I hope everyone is having a great summer. Dave and I have had a busy one. After State Convention we had our first visit on May 20th at the Brunswick Lodge and were met by ER Rod Bauer and his wife Linda. After a short visit, they took us down to a bed and Breakfast I never knew was even there. The accommodations were beautiful! We rested a bit and dressed for Prom Night Enchantment 2023. We had a great meal and a good band that played lots of dance music. The night was also a fundraiser for Maine Children’s Cancer and was a great success.
Our next visit was the weekend of June 3rd in Presque Isle, Mary and Alan Harding met us at the hotel and later went to the Country Club with Alan and Mary for a great dinner with ER Melanie, Greg and Barbara Daniels, Mary and Alan’s son and a few others. We then went to the Lodge and talked to the Bingo players and the member’s, we had a nice relaxed time with great Elks. The following morning, we attended the Hooked On Fishing Program. It always fills our hearts to see the kids
catching fish and getting so excited. I want to let Mike, Corey and Kip to be prepared to be on TV as you will get an interview. At the end of the afternoon, they gave away lots of toy and camping items, pools etc. all things to do outdoors!
We had a delicious dinner at Rodney’s Restaurant and then back to the Lodge for a Lip Sync Contest. We had a great weekend and headed for home.
On the weekend of June 10th Dave and I went to the Biddeford-Saco Lodge and met with Joan Howard. She drove us to our hotel on the ocean with a wonderful view of the water and then to the golf course where we met Hollywood who arranged a day of golfing with carts. I realized how rusty I was at golf but had a blast anyway.
Back to the hotel to freshen up and Joan picked us up and took us to the Lodge for a steak and chicken dinner. ER Rori had a photo booth to have pictures taken with some of their members like Barbara McCallum, Joan, Lauren, David Guay and Glenn McCallum and many others. The photo’s were a great keepsake of our visit!
Our next visit was to York Lodge on June 18 th where John Navish met us at the lodge for a Hawaiian Laua. He gave us beautiful gifts of a Black pearl necklace for me and a nice watch for Dave. We met a lot of their members and then had a big feast of sushi, fish, pineapple and all kinds of fruits, vegetables, egg rolls and much-much more. His chef outdid himself! We all took a group photo before we left for home!
We left for Convention the end of June stopping in NY for a few days to visit some of the grandkids and great grands then off to Minneapolis. After unpacking we checked out the Hospitality Room. It was a great room for our hospitality room, nice and big and set up well to accommodate everyone. I would like to thank Mike and Denise Hannigan for doing a great job, we know how tiring it can be but they had quite a people sign up to give them a break. Thank you toall those who helped and also to the people who helped Mike and Allison at the MCCP Booth.
Of course, the very best part of Convention for the State President is the openingCeremony and having the honor of carrying in our State Flag! Another nice surprise I had was when I signed the flag and put my pin on it, I found that someone had moved Dave’s pin onto that flag! The flag he had signed was full and they retired it so what a treat to see they brought a few pins over from the retired
flag. So, both Dave and I are on there as well as Donnie and Sue Piper, our other husband and wife that are PSP’s!
I had the pleasure and honor to be an Assistant Grand Esquire, recommended by Mike Zellen, PGER at the Grand Lodge Session! We handed out ballots and collected them for the tally of the votes. Thank you, Mike for allowing me that honor!
We attended the Twins game and thanks to Mindy Voisine for arranging Box seats where we had a great view and were provided with hotdogs and sausages along with other snacks, soda and water.
After Convention Dave and I continued onto the West Coast to see some good friends and our son and his family along with all the grandkids and 3 new great grands. We made it to Haystack Rock on Cannon beach with the family to put our feet in the Pacific Ocean.
We had a few days of driving back visiting an Elks Lodge or two along the way back to my sister’s home to see another son and 2 grandkids. Then finally made it back home to recuperate!
“Thank you” to the Maine Elks Assoc. for letting me represent you all!!