Dear Dedicated Members for Change,
I wanted to highlight two matters in this Newsletter.
First, attached to this Newsletter is a letter from Grand Master Dave Reed, with an explanation of the concept of “restricted funds”. Lodge members often ask what “restricted funds” are about and GM Reed has provided a straight-forward and cogent explanation. I hope it is informative and useful for you.
Second, I wanted to mention the successful 2018 California Membership Educational Seminar we had last weekend in Reno on January 5-7. We had a remarkable 150 Odd Fellows and Rebekahs register for the seminar from 50 different Lodges! Over the Saturday and Sunday seminar, we covered a wide range of topics of value to current and incoming officers of the Lodge, as well as interested members of the Lodge. We also had breakout sessions to provide detailed explanations and answer questions for those members who will serve as Noble Grand, Vice Grand, Secretary, Financial Secretary and Treasurer. We focused a lot on the ways Lodges can increase membership. And we did not shy away from difficult and contentious issues. In the evaluation sheets, attendees particularly enjoyed the presentations entitled “Communication Between Generations in Your Lodge” presented by Michael Greenzeiger and Linea Bredenberg, “Difficult Issues” presented by GM Dave Reed and PGM Peter Sellers, “Running a Proper Lodge Meeting” and “Effective Membership Development”, presented by PGM Dave Rosenberg. Attendees also enjoyed connecting with old friends and new friends on Friday and Saturday evenings. All in all, I believe everyone who attended learned something which will help them make their Lodges stronger.
F – L – T
Dave Rosenberg
Past Grand Master
Jurisdiction of California