East Providence, RI 2337

365 Club Festivites! On Aug 6th, the Elks hosted our Annual Outing for Special Needs individuals and their caregivers. Once again it was held on the grounds of the Masonic Temple on Narragansett Bay and the weather couldn't have been more cooperative. This year, PER Mark Eaton (outing chairman) took it to another level. We served 1,200 hamburgers, 1,000 hot dogs, 1,100 bags of chips, 1,100 cans of soda, 300 bottles of water, 175 pounds of potato salad and cut up 20 watermelons. We also distributed 1,200 wrist bands, 100 blow-up toys, leis, beads, stuffed animals and more!! We also had a DJ that provided all the music all afternoon for everyone's entertainment. In addition, we had the Shrine clowns all day, face painting and prizes for everyone. There was also a fire truck standing by with 3 firefighters (in case of any emergencies). As you can see, this is a stretch of your 365 (a penny a day). So the next time you take out your membership card, look at your 365 sticker and FEEL PRETTY GOOD ABOUT YOURSELF!!!! Our friends at Homestead Bakery in East Providence, as they've done in the past, donated all of the hamburger and hot dog buns (1,600 dozen). Donations help us stretch our charity dollars further. In closing, I would like to say we had over 70 volunteers from most of the Elks lodges in the State Association. I'm very proud to say NO Elks lodge had more volunteers than our lodge, #2337!! I want to thank our volunteers, in no particular order, Al Girard, Emile Fontaine ER, Marcie Mello, Jen Early, Stacy McNally, Jim and Carol Olick, Jerry and Candy Seel, Joe Getty, and Richard Filippo PER. Sincerely, Jack Whalen (JW)