November Meeting Highlights

Hello Elks!

I pray that all of you had a safe and healthy Thanksgiving! All Elks and our community are once again dealing with renewed COVID restrictions. As the numbers keep rising during this unpreceded time, please remain diligent and place the safety of yourself and your loved ones as a priority.

Our annual Memorial Service Ritual Ceremony that was held on December 6, 2020 has been postponed due to ongoing restrictions. This service is held annually to honor our Elks that have passed away during the year.

We must hold onto our faith and understand that through that faith and continued prayers this too shall pass. Entering into this most Holy time, I wish you Peace, Joy and a Healthy holiday season. Have a Blessed and Merry Christmas.

Fraternally yours,
Julie Jeansonne
Lodge Secretary

October Meeting Highlights

Hello Elks!

There is not one person I know that hasn't said that they are so done and want 2020 to be over! Well... not much longer now. With COVID and hurricane preps alone, we are all exhausted. The Elks will prevail and look forward to the blessings we have and those we can give. We are pleased to provide $1,000 donation to Catholic Charities of Houma-Thibodaux in conjunction with the Louisiana Elks Association for their dedication in providing much needed assistance to our community providing food and assistance. This month includes a very special day for our Veterans. Veterans' Day is November 11th, I ask all of you to take a moment to thank a Veteran for their service. I passed by our Veterans Memorial Park recently, I took a moment, and stopped to say a prayer for their service for our freedom. We are truly blessed. Stop by and give a moment of thanks.

I wish all of you a bountiful and Happy Thanksgiving! Be safe and be kind.

Fraternally yours,
Julie Jeansonne
Lodge Secretary

September Meeting Highlights

Hello Fellow Elks! 

October and Fall is upon us and our state is finally in Phase 3! (Whatever that means) We held our first face-to-face meeting on September 23rd utilizing recommended guidelines; social distancing with face masks. It was great seeing our attendees again! Our Fall Festivals we love so much, either won’t be or won’t be the same. Staying safe is always our first priority. Our Elks are working diligently to secure the ENF grants we have available to us. We hope to have great news on this soon. We’ll keep you posted but please contact me with your ideas. They are always welcome and most appreciated. Membership renewals are going well. If you have not made your payment or need assistance, please contact us so that we may be able to help divide up your payments or hear why you are hesitating to renew. We are taking great strides to keep our members happy and involved. 

At our September 23rd meeting, we had the great pleasure of visiting with Don Baye, the District Deputy to the Grand Exalted Ruler, Brian Baye and Darren LeBarthe. They were visiting to conduct our annual audit. I am proud to say the Houma Lodge did really well. At the meeting Don Baye presented Houma Lodge 1193 with the Grand Lodge Veterans Service Award. What an honor!

Enjoy the cool weather I hope is approaching this month. Please continue to stay safe and God Bless!

Fraternally yours,

August Meeting Highlights

Hello Elks! I hope you are all safe and well! I know we are all sending prayers to our neighbors to the west dealing with the effects from Hurricane Laura. What a strange and unprecedented this year has been, especially the month of August. Both of our locations are still closed at this time and most of our fundraising events have been cancelled. We were able to hold only one meeting via Zoom this month. Our other meeting had to be cancelled due to threats from not one but two threats from hurricanes in the Gulf. 

We are presently selling tickets for the Saints football pool and have squares left. Please contact me if you are interested. Additionally, we are looking for suggestions for ENF Grants we have access to. I encourage all members to contact me with ideas for utilizing our resources to help those organizations in need because of this COVID 19 pandemic. We are in a position to assist our community and I need your input into how we can accomplish this. All ideas will be considered and I thank you in advance. Here’s hoping the month of September will spread more peace and give us some joy. Have a safe and happy Labor Day!

Fraternally yours

July Meeting Highlights

Hello Elks! 

 

I am using this platform as my soapbox this month. I have to share with you all how much I miss normal things... grocery shopping, eating out, Elks meetings in person, my grand babies, traveling and even just visiting friends.  I am one of those people that is extremely cautious during this Phase of the pandemic because I and all of us have so much good left to do.  

We Elks are still meeting via Zoom and will remain doing so until it is safe for all of our members and we can move to the next phase of this unprecedented event. Having said that, we encourage our members to provide their feedback toward what they feel that we as Elks can provide to our community during the pandemic.  There are quite a few ENF grants that have opened up where we can provide assistance.  Please contact me via email or at 985-855-2267 with suggestions. 

For those members struggling to pay this year’s dues, please contact me for assistance via a payment plan.

