Lodges nationwide, Elks are providing charitable services that help build stronger communities across the United States. The Elks National Foun-dation, the charitable arm of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, helps Elks build stronger communities through programs that support youth, serve veterans, and meet needs in areas where Elks live and work. To learn more, visit elks.org/enf.

Mittens Delivered A big thank you to all who donated to the Mitten Tree this year. I delivered the mittens, hats and scarfs to Riverside Ele-mentary School, Garfield Elementary School and the Early Childhood Center. The pillow cases and wash cloths were taken to the Alex and Brandon Home. 54 dollars was do-nated as well. The social committee added 146 dollars to total 200 dollars and that was sent to Kids against Hunger. Thanks so much for all your support. Cheryl Bailey

WELKome,

Greg Straka

615’s

newest

Member

Free Tax Software Available

Tax season is around the corner — start-ing Tuesday, Jan. 17, 2017, you can use Mili-tary OneSource's free tax software to prepare and file your taxes online. This benefit is de-veloped for you, with military life in mind. The software is easy to use and has a 100 per-cent guarantee for accuracy. Best of all, it's free. Jeffrey J. McArthur Veterans Committee "Fide Et Opera"

Deadline for anyone wishing to place an article in the March issue of the

Elkorama will be February 15. Please email them to

jamesvanduyn@gmail.com or leave ar ticles at the lodge. Thank you.

Elk Members

Advertise Your Business

in the Elkorama!

a business card size Ad

12 issues, $120 per year

February is good time for reflection and planning

February is the time of the year when our current Exalted Rulers look back and reflect on the many accomplishments they achieved during their term. They should re-examine the goals they set for themselves at the beginning of their year, and strive to complete any that may remain unfulfilled. There is still much time remaining, during your term of office, to complete those goals and to bring your year as Exalted Ruler to a successful conclusion. It is also the time for Exalted Rulers to recognize those Members who have helped to make a positive difference in the success of their Lodge. Designating your Elk of the Year, Officer of the Year and Citizen of the Year will go a long way to generate pride in your membership and in your community. In addition, each Exalted Ruler may issue two Grand Exalted Ruler Outstanding Service Certificates to Members who provided outstanding service to his or her Lodge. February is also a transitional month, as each Lodge will hold nominations and elect new Officers for the coming Fraternal Year. The suc-cess of any organization depends on Member support and a strong, well-trained and dedicated leadership team. Members who have exhib-ited a sincere interest in your Lodge, have volunteered to serve on committees, or have participated in your community projects should be encouraged to seek office. First-time Officers often bring a renewed essence, as well as new and fresh ideas and programs to your Lodge. Also, this month on the 16th, our beloved Order will celebrate its 149 years of service to our fellow man, our veterans, our youth, our com-munities, and those who are less fortunate. This certainly reflects my motto for this year, “Elks – Leading the Way.” February 14 is Valentine’s Day, a day to be happy and to spend it with the people you care about and love. My special Valentine is my lov-ing wife Donna, who has supported me and has been by my side for the last 46 years. She is the “Wind beneath my Wings.” And finally, thank you for being an Elk, and for Caring and Sharing. Message from the Grand Exalted Ruler MICHAEL F. ZELLEN

Happy New Year! The Elks’ Turn To Serve

I hope your 2017 is off to a great start! We’re busy planning for next year, but it’s also a good time to reflect on our accomplishments. 2015-16 was another exciting and successful year, thanks to volunteers like you! Here are a few highlights: Freedom Grants were more popular than ever, with 444 Lodges applying for 180 grants. Elks VAVS volunteers directly served 278,262 veterans in VA and other facilities. The Veterans Leather Program distributed 2,843 pairs of wheelchair gloves and nearly 27,000 square feet of leather to make craft kits for recovering veterans. Our Welcome Home program had a stellar first year, helping 373 veterans prevent or exit home-lessness.

Elks … Leading the Way

4 4 4

Contest

4 new members

Before

4-2017

Join the Membership Team

CHALLENGE

Propose new members

Between January 4 and March 4

Winner with Highest number of

new members

Wins Dinner for 4 at Elks 615

Maci Martini, 12-13 Year Old, 1st Place

2017 District Hoop Shoot Class

Cooper Johnson, 12-13 Year Old, 2nd Place

Kelsi Martini, 10-11 Year Old, 2nd Place

Tollef Birkeland, 8-9

Year Old, 2nd Place

Alexandria

Brainerd

Fergus Falls

Hutchinson

Wadena

Willmar

12-13 Year Olds

10-11 Year Olds

8-9 Year Olds

BPOE Lodge, No. 615

P.O. Box 322

Brainerd, MN 56401

218-829-2643

Officers of Brainerd Lodge #615

———– 2016-2017———–

Exalted Ruler………….Bill Bailey, PER

Leading Knight………..Dan Graven, PER

Loyal Knight…………..William Kronstedt

Lecturing Knight…………..Barbara Arens

Secretary…………….…Shannon Dehen

Treasurer……………....James Dehen, PER

Esquire…………...…Herman Wisneski, PER

Chaplain…………….…James Van Duyn

Tiler…………………… Mark Wheeler

TRUSTEES

1 st Year Trustee………...Jack Antolak

2 nd Year Trustee………. Scott Longanecker

3 rd Year Trustee………. Paul McQuaid

4 th Year Trustee………..Bruce Mogensen

5 th Year Trustee………..Sharon Osborne

February 2017

Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat 1

All Day Happy Hour

50 cents off all drinks

2

5:00—7:00 Burgers

3 4

12:00-1:00 Drug

Awareness Commit-

tee; 1:00 Baxter Bass,

brats

5

8:00– Noon Breakfast

@ the Elks; 3:00

Super Bowl LI Party

6

5:30 Trustees; 6:30

Lodge

7 5:30-7:00 Family Dinner Night. En-

trée: Chefs Choice

by Tom Swanson

8 All Day Happy Hour 50 cents off all

drinks; 11:00-1:00

Polish Sausage

9

5:00—7:00 Burgers

10

5:00 VA Bingo in St

Cloud

11

2:00-3:00 Antlers;

5:00-7:00 Baxter

Bass Dinner

12 8:00-12:00 Break-fast @ the Eagles ;

12:00 Antlers Pizza

Party

13 14 5:30-7:00 Fam-ily Dinner Night.

Entrée: Pasta by

Social Committee

15

All Day Happy Hour

50 cents off all drinks

16 3:00-8:00 BPOE 149th Birthday Cake

5:00—7:00 Burgers

17 18

19

8:00-12:00 Breakfast

@ the VFW

20

5:30 Trustees; 6:30

Lodge

21 5:30-7:00 Fam-ily Dinner Night.

Entrée: Cashew

Chicken by Her-

man Wisneski

22

All Day Happy Hour

50 cents off all drinks

23

5:00—7:00 Burgers

24 25

26

8:00-12:00 Breakfast

@ the Legion

27 28 5:30-7:00 Fam-ily Dinner Night.

Entrée: Chicken &

Biscuit by Sharon

Osborne