We hope you, your family, and extended families have been safe during this trying time.  We know this has been hard for all of you.  We are pleased to have not heard of any lodge members stricken by this virus.  We have heard many stories of friends and other families that have not been so lucky.  At the beginning of this pandemic, we made the decision to furlough all paid employees until times were safe to start again.  We want to thank all the amazing volunteers that continued to help the lodge pay the unending bills during our Grab & Go meal services.  Without their help, we would be in an even bigger hole.

Meanwhile, the nation's leading infectious diseases expert warned Americans that the nation is still "knee-deep" in the first wave.  With all the states around Virginia showing an uptick of new infections and hospitalizations, the board of officers made the hard decision to continue our closure until Tuesday, July 28, 2020.  As you know many of our lodge members are of an age and have underlying medical conditions that make them more at risk than the general population.

Our current plans (that are subject to change based on future information), we will be opening the main hall as the temporary Social Quarters.  We will be abiding by all CDC, State, and Fairfax County regulations on functioning during a pandemic.  Face masks are not optional, if you cannot wear a mask please stay home.  If you need a mask we have one for you.  We have been rearranging the Main Hall to include the movement of the gaming machines downstairs.

We cannot stress the value of our volunteers during this time.  We also want to thank all the members that came in and made a purchase of any size during this time.  Because our volunteers were getting tired, we also decided to give them a break.  We will not be holding Grab & Go’s until we re-open.

Finally, we started holding our General Membership Meetings outside in the pavilion the first and third Thursdays of each month at 7:30 pm.  At the last meeting, we announced to the membership the slate of board officers running for the 2020 - 2021 year.  Below is the list of candidates.   We invite all members to come out for our election on July 16, 2020.

• Governor:  Bunky Clark
• Jr. Governor:  Bruce Chappell
• Treasure:  Jeff Sargent
• Prelate: Jaime Connelly
• Trustee: Gerry Piddington

As we get more information, we will be reaching out via our website, Facebook, email blast, and text messaging.  Meanwhile, please be safe!  We want to also let members know that we will be holding the Bull Run 185 Celebration on Sunday, July 26th. We will be posting the schedule soon.

On Saturday, October 5, 2019, the Vienna Moose Lodge participated in the Town of Vienna's Oktoberfest celebration.  This was the second year that the lodge participated.  It was a great time.  The lodge had a booth that showcased our involvement in Vienna, our community service, our volunteering, and our donations to our community.  We had so many community members come up to ask about the Moose Fraternity and what we were all about.

Yes, we told them about Mooseheartand Moosehaven, the children and seniors entrusted to our care, Camp Ross, and how we have been involved as a lodge since 1958.  During this day we passed out candy to the kids, water bottles to help everyone stay hydrated, bowls of water for our K9 friends, but most of all we were there to pass out Child ID and Senior ID kits.  We had a great turnout for the kits.  We managed to produce 17 kits.

We know that during an emergency, time is precious and important.  When someone we love is missing the longer we take to find that person the farther away, they may travel.  So, a quick response is very important.  With more than 2,100 children reported missing to authorities each day, it is important to be prepared.  We like the fact that our lodge helped prepare families for something we all hope will never be needed.  But we know having an ID Kit will greatly assist in the emergency response and recovery effort when needed.

We did have a large number of attendees asking about ID kits for pets.  We are looking into this for next year.  We also plan on bringing dog bones too!  We want to thank all the members that helped out this last weekend.  We could not have done this without your continued support.  The Town of Vienna and our lodge are lucky to have you!