A new online edition of the Elks Magazine is now available on the Grand Lodge Website at elks.org.
Log in is required to enter the membership section of the website. If you have not visited the elks.org
website member only section, you can register online at:  Member Registration. The new digital edition
is exactly the same as the hard copy, except it takes up less space and makes it available to any Elk
member who has registered on the website. There is no additional cost for the service.

Major Project - Copper Cannon

    The mission of Copper Cannon Camp is to enrich the lives of under-served youth of New Hampshire by providing a quality, tuition-free camp experience. Copper Cannon Camp is unique in that it is the only completely tuition-free summer camp experience for children living in New Hampshire. Our founder, Hamilton Ford, overcame an underprivileged childhood and was changed by a summer camp experience he and his family had. He decided then and there that summer camp was something that every child, regardless of background or financial status, deserved to experience. And 50 years and 20,000 campers later, we uphold that same belief to this day. Our campers come from all over the state and are accepted regardless of race, ethnicity, gender, orientation or handicapping conditions. Our only requirements are that campers fall within the particular age group they are applying for, and that they meet the financial income requirements to receive the free camp experience. For more information about Copper Cannon Click here.

State

Also note: Dennis Dionne (NH DDGER, South) and Gina Parris (NH DDGER, North) are still your District Deputies until July 18th of this year. Our new DDGER Designates (George Smith, South) and (Kevin Lincoln, North) will not be Installed until July 18th at the Grand Lodge Convention. If you have any matters or problems concerning issues that the District Deputies need to know about, please contact Dennis Dionne for South District Lodges and Gina Parris for North District Lodges. The new state directory does not list them in those positions but they are in them until July 18th, 2013.

The Hospital at Manchester has made the following request.
We have recently had an influx of request for airbeds from the VA Supportive Housing (VASH) program. The reason for this is we've recently received vouchers for Veterans to be placed into housing; but, they have no belongings. This afternoon will be the second emergency run to Wal-Mart for air mattresses. This time for a family of seven, this includes an infant. Yesterday, we were fortunate enough to hand over small gift cards for two other Veterans needing airbeds. VA Supportive Housing is fortunate to place more families in the near future. Unfortunately these families will also be moving into new homes without furniture. Through appreciated donations we are able to fund the 1 queen, 3 full and 1 twin size air mattresses this afternoon from Wal-Mart for the family of seven. I am thankful they will not be on the floor tonight. This is the problem. Due to restrictions in purchasing we are limited to where we are able to shop and of course how much we can spend on each Veteran and there family. The air mattresses purchased are about $25.00 each, do not come with air pumps and of course are not meant to be slept on continuously. Therefore, they will not last long and the need for more will continue. We have looked for other inexpensive solutions. The attached flyer is an example of a better airbed we would like to able to provide from Costco's in Nashua, NH or online. It looks to be high quality and durable. It also comes with its own air pump. If any person or organization is looking for the Medical Center's need list please inform them of these airbeds. Our Veterans will certainly be most grateful.Jim Stewart, NHSEA Veterans Chairman - If you have questions or comments please contact Jim Stewart at stewjim72@gmail.com, He has the info and what is needed.

To my fellow members:
Yesterday, I received the following e-mail from the Massachusetts Ritual Chairman, Ken Rice. He and Peter Nelson have scheduled a ritual clinic on Sunday September 29th at the Auburn, Massachusetts Lodge. I am sending this out to anyone who ever expressed an interest in Ritual because we in New Hampshire are critically low on certified judges and without judges no contests can be held. Just by attending the clinic and passing a test, any current member can be certified as a word judge and a computer judge that day. In order to be certified as a floor judge, you must be a PER and pass a test that day as well as another similar test at another clinic in the future. Typically, these clinics start around 10 AM when our Area 1 Chairman, Steve Ondrick, goes over the policies and procedures for certifying floor judges. This is usually followed by an open book test answering questions relative to floor judge knowledge. Later, a team of officers will perform the ritual and you will score them as though it was an actual contest. Your certification is based on how you score them and how you answered the questions in the open book test. If it is your first successful passing grade, you should plan to go to another clinic to pass your second test and you will be a certified floor judge. If you are already a certified floor judge and need to re-certify because your current card expired, you just need to pass this one test. After lunch, Steve will conduct a Word Judge clinic, where he explains the penalties for word errors, and how to properly mark them down in the word guide. He then verbally reads sections of different parts of the ritual, purposely making errors, to see how you score him. if you pass, you are a word judge! The last part of the clinic shows you how to use the Excel program for inputting teams, their scores and printing out the score sheets that determine who won a contest. If you have any computer knowledge at all you should be able to do this with no problem. Once again, if you participate in this part of the clinic you will be a computer judge that day. Please consider this request for becoming a judge. As I said before we really need to bolster up our staff of judges in New Hampshire.