Most local events have been cancelled or postponed.  Our facilities will also remain closed until we can move into the next Phase safely. However, schools will open soon.  I want to send out prayers to our teachers and “kiddies” for a safe and fulfilling school year.

I am getting off my soapbox now.  Please stay safe remember our Lord will see us through.  There is light at the end of the tunnel.

June Meeting Highlights

Hello Elks!  Our new normal is still social distancing and wearing face masks but we can deal with that to stay healthy, right?  We held both of our June meetings at the Main Street Lodge. At this time, no food will be served at our meetings as another precaution.  The good news is we are able to provide Wi-Fi to our members at the downtown location.   Our Flag Day ceremony was held at the Coteau Property on June 14th.  Thank you to all who participated.

Our membership dues payments are slowly coming in but the lodge understands that during these times it may be difficult to make the payment.  At our meeting on June 24th, membership voted to allow members to divide up the amount one can pay to remain a member in good standing.  Please contact me or the Lodge for additional information.

A big thanks to Skip Miller and Elaine Stanley for coordinating the renovations of the first floor at the Main Street Lodge exposing the beautiful brick walls.  It looks amazing!

We have not yet begun to rent out either either of our locations due the pandemic as we are following the state guidelines for the safety of our membership.

We are hoping to begin in earnest applying for all ENF grants available to us to provide much needed assistance in our community.  Any and all suggestions are much appreciated!  We encourage all our members to get involved in any capacity.  We will continue to hold our monthly meetings at the Main Street Lodge with safety measures in place.  At our last meeting, two new candidates, Michael and Judy Hallohan were initiated into Elkdom.  Congratulations and welcome!

Please stay healthy and continue to trust in God to get us all safely through this trying time.

May Meeting Highlights

Hello Elks!  I hope you are all safe and well as we slowly approach our “new normal”.  We held two Zoom meetings in May and were able to proceed through Elks’ business in this way.  We hope to get back to holding June meetings face to face safely and cautiously according to COVID regulations and the Governor’s guidelines.

With that being said, we will move forward into the 20-21 year.  All officers have been initiated into their positions.  Our Exalted Ruler is working diligently to establish committees with members interested in helping to maintain and even surpass last years charitable works.  I ask that all members give serious consideration to volunteering on one or more of these committees in some capacity.  We have already obtained and provided  The Haven with the $2500. Gratitude Grant.  Thank you Dr. Brenda Babin.  We have voted to continue to provide Terrebonne ARC with the Beacon Grant in the amount of $3000.  Thank you Warren Michel for your efforts.  There will be many changes going forward with regard to downtown festivals and with that changes to our fundraising endeavors.  The Rougarou Festival will be held at the Civic Center this year and not downtown as in previous years.  In addition, other events that have been face-to-face downtown such as Relay for Life may become virtual events so opening the Lodge for fundraising may be limited.

Our State Convention is still being held August 7th through 9th.  However, the Elks National Convention has been cancelled.  All rentals of the Main Street Lodge are on-hold and the Coteau property is closed.  Initiation of new members are on-hold as well.  We will continue to update our members on any changes to these guidelines as they happen.

For those members who have not paid their 20-21 dues please do so as soon as possible.  We need you now more than ever to continue being this great Fraternal and Charitable organization!

April Meeting Highlights

Hello Elks!  Let us all take a deep collective breath and thank God for our health and pray for those on the front lines during this time.  This Elk year is starting out much different from what we all had anticipated.  We should all still be social distancing and staying home until May 15th per Governor Edwards.  Our new word of the month is “Zoom”.  We will quite possibly be doing our May meetings virtually.  I had one recently and it was quite amazing actually.  All Elks will be notified of these necessary changes soon.  I am at this point, slowly collecting our 20-21 dues.  At this time we have 74 members not paid.  I encourage these members to send in their dues as soon as possible.  The Elks charitable endeavors were quite impressive last year and through our continued efforts this year, we can surpass those numbers.  Let us all not forget how much we accomplish in our community.  Brenda Babin’s suggestion for this year’s Gratitude Grant for The Haven has already been approved and will be finalized this month.  This worthy organization will greatly appreciate this funding.  So another pat on the back for our Lodge!  And speaking of our Lodge a d pats on the back, the renovations to expose the brick downstairs looks amazing!

The Dates for the State Convention has been changed to August 7-9, 2020.  Please plan accordingly.

Please stay safe!  I miss you all and hope to see you soon!  ZOOM!

