925 North Avenue Burlington, VT 05408

(802) 862-1342

The Exalted Ruler’s Message

I hope all who attended the installation ceremony and banquet had a good time. I would like to thank Wilfred “Dizzy” Desilets and the entire Installation Team for a fine ceremony, Donna LaBonte for handling my RSVP’s, Wayne Labonte for the pre-installation work. (Invitations and Programs) and great pictures, and Mary Tessier & Janet Benway for being my flower girls. The evening was also very special with the entertainment of Wes and Sally Blair. And let’s not forget the delicious meal prepared by our Lodge Chef, John Plunkett with the help of the Lodge Dishwasher Chris Bissonette.

The night was made very special for me with the attendance of my mother (Mary C. Blankemeyer), my wife (Mary E. Blankemeyer...yes there are two Mary Blankemeyer’s), and my daughters, Sara and Lisa. Thank You for all your support. Congratulations to Rick Boucher on receiving “Officer of the Year”, Cookie Manning on receiving “Elk of the Year”, Mary Sweeney on receiving “Citizen of the Year”, Dana Shappy and John Hill on receiving “Outstanding Service Awards, Linda DeLaricheliere and Peggy Hurlbut on receiving on behalf of The Eldoes an “Outstanding Service Award”. We have a busy month coming up - Lodge Clean-Up, Pig Roast, Mother’s Day Breakfast, Clam Bake, and the State Convention. Please refer to your calendar in this newsletter and join us at a few events. I would like to thank everyone for supporting me with words of encouragement for a successful year. I will work hard to fulfill my duties and meet the challenges to justify your trust. I am looking forward to listening to any member with ideas to help OUR Lodge. For those members that have been away from the Lodge for one reason or another, I invite you to come back and enjoy YOUR lodge.

Fraternally, Dave Blankemeyer, Exalted Ruler

THE 916 BULLETIN Monthly Newsletter of the BENEVOLENT & PROTECTIVE ORDER OF ELKS Lodge #916 Vol. 8, No. 5

MAY 2008

Activity Calendar ......................................... 8 Bingo Volunteer Needed .............................. 5 Birthdays ...................................................... 5 Bits & Pieces ................................................ 4 Clambake...................................................... 3 Contact Information ..................................... 2 Dictionary Project......................................... 3 Eldoes Update .............................................. 7 Flag Day ....................................................... 5 Frank Moisan Golf Tournament ................... 6 Inaugural Ball ............................................... 7 Lodge Hats ................................................... 5 Lodge Notices .............................................. 2 Lunch at the Lodge....................................... 4 Membership Annual Report ......................... 2 Memorial Day Bingo.................................... 7 Mother’s Day Breakfast ............................... 7 Motorcycle Rally.......................................... 3 New Membership Cards ............................... 7 Officers......................................................... 2 Pet Pevees..................................................... 3 Pig Roast ...................................................... 6 Proposed Members ....................................... 2 Silver Towers Clean-Up............................... 7 Steak Night Menus ....................................... 6 Summer Olympics Volunteers Needed ........ 3 Volunteer of the Month ................................ 7 Weekly Pool ................................................. 5

Cinco de Mayo

Friday, May 2nd

Lodge Clean-Up Saturday, May 3rd

Pig Roast Friday, May 9th

Mother’s Day Breakfast Sunday, May 11th

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• The regular membership meetings will be held on the third Thursday of the month at 7pm. • Members are welcome to attend the Governing Board meeting on the second Tuesday at 7pm in the upstairs meeting room. • The Lodge Investigating Committee meets the first Tuesday of every month at 7pm when there are members proposed.

THE 916 BULLETIN

Monthly Newsletter of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks #916

925 North Avenue - Burlington, VT 05408

Published monthly and mailed to all current Lodge Members and select others, by standard mail at Burlington, VT. The content can also be viewed at the Lodge’s Website, www.bpoe916.com

Relevant information for inclusion is welcomed and should be submitted by the 15th of the month proceeding the publication by:

• emailing to bpoe916bulletin@comcast.net • Placing the material in the 916 Bulletin mailbox at the Lodge

front entranceway. • Mailing it to the Lodge to the attention of the 916 Bulletin.

