Dear Fellow Members,

Our first month has passed very quickly. There are many signs that spring has arrived, and for many of us, seasonal allergies are the first indication. With springtime here, it is also time for our annual Fishing Derby on May 3, at our pond. Bring the kids and grandkids—the kids love this event!

May is shaping up to be an exciting month. The Members’ Lounge will feature horse racing, karaoke, and live music. We’ll recognize the Drug Awareness Program winners and our four scholarship recipients during Elks Youth Week. Our Mother’s Day Brunch will be on May 10 in the ballroom. Then, on May 24, with the help of the Antlers, we will lay roses on the graves of veterans at Saint Francis Cemetery. Finally, our officers, Antlers, and our members who are veterans will participate in the Memorial Day Parade. Our officers will end the month at the CT Elks Convention May 29-30 in Trumbull.

We want the membership to be aware that per Grand Lodge, our Members’ Lounge must be closed during Lodge meetings, including Class Nights with initiations. This is the reason our Lodge Meetings occur on Mondays, and opening the Members’ Lounge after Lodge at 8pm is not cost-effective. We’ve struggled with how to hold our traditional class night dinners while abiding by Grand Lodge statutes. Going forward, we will invite all new members and their sponsors to join us at a quarterly ‘New Member Dinner’ so our newest members can enjoy the camaraderie of our membership both at dinner and after in our Members’ Lounge. Please look for these dinners in future journals; all members are urged to attend to welcome our new members. (Note all members are encouraged to attend Lodge meetings. The members’ outer door is unlocked on Mondays to allow access to the Lodge room after entering using your membership key card.)

Looking ahead, we will begin Thursday Night Dinners at the pond once a month starting in June. Please review future journals for dates, menu information and sign-up instructions. I encourage everyone to register early for all of our events, as we would like to avoid cancellations due to late registrations. I hope to see you at many of the events this month.

Fraternally,

ER Sarah Lloyd

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Dear Torrington Elks Members,

I am truly grateful and excited to serve as your Exalted Ruler for the new Elk year. Please join me in welcoming back the Suite of Officers and House Committee members return-ing from last year, as well as our new additions: Arica Maher as Tiler and Teresa Krulicki as Inner Guard, Brian Lloyd as a five-year Trustee, and Joanne Maxwell as one-year Trus-tee. New to the House Committee this year is AJ Bouchard, Peter Kapitancek, and Todd Speaker.

I would also like to extend my heartfelt thanks to PER Jean Weingart for her hard work over the past year and for the invaluable knowledge she has shared with me.

Be sure to read the journal, visit our website at www.torringtonelks.com, and follow our Facebook page—these are the best places to stay informed about the exciting events we have planned. Coming up soon, we’ll be hosting an 80’s Theme Party in the Members’ Lounge on April 18th, Horse Racing on May 2nd, and our Mother’s Day Brunch on May 10th. Please remember to sign up early; we’ve had to cancel a few events recently due to low participation.

Remember, our lodge is run by dedicated volunteers. I encourage everyone to get involved—working together is how we will make this year a success.

Fraternally,

Sarah Lloyd

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Dear Torrington Elks Members,

March is my last month as Exalted Ruler of Torrington Elks. Wow, has it been a busy year!! Check out pages 6 and 7 for some of the activities and accomplishments that occurred in the last 12 months! Keep in mind that for every event listed, there is a ton of planning and prep work that has to happen. As I’ve said many times this year, Torrington Elks has an amazing village that really cares about our Lodge and our members. The time and effort put in by so many volunteers is amazing, and I am so thankful for each and every one of them. Chef Kelly and our bar manager Victoria and their teams are also very dedicated to the good of our membership and continue to do a spectacular job!

But we’re not done yet! In February, we dropped off another 6 winter coats and $430 in grocery gift cards to Torrington Veteran’s Service Office, we provided $500 worth of household goods to Susan B. Anthony Project, we raised $2000 for Special Olympics, and collected pet items to donate to “For the Love of Jack.” On March 21, from 9am—noon, which is the first full day of spring, we will be giving away Smoke Alarms and CO detectors at Torrington Fire Department and Harwinton West Side Fire Department as part of a “Spring Safely” campaign. This community event was made possible by a $1700 grant from CT Elks Association Charities. More funds will become available on May 1 for community safety.

