Maine Elks Association

Public Relations Committee Newsbriefs -05/24/07

Maine Elks Association Newsbriefs

"Most Valuable Student" Scholarship Recipients 2007 Contest Winners

The Elks National Foundation is proud to present its 2007 class of Most Valuable Student Scholarship Recipients.

The Elks National Foundation will award a total of $2.216 million to this year’s 500 finalists. The two first-place recipients each receive $60,000, the two second-place recipients each receive $40,000 and the two third-place winners each receive $20,000, over four years. Four hundred and ninety-four, fourth-place finishers receive $4,000 scholarships.

The top six winners are listed in the table below. Use the drop-down menus to view all of this year’s recipients.

The 2008 Most Valuable Student scholarship contest, open to any high school senior, who is a US Citizen, will kick off September 1, 2007. Applications are judged on scholarship, leadership and financial need. Applications will be available, after September 1, online at www.elks.org, at local Elks Lodges, or by sending a self-addressed, stamped envelope to the Elks National Foundation, 2750 N. Lakeview Ave., Chicago, IL 60614. The contest deadline will be January 11, 2008.

Sanford Elks Serve Up Breakfast for MOM
From Fran Libbey, Sanford Elks Lodge

Many deserving “Moms” were able to relax this Mothers day thanks to members of Sanford Elks Lodge # 1470. Volunteers served breakfast to close to 300 who choose to honor their mothers by starting the day with a little pampering. The Elks served the mothers and their families a breakfast of coffee, O.J., milk, muffins, eggs, home fries, bacon and sausage. And of course all moms never had to lift a finger and their meal was free.  Another treat was getting a look at the new renovation just completed in April at the Sanford Lodge. The function hall, entry, bathrooms, outside façade, lounge, along with added storage has made the lodge a wonderful facility for all to enjoy. Chairman of the Mothers Day Breakfast Fran Libbey would like to thank all the volunteers that made the day a great success. “I would never consider doing Mothers day breakfast without the great volunteers/friends that help set-up, cook, and clean-up. They are always there to lend a helping hand when needed.”

Prepare Program on Americanism the Instills Pride
Richard M. Palanzo, GL Americanism Committee

Patriotism is a characteristic of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks of the United States of America. In most rituals of our Order, in many special ceremonies and in our solemn oath, we honor our great nation. To quicken our patriotic zeal and to impress upon our members the importance of the relationship between our Order and our country, the Grand Lodge has established an Americanism program.

You should read the Americanism Manual (Code 512000) and realize what a wonderful resource it is. You will find that the Americanism program allows each lodge to select events from the manual, yet is flexible enough to allow you to incorporate local events to help further Americanism in your community. The important issue is that your lodge should create an Americanism program plan and implement it. Just as teachers create a lesson plan to guide them in the instruction of their class, so must we create a plan to help guide us through our year. Remember the five “P”’s: Prior, Preparation, Prevents, Poor, Performance.

An old friend of mine would remind me that “Membership follows Program.” If you involve your lodge in beneficial community programs, residents will want to join your lodge, so that they can become an active participant. A well-planned lodge program will give your members an opportunity to participate in those activities they like, and it will establish a timetable for the execution of activities so that there is plenty of time for advanced preparation.

Once you have taken the time to arrange your program, (and it will take you some time, because it is work) please publicize this program to your members. Put it in your monthly newsletter, add it to your Web site, do whatever it takes to get the message out. However you should not sit back and expect your members to beat down your door begging to get involved. You still must be the leader who seeks out key people and ask them to get involved. Ask new members for their help and work with them to get them on track. Do not abandon them and then knock them later because the program was not successful. Your job, Exalted Ruler, is to lead your lodge all year long.

Once your events begin to take place, take a few photographs and place them into a three-ring binder. Organize this binder with an index page and send this binder to the Americanism Committee.

Congratulations, you have just entered your lodge in the Grand Lodge Americanism Brochure Contest. Aren’t you glad you did?

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, Newsbriefs, and/or Website. Also, if you would like to be removed from this mailing list, please send an e-mail to Public Relations Director Wayne Cotterly at meapr@fairpoint.net. In addition, if you know of someone who would like to be added to this list, please have them forward their e-mail address to the same address. All information provided has been read and approved by the MEA State President.