We do our best to include all pertinent information that our members would find interesting, however if the materials are not received by the Editor on or before the 15th of the month, there is a chance that they may not be included in the next issue due to the time needed to produce, print and mail the Bulletin. Our goal is to have it delivered to our members by the 1st of the following month.

We reserve the right to edit submitted items for brevity and appropriateness. The Exalted Ruler has the final responsibility for the Bulletin content.

Editor - John Hill Photography - Wayne LaBonte

LODGE OFFICERS 2008-2009

Exalted Ruler: Dave Blankemeyer Esteemed Leading Knight: Mary Paule Hill Esteemed Loyal Knight: Rick Boucher Esteemed Lecturing Knight: Craig Garrand Secretary: Charles Munson Treasurer: Brian Bouchard Inner Guard: Steve Schifilliti Esquire: Robert Brown Tiler: Daniel Ryan Chaplain: Hank Metevier Organist: Rick Guest State Trustee: Fred Dusablon, PER

LODGE TRUSTEES Trustee and Chairman (exp. 3/2009): Chris Bissonette Trustee (exp. 3/2010): Ron LaRose, PER, PSP Trustee (exp. 3/2011): Jim Procopio Trustee (exp. 3/2012): Gary Little, PER Trustee (exp. 3/2013): Diane Hazen, PER

HOW TO CONTACT THE LODGE

General Information ..................................bpoe916@comcast.net Exalted Ruler..........................................bpoe916er@comcast.net Lodge Secretary.......................... bpoe916secretary@comcast.net Lodge Treasurer ..........................bpoe916treasurer@comcast.net Trustees .......................................... bpoe916trustee@comcast.net Event Bookings ...............................bpoe916events@comcast.net Bulletin Editor ...............................bpoe916bulletin@comcast.net

Name Address Occupation Proposer ROBERT POULIN COLCHESTER RETIRED WILFRED DESILETS

TAMMY MURPHY BURLINGTON ACTIVITIES SHARRON MINAHAN

ED SMITH BURLINGTON SALES TOM McCOY

EDNA CORBETT ESSEX JUNCTION JACK ROCK

THESE APPLICATIONS FOR MEMBERSHIP OR REINSTATEMENT WILL BE BALLOTED ON AT THE MAY 15TH MEMBERSHIP MEETING

LODGE SECRETARY’S ANNUAL REPORT TO THE MEMBERSHIP FOR THE YEAR 2007-2008

Membership April 1, 2007 ......................................... 1243 Deceased Members ................................................................29 Elks Initiated .................................................................. 68 Non-Payment .........................................................................92 Elks Reinstated................................................................. 6 Transfers ..................................................................................4 Transfers........................................................................... 1 Absolute Demits.......................................................................2 Members Added ............................................................. 76 Total Number of Elks Dropped............................................127

Membership March 31, 2008 ..............1191

Certified and Remitted to Grand Lodge Charles Munson, Lodge Secretary

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Local school children receiving

dictionaries as part of our Elks

Dictionary Project!

Specializing in residential & lakeshore properties for over 10 years. Whether you’re buying or selling, let me help you.

Angela MacDonald, Realtor 802-846-9523 angela@hickokandboardman.com

ADVERTISE HERE!

Contact John Hill at 802-318-1032 or bpoe916bulletin@comcast.net

for rates and information.

MOTORCYCLE RALLY TO BENEFIT

SILVER TOWERS

July 20th Registration fee:

$30 individual/$40 with rider (If a $100 or more is raised from each biker

there is no entry fee required)

All 13 Vermont Lodges will participate. We will ride to a designated area and group together to continue on to Silver Towers in Ripton. A BBQ will follow. Information and forms will be available at the Lodge by May 24th. We encourage you to obtain sponsors so we can raise additional money. PLEASE tell your family and friends...this Rally is not limited to Elks members only! For more details contact me at 324-6979.

