Mooseheart has fallen to 23rd.  With almost a MILLION members in our ranks, and with everyone having FIVE quick, simple votes....  how come we only have 46,874 votes?  That is less than 1% of our membership. 

What is sad is that people are treating this just like the Gimme 5 program.  What are we going to do when Mooseheart is gone because it is too expense?  Or doesn't it matter provided one can get a cold beer and a warm barstool?

Voted my 5, God Bless Mooseheart !   

I couldn't agree with you more.  I remember when I went through the enrollment ceremony and how much it has changed up to the past past few years when most lodges (while no required to do it) stopped doing any enrollment at all.  Now, not every new member who joins the Moose is going to be a on-fire, devoted fraternalist wanting to spread the works and news about Mooseheart and Moosehaven.  But without an enrollment ceremony or orientation to tell them about the two basic bedrocks that make up our fraternity and if their sponsor didn't get them all excited about it, they probably never will.  All we can do is hope they find this website, or the Moose International website, Mooseheart.org, Moosehaven.org, or Moose Charities website, and read some of what we are about.  Why would someone want to pay a yearly membership to go to a bar?  I can go to one of dozens all over town and not have to carry in a membership card or make sure that my dues are paid.  The Moose is supposed to be different.  Twenty years ago - heck, even ten years ago - we plenty of volunteers, who knew about the Endowment fund and where that money went.  Now people are joining, being given a membership card, and never hear about WHY the Moose is different.  I agree with International - THE TIME IS NOW.  The time is now to recruit fraternalists who KNOW what the Moose is - and to SHOW them what the Moose is - and these basic, simple, meaningful ceremonies did exactly that.

I can only state what I see in my own Lodge and in MY opinion we are cutting our nose's off to spite our face!  

I know it's 2010 and I know things aren't as rosy as they once were but I also know if we cling to our MOOSE VALUES we will stay TRUE TO OUR MOOSE HERITAGE!

I shout out MOOSE Ceremony and Ritual because some, maybe most don't care or don't feel it is important to stay true to our values but I think it is what seperates us from THEM.  We are a benevolent and fraternal organization but we are prone to getting all mixed up in the NOW!  Before I lose some of you let me explain, I believe we NEED the Ceremony of the seperate events that are spelled out in the different and unique situations that they were written for.  There is a reason why a certain situation is spelled out with oral responses and physical gestures.  Why some now feel so threatened by the ceremony that was written a very long time ago, speak's volumes of the lack of understanding, compassion, and maybe even their own conceited view of how they THINK it should be run!  

Their are many thing's that should be changed about the MOOSE'S operation and trying to get new members into the organization BUT, AND I DO MEAN A VERY SIGNIFICANT BUT, Ceremony and Ritual is what grounds us, seperates us, instills us with our values and keeps us humble.  
 


God Bless Mooseheart and give us Governors who want the fraternity to grow and become self-sustaining!

Some Governors should check their egos at the door and only govern their own lives!

Come on Governor, Grown Up, and start leading, myopic agenda's be mooseed!

Oops my mistake the game is at Mooseheart the following week, October 22. Come join us!

Please log on to www.mooseheart.org and vote for Mooseheart School to recieve one of 10 $500,000 awards from Kohl's Department Stores. Each person can vote 5 times for Mooseheart. As of this writing, Mooseheart is in 4th place. Please send this out to as many friends and Moose members as possible.

Our Lodge got to host boys from Mooseheart last month. We were all so impressed by them all. Please take a minute to vote to help Mooseheart.

P.S. Some members of North Hills/Pittsburgh Lodge 46 are attending a Mooseheart football game on Friday, October 14. Kickoff is at 7 PM. We will be flying into Chicago Midway, renting a car (or van if we have enough), go to the game, find a Lodge to celebrate the win, stay overnight and return Saturday. Email me at frperman@verizon.net if you are interested in going. Thanks!
Frank Perman
Junior Governor
Lodge 46

It's good to hear you have decided to attend the Convention.  Have you put yourself on the hotel's waiting list?  Typically the week or so before the convention a number of rooms open up as people either decide not to attend, decide to room with others to defray expenses, or finally let go of a room that they were holding "just in case".  You never know, someone reading this post could be looking for someone to share a room with or may have an extra room they'd be willing to send your way !!

If anyone can help, THE TIME IS NOW to act !!  The desire to attend these events and learn is what helps make us become better members and officers.

Hopefully we'll see you at Greentree !!

Stan,

     Encouraged by your letter to attend the State Convention, I finally received notification from my employer that I can get Friday the 20th off to go, with no pay of course.
     I immediately called the Radison Greentree for a room. They have no more rooms under the Moose block and no other rooms available there either. What can I do. I don't want to travel four hours and stay where the convention is not. For all the same reasons you can think of too.