Well, here we are, the beginning of a new year with new officers. I would like to thank PER Matt Pieper for the great job he did last year. I hope I can do as good of a job as he did. If anybody needs to get a hold of me, my email address is deanyeager@bellsouth.net and my phone number is 386-668-9270. Please call me with any concerns or suggestions.
The Lodge has a great house committee this year and with Laura at the helm, you can expect lots of activities at the Lodge. There are several activities in the works as we speak. Come on down to the Lodge, enjoy what is going on and at the same time, show your support for the Lodge and House committee.
The biggest event for April is the annual softball tournament. This year it is being held on the 27th, 28th, and 29th. The Lodge sure can use your help and support. There is a lot to do to get ready for the tournament and if you would like to help, we can use it. The softball committee is meeting on Wednesday nights at 7:30.
I would also like to ask for volunteers to help our Leading Knight Rick Phelps with VA Bingo. The third Tuesday of every month, Rick goes to the VA nursing home in Daytona Beach and plays bingo with our vets. The list of volunteers that goes with him is getting shorter and shorter. I asked for help a couple of years ago and got a terrific response. But, for whatever reason, those people stopped helping. Even if you can not help out every month, every two or three months would be appreciated. Rick is trying to get together a list of members who can help here and there. This way Rick can rotate the help so you are not committed every month. Every month it has been Rick and the same 3 people. Month after month. When one of them is sick, working or gone for whatever reason, it puts hardship on the rest of the volunteers. So please give Rick a hand. Even if you can not go, how about baking some cookies for our vets? Even that would be appreciated. Our vets deserve it and it is such a shame that no more than 3 or 4 people at our lodge shows support for them. They risked their lives for us and we can not even give them a couple of hours a month or even every two months to show we care.
The District Deputy Clinic will be held at our Lodge on April 7th at 10:30 A.M. Anyone who would like to attend is more than welcomed.
Many of you do not know this, but the Deland Elks has a web page. In it you can catch up on the news, see what is going on, look at Lodge Pictures, and check out the calendar. The calendar shows what is happening in coming months, not just the current month. This way you can make plans to help out or attend those functions. The address for our web site is http://www.elks.org/lodges/LodgeNews.cfm?lodgeNumber=1463. It is a long address so be sure to put it in as one of your favorites.
Finally, I would like to see more members attend our monthly meetings. With a membership of about 500, why is it only 20 to 25 members show up at each meeting? It is during these meetings that we make the decisions that concern the Lodge. I hear a lot of opinions about what we should or should not be doing, yet those same members never go to a meeting. That is where the opinions count, especially during voting. Your vote does matter, your vote can make a difference.
Remember, Elks Care, Elks Share
Dean Yeager
Exalted Ruler