Did you Know ( I didn't) that cats like hearing aids? I use rechargeable hearing aids and on Monday morning one of them was missing from my charger. Needless to say, as these things are expensive, the room and other parts of the house were searched.
My sister-in-law noted that she had been warned that cats are attracted to hearing aids either by sound or smell. A quick search online confirmed that both cats and dogs show an interest in the hearing aids. I already knew about dogs from a past experience and my charger is out of reach of the canine members of the family.
We also have 5 felines. They became the immediate suspects. On Tuesday morning Brenda heard a noise at the foot of the back stairs and found one of the cats playing with the hearing aid. The good news is that it wasn't damaged and when recharged works as well as ever. I guess Deedee just wanted to play with it. The charger has been moved to a location where it can't be reached by any of our pets.
The Emerson Elks, a very small group at the present time, has still been busy this holiday season. Full disclosure, I am president of the Emerson Elks Lodge. We have run our Christmas Hamper program again. Since the pandemic we have not distributed actual hampers of food to applicants, but rather vouchers for groceries at the Emerson Bigway store. The value of the vouchers is determined by the funds available, number of applicants, and family size.
This year we had 32 families apply for the program. This is an increase from 26 last year. We received many donations from both commercial and private individuals in support of this program. We had donations from Emerson Milling, GH Young and Co, Access Credit Union, Pappel Farms, Royal Canadian Legion Emerson Branch, Bridgehill Pottery, Emerson Bigway, Runnin' Red, and Oakville Manor residents. There may be further donations in the mail. We also received donations from individuals in Emerson, but I won't name them as some may not wish the publicity. I will say thank you to all of them. This wonderful project would not be possible without the community support.
We also presented candy bags to the children at the Emerson School Christmas Concert on December 17. This has been an annual project for the lodge and well received by the community.
The Elks of Canada is a nation wide fraternal and charitable organization. We have our own national charity, The Elks and Royal Purple Fund for Children. The hearing impaired are of special interest to the Fund for Children, but support of our young people goes far beyond that. The Fund for Children have provided support for families experiencing losses due to fires, illness, travel for medical care and much more.
As important as the Fund for Children is, the heart of the Elks is the network of local lodges, each supporting its own community. Funds raised by the local lodges are spent in the community in support of many local groups. All communities blessed with an Elks lodge benefit from thousands of dollars raised and spent on community projects.
As times change, this form of volunteerism seems to be fading. Many lodges, including our own, are shrinking and will inevitably fade away. I don't have a timeline on this, but it has been the predominant direction of membership in my 50 plus years in the order. It will be a sad day when the Emerson Lodge closes, and a loss to the whole community.