As I begin my last month, there are so many individuals to thank for their guidance and continued support, most notably my husband Jim, who has put up with “all Elks, all the time” and House Chairman Mike Zordan who is “retiring” from Elks roles as of March 31. Mike’s 15 years of service and contributions to our lodge as House Chairman over the last 10 years are impressive, and have really helped shape our lodge into the fine establishment it is today. Finally, I must thank PER Rich Slevinsky for all of his support and guidance through the year—plus the great shows he has helped us offer our membership! It has truly been an honor for me to serve as Exalted Ruler, but I’m looking forward to some traveling, golf and more time with my grandchildren in the near future as I step away from a leadership role at our lodge. I wish ER-elect Sarah Lloyd and her team of officers and House Committee all the best as they take the reins and move the lodge forward. Thanks for the memories!

Fraternally, Jean Weingart

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Dear Torrington Elks Members,

We have a fun February on tap to keep us busy and out of the cold weather! We don’t have a large budget to hire entertainment weekly; our team does a great job with in-house events to bring the fun! Last month’s Disco Night was a blast, and this month’s Couple’s Trivia is sure to bring some laughs. If you have any ideas for additional in-house events please reach out!!

Special Olympics is one of the Connecticut Elks Association’s Major Charities that all CT Lodges are asked to support. PER Rich Slevinsky is helping us raise funds for this worthy charity by bringing in an Elton John Tribute on February 7th. This show was fantastic the last time we had him in a couple years back. The voice along with the costume changes—complete with the funky glasses—will have you thinking Sir Elton has joined us! Don’t miss this show and help a great cause.

We also have music by The Ebba’s coming to the members lounge in February and they will get your toes tapping! They play all the favorites and our dance floor will be packed. Come join the fun—attend the Elk and Officer of the Year dinner and then stay for the band! Details are below.

In February we begin looking towards the new Elk year, which begins on April 1. New officers are nomi-nated and elected during the February Lodge meetings. This is your chance to take action for the future of our Lodge. Get involved. Take the time to know who is leading our Lodge and offer them your sup-port. The future of our Lodge depends on it!

PER Sue Zordan has planned a PER meeting for early February, and has asked me to provide a list of all the events, community support, and Lodge upgrades completed in the 2025-2026 Elk year. I am thrilled to say that this is a long list! Look for it in next month’s journal!

Stay safe and warm—it’s been a while since we’ve had a cold, snow winter!!

Fraternally, Jean

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Dear Torrington Elks Members,

What a busy holiday season we had at the Lodge with all the community holiday parties we hosted: Friendly Hands Festival of Trees, Park & Rec’s Christmas Village Fundraiser, DCF’s Dinner with Santa, and PAL’s Christmas Brunch. Then there were the members’ lounge events plus all the donations we were able to make in December! It was certainly a hectic but extremely rewarding month! The Holiday Giving spirit was alive and well at #372 with the Friendly Hands Giving tree, the $1000 donation to Christmas Village, $500 of goods to Susan B. Anthony Project, $1000 to ALS-CT, $2000 to Torrington Library, $1000 to PAL, plus eighteen winter coats were given to the Torrington Veterans Office along with gloves and scarves.

As I announced last month, our Elk of the Year is Jakob (Jake) Derwitsch, and our Officer of the Year is Trustee Rick Porter. Jake was a member of the House Committee and did a stellar job diving head-first into the role of Pond Chairman, going above and beyond to resurrect a pond committee and oversee the day to day operations as well as many improvement projects at the pond from May thru November, and you occasionally find him waitering at the Lodge.

Rick is a Trustee who also took a very active interest in our House Committee this year. Rick was instrumental in several major projects at our Lodge and Pond this year including the renovations of the Pub Kitchen, the Pond Kitchen, and the Waiter/Storage room. He’s also one of our volunteer bartenders for Football Sundays. Both Jake and Rick were key volunteers at our “Rock the Pond” fund raiser in September. We will celebrate them on Saturday, February 21. We hope you can attend to hear more of the good work these volunteers did this Elk year, and show them your appreciation for doing so much for our lodge and our membership during this Elk year! I always say that we have a very good village of support at our Lodge, and these two are shining examples.

Fraternally, Jean Weingart

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