March Meeting Highlights

Hello Elks!  I hope all are well and staying at home safely.  I would like to take this opportunity to send prayers and many thanks to those on the front line during this strange time.  As everyone else, we have shut down operations of our Lodge as per instructions from the State of Louisiana.  Please note however, any bills to be paid and cash received are being handled accordingly.  Additionally, we are attempting our Lodge downstairs renovation to remove the paneling and expose the beautiful brick underneath during this down-time.  A big thank you to Elaine and Skip for coordinating the process.

Our one and only meeting in March was held on March 11,  2019.  We favorably balloted in Fred Marks proposed by Elaine at that meeting.  Windy Adams and Jeffrey Matherne were initiated into Elks!  Congratulations!

Several events have been cancelled and will hopefully take place in the very near future!  This includes the TARC bowling night which is to be rescheduled.  The proceeds remaining for the Beacon Grant has been forwarded directly to Terrebonne ARC for their use toward their activities.  The Gratitude Grant funds has also been delivered to MacDonnel Children’s Home for their dormitory renovations.  They hope to have a Grand Opening in the near future and Elk Members will be invited to attend.

The new officer initiation was to be held on April 15th.  Since that is not possible, several officers were initiated during a telephone Board meeting held on April 1,2020.  The remainder of the officers will be initiated at a later date.

We appreciate everyone’s patience and understanding at this time.  Please continue social-distancing and for those that can, please stay home!  Stay well!

February Meeting Highlights

The Mardi Gras Season has come and gone.  Thanks to all members who volunteered their time.  Thanks again to Tammy and Dwight Duplantis for cooking their delicious gumbo and red beans, in addition to, their just as delicious Jell-O shots.  The entire season was quite a success!  We raised a good deal of money.  But just as importantly many members had a fabulous time.

At our February 12th meeting we held nominations for 2020-2021 Lodge Officers.  The following were elected at our February 26th meeting unanimously:

Exalted Ruler:  David P Leroux

Leading Knight:  Brenda Babin

Loyal Knight:  Skip Miller

Lecturing Knight:  Barbara Sullivan

Secretary:  Julie Jeansonne

Treasurer:  Ernie Babin

1st Year Trustee:  Effie Schilling

2nd Year Trustee:  Marvin Redmond

3rd Year Trustee:  Elaine Stanley

Congratulations to all and good luck for a successful 2020-2021 year!

Due to the vacancy in the treasurer position and until the newly elected treasurer takes office, I will be having office hours at the Elks Lodge every Tuesday morning from 10:00-12:00 to take care of Lodge Business.  If any member needs assistance, please contact me directly.

Fraternally yours,

Julie Jeansonne

Secretary

January Meeting Highlights

As we move right through the month of January and into our favorite Mardi Gras season, the Elks are very excited to begin our fundraising efforts and gather together as the great fraternal order we achieve to be.  The Houma Elks Lodge will be open for all the parades.  We have a committee established to provide food and drinks to the public and the Elks family as well.  Tammy and Dwight Duplantis have again agreed to providing their talents in the kitchen and truly appreciate and need a great deal of Elk participation to make this our most successful Mardi Gras season yet!  

January also saw meeting attendance up and four new members initiated into Elkdom:  John Miller, April Giles, Cindy and Dennis Knight.  Congratulations and welcome.  Thanks to Elaine Stanley we have 3 more waiting to be initiated and 3 awaiting balloting.  WOW!  Great job!

After successfully finalizing our Adopt-a-School Project, we obtained the $2,500 Gratitude Grant for the McDonnell House Children’s Home and will be working on putting those funds to good use.  January was quite a successful month for the Houma Lodge.  Let us all continue to make 2020, a year to remember for Elkdom.

Fraternally yours,

Julie Jeansonne

Secretary 

December Meeting Highlights

Happy New Year!  We hope everyone had a Blessed and Happy Holiday Season!   December saw Santa’s parade come by and Rudolph finding his route.  We all witnessed what Houma could become with some major changes and a great deal of local support on Demonstration Day held on December 14th.  We held the last TARC Dance of the year on the 13th and then had our Lodge’s Christmas Party on the 14th.   The Adopt-A-School proceeds were distributed to Bayou Blue Coteau Middle School and Terrebonne Career and Tech High School.   The schools expressed much gratitude and the Elks Lodge is very proud of what we were able to do for them.  Throughout this very busy season, we sent our thoughts and prayers to those who have served and continue to serve our country!  God Bless our Veterans!  

The time for our January meeting has been changed from 7:30 to 7:00.  We are continuing to consider a permanent time change and would love to hear feedback from you.  We have sent off and are awaiting a response for the Gratitude Grant to be used for McDonell House/Options for Independence.  Let’s keep our fingers crossed.  Geaux Tigers!

Fraternally yours,

Julie Jeansonne

Secretary