JOHN LAWLESS ACCEPTANCE SPEECH Thank you so much. As you can imagine, this is an amazing and prestigious honor. Past Grand Exalted Ruler Carr, Past Grand Exalted Ruler Hidley, President DeFrank, members of the Advisory Board, friends and fellow Elks: With a deep awareness of the responsibility conferred by your trust, I accept your nomination for the Presidency of the New York State Elks Association. I do so with deep gratitude and great humility. I'm very proud of our Association and I happen to have a relative, a fellow Haverstraw Lodge member, that was the President of this very association over 100 years ago. The NYSEA has shown to all America a group of Elks united, with positive programs for solving our country’s challenges, a group of Elks building a new consensus with all those across our state who share a community of values embodied in these words: family, work, neighborhood, peace and freedom. I offer my sincere thanks to the incredible members of Haverstraw Lodge, and I want to offer special thanks and love to my sponsor Joe Petriello, who stood in a similar place not so far from here in 1989, over 46 years ago and made the same pledge that I make today. I graciously thank PDD Paul Crumb for heading up my presidential committee, as well as PDD Giulio Vedovino and my faithful Lodge treasurer and good friend Jim Tierney for their tireless mentoring and support. And to our neighboring Lodges – Pearl River, Peekskill, Yorktown, Poughkeepsie, Brewster, Beacon, Ossining, Mid-Westchester, New York #1 – I thank you for your unwavering support. I also offer special thanks to all the NYSEA districts that assisted our committee in meeting our fund-raising goals. And not in the least, thank you to PER Tom Forsythe from Haverstraw Lodge and PDD Paul Crumb from Peekskill Lodge for the very eloquent and heartfelt nominating speeches. Gentlemen, I am in your debt. My theme for this year is TEAM “Together Elks Achieve More”. As in any organization, we may not always see eye to eye, but only as to the method of attaining the goal. There can be no argument here about the theme. Our Association, as well as our Order have cared for our members and brought relief to our communities for the better part of 2 centuries! Let’s continue to make that our goal, let’s continue to work together to relieve the challenges faced by our neighbors, let’s continue to bring the helping hand of the Elks to our communities! Whether you’re from Herkimer or Hicksville, Lockport or Lowville, Riverhead or Rotterdam, or Ogdensburg, Oswego or Olean, we all took the same obligation to conduct our lives by the Cardinal Principles of our Order – Charity, Justice, Brotherly Love and Fidelity! These are what bind us together as Members, and make it possible to accomplish the great achievements of the Fraternal Order of Elks. More than anything else, I want my Presidency to unify our Association, to excite our Members with new energy, to renew our spirit and sense of purpose. I want to carry our message to everyone who is a member of this community of shared values. Never before in our history have Americans been called upon to face the potential of war, economic uncertainty and threats by hostile nations to our way of life, as we are today. Left unchecked, any one of which could destroy our great Nation. More than a century and a half ago, the founders of our great Order pledged themselves to care for each other’s families, live their lives according to the Cardinal Principles, to quicken the spirit of American Patriotism and to promote good fellowship. A century and a half later, the descendants of those people pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor to carry this Order forward. Some placed their fortunes at risk to do this; none of them sacrificed their honor. Together, let us make this a new beginning. Let us make a commitment to care for each other; to teach our children the values handed down to us by our families; to have the courage to defend those values and virtues and the willingness to stand up for what is right. Let us pledge to restore, in our time, the spirit of voluntary service in our communities, of cooperation, of private and community initiative; a spirit that flows like a deep and mighty river through the history of our Order. Today, let us dedicate ourselves to renewing our Elks values. I ask you not simply to "trust me," but to trust your values - our values - and to hold me responsible for living up to them. I ask you to trust that spirit of an elk, which knows no political, sectarian or personal prejudice; the very same spirit that burned with zeal in the hearts of those who have passed into the Greater Light. Some say that spirit no longer exists. But I've seen it and I've felt it – in our Lodges and all across our state! It's still there, still simmering, ready to blaze into life The time is now to resolve that the basis of a firm and principled association is one that takes our communities as they are and seeks change by leadership and example, not by harangue, harassment or wishful thinking. The time is now to say that we shall seek new friendships, expand existing ones and improve upon others, but we shall not do so by breaking our word or casting aside old friends. And the time is now to capture our destiny, to take it into our own hands. And to do this, it will take many of us, working together, working as a TEAM. I ask you today, to volunteer your help in this cause, so that we can carry our message throughout our great state, and so we can continue the great traditions of Elkdom for generations to come. May God Bless our State Association, may God Bless America and may God Bless all of you. Thank you.
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