Christmas activities.

In addition to the hoop shoot that was held on the 13th of December, we rang the bell
for the Salvation Army out front of K-Mart. Pictured here is Julie Copley and her daughter
Allison Holshouser. The lodge had someone ringing most of the day and a good bit of money was collected as a result.

The Lodge also continued it's tradition of hosting a kids Christmas party. Many gifts were bought and given away thanks to generosity of a number of Elks. Santa was on hand to help distribute presents and plenty of snacks and drinks were furnished as well. A tip of the antlers to Eddy Harwood, Patty Turner, the Sce's, the Brown's, Vanessa Eanes and a number of others who helped put this on. About 30 kids received gifts and all appeared to have a good time.

Salisbury elks Hoop Shoot contest

On Dec 13 at Hall gymnasium the finals of the Lodge Hoop shoot were held.

Winners in the boys 10-11 age bracket were:

1st place- Justin Love. He made 17 of 25 free trows.
2nd- Logan Shupping. 14 free throws
3 rd- Cody Meadows. 9 free throws.

In the 12 to 13 age bracket:

1 st - Samuel Wyrick. He made 20 of 25 free throws.
2nd - Seth Wyrick. 18 free throws
3rd- Al Britford Jr. 17 free throws

The first place winners advance to the district contest. Other pictures of the contestants can be found at http://picasaweb.google.com/SalisburyElks699

for more on the rich history of the Elks National Hoop Shoot contest go to www.elks.org/hoopshoot/

Virginia B. Drobinko passing.

Virginia B. Drobinko

SALISBURY - Virginia "Ginny" Blanchard Drobinko, 79, of Salisbury, passed away, Friday, Nov. 21, 2008 at her residence.Mrs. Drobinko was a member of Sacred Heart Catholic Church Catholic Daughters. She was also a member of the Salisbury Elks Club, the Ladies Auxiliary of Harold B. Jarrett American Legion Post 342, the Ladies Auxiliary of Hudson-Miller Tatum VFW Post 3006, and an associate member of the Marine Corp League 2nd Marine Division Association.

Survivors include her husband, John Drobinko, whom she married on March 2, 1985, and several nieces and nephews.Services and Visitation: A Graveside service will be held on Tuesday, Nov. 25 at 12 p.m. at the US National Cemetery-Statesville Blvd. location. A Prayer Service will be held Monday, Nov. 24, at 7 p.m. at Summersett Funeral Home. The family will receive friends following the service until 8:30 p.m.

Memorials: In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Nazareth Children's Home, P.O. Box 1438, Rockwell, NC 28138-9985.

Summersett Funeral Home is serving the Drobinko family. Online condolences may be made at http://www.summersettfuneralhome.com/.
Published in the Salisbury Post on 11/22/2008

Elks VA Bingo special lap blanket gifts.

The Salisbury Elks have been holding a a monthly bingo for many years for the Veterans's at the Salisbury NC Veteran's Hospital.

On this special occasion, 8 lap blankets were given away as door prizes. These blankets were hand crafted by allie Holshouser and her sister. Allie is Tiler of our Lodge by the way. As you can see these blankets were emblased with specific armed services logos.

Needless to say, the lucky winners were highly appreciative of these one of kind blankets. A tip of the antlers to Allie and her sister for these amazing gifts.

Other Elks Lodges in the area also engage in monthly activities at the Salisbury VA.

Brother Tom Dougan passes away Sept 24, 2008

SALISBURY - Thomas George Dougan, 78, of Salisbury, died Wednesday, Sept. 24, 2008, at W.G. Hefner VA Medical Center.

Born Feb. 3, 1930, in Sharpsburg, Pa., he was the son of Catherine Metro Dougan of Atlanta, Ga., and the late Harry Dougan, Sr. Mr. Dougan was a veteran of the U.S. Marines and a graduate of Duquesne University. He was previously employed by ServiceMaster as a Director of Material Management. A member of Sacred Heart Catholic Church, he was also a member of Elks Lodge and Harold B. Jarrett American Legion.

Mr. Dougan was preceded in death by two brothers, Don Dougan and Harry Dougan, Jr.Survivors include his wife, Virginia Mae Collier Dougan; sons Tom Dougan (Marion) of Pittsburgh, Pa., Daniel Dougan (Jane) of Coffeeville, Kans., Michael Dougan, Randall Dougan (Cynthia) and Timothy Dougan (Karen), all of Pittsburgh, Pa.; one stepson, Gary Comer (Cindy) of Florence, Ky.; one stepdaughter, Sandra Hensley (Beebe) of Limestone, Tenn.; one sister, Delores McCormick (Jack) of Atlanta, Ga.; 13 grandchildren; and 13 great-grandchildren.

