Greetings Brother and Sister Elks:

 

Here we go into another Lodge year. I am honored to be serving as your Exalted Ruler for another term. I want to take the time to congratulate all elected officers and all appointed officers on serving the Lodge for 2025/2026. I look forward to working with you. 

 

Happy Spring everyone! We will kick off the Lodge calendar with the Installation of Officers on April 6th . This is open to anyone, and we will be awarding our Officer, Elk, and Citizen of the Year to three fine individuals. Our Officer of the Year is Anthony Vitale. Tony has stepped up into the role with veterans and filling some very big shoes. Our Citizen of the Year is Gaitley Stevenson-Mathews from Glen Cove. A few years back the VFW suffered damage from a fire and Gaitley was instrumental in all the fundraising to recently get his post back up and running. Our Elk of the Year is being awarded posthumously to our former PDD and Lodge Treasurer Robert Giglio for his many years of service to Elkdom. 

 

In May, I will be traveling to Villa Roma for the NY State Spring Conference. I look forward to learning the new initiatives of our incoming State President, John Lawless. I will share his message with you all upon my return. This year, I would like us all to concentrate on membership. Let’s get out and get our family and friends to become members of the greatest fraternal organization around. I would love to see us finish this Lodge year back up and over the 400-member mark.

 

I want to wish our new incoming State Vice President of the South District, Paul Schneller of NY Lodge #1,

the best of luck during his tenure. I know Paul is a dedicated Elk and will do a great job.

 

In closing, and as always, check the calendar and your emails for any upcoming events. Be sure to keep the Lodge apprised of your email address, especially if you have a change. Please stay safe this Spring and enjoy the warmer weather as we press on towards the summer months. I look forward to

seeing you around the Lodge. 

 

Fraternally,

Christopher Petrella, PER
Exalted Ruler