The
PRESIDENT GARY T. SCHENK’S MESSAGE
Our Slogan for this
Association year is “Synergy – Why Elkdom
Works.” Webster defines “Synergy” as
“The interaction of two or more agents or forces so that their combined effect
is greater than the sum of the individual effects”. We all know that the strength of a combined
union of members is greater than the total of the individual strengths. This is most evinced by the “March of Lodges”
at our annual spring convention. Since
all the members of our organization are dedicated to our causes the miracles we
are able to perform when we join our forces in one unified front are far beyond
what anyone of us ever would or could achieve individually. The more members we get involved the higher
the level of “SYNERGY”. Now is the time
for all of us to “Get Around To It.”
The future of our
organization depends upon us renewing our ranks with members who will carry our
Order into the future. These new members
must be properly trained to carry on the duties of our Lodge Officers and committee
members. Without these quality members
our Order has no future. We can ensure
this process comes to fruition by encouraging our current Officers and
Committee Members to complete the annual Grand Lodge Training Program. Every year a new list of questions is posed
to the membership to test their knowledge of our Constitution, Statutes,
Protocol, Lodge Activities, Accounting and Ritual manual documentation. When our current Lodge Officers and Committee
Persons complete this training program on an annual basis we can be assured
they are qualified to carry on the duties required to manage the affairs of our
Order. The most important step in
preparing our Officers and Committee Members to perform their duties is to include
them in this training program. A well-trained
Officer is paramount to our future success.
Accident Prevention is at the
forefront of our committees. To prevent
harm to our guests is more important than anything else we can do for our
visitors, members or otherwise. We must
ensure that the inspections are performed on a regular basis to preclude even
the most minor accident from occurring.
Americanism has been
celebrated more in this country over the last 5 years than it has been in the
past 50 years. The most active and
influential people in the movement toward patriotism have been the members of
our Order. We mandated the performance
of Flag Day Ceremonies for many years and we must continue this dedication for
many years to come. We have been
successful in our efforts to instill patriotism in our youth by encouraging
them to enter the essay contests. We
must educate our youth and encourage them to perform the “Pledge of Allegiance
to Our Flag”. If you have not yet done
so, acquire a copy of “A Children’s Guide To The
Pledge of Allegiance” from Grand Lodge and start the process in your local
elementary school system.
Our Drug Awareness programs
have deterred many youth from the long dark halls of despair. Our successes can only be measured by our
continued dedication to this effort. We
have a traveling display system to bring awareness of the evils of Drugs to our
youth. This system is only effective if
we make full use of this traveling display by exposing the evils of drugs to
our youth at every major public event in our communities. If we fail to catch even one of our youths
before they experiment with drugs we have not fulfilled our commitment to our
communities.
One of the most important
pieces of documentation we have is the Charity Records Booklet. In this document we record the multitude of
hours we voluntarily give to ensure the success of our charities, the miles we
have traveled in support of this effort and our cash and non-cash
contributions. On the cover page of this
document is written: “IMPORTANT…RETAIN
IN FILES FOR TAX-EXEMPTION PURPOSES.”
The information recorded in this document defines who we are. This is where we take credit for what we do
in our communities. It is imperative we
ensure this information is accurate and timely.
The cost of Liquor Liability
Insurance is increasing at an unprecedented rate. Training programs have been developed within
the state of
We as a Fraternal
Organization are not without political influence. We are affiliated with the Pennsylvania
Association of Nationally Chartered Organizations to lobby for legislative
changes that assist us in our charitable endeavors. We must be aware of the current political
climate within our state and be proactive in addressing any issues. This includes new legislation that is
currently in the judicial process that may need our personal influence to
ensure its enactment or defeat. We
should correspond with our Legislators and inform them of our needs and
desires.
This program is the Major
Project of our association. The support
of this program demonstrates the Synergy that can result from the combined
actions of our membership. Our goal of
$10.00 per capita is necessary for us to continue serving the needs of our
clients. Every year our needs increase
and every year our membership exceeds our goal to meet the needs of this
program. We must continue to support the
needs of our clients and we must be prepared to support the needs of future
clients.
Our goal is to attain zero lapsation of membership.
Recruiting qualified members is a very difficult task and allowing them
to lapse their membership is not acceptable.
We recruited them as members because they were interested in who we are
and what we do. We need to discover why
they are dropping from our membership rolls and bring them back into our
ranks. The population of lapsed members
is a prime location for our reinstatement efforts.