Visitation and Service:

Visitation will be from 9:30-10:30 a.m. Monday, Sept. 29 at Lyerly Funeral Home. A Mass of Christian Burial will be conducted at 11 a.m. Monday at Sacred Heart Catholic Church. The Rev. James Ebright will officiate. Burial will follow at Salisbury National Cemetery, with military honors by the Rowan County Honor Guard. Memorials: Memorials may be made to Rowan Regional Home Health & Hospice, 720 Grove St., Salisbury, NC 28144. Lyerly Funeral Home is serving the Dougan family. Online condolences may be made at http://www.lyerlyfuneralhome.com/

Life Member ~Noah "Mack" McKinney passes away

SALISBURY - Noah Robinson "Mac" McKinney, age 89, of Salisbury, passed away Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2008, at his residence. He was born April 30, 1919, in Hyde County, the son of the late Xenia Selby McKinney and the late Julius T. McKinney. He attended Hyde County schools and was a veteran of the U.S. Army Air Corps serving during World War II.

Mr. McKinney worked for Schlitz Beer Distributors for 43 years as a driver and salesman. He was preceded in death by his wife, Betty Kincaid McKinney, on June 20, 2008, whom he married Nov. 15, 1947; brothers Vincent "Snooks" McKinney and Hyatt (Mac) McKinney; and sister Ruth Mann.

Survivors include his brothers, Earl McKinney and P.D. McKinney, both of Salisbury, and P.H. McKinney of Granite Quarry; sisters Emogene Carawan of Salisbury, Lois Fulp of Durham, Willie Testa of Auburn, N.Y., Eunice Dwiggings of Mocksville and Irene Hinson of Salisbury.

Service: A Graveside Service will be at 12 Noon Saturday at Rowan Memorial Park conducted by the Rev. Don Phillips with military graveside rites by Rowan County Honor Guard.

Visitation: 10:30-11:30 a.m. Saturday at Lyerly Funeral Home.Memorials: Rowan Regional Home Health and Hospice, 720 Grove St., Salisbury, NC 28144.

Elks Welcome new members ~ DD Jack King visit

We had a great meeting in August where we initiated 8 men and women into the BPOE .
Please see the newsletter for the names of these new Elks.

It also was the official visit of our west central district deputy Jack King (he's the one seated). He and his two assistants inspected the lodge, our books and other important aspects and gave us a very favorable report. Exalter Ruler Kevin Frey is first on the left.

Prior to the meeting a barbeque dinner was served. Following the hour and half meeting that began at 7:30, refreshments were served and all of our new Elks were welcomed into the Lodge.

Baker Oregon Elks Lodge Drum and Bugle Corps Rock it!

MAD Hoppers at Elks Lodge

Nazareth Kids Day, June 21

We had a great day at the River Park. We counted nearly 60 kids plus house parents from the home. The weatherman was wrong and the rain held off. We had probably the best and largest group of volunteers as well.

Fishing however wasn't quite as good as last year but they still had a great time. One young girl caught a large snapping turtle and courageously brought him up under the shelter for all to gawk.

Special thanks to Glenn Shimmell, LA and Marla, Dano, Jeff Mills and Mike Davis for bringing their boats and taking all out for rides. Also, Julie & Steve Copley for cooking the chili, Zach Holshouser for furnishing the worms, Glen Shimmell for the hot dogs, Danny Ray for 25 NEW fishing rods and Ellen Wagoner for donating a doz hats which came in handy when the sun finally came out.
Also, we had lots of help with the fishing and serving. New members Cal and Krista Flannery, Paul Flahive, Brad Walworth, Audrey Dennis and our intrepid ER Kevin Frey and Sec. Vanessa Eanes. There are others I'm sure I've missed but a great job was done and one that these kids greatly appreciate.

To see more pictures please go to http://picasaweb.google.com/SalisburyElks699 If you were there and have more pictures you would like to add, please email mikejonea2@yahoo.com

New Elks initiated June 19th

Seven new Elks initiated on June 19th. BTW, our lodge had its 13 th consequetive gain and we now stand at 433. Highest since the 1950's!

Flag Day Service at river park,

Since 1908, Elks across America have honored our flag by holding a ceremony observing the significance of this grand symbol of our great country. Flags we used since Colonial times were on display and a 30 minute program was given by various Officer's of the Lodge. PER Linda Brown delivered the main message quite eloquently and all seemed appreciative.

We had a good crowd on hand, the weather was hot as one could see from ER Kevin Frey's attire and the popular poker run was about to begin a few hours later. So another good day in Elkdom!

NC Elks Spring meeting

A few of us attended the Spring Convention in New Bern the first weekend of May. It was a beautiful weekend with several hundred elks and guests attending.

