DEAR BROTHERS AND SISTERS

Happy New Year, Boy this past year went by fast. I want to thank the Chairmen for the Senior Bingo. They did an outstanding job. I also want to thank all their elves who cooked, decorated, cleaned up and called bingo. You were all great. Thank you so much. The kids Christmas party was also a success. Thank you all especially Santa and Mrs. Claus.

In the recent Moose Magazine Darrell O'Brien, Director of Lodge Operation wrote an article entitled "Moose a Program that

Works. I will quote this article here, because it also applies to our lodge operations. "On occasion we hear some member say the "the Moose isn't what it used to be." I have to agree society and the world have changed, and our fraternity must change along with it. But too often, as the staff in the Lodge Operations Department reviews the operations of a detressed or closed lodge, we find mere shadows of what that Lodge used to be .One item that seems constant among these Lodges is that the Social Quarters is the last thing to physically go away. It is readily evident that in too many cases our members' vision has become blurred.They believe the Social Quarters is the Lodge. Nothing could be further from the truth. The Social Quarters is just one part of the Moose Program. A program the hinges on fully-staffed and functioning committees. The Moose program when fully implemented continues to thrive as evidenced by the scores of successful and growing Moose Lodges in operation today. Unfortunately, something less than a fully implemented Moose program exists in far too many Moose faclities today.

I say "facilities" because in reality the "Lodge" is much more than a Social Quarters or a building. A Lodge is the culmination of an intergrated program of functions and activities carried out by our members in support of the mission and purposed of the Loyal Order of Moose. Over simplified, the Moose Program consisits of three key areas: Caring for children and our Moose seniors; Making our communities better places to live; and celebrating life. I can here the outcry now:What about Membership? And certainly an effort to sponsor and retain members is central to any Moose operation. But as a matter of fact the Moose Lodges which are vigorously addressing these key areas have little trouble attracting, and keeping, Moose members." There are more paragraphs in this article which you can read in the moose magazine. However, I think that you get the idea. Lets make sure that our lodge in not one of those that have been forced to close because of poor management and a failure to make a commitment to keep all of the Moose program alive in the lodge.

One of the benefits of membership in the Moose Fraternity is for those members 65 and older to apply for residence at Moosehaven in Jacksonville, Fl. It is a beautiful senior facillity with many amenities. To qualify you must be a least 65 yrs old, have been a member of the Moose Fraternity a minimum of 15 yrs. There have been some significant changes in the admissions policy in recent years. One change is the you do not have to turn all you assets over to Moosehaven upon entering. Instead your money is placed in your own account at Moosehaven. Money from that account will be withdrawn each month for your rent, etc. You will receive a statement each month indicating how much had been withdrawn. If you decide to leave Moosehaven, You will recieve whatever is left in that account. You will never be asked to leave Moosehaven, once you funds have run out. Another change is that even if you have an illness you can still be considered for admission. The average age at admission is 75 yrs old. So even if you are in your early sixties and you join the Moose, you will still been able to have 15yrs of membeship before you may need Moosehaven. So encourage you friends to join, if only for this benefit. The way the economy is going and the cost of health care rising, you never know if you might need Moosehaven. If for no other reason, keep your membership up to date and continous so that you do not give this fantastic benenfit. For only $58.00 a year you have access to this state of the art retirement community.