Hello Lodges in NH.
Whether you are aware of this or not, there is still time to take action for this program
The NH State Elks Association has a program known as State Elk of the Year. It is designed to select an Elk from a Lodge that has received the Lodge Award for the past Lodge Year. The award will be presented at the NH State Elks Convention in May. If you would like to nominate someone for State Elk of the Year, submit the nomination to NHSEA Lodge Activities Chairman Steve Bourdeau, PER from the Franklin Elks. Submit the nomination and backup information to: Steve Bourdeau He needs nominations as soon as possible. If you have questions or comments contact Steve by email sbourdeau@hotmail.com or call him at 387-2584 (Cell Phone)

To all NH Lodges, DD's, SP, SDGER and the State Association -
We have completed reporting our Charitable Data to Grand Lodge. All Lodges have reported and the State Association has reported, beating the deadline. We are 100 percent................again! Congratulations to all and thanks for your support!
Sincerely,
Don Chesnel
NHSEA Government Relations Chair

To all Lodges in NH - Public Accommodation
It has come to my attention that some Lodges may not realize the implications of protecting our private organization status in the state of New Hampshire. Per the Order of Elks Constitution and Statutes, our IRS Tax Status and the NH State Liquor Laws, Elks Lodges enjoy the privileges accorded private entities in our state. With that classification comes responsibilities. We must do everything we can as members to protect that status. We must keep our doors locked and controlled. Our Elks functions and socials are always for "Members and Guests". We should mark all of our events that way in our newsletters, in our advertising, on our roadside signs, etc. We are never "Open to the public" nor should we put a sign out that says, "All are Welcome". In the case of private organizations in our classification, "All are not welcome", (because we are a private organization) and we should never advertise ourselves that way. We are not a place of public accommodation. I realize Lodges rent their halls for private functions, etc. and some play bingo where the general public comes into our buildings. That is fine per se, but we need to isolate and control our social quarters from these events. The general public is never allowed into our quarters or buildings unescorted, etc. other than private rentals or bingo. And when you have guests with you, you must sign in and escort them and be with those guests while they are in the Lodge. If you leave, they must leave. By the book, guests are not supposed to buy anything while in a Lodge. The member is in charge of everything, including the purchase of drinks, tickets, etc. And this fact always jumps out at me - Why would we all pay dues to be part of a private organization if we let anyone walk into our facilities repeatedly, unescorted and by the way, breaking our rules and the laws of New Hampshire? Why would we want to do this? It's why Lodges have a three visit rule for non-members. We all pay dues for the right to be a member of the Elks. Why would we want to let non-members have these privileges for free? We are all having problems these days making ends meet in our Lodges. The economy continues to be sluggish and we are all paying a price for it. That's a fact. But let's not compound our financial challenges by breaking our own rules and the laws of the State we live in. To do so jeopardizes all of us and our Lodges in various ways, including our liquor/gaming licenses and the status we enjoy as legitimate members of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks.
Sincerely,
Don Chesnel
State Elks Government Relations Chair

Hello Fellow Elks, Just passing along information that you might not have. My friend Jim Strojny, Past State President of the Mass Elks Assoc has informed me that 2 brothers who were to be initiated into the next class of members of Stoneham Elks Lodge and their sponsor were severely injured in the Boston Bombings. The 2 brothers each had a leg amputated and the 3rd remains in critical condition. A fund has been set up through TD Bank to assist them. You can go to any TD Bank to make a donation. The fund name is: Marc, JP, and Paul, Marathon Victim Fund. The account # 8371871647. You can also mail a donation to: TD Bank, 280 Montvale Ave, Woburn, Ma 01801. Please help if you can and pass this message on to other Elks. God Bless all of the victims of this trajedy, and God Bless all of you!! Jim Foley, PDD (From Connecticut but now lives down south).