Featured here is Exalted Ruler Kevin Frey, Secretary Vanessa Eanes, Past Exalted Ruler Bob Sce and newsletter editor Gail Sce.

Bob and Gail's golf team won the tournament thanks to a lucky draw that found them pared with a scratch golfer. Yours truly's team had to scratch and sniff to eke out a tie for 3rd place. No ringer's for us to lean on!

All and all, it was a good meeting. There is a new Elks Lodge in Shallotte NC that will be instituted on May 18th. That's a good thing and it is expected for this lodge to grow rapidly. However, NC overall lost 300+ Elks this past year which is troubling. Salisbury did it's part though adding 23 to our rolls making this the 13th consecutive increase which brings us up to 433 Elks.

The New Bern Elks lodge hosted the event and they have a unique lodge in that it is open 24/7. Each of there 300 members get a key and essentially work on the honor system. It's beer and wine only though. Volunteers work for special events and they have a group called the Committee of 100 that apparently provides or encourages participation. New Bern was instituted in 1902 and a number of pictures of it's early history can be found at www.elkshistory.org

Shag club dances the night away at the Lodge

More than 260 shag club members danced Saturday night away at the Salisbury Elks Lodge.

The Salisbury Shag Club brought its annual competition to the Elks Lodge and drew dancers from 12 shag clubs across the Piedmont. And at least two Richmond, Va. club members showed up to enjoy the event.

The Salisbury club, headed by President Jeff Mills, began the competition four years ago. Cash prizes are awarded based not on dancing, but on which clubs have the highest percentage of members attending.

While the Winston-Salem club had 48 members on the floor, Piedmont Shag Club of Harrisburg -- a much smaller club -- won top honors with 47 members participating. The top three clubs get cash prizes, which organizers say are used for charities.

Rae and Connie French serve as coordinators of the competition. Over the past year, the club held a social at the Elks Lodge on the fourth Saturday night of each month.

"The Elks Lodge and the club are both looking for new members," said Rae French. "We can help each other out."
French said the Elks Lodge offered to host the club's big event and it went very well.

Dance areas were set up downstairs and upstairs with local DJs Butch Mattox, of Mount Pleasant, and Dana Grubb, of Spencer, virtually donating their time.

For the past three years, the annual competition has been held at Cripple Creek (formerly John's Tavern) on Stokes Ferry Road.
The club also holds a dance each Friday night at the Boat and Ski Club and is working to attract new and younger members.

"We need to get younger folks involved. We're trying to preserve the music and the dance. We don't want to see the Carolina shag dance go by the wayside," said Rae French, who met his wife, Connie, at a dance at Myrtle Beach.

For more information on the Salisbury Shag Club, call French at 704-213-6058 or log on to the club's Web site at www.keeponshagging.com.

February Newsletter online

Go to www.salisburyelks.org and follow the links to the February newsletter.

Some of the highlights included a picture of Lexington elk member Jeff Swing presenting the NC Brain Tumor research Center a check for $9000. $2500 of this total was a donation by him with the balance coming from this past summer's high rock lake poker run. This joint effort between Salisbury and Lexington lodges really packs them in at our river park. Hundreds attend and a good time is had by all.

Also in the newsletter is a list of the Hoop Shoot contest and Most Valuable student scholarship selections as well as updates on the bowling league and Officer messages. There are also 31 who have not paid there dues. If you know any of these members, please contact them and ask them to remain a member.

PER's & Old Timers's meeting. Feb 7th

We had a nice crowd of about 40 Elks and guests at the meeting. Pictured to the right are those that are PER's (we had 11) and the Old Timer's who attended.
The event was held downstairs for several who due to age and medical issues could not make it up the stairs.
From L-R front row. C.V.Nance, Ed Hege, John Parker, Ray Paradowski, Mike Jones. Standing Bob Sce, Steve Arey, Jim Earp, Cliff Kerr, Mike Davis, Jim Nichols, Cliff Cutrell, Jim Hill, Harry Agner, W-S Elk Butch Tomlinson, Linda Brown, Kent Roberts, & our District Deputy Bill Pelloquin.

Also in attendance were two Elks from Lexington for the Traveling Gavel, the Vice- President of the W/C District, Butch Tomlison and our District Deputy Bill Pelloquin ~ both of Winston-Salem Elks Lodge.

A good meal was served, the meeting went well and it was nice to here the kind comments from all who spoke about their long association with our Lodge. In addition, the DD spoke highly of our Lodge's efforts over the years. His heartfelt comments were greeted enthusiastically by all.

Finally, nominations were made for Officer's for the upcoming year. They will be voted on at our next meeting on Thursday Feb 21.