August 2022 Newsletter Volume 43, Issue 8

Special Thank You

A very special thank you to Aunty Tutu for the lodge blessing. Mahalo nui loa.

Welcome to the New Kona Elks Newsletter!

New Communication Tools

You'll notice something different this month. We have moved to a different format for our newsletter, and we're testing a Google calendar that you can reach from our website. We hope you like it!

Letter from the Exalted Ruler

The Elks 157th Grand Lodge National Convention was held in Atlanta, Georgia this past month on July 3rd through the 6th. This event is held annually at different cities around the country in the month of July. It is the most important meeting in Elkdom.

More than 6000 attendees showed up for the convention. Attendance for exalted rulers is mandated by statutes, however, any elk in good standing may attend. My understanding is that somewhere close to 1500 ERs and leading knights attended.

During the convention, we elected the Grand Exalted Ruler for the new year while bidding farewell to GER, T. Keith Mills, to whom we owe our sincerest gratitude for his expert leadership.

Bruce Hidley from Watervliet, New York Lodge # 1500 became the newly elected GER for the coming year. His motto for his year as our leader is “promoting Elkdom with enthusiasm” and may I say, he is indeed enthusiastic and I can personally testify that his enthusiasm is contagious.

Eleven resolutions were proposed at the convention; most of which revolved around the use of digital archiving of Elk records. All the resolutions passed. Two of the resolutions passed by a slim majority which I want to call to your attention:

The requirement for life membership of 30 continuous years of membership plus age 65 years or older was changed to remove the age requirement.
The second close resolution involved adding the lodge secretary and treasurer to the Board of Directors which formerly consisted of the three Knights, ER and five trustees.

Below is a detailed listing of the resolutions and voting results:

Reserve the Date for the musical comedy Nunsense!

Come and join us for a hilarious romp on August 12 and 13. Buy your tickets now!

Do you know someone who would like this comedy? Email us at Konaelksactivies@gmail.com and we will send you a mini-poster that you can send or put onto your Facebook page!

Leading Knight, Nicole Johnson

Chelsie, our bar manager, is looking for volunteer bartenders as a backup for bar employees. It’s a great chance to meet fellow members and make some cash on the side.

We have many opportunities available for you to get more involved

in your Lodge! It’s a great way to get to know more members, make new friends and support our Veterans, our youth, our community and our country!

Ask any Lodge officer or committee chairperson to learn more about volunteer opportunities!

Chairman of the Membership Committee (and Trustee) Nancy Albright

GRATITUDE!

We leaders at your Kona-Hawaii Elks Lodge #2616 want to express our gratitude to each member that understands the importance of stepping up at least once a month to make valuable contributions to their Lodge with donations of their Time and Treasure.

This month I want to send out big THANK YOU’S AND MUCH GRATITUDE to Bridget Smith for the tremendous amount of time and work that she puts in to as our kitchen manager, Lodge Treasurer, and more. In addition to working full-time, she does most of the grocery shopping, kitchen cleaning, and a large part of the cooking for our Lodge — while working full time!

OTHERS RECEIVING OUR GRATITUDE AND THANKS are:

Rico Pacatang who grills burgers every Monday night;

Art Chang, Cat M. & Scott W. who respond to last minute requests for help in the kitchen, on top of running their full time businesses; and our faithful monthly regulars in the kitchen on Mondays & Tuesdays, Mary & Jerry Droze, Angel Corley, Cate Kexel, Nancy & Paul Regan, Rosie Blair, & JD Richwine.

Thank you also to Brenda & Jeff Torado who have been stepping up to decorate the lounge tables, set up the Karaoke and hang decorative overhead lights! Be sure to give these members your THANK YOU’S next time you see them at the Lodge! They are big part of how we keep going.

Please come to the lodge at least once a month!

We need you to do this in order for it to be successful, and to genuinely make if your lodge.

Did you know that if each member came in for drinks, dinner, and an event regularly that we would have the funds to complete our members lounge bar and beautification project!

Please make it a habit to come in regularly (and you can always slip the bartender an extra $50, $100, OR $200 for the Restricted Lounge Beautification fund.)

Any donations that we receive for the Beautification fund will be matched by at least one member.

SEE YOU AT THE LODGE!

WATCH FOR THE RETURN OF AUGIE T. AND PONCHO MAN!

Secretary, Cat Mikkelsen

Hello everyone.

Now that we've established our lodge catering, cafe, and theatre, we're looking for ways that we can reach out to our community to help.

Can you help us? Where would you like to see us reach out and help?

