I would like to personally thank the Lodge for having the confidence in my ability to perform as an Exalted Ruler for Lincoln Lodge #80 in the upcoming Lodge year. I would like to give a BIG thank you to outgoing Exalted Ruler Larry Schwindt for his leadership and guidance over the last two years. It is hard enough being ER for one year let alone two years back to back! In your Lodge history, there have been several ER's that served for several years in a row, my hat is off to them.
As you may know, I was ER back in Lodge year 2018-2019. I couldn't believe that the year flew by so fast. As I write this column memories start coming back of what I did (or should have done) as an ER. Experience is the best teacher and coach in almost every life situation. As one gets older they should grow a little bit wiser. I do things a little bit differ-ently now than I would have as a younger man and father.
A little bit about myself for people who don't know me; I was raised in a small Nebraska town of 800 people, Nelson, twelve miles north of Superior, NE. When I was younger with not much going on I was ready to leave town and I ended up in Lincoln. My grandfather was ER of Superi-or Lodge #1297, so I knew of the Elks thru contact with those members. I never dreamed I would join myself until my wife was at one of our past ER’s funerals (the late John Brooks) and found out what Brotherly Love actually means. I told her I knew about what the Elks do, and that they would have me volunteer and do things around the community. A year passed, and she kept telling me that I should join. I finally caved and joined and started to attend the meetings. I met a lot of GREAT people and got involved as a Lodge Officer, as Inner Guard. I would eventually go through all of the Officer chairs and ended up as Exalted Ruler!
There are a lot of activities at the Lodge in which to get involved. Come to the meetings and help out if you can. The Lodge has been in Lincoln for over 130 years and we will be here for another 130 years with your help.
Remember the Fish Fry on Saturday April 6th and Burger Night on Tuesday April 9th. There are a lot of other great activities in April. Watch your Lodge calendar for upcoming events.
As always, have a good day and night. See you at the Lodge.
Thanks, Troy
Grand Exalted Ruler
A Message from the Grand Exalted Ruler
Hon. Randy Shook
Teamwork relies on communication, cooperation
Officers, you are now part of the team. Strengthen it by building relationships with one another. This is an opportunity to make new friends and learn from experience during your service to your Lodge.
The Exalted Ruler cannot do everything alone; you should be proactive by seeking opportunities to contribute to the advancement and success of your Lodge. Those opportunities will allow you to develop your own leadership and management skills. Approach all your activities with a positive frame of mind. Goodwill towards others will be extremely invaluable in the coming years when you may be relying on them to help. The diverse skills demonstrated by you and your fellow Officers will enable your Lodge to succeed and prosper.
As you lead and support Lodge activities, please remember that your actions create a perception of who we are. As Officers, we must be exemplars of Brotherly Love.
Embrace these concepts when working alongside other Officers and Members, and you will advance the interests of your Lodge within your community. Use the resources provided by Grand Lodge, your state association, and your district.
April begins with change. New Officers must get to work at once. It is time to plan and pass a budget for your Lodge that each committee can work with. This budget must keep your Lodge financially sound throughout the new Lodge year. Get all the Officers, Board of Directors, and committee members together to review your Lodge budget. Discuss any ideas to make your Lodge programs even better. Plan your goals for the Elks National Foundation, your State Major Project, and any other community activities that your Lodge may be involved with. Brainstorm with your Members and listen to suggestions.
Membership is the life blood of our Order. Work with your appointed Membership Retention Chair as a team. All Members are a part of your membership committee. It is important to reach out to delinquent Members to bring them back into your Lodge. It may only take one phone call. There is a chance that by speaking with that person, you may get them to renew their dues and become an active Member again. The Lodge Secretary plays a very important role for Members who were dropped for non-payment of dues. I encourage you to review Statute 14.180. This Statute is very clear that your Lodge Secretary shall advise the unaffiliated of his/her right to re-affiliate within 60 days. Make +1 in membership a priority during your term.
Finally, appoint statutory committees. Budget to be posted by second meeting of the month.
Remember, “Elks Care—Elks Share” and “We Are THE Elks.”
God Bless our great Order, our troops, and the United States of America.
Secretary Laurie Montag
Let me set the scenario: You take a great new job – your dream job! The end of the month rolls around, and no paycheck. You think, well, it’s just taking them some time to process me into payroll. You enjoy your job, so you keep plugging away. The end of the second month rolls around, and no paycheck. You decide you’d better talk to someone about this – maybe they’ve overlooked you. You go talk to your boss, and he looks you in the eye and says, sure, it’s a great salary, but you don’t get paid until the end of the year (it was in the fine print)! Sur-prise, sur-prise, sur-prise!
