Massachusetts Elks
Association
Email Informational Special Update -
8-9-09
Today is: National
Polka Festival in the United States
On this Date in 1790 -
The Columbia
returns to Boston Harbor after a three-year voyage, becoming
the first ship to carry the American flag around the world
(also discovered the Straits of Juan de Fuca the lead into
Puget Sound and the mouth of the Columbia River)
Here is a Link for the
2010 Elks Midwinter Cruise
MA Elks Donate 2,400 Phones to Cell Phones
for Soldiers
At the 3rd Annual MA Elks Veterans
Motorcycle Run, which was held at the Weymouth Lodge of Elks #2232,
The Massachusetts Elks Association donated over 2,400 Cell Phones to
the Nationwide Cell Phones for Soldiers Program. Cell Phones for
Soldiers was founded by teenagers Robbie and Brittany Bergquist from
Norwell, MA, with $21 of their own money. Since then, the registered
501c3 non-profit organization has raised almost $2 million in
donations and distributed more than 500,000 prepaid calling cards to
soldiers serving overseas.
Cell Phones for Soldiers goal is to turn
old cell phones into more than 12 million minutes of prepaid calling
cards for U.S. troops stationed overseas in 2009. To do so, Cell
Phones for Soldiers expects to collect 50,000 cell phones each month
through a network of more than 3,000 collection sites across the
country.
MA Elks Association Junior Past State
President William Reilly asked the lodges of Massachusetts to get
involved in September of 2008 and the response was great, as a
result over 2,400 Cell Phones were collected, current State
President Jim Strojny hopes that this year the MA Elks
Association can surpass that total and has appointed Mike Santos PDD
of the Beverly/Salem Lodge to Chair this program Statewide.
We will be collecting any cell phones that lodges have collected at
our next Regional Meeting (which will be September 13, 2009 at the
Maynard Lodge).
Pictured Below L-R MA Elks State
Chairman for Veterans Service Charles Kay of the Wakefield Elks ,
Junior MA Elks Past State President William Reilly of the Norwood
Elks, Army Specialist Gramz (who will be deploying soon to
Afghanistan with her unit), Robbie Bergquist Co-Founder of Cell
Phones for Soldiers and MA Elks State President James Strojny of the
Taunton Elks, around the pick up truck that has the over 2,400 cell
phones collected by the MA Elks Association.
A Letter From SDGER Mike Zellen To:
to all PER’s wishing to be considered for
District Deputy or Esquire to the DD
Beverly/Salem Lodge #1309 Annual Baked Bean Contest A Real Gas
Beverly/Salem Elks hosted the Annual Baked
Bean Contest for Beverly Homecoming August 6, 2009. Refreshments were
served and a cash prize was awarded to 1st Place Winners for
Presentation and Taste; 2nd & 3rd Place Winners were awarded medals.
Photo: L-R Dan Dailey (judge), 1st Place Winner for Taste Peg Mulligan, Chairman Russ Rideout; Jimmy, Maggie and Hannah Mulligan
Also, Beverly/Salem hosted 28 Veterans from the Chelsea Soldier's Home on August 7, 2009 in conjunction with the VFW Post 545 of Beverly at Lynch Park in Beverly for Beverly Homecoming with a Veterans Outing.
Pictured Above is the comradeship seen that day among all the Veterans was an experience that will be cherished by the volunteers that were there with Our Veterans.
Update on MA Elks 2009 Veterans Pin Fundraiser
We wish to Thank All the lodges and many
Elk members, that participated in the buying and selling of our new
Veteran Pins. MA Elks Area Chairs; Area 1 Donna Slocombe, Area 2
Cookie Showstead, Area 3 Stewart Russell and I, are very thankful
for all your help this year.
But we are still short some monies
owed for the pins from a few lodges. We need this money as soon as
possible, to pay the bill of the pin maker. Once this is paid, then
we can order more pins.
So please to the lodges who are still
owing monies, to please contact your respective Area Chair. or
myself. Remember the sooner we get all the money owed, the sooner
we can give it to our Veterans.
Thank you all again
Guy Abruzzese PDD - State Chairman
Veterans Fundraising