Since membership is the
lifeblood of any organization, we must put forth every effort to recruit
quality members. We are a formidable
force within our communities. We have
many good qualities to offer new members with our charitable programs, our
ritualistic structure, and our social and family oriented functions. Our ultimate membership goal for this year is
to have every Lodge attain a membership that exceeds the previous total by at
least one thereby eliminating the decline we have been experiencing.
Donations made to this fund
are invested to ensure the future existence of our major project. The donors are credited using a point
structure as an incentive. We need to
encourage all our members to donate to this fund to guarantee we are able to
comply with the needs of our clients well into the future.
This program is known as the
“Great Heart of Elkdom” because it is the heart and
soul of our charitable structure. Every
cent that has been donated to this fund since its inception is still earning
interest in the name of the donor. The
yearly return we receive is always greater than the amount we donate. We must continue to support this fund by
insisting each and every one of our members makes an annual donation. A paradigm shift needs to take place to
change our procedure such that we encourage our members to donate at least
$10.00 per year for the entire term of their membership. This is an eternal fund that requires our
support forever not just for a pledge period.
The key to showing our
support for this program is to insist that all our officers are members of the
Elks National Foundation. When we can
demonstrate that our officers support this program we can further encourage all
of our membership to support it. Our
goal is to attain $4.00 per member for this Association year.
Our membership has the
opportunity to retire in style at our National Home in
The support we show our
military veterans demonstrates how important they are to our freedoms and
future existence. The myriad of programs
we provide to their entertainment and support remind them that we appreciate
the sacrifices they made to ensure our democracy. The Charity Records Booklet is the vehicle
for us to record our support of this program.
Encourage your committees to record the hours volunteered, the value of
contributions, the total number of persons involved in the efforts, and the
miles traveled.
Through the “Army of hope” we
may provide support to our active duty personnel and their families by
assisting the families financially or emotionally and the military personnel by
sending letters and care packages.
This is the program through
which we tell the world who we are and what we do. The only way we can be certain the world is
aware of our good deeds is by us honking our own horn. We are our own best-kept secret. We must promote our good works by publicizing
our community efforts to the world. Let
us inform the world that “Elks Care and Elks Share.” And then at the close of the Lodge year
encourage your PR committee to submit an entry to the PR Contest. Encourage them to get recognition for their
efforts.
The Rituals developed by our
founders are the most precious gift they gave to us. The Initiation Ritual describes our
principles to our new members and defines to them the requirements of being a
member of Our Order. We must ensure that
every new member is impressed beyond all expectations by the performance of the
Initiation Ritual. We must raise the bar
so high that every new member endeavors to be one of the Officers of our Lodges
because of the impressiveness of the performance. We must continue to demonstrate that being an
elected Officer is a privilege of membership attained only by those willing to
dedicate many hours to the principles of our Order.
The Rituals, which we perform
in social settings, must be performed with ultimate precision to demonstrate to
those in attendance that we are dedicated to the principles of Elkdom. These
Rituals honor our Absent Members, our Departed Members, our Mothers, the Flag
of our country, and many other important aspects in our lives.
Our goal this year is to have
every Exalted Ruler compete in the 11 O’Clock Toast
competition and every Esteemed Leading Knight compete
in the Flag Charge competition. This
will provide the impetus for each Lodge to develop a team of Officers who are
able to perform our rituals with precision.
Our scholarship program has
progressed to a level of excellence unprecedented by any other fraternal or
civic organization in this world. This
program is one of the many factions of our organization supported by the funds
provided through the Elks National Foundation.
We must continue to provide the opportunity for our youth to excel by
ensuring that educational scholarships will always be available.
This committee provides a
creative outlet for our membership to develop memorabilia applicable to our
organization and also provide extra income for our State Association. Our goal is to increase the level of
competition for the PIN Design to at least one submission from each Lodge.
The Elks Training Program is
one of the most important programs we can instill in our Officers and Committee
Members. Every year a new set of
questions is developed to test our knowledge of the Constitution, Statutes and
other regulations of our Order. It is
imperative that we encourage all our Officers and Committee Members to complete
this “Learning Exercise.” The most
important thing we can do for our upcoming Officers and Committee Members is to
ensure they have the training and knowledge they need to carry on the duties of
their offices. The better trained they
are the more comfortable they will be in their positions and the more
encouragement they will give to other members to enter the ranks as Officers
and Committee Members.
The aim of our Youth Activities
Program is to give our children an outlet for their talents. The more channels we provide for their
energies the more certain we can be that they will remain on the straight and
narrow. This will help insure that we
will have honorable individuals in our future.
Our goal this year is to have every lodge sponsor a hoop shoot contest,
sponsor a soccer kick contest, and sponsor at least one individual to the
Tournament of Champions.