Elks Lodge Installs New Officers

Two hundred-five Elks members, families and guests recently celebrated the Mission Viejo / Saddleback Valley Elks Lodge No. 2444 installation of Officers. Outgoing Exalted Ruler Mike Klinger of Mission Viejo expressed his gratitude and appreciation to the members for a very successful year. He praised his Corps of Officers and Committee workers for the numerous charitable accomplishments of the past twelve months and for increasing his membership goal of twelve-hundred men and women members. Klinger also offered his congratulations to the incoming Corps of Officers, pledging his support and wishing them success in the coming year.

The new officers will be serving the Lodge for a term of one year which began on April 1, 2019. They are Exalted Ruler (Lodge president) Jamie Camunas of Lake Forest, Vice Presidents: Leading Knight Greg Morgan of Rancho Santa Margarita, Loyal Knight Stuart Urquhart of Mission Viejo, and Lecturing Knight Kim Maestri of Trabuco Canyon. Also installed were: Lodge Secretary, Laura Lumley of Mission Viejo, Treasurer William (Bill) Bongartz of Laguna Hills, Esquire Rick Moscoso of Mission Viejo, Chaplain Lauren Perry of Mission Viejo, Five-Year Trustee John Lee of Mission Viejo, Four-Year Trustee, Alan Harkness of Capistrano Beach, Three-Year Trustee Past District Deputy & Lodge Advisor Harvey Boelts of San Juan Capistrano, Two-Year Trustee Larry Colgan of Mission Viejo, and Trustee Chairman Vicky Long of Dove Canyon. Tiler Lynette Holmes and Inner Guard Richard Holmes of Mission Viejo, and Grand Lodge Area 7 Committeeman & Lodge Organist Andy Costello of Laguna Hills were also installed.

In her acceptance speech, newly elected Exalted Ruler Jamie Camunas congratulated the outgoing officer corps saying, “This past year was one of the greatest years of accomplishment in our Lodges proud history.” Camunas said that her motto for the year will be, “Our Future is so bright we need to wear shades” She pledged to make her year a fun year for the members with continued growth and increased involvement with the community’s youth, the homeless, our veterans and active military. She highlighted the importance of the Lodge’s continued involvement in charitable works within the Saddleback community.

The Mission Viejo / Saddleback Elks Lodge No. 2444, celebrating forty-nine (49) years of service to the Saddleback Valley communities, is one of eight lodges in the Orange Coast District of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks (BPOE) whose headquarters is in Chicago, Illinois. The BPOE is a charitable organization with a 150-year history of giving, “Elks Care, Elks Share.”