YORKTOWN LODGE # 2324

NEWSLETTER

Jan/Feb 2010

EDITOR - JOE PIKULA

Ins ide this is sue:

KUDOS KORNER SPECIAL

OLYMPICS DICTIONARY PROGRAM

2

CELEBRATION TIME

DICTIONARY PROGRAM

3

SPONSORS 4 5,6

MEMBERSHIP 52 CLUB

LADIES AUXILIARY SCHOLARSHIPS

CHILDRENS

CHRISTMAS PARTY

VETERANS EVENTS

7

YORKTOWN LODGE # 2324

MID HUDSON DISTRICT # 6180

EXALTED RULER’S MESSAGE

Members All:

Hopefully you have all had a Happy and Healthy Holiday Sea-son. All of our volunteers have been busy making the holi-days a little brighter for those less fortunate. On behalf of the lodge we Thank You.

The dictionaries have been distributed to several local schools. Thanks to a grant acquired by Mary De Silva, we were able to distribute the dictionaries with no cost to the lodge.

As we start the New Year please remember our commitment to keep bingo alive. The income from bingo in conjunction with our kitchen rental will help keep us running in good financial shape.

We are currently entering the last quarter of the 2009/2010 ELK Year. Thank you for all of your hard work and dedication. It has truly been a pleasure serving as the Exalted Ruler and representing our Lodge.

Happy New Year!

Fraternally; Andy Tumolo

Charity Poker Party

On Sat November 28, the lodge held its 9th Charity Poker game and we were able to raise approximately $1000 for the Wounded Warrior Fund. The fund helps wounded soldiers accli-mate with their injuries when they come back home. The help from our lodge members and others was very gener-ous. Anne Morrison and Flo Simione as usual did an excellent job preparing all the dishes. Don Kenneally brought The 5 ft sandwiches and Mike Mullins brought the Chili which had a nice kick. Jimmy Vignola and Tom Pavletich did a great job as they have at all 8 previous games taking care of the kitchen and serv-ing the food. Dave Yazzetti did an excellent job with the 50-50 and Tony Venditti , Bob Falco and John Murray helped with the set up. Ed Santiago and Don Simione and Jack Morrison ensured that beverages were available throughout the night and thanks go to my daughters, Keri Anne and Jaimie Morrison who served our pat rons dur ing the event. My thanks to all who participated and helped in this charitable endeavor. Jim Morrison

IMPORTANT DATES TO

REMEMBER

HOOP SHOOT JAN 9

YORKTOWN HIGH

SCHOOL

VETERANS LUNCH @ CASTLE POINT JAN 23

SPECIAL LODGE

MEETING JAN 27

INITIATION

FEB 3

SPECIAL OLYMPICS

EVENTS

Floor Hockey Jan 23

Adaptive Games Feb 13

Basketball March 6

BINGO EVERY

THURSDAY DOORS OPEN

@ 5:00 PM

SPECIAL MESSAGE We close each year with a flurry of activities with our friends and families and with others groups as we share the joys of the Holi-day Season.

What a great time that is!

If we can remember that: WE ARE JUDGED BY WHAT WE DO - NOT BY WHAT WE SAY, It’s easy to see that we may have earned a measure of respect by carrying out ac-tivities such as those de-scribed in this newsletter.

Please join us as we con-tinue doing the same kind of “good works” throughout this New Year…2010 !

Volunteer Now

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

I N S E R T

KUDOS KORNER

Page 2

THANK YOU THANK YOU

SPECIAL OLYMPICS

Our Lodge hosted the Hudson Valley Region Annual Awards Dinner on November 20. Thanks to Rich D’Andrea and son Tom, Tom Pavletich, Joe Pikula, Tom Pikula, who volunteered to help make the eve-ning a success….. , We also appreciate the efforts of those who worked and catered to the needs of our guests at the event: Mary Blackadder, Vic Bonci, Jennie Grasso, Donie Simione, Betsy Solow and son Corey, Tony Venditti, and Jim Vignola.

Member Joe Pikula was Inducted into the initial class of the Hudson Valley Region “Hall of Fame”. He was one of two volunteers accorded such honors for his more than 30 years of service to this program which was formerly known as Westchester/Putnam Special Olympics. A total of six persons; two athletes, two coaches, and two volunteers were inducted during the ceremony. The address and the plaque presentation was done by another Lodge Member, Ellen Pikula, Joe’s daughter, who is a Director of Program at HVRSO. As part of his acceptance speech, Joe acknowledged and thanked our Elks Lodge members for their support over the past fifteen years, during which our Lodge developed a dedicated volunteer group to serve the Special Olympics Program.

