At the 2020 Elks State Convention, State President Jesse Shipp announced his appointment of the State Webmaster and the State Newsletter Editor to Leigh Ruble. Due to unforeseen circumstances, the long “established” website was inaccessible and no longer available for use. In early March, a NEW KY State Association website was created, updated, and launched! Keep up with the latest news from the KY Elks Association at www.ky-elks.com. You can search for members, lodges and committees by joining to be a “member” of the site. Blogs, group discussions and detailed searches are just a few of the new features that our new site brings. Join by visiting the website and clicking “Log In” (top right) and select “Sign Up”. Become a member today!!! Also, please understand that this website is still under construction and is not completely finished at this time, but all of the information is current and up to date. If you have a question or a suggestion about the site or wish to submit an article for the August State Newsletter, contact Leigh at support@kentuckyelks.org

Dear Members,
As some of you got the message via email, in response to the Governor’s extension of the Bar restaurant closure order that originally was set to expire on March 30th, the Lodge will be closed until further notice. I just wanted to let everyone know where we are as a lodge and update you on what we have been doing and what we will be doing in the coming weeks:

On March 16th, the day of the initial closure order, our regular lodge meeting was cancelled. The House met that evening and took three actions:

1) Directed the Treasurer to submit an amended 2019-20 budget to the grand lodge.

2) Directed the Treasurer to pay any necessary bills; and

3) Directed the Treasurer to, pay our current bar and kitchen employees for the next two weeks (3/19 and 3/26), based on the average amount of hours worked per week since 1/1/2020. On Friday (3/27) the House Committee, by remote email vote, approved extending that courtesy for two additional weeks (4/2 and 4/9). This essentially costs the lodge about $1,000 per week. We are in a position to absorb this cost for four weeks because of our strong financial position, a position these folks helped bring about.

In the next few weeks, while the lodge is closed, we will still undertake whatever charitable activity we can. An example is the use of our $2,000 Gratitude Grant from ENF, which this year will go towards replenishing the stock of the Franklin County Food Pantry. We also awarded our Americanism Essay prizes, and will award our Scholarships this spring to the class of 2020. We will also be doing some work on the bowling alleys in addition to some heavy cleaning in preparation for our reopening.

In the meantime, I had multiple members asking me if any of our members need assistance running errands or have any other needs that members could assist with. I have not heard, but if you know of a member who has a need we can help with, just let us know. Also, I know for many members this is a time of financial uncertainty, but if you have not paid your 2020 lodge dues and are in a position to do so, it would be greatly appreciated.

On April 6th, we will not have a lodge meeting but we will proceed with the installation of the new Chair officers, including our new ER Mark Ruble, and Trustees for the 2020-21 lodge year. The House Committee will also meet that evening to take any necessary action regarding the lodge.

When we hear more about a potential reopening date for the Lodge, we will keep members apprised.

Fraternally,
John Snyder, ER

Each year, the Kentucky Elks Association awards the Veteran Volunteer of the Year Award to a person who demonstrated a longstanding commitment to improving life for our veterans. This is in keeping with our Elks pledge, “So long as there are veterans, the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks will never forget them.”

At the recent Mid-Year Convention hosted by Louisville Lodge #8, the 2019 Veteran Volunteer of the Year Award was presented to none other than our very own Sulena Bryant! To those who know Sulena, this news will come as no surprise. She has dedicated herself to working with veterans. She currently serves as the Veterans Chair for our lodge, as well as the VAVS representative for the Lexington VA. She’s helped homeless veterans find housing through the Welkome Home Program, and she’s always looking for a new opportunity to help veterans.

Please join us in congratulating Sulena Bryant on this well-deserved honor! You can click the picture to the right to see a larger version of the image.

Recently, the Frankfort Elks Lodge awarded its 2019 Citizen of the Year Award to Danny Bryant, the owner of the downtown Frankfort Pic-Pac. Mr. Bryant is a fixture in the community, donating food and money to charities and feeding generations of FHS kids at lunch and after school, and most importantly, serving as an oasis in a part of town that would otherwise be a food desert. For all of these reasons, plus the fact that he’s simply a great guy, the Frankfort Elks Lodge #530 honors as its 2019 Citizen of the year, Mr. Danny Bryant.

Pictured above is Mr. Bryant (right), along with Frankfort Lodge Exalted Ruler John Snyder.

As part of this year’s Kids with Cancer Golf Scramble, the Frankfort Elks Lodge is holding a very special raffle. The holder of the winning ticket will receive a bottle of 20-Year-Old Pappy Van Winkle!

This bottle was graciously donated by our friends at Buffalo Trace Distillery, and we would like to extend our thanks to them for their generosity.

Tickets are $25 each, and only 750 will be sold. The winner will be drawn at 8:00 PM on May 11 at the Frankfort Elks Lodge following the golf scramble. You do not need to be present to win.

To buy tickets, you can contact Mark Skeeters at (502) 545-2415 or stop by the Frankfort Lodge at 309 Lewis Street.

If you’d like to play in the annual golf scramble, sponsor a hole, or donate a prize, you can find all of the information about the scramble at this link.