Now, it’s unlikely that you would ever take a job that only paid you after you had done a year’s work. After all, you have food, housing, utilities, and much more to pay every month! How dare anyone think you can hold out for a full year while your employer enjoys the benefits of your hard work? Not paying your dues when they are due is a similar scenario. The Lodge has ongoing expenses that are supported and paid by our dues. When members do not pay their dues on time (before April 1 of each year), or reasonably soon thereafter, the lodge can have cash flow problems, just like you would after a few months of no paycheck. In fact, you’ve seen the Grand Lodge per capita and the State per capita that appears on your dues statement – that $36.50? The lodge has to pay that on your behalf right off the bat by the end of April – whether or not we’ve received it from our active members – get the message? That said, thanks to our many members who have already paid their 2024/25 dues and have received their shiny new blue membership cards - all 166 of you can just chuckle at this little parable, and you have our thanks for being timely.
This is YOUR LODGE – you joined for a reason. Come to a meeting or two and help steer us! We do incredible things in the community – we will award nearly $50,000 in scholarships to area high school senior this month; we will help veterans living on the edge to make ends meet; we will help feed kids from low income families who might otherwise go hungry; we will plan for our new Christmas Giving Project that helps many families provide gifts for their kids. Our Lodge does good things – and all of our members are why we can continue to do these things!
Is there Fish Fry AFTER Easter? – YES! Come join us on April 6th for a delicious fish dinner with all the trimmings! We will only seat 100, and this is a popular dinner, so get your reservations in early! Call the lodge phone and talk to Roxy or leave a voicemail, send me a text or email, or do it in person during lodge hours!
Our inspiring First Responders’ Recognition Dinner coming up on May 4th (yes, as in May the Fourth be with you – and it certainly will be!). We will have a roomful of First Responders, and we want you to come and meet and greet them. Please call, email, or text your reservation NO LATER THAN Thursday, May 2 at 7p.m. If you contact us after that time, we cannot guarantee you a seat.
As always, please don’t hesitate to contact me if you have questions or need assistance with all things Elk. There is voicemail on the lodge phone, or you may contact me as below. See you at the Lodge!
Laurie Montag / secretary@elks80.org / 402.202.6673 by text or phone
Leading Knight Randy King
The Leading Knight message is not available at this time.
Loyal Knight Dr William Jackson
The Loyal Knight message is not available at this time.
Lecturing Knight Bryan Leavitt
The Lecturing Knight message is not available at this time.
Saturday, April 6th Annual Fish Fry Fried pollock, homemade baked beans, coleslaw with pickle spears, rye bread. Homemade brownies and Ice cream for dessert. $12.00 per person RSVP by April 4th Sponsored by friends of the Jolly Cork
Karaoke, April 19th 6:00-9:00pm Bring a goodie to share.
Saturday, May 4th First Responders Recognition Dinner Pork chops, Potatoes Au Gratin, veggies and a sweet dessert. $12.00 per person RSVP early as this is a well attended event. Sponsored by Gustin & Norris families in memory or Ray Norris
The lodge was informed that the Elk-O-Gram newsletter is available to current Elk members only.
With that in mind, it was decided to have members log on to the website to view the EOG.
In order to log on to the website, you will need to register a user id and password to obtain access.
To register, click on the words "Logon - Members only" in the upper right hand corner of a elks80.org web page. You will be taken to the logon page.
On logon page click on the "No password, please Register" words in the bottom right of the logon page. You wil be taken to the Registration form.
On the registration page, You will need to enter data in each field to create your password. This data must match the data that is on the CLMS (The Grand Elks Lodge database.) If you have problems with obtaining a password, please contact the webmaster (link at the bottom of every elks80 web page).
After you obtain your user credentials, return to the logon page and log on. You will then see a link to the newsletters on the menu on the left side of the screen.
Thanks for your cooperation and understanding.
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To All Lodge #80 Membership
The Covid-19 pandemic has truly disrupted and changed our lives in unprecedented ways. Places we used to visit or frequent have changed as we have. We all need to adjust to the new norm.
If you look around Lincoln, you can see the economic impact that we are currently experiencing. For the first time in my life I was left with a very unsettling feeling going to the grocery store and discovering shelf's that had no product on them or please limit yourself to 1, signs.
Even our lodge is struggling to make ends meet. We were given an increase in our property valuation, we were closed for several months, we did not have meals or events scheduled. Revenue that used to flow was nonexistent.
We had to do something. Since we had very limited resources coming in, we had to find ways to reduce costs. One way was to ask the County Tax commissioners to grant us a tax exemption, I am very sure that you have heard the term Quid Pro Quo. (This for that) So in exchange for a considerable savings (to all of us) we had to give up some hours of operation. We did not have to lay off any current employees we simply did not replace, again saving us a large chunk of money. We changed supply companies, soon cable companies, pest control companies and other things just to name a few.
We are making these changes to stay within our financial constraints and to be good Stewards of your money.
I appreciate your understanding. I am looking forward to seeing you all soon
Protect childhood with tenderness, old age with respect, cherish with reverence
the memory of those who have passed.
