Culver City Elks Lodge #1917 held their awards ceremony Friday night, celebrating the achievements of our local members throughout the 2018 year.

Genevieve Santiesteban earned the title of Elk of the Year with her tireless work on the activities we held throughout the year.

She is responsible for organizing, setup and breakdown of our events which include (but aren't limited to); our Valentine's Day Dance, our Mother's Day brunch, our Memorial Day and Flag Day ceremonies, our Fourth of July picnic, our Halloween and Christmas parties, plus the special honorary dinners we have held this year.

That's a lot for anyone's plate, but Genny handles it all with a smile and a sharp mind for organization.

This dinner also recognized two Elks who've gone out of their way to make this Lodge one of the best in California.

Humberto Benitez (on left) is our Chairman of the Board.  He has attended almost every Elk event held at the lodge and has lent his experience and knowledge to all who are involved with them.  His selfless involvement with the Lodge has earned him the Outstanding Service Commendation from our Grand Lodge in Illinois.

Hector Flores (second from the right) has taken the lead in making major improvements to our lodge at very inexpensive prices.  As a non-profit organization we have a very small budget for this type of remodel, but Hector has worked miracles with what we have and has totally transformed the look of our Lodge.  he, too, has earned the Outstanding Service Commendation from our Grand Lodge.

Being an Elk is a lot of fun. Serving the community through charitable actions is rewarding, but our lodge is only as strong as our members.  Growing our lodge is vital to continuing the work we do for the Culver City people. As such the Grand Lodge sent a letter of recognition to; Ronnie Martinez, Sylvia Caron, Ruben Burgess, Hector Santiesteban, and Humberto Benitez for introducing many new members to the lodge.

Thanks for keeping the lodge strong and active guys!

The Culver City Elks are now over 400 members strong and we are looking for a 25% increase in this coming year.