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This month we are reminded of our history and heritage.
One hundred thirty-six year ago, fifteen Jolly Corks founded our fraternity and
dedicated us to being patriotic, serving our country and mankind. We
celebrate not only our birthday on February 16th but also National patriotism
Week, Presidents Day and Washington's and Lincoln's birthdays. This is an
excellent time to fly the flag of our country as well as hold a function at our
lodges to honor our local heroes - our firefighters, police officers, civil
servants and volunteers. At these functions we can let our guests know our
history and accomplishments over the years with our youth, veterans, those less
fortunate and in our communities. These individuals would also be
excellent candidates for membership into our fraternity as they are already
dedicated to helping others.
Another holiday this month is Valentine's Day, a day for celebration
of love. We must be sure to let our loved ones know how much we care and
appreciate them.
Also this month, we honor our Past Exalted Rulers for their
leadership and ability to promote our growth and good works. In addition,
we are evaluating our successes and those members and officers who helped
accomplish our goals. In so doing, we select an Elk-of-the-Year and an
Officer-of-the-Year and should honor them by presenting their distinguished
awards at a function in their honor.
A most important event also takes place in February. We
must nominate and elect officers for the coming year. We need to be
prudent in our selections; those officers should be knowledgeable about Elkdom,
enthusiastic, energetic, have a positive attitude and work well with people,
thus demonstrating their leadership ability. It is imperative that the
outgoing and incoming officers work together to guarantee a smooth
transition. Each officer must be dedicated to carrying out our mission and
fulfilling the duties and responsibilities of his of her office. With this
type of leadership our fraternity will continue to carry out our mission of
patriotism and charity as promoted by Grand Lodge and coordinated by our State
Associations. We are a grass-roots organization and our benevolence and
patriotism are implemented with our Lodges for our communities, thus continuing
our heritage showing "Elks Care - Elks Share"
Fraternally,
Amos A McCallum
Grand Exalted Ruler