The holiday season, that time for friends, family, and community and around our lodge it’s time for our annual Christmas Basket program began back in 1965 by our departed member PER Bill Chandler. What began with passing the hat around to help a fellow Elk recently injured and in need, built into an amazing program helping build community in our neighborhoods and grounding our belief in helping our fellow man.
This past month a longtime member of 44 years stepped up and went abov
e and beyond to help build the community we all value in our membership. Interestingly, proposed by the same member that proposed Past Exalted Ruler Bill Chandler, this member built with his hands 60 gifts to be given out to our community with our Christmas baskets. Energy and care put into 60 handmade connections to family, friends and brotherly love.
Peter Monsaas Jr. – Thank you! You’ve gone above and beyond to help our lodge build community by making those amazing Ballard Elks emblazoned cribbage boards to be given away with our lodge Christmas baskets. Your efforts are astounding in a day and age of online connections and quickly delivered gifts. To do the work you did for such a noble cause exemplifies the values of 
Past Exalted Ruler Chandlers efforts and rekindles the value in personal effort for a great cause. “The Christmas spirit around the holidays,” said PER Chandler, “generosity and helping others, is the best there is.”
Well done and thank you from the Past Exalted Ruler Association and your fellow Elks at the Ballard Elks lodge 827. It’s these types of actions that leave a lasting impression and prove a good deed honestly and properly preformed lasts forever.
Monthly Elk of the Month Award recipients not only get this article in the Antlers Newsletter & Online, they receive a $12 gift certificate to our social quarters, an Elk of the Month certificate to pin on their wall and are in the running for Elk of the Year, awarded at the Officer Installation Dinner each year. You can find the nomination form on our website (ballardelks.org), fill it out as best you can and get it to our Past Exalted Ruler Association before the 19th of each month – 827per@ballardelks.org