Dana Shappy, Chairperson

Annual Spring Clambake

Friday, May 23rd

Cheese & Crackers - 5:30pm

Lobster or Steak Corn, Steamers, Cherrystones & Clam Chowder

$23.00 pp before May 21st - $25.00 pp after May 21st

T ime to c lam up and ea t !

PET PEVEES

Everyone has some thing in life that ticks them off. Here are a few of mine.

• Dialing 1 to hear information in English • Our National Anthem translated to Spanish. • Taking “In God We Trust” off our Currency • People who don’t pull over for emergency vehicles • The misuse of handicap parking spaces. There are two new signs in the handi-

cap parking area. These signs mark the van accessible parking area. (Stripped sections) These are loading/unloading areas for handicap vans. THESE ARE NOT PARKING SPACES.

• If you don’t have a handicap plate or a handicap tag that hangs from your rear-

view mirror, please join the rest of your fellow Elks in the open parking area. Dave Blankemeyer, Exalted Ruler

Volunteers Needed for Special Olympics Summer Games

May 30, 31 and June 1 Burlington Lodge #916 has volunteered to assist with the food for the Special Olympic Summer Games at UVM on May 30, 31 and June 1. Help is needed for setup, serving and cleanup for breakfast, lunch and dinner on these days. A volun-teer signup sheet will be posted on the lodge bulletin board with more informa-tion. Any time you can devote to helping Special Olympics will be most appreciated. Mary Paule Hill, Esteemed Leading Knight

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FoleyRealEstate@Comcast.net

BITS & PIECES

• Congratulations to Eddie Sliker on winning the Moisan Chili Contest. Eddie later remarked, “It’s amazing what you can do with a couple of dead squirrels from Ethan Allen Parkway.” • Money to burn? Lee Rock reports that she came downstairs from her warm comfy bedroom one morning last week and the inside of her home was freezing cold. Apparently Jack didn’t close the slider to the patio when he went to bed. As if that wasn’t bad enough the very next evening he used the natural gas grill, and left that on all night. Maybe Lee better start locking up! • A youngster was in the Lodge one day, maybe 7 or 8 years old, and the remark was made that they probably felt like they had just walked into Madame Tussauds Wax Museum. • Chris couldn’t find his keys one afternoon. Diane (who lost her entire set months ago) found this very funny and was enjoying herself teasing him about it. Later that afternoon, Diane realized that she had two sets of keys in her purse. You guessed it, she had picked up Chris’s keys by mistake, thinking they were hers. Who’s laughing now Diane? • I understand there is a new support group in town. It’s for men who have wives that talk to excess. It’s called On & On & On • Mike “Midnight” Ready reports that during the ice storm we had earlier this year he had many branches down in his yard. One in particular was atop his mobile home. His wife Nancy climbed up there last week to clear it away, however she could not move this one large branch. Thinking it was just frozen, she poured hot water on it. Alas, it still would not budge. Mike went inside the mobile home to discover that an eight inch hole had been punched in the roof by this limb. Repairs are under way. • Bad news for those of you that were coming to the Pig Roast to see the wedding of Chris & Joanna. There are ap-parently some sticking points in the pre-nuptial agreement. While it hasn’t been cancelled, it has been postponed to a later date, which will probably be determined by the law-yers. At any rate it appears that the future of my inheritance, not to mention the armoire are in doubt. My mother-in-law says I shouldn’t worry about that. She says she is taking me out of the will either way! John Plunkett

COME JOIN US AT THE LODGE FOR LUNCH!