DICTIONARY PROGRAM

This is the fifth year that our Lodge has distributed dictionaries to the third grade students at both St. Pat-rick’s and St Elizabeth Ann Seton Schools. The funding for this program comes in the form of a grant from ENF, and we have applied for, and received, the grant each year.

On December 21, 2009 dictionaries were distributed to third grade at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton School. The higher classes received Spanish/English dictionaries.

Ptctured with the third grade students are: Richard DeSilva, PSVP, School Principal Sister Gabriel Miriam, Teachers Mrs. Kerry Boynes and Mrs. Mary Cooper.

Pictures were taken by Joe Pikula, Editor

Dictionaries being distributed to Happy Students by: SVP Mary De Silva and PSVP Rich De Silva

St. Elizabeth Ann Seton School

JEP

PAGE 3 Jan/Feb 2010

JANUARY

FEBRUARY

SPOUSES

CELEBRATION TIME

TO ALL OF YOU, WE WISH YOU THE VERY BEST ON YOUR SPECIAL DAY

MEMBERS

Carol Alimonti

Connie Belotti

Mary Bonci

Jean Dunphy

Jean Gorski

Maureen Green

Therese Jordan

Barbara Mc Carthy

Ruby O’Reilly

Josephine Savage

Jennifer Schmidt

Doris Versace

William and Glenda Geis

George and Wilma Mann

Gerald and Muriel Sammon

Andrew Alimonti

Dennis Beers

Richard Bennett

Vito Cappelletti

Daniel M. Cullen

Richard J. Curtin

Thomas Dunnings

Robert Falco

Robert Galbraith

Peter Mc Kenna

George Mann

Michael Mullins

Michael Murphy

Sal Muscente

Joseph Plitnick

Daniel Raiola

John Swick

Mary Antonecchia

Virginia Bianco

Josephine Bottega

Dorothy Faucher

Glenda Geis

Nancy Grealy

Dorothy Hassett

Suzanne Horgan

Harry Nalbandian

Kathleen O’Neill

Mary Helen Smith

Nicholas and Virginia Bianco

Michael and Carol Cook

Frederick and Rose Gauthier

William and Kathy Graham

Dave and Lori Locke

Joseph and Lucy Occhipinti

Bernard and Gisele Staino

William Calcutti

Jim Capone

Ben Colabattista

Michael Cook Sr.

Richard D’Andrea

Roland Faucher

John Hynes Jr.

Dave Locke

George Lucciola

Tony Masi

Timothy O’Conner

Wayne Perosky

Joseph Petriello

Kenneth Robinson

Lenny Rodriguez

Michael Ruppel

Edgar Santiago

Steve Smith

William Terhune

Bob Vijacki

Joseph Visconti

DICTIONARY PROGRAM (continued from page 2)

Dictionaries were distributed to third grade students at St. Pat-rick’s School on December 14, 2009. Spanish/English diction-aries were also distributed to the higher classes.

Pictured with the third grade students are: left to right Mary De Silva, SVP, member Bar-bara Leifels, Teacher Lynn Ajello and Principal Nan Gol-logly. Taking the picture was Richard De Silva, PSVP.

Mary De Silva, ENF Chairlady

St Patrick’s School

PAGE 4 Jan/Feb 2010

Once again, we played host to a group of homeless children, at our Lodge. The visit was coordinated by Eileen Torres of the Grace Church in White Plains and Joe Pikula of our Lodge.

Chairman Jim Matthews arranged for all the goodies and the preparations, and the children were treated with hot dogs, “fries”, chicken tenders, soda, ice cream, cookies, and cupcakes. Each Child was given a gift by Santa (Wayne Gorski), along with a candy cane, and all left with a care package to share with oth-ers. Those who helped put a little love in the lives of some kids who really could use it were: Anthony Cacciola, Joe Cacciola, Joe DiPaterio, Liz Gentile, Jim and his daughter Chelsea Matthews, Pete Mills, Tom Pavletich, Joe Pikula, Ed Santiago, Betsy Solow, Jerry Sammon, and Tony Venditti.

GOD BLESS THE CHILDREN AND OUR WONDERFUL VOLUNTEERS.

What Do Kids Like Best At Christmas -

Especially to those who don’t have the warmth and comfort of a stable home and

family ?

A VISIT TO YORKTOWN LODGE

Where they are served up !!

LOTS OF LOVE

GOOD FOOD

FUN AND GAMES

A PERSONAL VISIT

THIS IS

DOOR NUMBER 1

GUESS WHO’S BEHIND

IT ?????

