I am very proud to be the first woman to be president of the WMA. Thank you for your trust and support.

When I joined the Moose 46 years ago, I never thought I be president of the association. I am truly humbled by the confidence you have placed in me to be your leader. I will strive to uphold the principles of the Moose. My purpose has always been and will always be to serve the Moose by giving my heart and my hand and all that I can to better this great organization.

I know I have big shoes to fill, not only of those recently, but of the leaders that have led us since the association was founded. I look forward to visiting your lodges and districts. I am eager to learn and share ideas, to help your lodges & chapters & Moose Legions grow and to be part of each of your communities.

The month of October is Cradle Month. Please remember our children at Mooseheart. If you don’t see the cradles at your lodge, please ask for them. It is important that each of us support this program.

The Chapters are celebrating Christmas in October as well. This event supports gifts for the residents at Mooseheart and Moosehaven, as well as photo Christmas cards. Please help support this event as well.

I would like to congratulate Karen Johnson on her appointment to the Moosehaven Board of Directors and Cheryl Ripp on her appointment to the WOTM Higher Degrees Board.

Fraternally,
Margie Marsden
WMA President

Where have all the traditions gone?

As I have been traveling from Lodge to Lodge I have begun to wonder where has our traditions and pride gone.

Back when I was a new baby Moose, I remember looking at all of the pictures of Officers, Fellows, Pilgrims, Chapter Officers, Chapter Higher Degrees, and 25 Club Members hanging up in the Lodge – a wall of Fame per-say. Now I mostly see old pictures, if any, but nothing current. No mention of 25 Club Members, Past Governors, Past Senior Regents, Past Supreme/Deputy Supreme Governors, or Past Gran/Deputy Grand Regents.

I remember going to Lodge and District Meetings and seeing the men in their Higher Degree Regalia, strutting around showing off their Jackets. Seeing many members, both men and women at the District Meetings having fun and fellowship. Now, I see members showing up in fewer and fewer numbers, with no signs of regalia. In some cases, I have seen our members show up for a Lodge and District meeting in shorts and flip-flops, and these were officers. I remember seeing all the Moose Legion Members sporting their Moose Legion Vest with all the pins at Lodge helping out. Now the sighting of a Moose Legion Vest is far and few in-between.

I am not saying that we have to be in regalia, but have some pride in your appearance and degrees, a Degree Polo or Association Polo and slacks goes a long way in impressing our newer members. Make the meeting fun and informative for those attending. Give them a reason to be there. This feeling of having to be in and out of our meetings in the shortest amount of time is doing our members a disservice.

We have agendas for our meeting to assist in the flow of things, but we should also be planning some sort of activity for those that attend. We should always have at least one “fund raising” event planned, along with some sort of HOC event planned. The biggest complaint I hear from members is “why should I go to a meeting just to turn around and go home?” I have to agree with them, why should I drive an hour or more one way to a District, Moose Legion, or Council of Higher Degree meeting just for a 5 to 10-minute meeting. No activities planned, your standard “booze” bottle raffle, just officers sitting around complaining about having to have a meeting.

I wonder what our Moose Members that have passed on would think of our “new” Moose. Do you think that they would be happy with what our Lodges, Chapters, Districts, and Moose Legions have become? I think not. Back in the “day” there were meetings of one type or another scheduled for every week, mostly just for the fellowship. We wanted to get together and visit with one another. But I understand that we all
have social media now, so we do not have to be in the same place to visit, but I still prefer the old face to face time. Maybe, we should all spend more time face to face to reestablish the “fraternal” part of out Fraternity.

Until next time –
Mike the TM