11:30am - 1:30pm

Tuesday thru Friday (takeout is also available)

SANDWICHES TOASTED BLT TUNA SALAD

SLICED TURKEY GRILLED TURKEY, BACON, AND SWISS PANINNI

PHILLY PEPPER STEAK SANDWICH CHAR-BROILED CHICKEN BREAST

FRIED HADDOCK FILLET All sandwiches served with your choice of Soup, Seasoned French Fries, or Tossed Salad and available on your choice of White, Whole Wheat, Rye or Bulky Roll , Ciabatta Bread Dijon Mustard ,Mayo, Tiger Sauce, Chipotle Mayo, Boursin Mayo

BURGERS ‘916 BURGER

CHEDDAR BURGER BACON CHEDDAR BURGER

OPEN HOT HAMBURGER All burgers served with lettuce and sliced tomatoes

SALADS & SIDES CHAR-BROILED CHICKEN SALAD PLATE

SIDE SALAD

Homemade soup Monday thru Friday 11:30am until closing

Nothing priced over $7.50 even daily specials!

-Members and legal guests only -

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1 Robert Dunshee John McClintock 2 Dominic Aloi Michael Devine Edward Madden 3 Marvin Kirk Richard McAvenia, Jr. Kevin Morin Charles Schifilliti 4 Diane Hazen, PER 5 Herman Brown Sara Cheeseman William Edmunds Normand Trahan

6 Phillip Dalley, PER Matthew Engels Evan Schmitt James Torrey 7 Peter Bessery, Jr. T. Peter Carney Warren Young 8 Alfred Barcomb Eric Dion Tim King Lisa Wulfson 9 D. Michael Papin William Strickland 10 William Hunter

Richard Murray 11 Heidi Brouillette Michael Burnett Robert Dusablon Don Harper Eric Johnson 12 Louis Fay Diane Lafayette Daniel Ryan 13 Kenneth Miller Mary Shepard 14 Kevin Bedard Norman Deforge 15 Thomas Langlois Edward Sheehan Stanley Whittemore, Jr. Richard Young 16 Ron Charboneau Barry Griffin

17 William Adams Scott Borden Lloyd Chadwick Richard Munsell Keith Shappy 18 Robert Huskisson 19 Roland LeBlanc Michael Longe 20 Roger Atkins Jay Clark Gerritt Crowley Vincent Dober 21 Chad Anderson Michael Carrassi Daniel Guerino 22 Richard Young 23 Donna Demag Cross Robert Jenkins Robert Labelle

24 Ronald Spaulding 25 Gordon Babson Michael Ready 26 Louis Bilodeau Bill Fitzgerald Ryan Gardner James McLane 27 Cutler Drew Thomas Maguire, Jr. James Orfe 29 Barbara Martin 30 Richard Bove Bruce Hier Donald Irish Carole Reese 31 Walt Bosma Walter Bruska John Harlow

Birthday this month? Bring your driver’s license to Steak Night and get $5 off !

Wayne LaBonte, Sr. 115 Woodbury Rd. Burlington, VT 05408 (802) 658-2771

Weddings Portrait Event

wlabonte@burlingtontelecom.net

WAYNE LABONTE PHOTOGRAPHY

Flag Day Ceremony The Flag Day Ceremony is June 17th at 1pm. Please mark that date on your calendar and plan to be here. Once again, we are looking for names of POW’s (name, address and phone #). You can leave it at the Lodge bar to my atten-tion or call 922-8347 and leave a message. Let your friends know this is OPEN TO THE PUBLIC! Ron LaRose, PER, PSP, Chairperson

WEEKLY POOL COMING SOON! Stop by the lodge and sign the new $1.00 pool. We will start sign-ing in for the weekly pool on May 14th. First drawing will be Tues-day May 20th at 6:30 pm. The drawing will be every Tuesday night at 6:30 pm. Pay outs are as follows. If you are at the drawing you will receive 90% of the funds in the pool. 10% of the pool will be going to the lodge. If you are not at the drawing you will receive 40% of the pool and 10% to the lodge and the balance will roll over and stay in the pool for the next drawing. So remember if you want to win big, be at the Lodge on Tuesdays at 6:30pm. and you may be a Big Winner if your name is drawn. There will be a $1,000 cap on each drawing. If the pool builds to be over the cap, there will be two drawings that night and so on. That means there could be more possible winners. To sign up for the $1.00 pool you must ask the Steward on duty for the book. Name and card number please..same as the quarter pool. Any questions see Gary Little, PER, Trustee

GOOD LUCK AND SEE YOU TUESDAY NIGHTS!

