Exalted Ruler’s Report – June 2022

Aloha Kākou,

Happy Father’s Day to all our Elk fathers.

We are planning another great day at the club to celebrate the return of our annual Father’s Day BBQ. There will be ono food and time for dad to relax and enjoy. Youth Activities Chair, Mai Ly Schultz, will be back with more fun activities for the Keiki to help them honor their dads. Mark the date, Sunday, June 19, 2022. Make your reservations early.

Father’s Day in the U.S. is celebrated the third Sunday of June each year.
June is the month in which the father of the founder of Father’s Day was born. Sonora Smart Dodd, one of six children raised by their widower dad, successfully lobbied to get the state of Washington to establish an official equivalent of Mother’s Day for male parents. The first official observance of Father’s Day was June 19, 1910. As has been said by that famous author, Anonymous, “A father is neither an anchor to hold us back nor a sail to take us there, but a guiding light whose love shows us the way.”

A toast to all our guiding lights. Our lodge is buzzing with all kinds of activities from fitness classes and holiday celebrations to volunteer park clean-up, which will be on June 12th, and special out-reach programs. A special luncheon for the graduating 12th grade and 8th grade students of
Hālau Kū Māna, Hawaiian Charter School, was held May 9th. Last year we provided school supplies and athletic equipment for the school. In our discussions with Po’o Kula (Principal) Noa, we proposed the possibility of an Etiquette Luncheon. She was excited about the idea of giving her students the opportunity to build their self-esteem and master the subtleties of fine dining, and saw it as timely preparation for their next steps into the college/business world. COVID restrictions and protocols delayed our implementation, but as soon as we were cleared, multiple committees worked together to organize the event. The students were invited to
the Lodge and greeted by an Etiquette coach who ushered them through the dining etiquette of a four course lunch including soup, salad, chicken entree and a lemongrass crème brulee. The children were perfect guests and thrilled us with an exquisite soul touching chant before they left.

This month the lodge will be celebrating Flag Day, which commemorates the adoption of the flag of the United States by resolution of the Second Continental Congress. The flag resolution which was passed on June 14, 1777 states:

“Resolved, That the flag of the thirteen United States be thirteen stripes, alternate red and white; that the union be thirteen stars, white in a blue field, representing a new constellation.”

The B.P.O.Elks has celebrated this holiday since the early days of the
organization. In 1907 by resolution, the Grand Lodge designated June 14 as Flag Day and in 1911 adopted mandatory observance of the occasion. The Elks prompted President Woodrow Wilson to recognize the observance of Flag Day for its patriotic expression.

On Saturday, June 18, our Lodge will hold its annual Flag Day celebration.
We will gather in the Lodge room at 10 am for the ceremony. Come, join us to honor our flag. Afterwards, there will be light refreshments.

Gloria Yau, ER

“Our flag does not fly because the wind moves it… it flies with the last breath of each soldier who died protecting it.” — Anonymous

E Hana Kākou
Let’s work together