Board of Trustees of Palo Alto Lodge #1471

Palo Alto Lodge is fortunate to have a Corps of Officers and Trustees who work toward making the Lodge a great place for members and their families to visit. These Trustees put in countless hours of volunteer time to manage the Lodge's resources and finances in a fiscally responsible manner. Each Trustee has taken on at least two areas of responsibility with another Trustee, which are listed following each biography.

Chet Hayes
Trustee
Chairman of the Board

Chet was born and educated in Boston, MA receiving degrees in electronic engineering, business and law. Chet is married and has four adult children living on the east coast. He presently lives in San Jose and has lived there since 1985 when he moved to California.

Ralph Nelson
Trustee

Ralph Nelson is a long-time resident of Palo Alto and was a research scientist at SLAC for 40 years. He graduated from UC Berkeley (A.B.), U. Washington (M.S.) and Stanford (Ph.D., Physics and Radiology, 1973). He still consults on a regular basis at Varian’s Gintzton Technology Center. His hobbies include fishing, serious RVing, and playing standup bass in bluegrass bands. During the last two years he has brought country-music friends to our Veterans BBQs and this year he has arranged for young musicians (ages 9-16) to give a repeat performance.

Phil Palmer
Co-Chairman of the Board

Phil Palmer has been a member of the lodge for 3 years and while that is a short time by Palo Alto Elks standards, he has been an active volunteer almost since day one. He has been the Chairman of the PR committee since 2006 providing updates and many enhancements to our website and electronic communications to our members via email. He also started the Car Donation program that has raised several thousand dollars for the Elks Charity fund. Last year, he co-chaired the Elks Hoop Shoot and this year he was elected to the four-year Trustee position where he continues to serve our members.

Phil was born and raised in Palo Alto and currently resides in Mountain View with his wife (Genie) and three daughters. He is an active member of his community. He currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Mountain View Educational Foundation (a non-profit foundation that raises money for enrichment activities for the Mountain View Whisman School District). In addition, he is a publicly elected official and serves as a Trustee for the Mountain View Whisman School District.

Phil spent 20 years at Hewlett Packard working in Information Technology management and 5 years with Sony Corporation as Sr. Director, Information Technology. In 2002, he started PepWater Consulting, which specializes in business startup activities and information technology consulting.

Carol Macpherson
Trustee

Carol Macpherson is a two-year trustee. She is well known and recognized for her background in aquatics and managing our outdoor swimming pool for a number of years. She became an Elk six years ago and has been a tremendous asset to the lodge by helping pool manager Ernie Spina along with recruiting new members into our lodge. Carol is a former All-American swimmer and has been inducted into the Hall of Fame in Santa Clara and other cities. She brings excellent credentials with her expertise in swimming pools as we begin construction design of our new lodge. Carol will also serve as the board contact in helping plan family activities in the new lodge.

Steve Becker
Trustee

Steve Becker has been an Elks member since 2007.  He is currently working as V.P. of Sales & Marketing with a company in the Fiber Optic Communications industry.  He has over 20 years of experience in Sales & Marketing, and holds a Bachelor's degree in Business Management with a concentration in Marketing from Sonoma State University.  He is also a member of Menlo Park Presbyterian Church.
 
He is also a California native and enjoys Hiking, Swimming, fishing, golf, BBQs, and much more.  Steve is hoping to grow with the Elks, and contribute more to the community through the Elks as well.  If you see him be sure to say hello, and introduce yourself.  He really enjoys getting to know the great Elks out there.  His current favorite Elks saying is, "Elks care, Elks share".