2012 Youth Banquet
The Sanford Elks Lodge #1679 held it’s annual youth banquet on Thursday, May 10, 2012. Esteemed Leading Knight, David McCracken chaired the event and was assisted by Kevin Cleary, PER and Norman Brewer, PER.
After a brief welcome speech by McCracken, Cleary led everyone in saying the Pledge of Allegiance then followed with an invocation before everyone enjoyed a delicious meal catered by the Flame Steak House.
Following the meal, Special guest, Heather Little, Director of Community in Schools talked about their Back Pack Pals program. Back Pack Pals started in September 2008 by providing food to Lee County students who have little or nothing to eat on the weekend. Children are identified as candidates for the program through input from teachers, counselors and school administration. Backpacks are sent home every Friday afternoon with 10-12 non-perishable, easy to fix food items. Through community support this program has grown from 3 schools serving 40 students in 2008 to serving over 300 students in each elementary school plus Floyd Knight and Warren Williams children center.
At the conclusion of her talk, the Sanford Elks Lodge presented Mrs. Little with a check for $1,500 to go toward the Back Pack Pals program. The money came from a grant from the Elks National Foundation. The grant was made possible due to members support in giving to the foundation.
Next, McCracken, Cleary and Brewer recognized the youth for their achievements in the Elks youth programs. The following youth were recognized:
Hoop Shoot – Boys 12/13 – Jake Owens, Nicholas Grubb – Boys 8/9 – Nolan Brown, Blake Harrington – Boys 10/11 – Thomas Harrington – Girls 8/9 – McRae Owens
Drug Awareness Poster Contest - Alexis Hewitt, Taylor O’Quinn and Yairaliz Muniz
Student of the Month – SLHS - Caroline Bunnell, Alejandro Loredo, Joel Clegg, Michelle Douglas, Paola Perdomo, Shelby Anderson, Samantha Gladden, Ethan Wicker – LCHS - Gregorio Lara, Brandon Partridge, Renisha Harris, Christina Blair, Joseph Akinosho, Alondra Garcia, Brady Heath, Eleanor Brightbill – Each “Student of the Month” was awarded a check for $100 from the Past Exalted Ruler Association.
Student of the Year – Ethan Wicker (SLHS) and Christina Blair (LCHS). Each student received a check for $1,000 from the Sanford Elks Lodge.
Most Valuable Student Scholarships - Aaron Baucom, Brandon Partridge, Bailey Wood, Melanie Armstrong – each student was awarded a check for $300 from the Past Exalted Ruler Association. There scholarship applications were send to the next level for judging.
International Exchange Students - After the youth were recognized, Mike Stone, NC House, presented the exchange students from LCHS and SLHS with a certificate and the American Flag. The following students are attending SLHS – Juan Agudelo-Remirez (Columbia), Amina El Ebshihi (Germany), Cecille Follestad (Norway), Matous Pav (Czech Republic), Marte Soerensen (Norway), Adam Straka (Czech Republic) – The following students are attending LCHS - Ana Carolina Cassaniga (Brazil), Juliana Martinez-Morales (Columbia), Kulwatang Suksing (Thailand)
McCracken made closing remarks and concluded the program.
Norman Brewer, Scholarship Chairman and David McCracken, Esteemed Leading Knight are pictured here with the Students of the Year, Christina Blair (LCHS) and Ethan Wicker (SLHS).
To see more photos from the event, click here.
Message From Our New Exalted Ruler
To my fellow Elks and families:
I welcome you to a new Elk year. I am excited about being your ER this year as I thought this was not possible when I joined 6 years ago. This is a great responsibility and one that will not be taken lightly. I would like to thank all PERs who have done such good work in the past to build OUR lodge to what it is today and I hope I can maintain that and hopefully make it better with the great line-up of officers, PERs (with many years of experience) and YOU the lodge members.
As many of you might know Mike McGraw (our membership committee chairman, PER, and trustee) set out last year with a goal of ending the 2011-2012 year with a membership gain of +1. He exceeded this goal by 3 members. But we cannot stop there! We must continue this in this year and many more. So please help spread Elkdom and bring in as many members as possible.
Keep an eye on the pool this season as we are getting things in place to give it a little facelift thanks to the dedication of PERs Kevin Cleary and Steve Johnson. Their goal is to make things better for us all to enjoy and be proud of. So please come out and help us get ready for the pool season on pool clean up day which will be May 12th! There is plenty for everyone to do. The more the merrier and the quicker it will go!
Thank you for allowing me to participate at this level with such a great organization and please take time to make note of the upcoming events and help support all of the activities.
Please take a look at the different lodge committees and if you would like to help out in one them please contact myself or the chairperson whose name is listed.
Fraternally, Eddie Brannan, Exalted Ruler Email: er@sanfordelks1679.org
Vietnam Veterans Homecoming Celebration
I’m sure you’ve seen it all over the news. The USO of North Carolina and Charlotte Motor Speedway, with support from the North Carolina Association of Broadcasters, honored the service of Vietnam Veterans with an incredible Vietnam Veterans Homecoming Celebration on March 31 for the military members and their friends and families.
Sanford Elks Lodge #1679 greeted the local Veterans Saturday morning as they arrived for the Bus trip to the celebration with Breakfast, Sanford Elks Lodge Patriotic Bookmark “Thank you for your service to America” and an American Flag Lapel Pin. The group was also treated to Dinner by Sanford Elks Lodge #1679 Saturday on the return trip in Concord at K&W. Thanks goes out to our own D.Steve Gunter for representing our lodge in making this a special day for our Veterans.
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