Additional Information about our Newsletter and Calendar

Newsletter

We want to make our newsletter more reflective of what our Elks are doing, so you will see more profiles and questions. Please just send any feedback or ideas to secretary@konaelks.org.

Calendar

We will continue putting a paper calendar into each of our newsletters, to let you know what events are happening. In addition, all of the lodge events are now in a Google Calendar that you can reach at our Elks.org Lodge 2616 calendar and on konaelks.org.

Give it a try! The Google Calendar lets us immediately update the calendar with any changes. And you can print it from the website.

This month we are testing the Google Calendar. In the future, you will be able to add the calendar to your Google account and get custom reminders for events. If you have questions, please just email secretary@konaelks.org

See the New Lodge Calendar on our Website

Volunteer Profile: Rico - From Mondays!

Rico Pacathang is an Elk volunteer who makes burgers with the Lodge every Monday.

Rico has lived on Big Island for 67 years. He’s been a member of the Elks Lodge for 2 years. Rico is the Past Commander and the current Senior Vice of the Currently Senior Vice of the Kailua Kona American Legion.

Rico loves to cook. He comes from a family of cooks, with two brothers who actually are professional chefs. When I asked him what his favorite things to cook are he mentioned pork and peas, sweet and sour ribs, and that he’d recently learned to cook watercress soup with Chinese pork hash in wrappers.

Rico is retired from the military and working as an operating engineer. He spends his time reaching out and helping others, particularly military vets on the Island. He volunteers to work on the yards of many vets who can no longer work on their own yards.

If you’re at the lodge on Monday come and say hi to your fellow Elk Rico. He’s a great friendly face to know in the Lodge!

Kona Elks Lodge #2616

Kona Elks Lodge August Calendar

This month we're experimenting with new calendar tools. This is the Google calendar that you can see on our www.konaelks.org website. You can download a printed version from Lodge 2616 page on the Grand Lodge website. Send feedback and comments to secretary@konaelks.org!

Come to the Lodge to Help Chelsea Move the Bar

Chelsea has asked for 10 volunteers to help move and carry items from the bar. We are moving our bar!

Email secretary@konaelks.org with questions, but you don't have to sign up -- please just com and join us!

Delinquent Accounts

If you see your name in this list, please do pay your Elks Lodge bill. You can simply pay it at the lodge. If you have any questions, you can email secretary@konaelks.org.

Birthdays

Happy birthday to all of our Lodge Birthday celebrators! Please join us at the lodge for this month's cake celebration: TBD. Please tell Chelsea your thoughts on what day is good!

This Month's Question

What were your Favorite Volunteer Activites This Past Year?

"Making hundreds of sandwiches and coleslaw for the training troops," and "Working with Vinnie to dig out the concrete floor."

–Danny Tolentino

Thanks to all of our volunteers!

Events and Activities

New Elk Kevin Balog Brings Augie T.

A big thank you to Lodge member Kevin Balog, for sponsoring the Augie T. concert on July 22. Kevin is the owner of Edwin DeLuz Trucking & Gravel LLC. and the Kenworth Hawaii dealership in Kailua-Kona.

Kevin, his wife Debbie, and his son and daughter Bryant and Lauren joined the lodge this quarter. The picture shows Kevin and Debbie. If you see them at the Lodge, come and say hi!

Augie T. Concert July 22

Augie has committed to more concerts in the Elks Theatre. Look for him starting in September! To get onto an early alert list for Augie T tickets, email konaelksactivities@gmail.com and write "Augie T concert" in the subject line. We'll send you out a reminder email.

Augie T. With Elks Chris and Jenny Olivera.

Augie T with Elks ( L ro R) Brenda Torado, Lisa Simms (in rear), Nancy Albright, Jeff Torado, Dick Scritchfield.

Say Hello to Joe and Chelsea!

Joe and Chelsea Mata are two of the amazing staff members here at the Kona lounge. Joe is our cook in the Hualalai Brews and Bites cafe. Joe is great fun to talk with, and Chelsea can help you out with any Elks questions you have.

The Kona Lions Club, getting ready to hold their meeting at the cafe.

Fun with Ponchoman Kuanini in the lounge. Ponchoman is a talented local ukelele player and music maker who hosts events, bring magic and music.

We're expanding our volunteer activities. What do we want to. do more of? Email secretary@konaelks.com and let us know.

Thank you to all of our Advertisers!

Do you have a local business? Come and advertise with us here in the Elks Newsletter! Email secretary@konaelks.org for more information about rates. Sponsorships are also available.

Kona Elks Lodge Is Available for Rent and Catering