PAGE 5 Jan/Feb 2010

Veterans Program Fund Raiser : Turkey Shoot Nov 7 – Nov 15, 2009

Thirty eight contestants tested their marksmanship skills by shooting a BB gun rifle at a bulls eye target. Each contestant paid $5.00 for three shots, and quite a few contestants participated multiple times. In addition, two members donated money to the cause without shooting. The winner of the competition was Jimmy Matthews, who won a 24 lb. turkey, which was donated to the Lodge and was pre-sented to him during the VA lunch on November 16th.

On 11/16/09, our Lodge hosted about 25 veterans and staff from the Montrose VA Hospital. They were served a great lunch of barbequed steak, roasted red potatoes, cut corn, salad, cake and ice cream. Rich Paul was our grill master, and pastry chef Jill Gorski Csordas and Jean Gorski made sure they had an ample supply of “goodies”. They played bingo under the watchful eye of Jim Vignola and were entertained by the piano playing of our own version of Billy Jowel. They each left with gift bags of playing cards, bananas, cookies (donated by Tommy Rabbitt), pretzels and candy bars ( donated by Ralph, the bartender at Gordo’s Restaurant.)

We made the vets very happy and it was good to see them leave with big smiles on their faces.

Visits were made to Castle Point and Montrose Hospitals on !2/18 and 12/19 respectively. Christmas cards, (made by children of the Mildred Strang Middle, Copper Beech Middle , Putnam Valley and Mammaroneck Schools), cookies (made by Jill Gorski Csordas), and puzzle books were distributed to the veterans. The cost of the puzzle books was covered by a donation from Ralph the bartender at Gordo’s Restaurant, and, in part by funds from our Turkey Shoot. During our visit, we observed how much the veterans loved the cards as they proudly displayed them around their beds in their rooms, clearly indicating how precious they consider some of the simpler things in life.

God Bless Our Veterans and Our Elks Who Care and Share With Them.

On Jan. 23, 2010, we are planning to prepare and serve lunch at Castle Point.Hospital to about 80 veterans and staff. We need volunteers to help setting up, serving and cleanup….please call at 845-528-7525 if you can help.

Wayne Gorski

Thanks go to the following volunteers who helped to serve and did the cleanup.

Jim Capone, Ted Galgano, Wayne Gorski, Danny LoPresti, George Mann,

Jim Matthews, Richie Paul, Tom Pavletich, Joe Pikula, Tony Venditti, Jim Vignola,

Bob Vijacki, and to Carl Schliman (a visiting meat carver), and Neil Gross, Al Kotash from Peekskill Lodge

CHOW TIME A BINGO WINNER

HOSPITAL VISITS

LUNCH AT THE LODGE

VETERANS PROGRAM

Jan/Feb 2010

Sickness or Distress as of 12/18/2009

We send our Prayers & Best Wishes to all who are ill and/or recuperating at home or in the hospital:

Ernie Altieri, Fred Beardsley, Vic Bonci, Ben Colabattista, Pete Gubello, John Hyler, Peter Mastropolo, Bill O’Reilly, John Paladino,

If you know of anyone who is ill or needs help, please call the Lodge (914) 245 - 9839

Page 7

January Birthdays: Ruby O'Reilly; Gloria DePolo February Birthday: Kathleen O'Keefe

We look forward to meeting again in the New Year 2010….Happy New Year to all Clara Cartelli

52 CLUB WINNERS

10/21 - Joe Pikula

10/28 - Don Kenneally

11/04 - Paul Egan

11/11 - Rich De Silva

11/18– Don Kenneally

11/25 - Joe Metrovich

12/02 - Mike Adamovich

12/09 - Mike Littleton

12/16 - Danny Raiola

Congratulations to all the

Lucky Winners

MEMBERSHIP

The following candidates are in various stages of the investigation proc-ess and are expected to be eligible for initiation:

Candidates Sponsor Matt Arruda Anthony Cacciola Robert Del Baso Anthony Cacciola John Gravenese Tom Pavletich, PER Keith Hladek Tom Pavletich, PER Mike Silvano Robert Vijacki Jenny Menton Grasso Anthony Grasso

The next initiation Ceremony will be held on February 3, 2010, and will be conducted by the Past Exalted Rulers of our Lodge

Jan/Feb 2010

Page 6

DECEASED Clement Cooke - 1921 - 2009 RIP RIP

SCHOLARSHIPS

This was a very active year for scholarship applications as we received more than our quota of ENF applica-tions. Our Lodge winners, whose applications were sent to the District for the next level of judging and filling out our quota of 3 female and 3 male applicants were, listed alphabetically:

Jillian Caffery, Christina Leader, Kayla Murphy, Joseph Bonitatibus, Christopher Chung, Julien Zidi >>>>> Congratulations <<<<<

SPECIAL MEETING NOTICE

January 27…...7:30 pm

Your Attendance is requested for a special meeting at the request of the

Officers and Trustees to discuss important issues affecting our Lodge.

