By now, you’ve probably eaten the last of the turkey and stuffing and the only thing leftover from Thanksgiving dinner are the memories of spending time with family and friends. Thanksgiving and Christmas are great times to look back at the year in a spirit of reflection, thankfulness, and giving.

At the Elks, we recently had opportunity to reflect and be thankful, first for our Veterans and second, for some milestone Elks members.

Thanks to the generosity of Schwan GMC, Capital RV, Comfort Inn, and Clear Channel Radio, 1,500 area Veterans and active duty military men and women were treated to a hearty lunch of turkey, stuffing, and all the fixins on November 12th.  The Elks kitchen and management team did a great job planning, preparing, and executing this monumental event!  The next day, the Elks played host to its annual Homecoming, an evening where we hand out years-of-service pins to 25 and 50-year members.

Both events were very well attended and were great ways to honor those who have served our country, and our Elks for so many years.  Look for articles pictures of both events elsewhere in this newsletter.

And now that December is upon us, we continue that season of being thankful and supplement it with a season of giving.  If you’re looking to include the Elks as part of your Christmas gift giving, here are some ideas:

***To your favorite member or volunteer, give Elks #1199 logo merchandise; windshirts, t-shirts, hats and other wear-ables are available.

***To your favorite cook, give a shaker or two of Elks #1199 spices – or for your favorite party host or hostess, bring our famous garlic toast and pate’ to their next holiday party.

***To friends, family, clients, and customers: give a gift certificate.  Open them up to a great experience in the dining room, 1199 Lounge, or TR Bar.

***To honor a family member or friend, give a donation to Elks Camp Grassick or the Elks National Foundation in their name.

***To a child, grandchild, brother, sister, or friend; give the gift of membership.  Personally, I considered it an honor when my father sponsored me and paid for my first year of membership.  What a great tradition to start in your family!

[Read more…]

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I decided to take a different route for this newsletter and write about how The Bismarck-Mandan Elks Lodge #1199 writes about itself. My objective is to communicate with you about how we communicate with you and converse with you about the many ways we encourage you to converse with us.

As with many a large enterprise, your Elks Lodge is participating in a number of today’s preferred communication mediums, not the least of which is our Facebook page. We have an active and growing Facebook community,  (Facebook.com/ElksLodge), eager to share with the lodge and its members, their comments, check-ins, pictures, video, and general banter.  Be sure to “Like” us.  We promise to “Like” you back!

Our web site, www.BisManElks.com is another great online source for Elks information, including the most recent and long-term calendar of events for the lodge.  Whether it’s “Winey Monday,” “Steak Fry Tuesdays,” or “Seafood Saturday”, or “Football Sunday,” the web site has all the dates, times and special information pertinent to each event.  If the Elks is involved in the event, it’ll be on the web site. Also on the web site is the history of the club and its famous TR Bar; names and pictures of current officers and trustees; the numerous benefits of membership; the many ways to reach us; details about our charitable activities and of course, pretty pictures of the club and its interior features!

A big shout out to Esteemed Lecturing Knight Chad Gasser for resuscitating a good, but admittedly neglected website and keeping it alive with the attention and nourishment it so greatly requires.  Gasser is also keeping our Twitter account fed with current events and content.  We encourage you to follow us: @BisManElks (Twitter.com/BisManElks).  Lastly, Gasser and GM Chad Stockwell manage our Texting program.  This handy feature currently alerts your phone with lunch, drink, and event specials. Get a FREE Drink and get entered for your chance to WIN a $25 Gift Certificate by joining.  Simply text ELKS to 51660 and follow the prompts.  We promise not to bug you too much! [Read more…]

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“If you rest, you rust!” Those were the words often uttered by a former boss.  They’re also the words by which your Bismarck-Mandan Elks Lodge #1199 has been living as of late.

Thanks to sound capital management, a robust stock market, and smart planning, the Elks Home Association – the organization that oversees the building and grounds – has been able to make substantial investments to the Elks facilities in recent months.  Some of the changes you have seen, some you haven’t seen, and others you will literally “feel.”

Outside changes include beautiful new landscaping around the building; most notably on the west side, surrounding the patio.  Other, subtler changes include new wooden fencing on the north side, two new sets of metal stairs on the south deck, and new concrete in the driveway.  Future outside work will include new paint/stain on the wood siding and additional landscaping on the east side.

Inside the club, members and their guests are greeted with a spacious main floor entryway, complete with new paint, wall coverings, furnishings, a fireplace, and additional space to view our yearly grand prize raffle vehicle.  The dining room saw improvements in new windows and window coverings, the lower lounge was outfitted with new tap beer system, and on the Lodge floor, new lighting was installed on the steps.  Upstairs in the TR Bar, new chairs fill the floor and three new flat screens can be seen on the walls.  Additionally, new floor coverings can be found just inside the TR Bar’s east side keyed entrance. [Read more…]