Hello All
I am very proud that you chose me to be your President for this year. I have been extremely busy since assuming the office trying to get all the correct information for our State Directory. Hopefully the Directory will be ready for distribution at our State Organizational Meeting which is scheduled for June 23rd at the Oklahoma City Elks Lodge #417. That meeting is slated to start at 10:00 AM. The address is 5550 NW 72nd in Warr Acres(Oklahoma City). There will be coffee and donuts prior to the meeting and a meal after the meeting. I encourage and expect all State Officers and Committee Chairs to be there as well as District Deputy Designates.
I attended the Arkansas State Convention and was treated extremely well by everyone. I also had a business luncheon with the Arkansas Trustees who voted to send $5,000 to our State Elks Association to help in Tornado Relief. Louisiana also sent $5,000 and our State Trustees voted to give $5,000 toward the Tornado Relief fund. The Grand Lodge sent us $20,000 for Tornado relief so we have a total of over $35,000 to help tornado victims in our state. Distribution should begin on the weekend of 18 May. Recipients of the funds will each be given a $200 money card. The ERs of the affected areas along with the VP of that area will distribute the funds to the tornado victims. There will be oversight by senior State officials of each area.
The National Convention is coming up and I encourage everyone to attend. It will be in Austin, Texas from 28 June through 3 July. We will be in the same hotel with the states of Arkansas and Louisiana and will share the same hospitality room (The hospitality Room is 1,600 sq. ft.). We will definitely have a good time!!!
I will try to keep you updated on events and what is going on in our state as I become aware of them. Again, thank you for your support and I look forward to seeing you soon.
Respectfully,
Ron Hancock, President Oklahoma Elks Association