Joe Pikula

NEWSLETTER PATRONS We Thank all of our generous patrons who donated the funds necessary to publish our Newsletter.

Our Elk Year ends March 31, 2010, and we will begin another Elktowner publication year beginning with the May 2010 Issue. Please contact Mary De Silva or Joe Pikula if you would like to support us next year. Editor

LADIES AUXILIARY

L

ELKS CARE ELKS SHARE

Visit Our Website @ Yorktownlodge.com

NON—PROFIT ORGANIZATION

US POSTAGE

PAID Yorktown Hts. NY

Permit No. 11

IN MEMORY OF OUR DEPARTED MEMBERS

Yorktown Lodge # 2324 P.O. Box 415

Yorktown, NY 10598

Lodge Phone: (914) 245-9839 Booking Office: (914) 962-7895

2008

Joseph Basso, Michael Covino Joseph D’Ascoli, Harry MacKay

2009

Bernard Clark, Richard Dillon, Anthony Fiore, David Hanke,

Martin McGannon, John Patane, Robert Perry

MAY THEY REST IN PEACE

Lodge Memorial Service On Sunday, December 6, our Lodge held it’s annual memorial service to honor those who gave of themselves in the development of our Lodge and have passed away. ER Andy Tumolo (left) presided over the ceremony, which was attended by approximately 75 members and guests (some pictured above). In addition to ER Andy, the ceremony was performed by our Lodge officers: Michael Adamovich, Paul Egan, Mary De Silva, Richard De Silva,

Bill O’Reilly, Joseph Pikula, Charlie Scheld

The following Patrons have generously donated the funds necessary to cover the costs of publica-tion and distribution of our Elktowner Newsletter to our membership via the US Postal Service. We appreciate their support and are happy to provide them with the additional exposure via this web site

edition of the newsletter; we ask all of our readers to support their businesses whenever possible:

DML MORTGAGE ENTERPRISES INC 334 Underhill Avenue

Yorktown heights, NY 10598 David Yazzetti

(914) 245 0300 Cell (914) 843 0843

PARK FORD - LINCOLN MERCURY 276 Route 6

Mahopac, NY 10541 Rich D’Andrea (845) 628 8800

CENTURY 21 MULVEY 1952 Commerce Street

Yorktown Heights, NY 10598 Robert Schmidt

(914) 962 1121 Ext 45 Cell (917) 991 4354

CHASE MEDIA GROUP ( Formerly Yorktown Pennysaver)

1520 Front Street Yorktown Heights, NY 10598

(914) 962 3871

LAW OFFICES OF SEEDORF & SCHELD 45 Main Street

Bedford Hills, NY 10507 Charlie Scheld Marc Seedorf

(914) 242 0104

NORTHERN WESTCHESTER—PUTNAM PHYSICAL THERAPY P.C.

Maryann C Russo, M.S., P.T. & Associates

THE MAHOPAC NATIONAL BANK BUIDING JEFFERSON VALLEY MEDICAL CENTER 21 Peekskill Hollow Road Suite 201 3535 Hill Boulevard Suite P PUTNAM Valley, NY 10579 Yorktown Heights, NY 10598 (845) 528 3133 (914) 962 2728

CROTON MINI DELI - 10 MAPLE ST. CROTON ON HUDSON, NY

Don Kenneally (914) 271 6970

YORKTOWN PASTRY SHOP - 16 TRIANGLE SHOPPING CTR.

YORKTOWN HEIGHTS, NY (914) 245 6962

MARCH CONSTRUCTION INC. - 17 LONGVUE TER. YONKERS, NY

Luis Delgado (914) 469 1505

YORKTOWN BEER & SODA - 1893 COMMERCE ST. YORKTOWN HEIGHTS, NY (914) 962 4659

THE SUGAR LOAF BREAD CO - SUGAR LOAF, NY

Michael Guido (845) 610 5010

RELIABLE OIL CO., INC - 277 VETERANS RD. YORKTOWN HEIGHTS, NY (914) 962 4508

HIGHLAND MECHANICAL SERVICES - PUTNAM VALLEY, NY Bob Kurtz (845) 526 0449

RIDGE CHIROPRACTIC & MASSAGE Route 6 MOHEGAN LAKE, NY (914) 528 8849

MAPLE LEAF ASSOCIATES INC. Andrew Tumolo (845) 621 3813

RESIDENTIAL HOME FUNDING CORP. Michael Littleton (914) 245 3300

GOLD AWARD PATRONS

SILVER AWARD PATRONS

BRONZE AWARD PATRONS

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