As the hot days of summer are upon us, we again ask every member to attend our general membership meetings on the first and third Thursdays of each month. I know this sounds like a broken record, but you can find out important lodge information. The lodge is still very much struggling to make ends meet and attending might help you to know where you might help. This is not to say we are not having any successes; we are!
Our lodge for all its efforts has attained the Premier Lodge Award given by Moose International each year at the convention. Our lodge along with many other lodges of Virginia attained this because of members like you and your efforts to increase membership, efforts to support our community at large and other requirements. This is something everyone can be proud of!
Reporting from the Moose International Convention in Orlando from June 30 to July 4, 2022, the lodge had three members attend this year (myself, Sharon Chappell, and Cheryl Shrey-Hovey). It was an amazing time with our fellow brothers and sisters. Your representatives attended many classes on “Moose Marketing and More”, “The Lodge Financial Review Committee: Worry Less About Your Unit's Finances”, “Lodge Operations - Things I Should Know”, and “The Compliance Side of the Lodge”, and others. There was a lot of good information in the classes.
As part of the Moose International Communications committee, I got to give out the awards to the best of the best of the fraternity in the categories of the newsletter, news article, editorial, lodge/chapter websites, and association websites. There were so many good submissions this year. Congratulations to everyone that applied. Virginia Lodge was well represented! If someone else was to chair the communications committee for our lodge we could enter the competition. We have one of the best websites in the fraternity!
The lodge is continuing to have issues with the main hall HVAC system (installed in 2005). I want to thank Sharon Chappell for her calling the right AC company to get the system up and running again. This is not to say the system is fixed. As you have noticed we are having lots of events to raise money to replace the current hall system. Stay tuned for a lodge capital improvements announcement coming soon. The lodge needs lots of TLC (Tender Loving Care) and we need money to take care of these items. We are also applying for a Lodge Grant from Moose International to cover part of the cost.
So big shout out to Wendy McClelland our amazing bartender for stepping up and filling in where needed for the last few months. She is amazing in so many ways but most of which is her flexibility to fill in at a moment’s notice. To Wendy’s mom, Tanya McClelland for helping with her beautiful art projects during events and serving our banana splits at the “Save the Heat” event last Saturday. We always look good when she is helping! To Earl Green for helping to take up the slack from others during this time. We are lucky to have him. To the men and women that volunteered at the “Chillin on Church” in Vienna last weekend and served beers for the Caboose Brewery. You all made us look fantastic. To our newest committee member Steve Rao. Steve takes over where we have not had a person to chair the community service committee in some time. If you are interested in helping Steve and his committee, please reach out to him at the lodge or on Signal. Now, I am sure I am forgetting a lot of people but I want to thank the entire board of officers for sticking with the lodge during this hard time. These men and women have been pulling together and doing 
things to keep this lodge moving forward in the right. I know we would not have survived this last year without them all! If I forgot even one person, I am sorry. To the membership at large, Thanks for helping the lodge in so many ways. You continue to surprise me with your amazing volunteering efforts at the lodge and in our community. Thank you so much!
We are trying to communicate so much and more often right now, if you are wondering what is going on around the lodge, please check us out on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Lodge email or text message blasts, or our Signal group. We want you to know and have a reason to visit the lodge every day we are open. If you are not on the Lodge Signal group, just find a member who is on it and ask to be included. I know it is summer time and many are going on vacation and will be out of town, but the lodge will not survive without your continued support and attendance in lodge events. We can all work very hard, but if you as a member do not attend, the lodge cannot last forever.
In conclusion, please mark your calendars for the Big Yard Sale on Saturday, July 23 (this Saturday) starting at 10 am. There are still spots available. And also, on Saturday starting at 6:30 pm is a great band the Hand Painted Swinger. Don’t forget we have Cornhole nights on the 2nd and 4th Wednesdays each month starting at 7:00 pm. On Saturday, August 27, the lodge will host Mars Rodeo starting at 5:00 pm. We are also starting a weekly Karaoke night starting that is just in the starting stages (we are thinking Fridays). Finally, thank you for being a member of this great fraternity.
Fraternally,
Daniel Sullivan
Vienna Moose #1896 President
Moose International Communication Committee