Attention all Lodges and State Elks Association Committee Chairs -
1. All Lodges are reminded that our Charitable Records Reporting online need to be updated, finalized and submitted at the very beginning of April. All Lodges have been inputting throughout the year, but now is the time to tie up all the loose ends and get ready to submit the completed data. Last year we chased a couple of Lodges. Let's get this done early this year. It should be ready to go TODAY if you have kept up your data input all year.

2. Also - important - ATTENTION ALL STATE COMMITEES -
Brian Ryea, our State Elks Secretary is tasked with submitting our State Level Charitable Data for Committee Activities such as Veterans, Copper Cannon State Major Project, Drug Awareness, Spelling Bee, Soccer Shoot, Hoop Shoot, Youth Activities, Lodge Activities, Scholarships and any and all Committees that had State Elks Association Level Activities. He needs this info asap. I know some things are still in progress, but don't wait any longer to get your data ready for him. All major State Chairs need to do this with their programs. He needs mileage, hours, participants, elks, helpers involved, non-cash contributions and cash contributions. Brian can't dream this data up, it has to come from our State Chairs so let's get it into him.

Brian Ryea's email is bsj926@gmail.com

All NH Lodges - Reminder - Do you have money that needs to be turned into the Elks National Foundation? An online donation is instantaneous, but if you are mailing in donations, they need to get taken care now! Everything is done for this year at the end of the month. The longer it is put off, the better the chances that it will not get counted for this Lodge Year! Please do it now! We are doing excellent, but still have two Lodges that have not quite made their per capita. Let's get to 100 percent as we did last year! Thanks! NHSEA ENF Committee

To all Elks and Lodges in NH -


These are available from our incoming State Elks President-Elect, Ed Norway. Those of you at the State Meeting in Lebanon may have seen the ones that were brought that day. The picture does not do them justice. It is a piece of granite under the nameplate and is quite attactive. These will be sold for $20 to help defray expenses for the State President at the Grand Lodge Convention. Last year, a coin was sold for this purpose. This year, these were developed. We ask each Lodge to support this effort by selling some of these to their Officer / Members.

At the NH State Elks Meeting in Lebanon, NH today, a question was posed about New Hampshire State Elks Association Jackets. Nothing has changed about availability. Apparently there is some confusion about how to get a NH State Elks Jacket.
Here are your options:

George's Apparel
NH State Elks Jackets are available at George's Apparel, 675 Elm St, Manchester, NH 03101
Phone: (603) 622-5441
Fax: (603) 627-8055
Email:comments@georgesapparel.com
Web:http://georgesapparel.com
Hours: Monday through Saturday - 9 a.m.- 5:30 p.m.
Open Thursday evenings until 8 p.m.
Closed Sunday
It is recommended that you go to the store and get fitted properly for your jacket. George's also has the Elks Emblem for the jacket if you would like that put on it. They do a great job fitting the jacket and addressing your concerns.

Blazer Depot (Online)
Gray Blazers are also available online through the Blazer Depot: www.blazerdepot.com The prices are very reasonable but you must take care to send them proper sizing, etc. as you won't get to try this on until you receive it. Of course it can be returned if there is a problem. I have a few Elks Jacket Emblems if someone orders through the Blazer Depot and you want or need one.

Elks Jacket Emblems are also available through the Specialty Company. They are an authorized Website for the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. Order a 3" embroidered emblem (emb3) Unit Price is $2.95 Your Lodge Secretary can order these or you can order just one if you would like. Link: www.shopelks.com The attachment is a picture of the Elks Emblem that is placed on the jacket. I have also been told that JC Penney carries a gray blazer that is very similar to the ones most of us have. I hope this information helps you obtain what you need. Although more expensive than Blazer Depot, I personally recommend George's Apparel. They are very helpful and friendly, courteous, efficient and adept at what they do and you will be satisfied with your jacket purchase. Disclaimer: I have no connection to any of the above listed providers.

Local Lodges