Lewiston Elks Donate Dictionaries 

 

This week, third graders in eleven Lewiston/Auburn area schools received new dictionaries; a gift from the Lewiston Elks Lodge #371, as part of a nationwide campaign to assist students in becoming good writers, active readers, and creative thinkers.

The Lodge's Youth Activities Committee, under the direction of Doug Stone of Lewiston spent several days distributing a total of 528 dictionaries. Schools that received the books were the Martel School, Farwell School, Geiger School, Washburn School, East Auburn School, Sherwood Heights School, Montello School, Fairview School, Lisbon Community School, Longley School, and Park Ave School.

In 2004, the Benevolent & Protective Order of Elks nationwide adopted this project as one of its many youth oriented programs, and has encouraged each of its subordinate Lodges to participate by purchasing the dictionaries and delivering them to third graders at local schools. Over the past few years, according to the Dictionary Project's statistics, the Lodges of the Maine Elks Association have donated a total of 15,701 dictionaries to students across the state, of which, the Lewiston Elks Lodge has donated a total of 1904 dictionaries.

The Dictionary Project is a non-profit organization based in Charleston, South Carolina that has distributed over 9.8 million books nationwide since its inception in 1992.

The Benevolent & Protective Order of Elks is a fraternal organization made up of nearly one million men and women from across the United States. The organization provides service to local communities through programs that promotes Americanism, and supports our nation's youth and its veterans. In addition to the Dictionary Project, the Elks sponsor a national Hoop Shoot Competition, Soccer Shoot Contest, Americanism Essay Contests, a Drug Awareness program, and offer several Scholarships. To learn more about the Elks, visit elks.org or maineelks.org. For more information about the dictionary project, visit www.dictionaryproject.com.

Pictured from Left to Right (Front) are third graders Abby R. and De'Andre C. (Rear) Lewiston Elks Youth Activities Chairman Douglas Stone, 3rd Grade Teachers Carelene Kilby and Ann Skelton.

Lodges Prepare For Annual Audit 
By H. James DuMond, GL Auditing & Accounting Committee 

By now, each Subordinate Lodge should have an independent accountant under contract to prepare the Lodge's Annual Financial Report for the year ending March 31, 2010.

The accountant should be either a Certified Public Accountant or a Public Accountant, who performs work for the general public and is knowledgeable of accounting, especially non-profit organizations, and can sign off as an accountant. He or she should also be familiar with filing IRS tax forms applicable to non-profits. The accountant should also be independent of the Lodge in order to render an impartial opinion as to the Lodge's financial condition.

In preparing the report, it is strongly recommended that the Lodge contract for either an Audit or a Review and not a compilation. A compilation, normally, does not provide a review and test of the Lodge's actual financial condition.

In-house Annual Financial Report preparation

Under Section 13.040(j) a Lodge must request permission to prepare its Annual Financial Report using in-house personnel, if it meets certain criteria by the Grand Lodge Sponsor, the Past Grand Exalted Ruler. Applications must be obtained from the Lodge's Area GL Auditing and Acounting Committee Member. The completed application must be returned to the Committeeman by Dec. 31 for the next fiscal year ending in March. Some late applications may be accepted at the discretion of the Area Sponsor and the Auditing and Accounting Committee Member.

IRS Tax Return, 990(N), 990EZ, 990 and 990T

Detailed information regarding filing the IRS tax form is contained in the packet that will be sent to each Subordinate Lodge in the spring. It will be the second sheet headed "Important Notice." The Lodge should be  familiar with this notice, and a copy should be supplied to your accountant. A copy of the completed applicable tax return should accompany your submission of the Financial Report.

Remember that the deadline for a timely filing to your Area Auditing and Accounting Committee Member and to your District Deputy Grand Exalted Ruler is a postmark of June 30, 2010 or earlier.

March 3rd is "National Anthem Day" 

By Charles R. Campbell, GL Americanism Committee

With March here and Easter approaching, hopefully all of the cold weather, snow and ice have disappeared and we can look forward to the warm spring days ahead.

March 3 is National Anthem Day, the day in 1931 when President Herbert Hoover signed a Congressional Resolution officially adopting it as our National Anthem. During the war of 1812, a young Washington, DC lawyer, Francis Scott Key, had visited the enemy's fleet off Baltimore to arrange the release of a Maryland doctor who had been captured by the British. While the doctor was released, Key had overheard information regarding British plans for an attack on Baltimore and Fort McHenry and was not allowed to leave for fear of passing on information to the Americans. He remained on the ship while the night-long battle took place, constantly watching the flag flying over Fort McHenry in the "rocket's red glare." At dawn the next morning after the attack had ceased, the flag was still flying, prompting Key to write the poem that would eventually become the Star Spangled Banner and our National Anthem. A sobering but inspiring account of the events leading up to Key's penning of the Star Spangled Banner can be found on MySpace at http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&VideoID=21689194.

The flag is the symbol of our nation. It is red because of human sacrifice; blue because of the true blue loyalty of its defenders; and white to symbolize liberty, our land of the free. The stars symbolize the states that make up our great nation and the nation represented by our flag, the Star Spangled Banner.

In a couple of months we will once again officially honor our flag on Flag Day. Each Lodge is required by statute to conduct Flag Day Services on June 14 of every year. A nice addition to the Elks Flag Day Service is a Flag Retirement Ceremony where worn and tattered flags that have fulfilled their duty to our country can be properly disposed of.

The United States Flag Code states: "The flag, when it is in such condition that it is no longer a fitting emblem for display, should be destroyed in a dignified way, preferably by burning." No disrespect should be shown to the flag of the United States of America and the retirement of a flag which has served us proudly is a fitting memorial to all that it represents.

Enjoy the reemergence of spring and all that it brings, and may we all remember that we live in the greatest country on earth. God Bless America.

If you have news or information of interest to the members of the Maine Elks Association, please send your articles to Public Relations Director Wayne Cotterly at meapr@fairpoint.net for inclusion in the MEA Calendar, the MEA Website, or future issues of this newsletter.

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