Bingo Volunteer Needed If you can help work the front table EVERY OTHER Monday night please contact Michelle at 310-7769.

Lodge Hats $14.00

Order forms are available at the bar. Profit from hat sales will support In-ter-Lodge activities.

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RICHARD BUSHNELL HOME INSPECTIONS

Be Sure With A Professional Inspection

Home 802-862-6647 Cell 802-238-4267

Total House Mechanical Structural Roof Foundation

Aaron’s TREE SERVICE

802-598-7670

Reasonable Responsible Reliable

70 Bay Rd., Colchester, VT

STEAK NIGHT MENUS

MAY 14, 2008

PRIME RIB BAKED SCHROD

BAKED STUFFED SHRIMP PETITE FILET W/ MERLOT SAUCE SURF & TURF—PETITE & SHRIMP

MAY 28, 2008

PRIME RIB SCHROD

BROILED SWORDFISH W/ BANANA SALSA

10 OZ. NY STRIP SIRLOIN W/BRANDIED 3 PEPPER SAUCE

CAJUN BLACKENED CHICKEN BREAST

Did you know we have Chicken Fingers &

Hot Dogs available on Steak Nights?

Frank Moisan Memorial Golf Tournament The first annual Frank Moisan Memorial Indoor Golf Tournament was hugely success-ful. What a blast everyone had. Here are the scores for 9 holes:

Dog Breath—82 Jane’s Gigolos—91

Three men & A Lady—98 B-Team – 103

Happy Strokers—105 Boy Toys—107

The Baaaahd Boys—109 Putt Heads—110

The Little Putters—110 Moisan’s Babes—110

Sparks—123 Dirty Monkeys—125 Happy Hookers—126

Some teams were having so much fun they opted to play the course again. This is how they fared for 18 holes:

Happy Strokers—198

Putt Heads—206 Boy Toys—209

Little Putters—211 Moisan’s Babes—215

The Baaaahd Boys—218 Sparks—227

Starter & Emcee Rick Boucher also presented the prizes after helping official scorekeepers & registrars Sue Schmidt & Jeanne Welch.

CHILI CONTEST RESULTS There were 19 entries into the Chili contest, with the following winners:

1st Place—Eddie Sliker 2nd Place— Chris Bisonette

3rd Place—Dave Blankmeyer

Judges were Jim Procopio, Sue Austin and Mary Sweeney. Holes were built by Ron Larose, who worked long and hard to have them ready on time. He did an excellent job and should be commended. (especially since we want him to build 9 more for next year!) Thanks Ron. Jack Murray and Don Trombley were also a great help getting set up completed. Thanks also to our fine sponsors. Foley’s Real Estate, Merola’s Market, North End Little League, John & Mary Paul Hill, Steve Whitehouse & Gail Mattison, Jack Murray, Gary Little, Ed Sliker & Dave Minahan, and Kerry Plunkett & Joanna Campbell. All monies were donated to The Eldoes.

PIG ROAST

Friday, May 9th

Cocktails 6:00pm Pigout 7:00pm

Music by DJ Squealer Hill

Tickets are $12.00pp

Tickets on sale at the Lodge bar.

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ELDOES UPDATE

“Be the Best of Whoever You Are!”

The officers would like all members to please take notice of the new cover for the bingo board in the main dining room. Our pur-chase of this main room enhancement came from Tina’s Design and was donated and installed during the past month. Everyone seems very pleased with the end result. Thank you to John Plunkett for his support of our Partners in Ad-venture Program. John recently held a golf fundraiser at the lodgein memory of Frank Moisan and donated the proceeds to assist us with this worthwhile effort.

