ER's November Message
It is November and that means you should all be practicing your skills for the annual Turkey Shoot. On the 21st, we will host the event and everyone is invited. Come and play some games, try your luck and win one of the 200 turkeys and 120 bottles of wine that we will give away. Don't forget to buy your raffle tickets on the BBQ that will also be given away that night. All of the proceeds help to support our scholarships that we give out in the spring. I would like to thank the two members that responded to my invitation to work on a new charitable project. I have just a little more leg work to complete and we will get together to discuss this exciting opportunity. We could use some additional help, so give me a call. I have a special request of all of you who will be in town on Sunday, December 6th. That is the date of the annual Memorial Service where we remember and honor the members that have passed on this year. Your officers are trying to make this a special event again, and to that end, we invite all members and especially those family members of our departed to attend this special service at 1:00 p.m. There will also be a reception after the service to give us all a chance to remember our departed friends. Please try to attend and spend a special hour with together. A personal letter from me has been written to every member that dropped from our Lodge in the past two years, asking them to reconsider and seek to reinstate in our Order. If you know a member that has been dropped, encourage them to pick up an application to reinstate. They do not have to pay past dues, just a $25.00 fee and the prorated dues for the remainder of the year and with a positive vote of the membership, they are back. So that means they could reinstate now for about $50.00. Every month, I am pleased with the number of members that come to me and say that they like the energy in the building, share that with your friends and we will surely grow. I am continually approached by members about things that they would like to see improved, renovated or changed and they wonder how to get their ideas heard. Lodge meetings are held the 2nd and 4th Thursday at 7:00 p.m. and the members that attend those meetings make the decisions. You could be one of those members, just come. Great News! -- I been notified that Mission Valley Lodge has been nominated for the local Chamber of Commerce Award for Charitable Works. I hope that I will be able to report in the next message that we won, but just being nominated and getting that recognition by the community is a huge honor for us all. I have been asked if we are really going to have a New Years Eve celebration and the answer is YES, we are going to have a great one. I wish I could give you more details, but I have been sworn to secrecy about the event. I will tell you that if you think you are too old to come to it, we have taken care of that problem. We will set the clocks to New York time and celebrate a New York New Year's eve. So you will be able to come, celebrate and still be home before midnight in Montana!
Fraternally yours, Robert J. Byers
Posted by: Mission Valley, MT #1695 (11/07/2009)