May birthdays!

Linda Bradley, Geraldine Hathaway, Maddy Shappy, and Bea Sylvia

Happy Birthday!

Remember, if you come to a steak night during the month of your birthday, you will receive $5.00 off of your meal. We are looking for volunteers to work at Vermont Teddy Bear prior to Mother’s Day. The dates are May 6th and May 8th, shifts 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Volunteers may select either date, or both if they wish. Anyone interested in joining us, please call me at 862-8878. It is a fun time – ask anyone who has participated. Our Eldoes luncheon was a huge success with 39 members in at-tendance. Thanks to John Plunkett and staff for a marvelous lunch-eon selection. We look forward to doing this again soon. We are selling chances for our year-end raffle: 20” Sylvania Flat Screen TV, knitted afghan and a $30 Elks gift certificate. Tickets are $1.00 each, 6/$5.00 – drawing to be held May 20. The election of the 2008-2009 slate of officers got underway at our April meeting. Congratulations to Maddy & Em Shappy on their 50Th wedding anniversary. Upcoming events:

May 6 & 8...... Vermont Teddy Bear - 9am to 2pm (both days) May 18...... Partners in Adventure Luau - 2pm to 4pm May 20...... Installation of 2008-2009 Officers Dinner 6:30 pm A big thank you to all who have continued to support the Eldoes this past year. We will once again be able to make sizeable donations to the non-profit organizations within our community.

Happy Mother’s Day! Sincerely, Linda DeLaricheliere, President

Sunday, May 11th 9am-Noon

French Toast, Scrambled Eggs, Sausage, Juice, Pancakes

$8.00 per person $5.00 for children 10 & under

1 Mother Free per family

INAGURAL BALL PRESENTATIONS

SPECIAL MEMORIAL DAY

BINGO Monday, May 26th

Warm-ups start at 6:30pm Bingo at 7:00pm

For reservations call Michelle at 310-7769.

Breakfast

SILVER TOWERS CLEAN-UP

Our annual Silver Towers Clean-Up Day is Saturday, May 17th at 10am in Ripton. Our Lodge is responsible for the Activities Center building and area. We’ll need help raking, picking up branches and refuse, painting and general fixup chores to get it ready for the summer camp season. Please donate your time for this very worthy cause and our State Elks project.

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BURLINGTON LODGE #916 Benevolent and Protective Order of ELKS 925 North Avenue Burlington, VT 05408

NON PROFIT ORG U.S. POSTAGE PAID

BURLINGTON, VT PERMIT # 15

Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday May 1 2

Cinco de Mayo Party 6pm

3 Lodge Clean-Up

Day 9am

4 Private Function

5 Bingo 6:30pm

6 Private Function

7 Private Function

8 9 Pig Roast 6pm

10 Private Function Private Function

11 Mother’s Day

Breakfast 9am

12 Bingo 6:30pm

13 Governing Board

7pm

14 Steak Night 6pm

15 Private Function Mtg Night 7pm

16 Private Function

17 Private Function Silver Towers

Clean-Up 10am

18 Partners In

Adventure 2pm

19 Bingo 6:30pm

20 Eldoes Installation

Dinner 6:30pm

21

22 Private Function

23 Clam Bake

5:30pm

24

25

26 MEMORIAL DAY BINGO 6:30PM

27 28 Steak Night 6pm

29 30 (State Convention)

31 (State Convention)

June 1 Private Function

(State Convention)

2 Bingo 6:30pm

3 4 Steak Night 6pm

5 Private Function

6 Private Function

7 Private Function

Volunteer of the Month:

Linda DeLaricheliere There are new sign-up sheets BY MONTH!

Don’t forget to put your name in the bucket to win Volunteer of the Month!

THE MEMBER ENTRANCE DOOR WILL OPEN ONLY WITH THE NEW 2008-2009 MEMBERSHIP CARD. IF YOU HAVE NOT PAID YOUR DUES YOUR CARD WILL NOT WORK!