Hart: Members Help Make Kids’ Dreams Come True

Mooseheart Child City & School Executive Director Scott Hart

> Perhaps it was the proximity to the Magic Kingdom of Walt Disney World. But when Mooseheart Executive Director Scott Hart spoke to the Joint General Session on Monday at the Rosen Centre, he had dreams on his mind.

Hart reminded his audience that the students of the Child City depend on members of the Loyal Order of Moose and Women of the Moose to make their dreams come true.

Hart shared three types of dreams with the Convention audience.

• Dream of Hope: Hart said, “Before coming to Mooseheart, our kids may have dreamed of a place of healing from past hurts or dreamed of being a scholar, an athlete or a Marine. Some dreamed of a place where they heard more about what they were doing right rather than what they were doing wrong.”

Hart read emotional accounts from application letters from youth who sought to attend Mooseheart, and had the uplifting news that each of these applicants was now in residence at the Child City.

• Dream of Blessing: Hart said encouraging words from a sponsoring Lodge or Sunshine Chapter mean much to Child City residents.

“When they hear for the first time that they are someone important and have the potential to do great things in life, that is a blessing,” Hart said.

• Dream of Love: As Hart said, “You can have everything else mentioned, but without love, it all becomes worthless.”

Hart reminded that the Moose attitude that “the needs of others come before my own” manifests itself at Mooseheart in a feeling of love for the children of the Child City.

Read Hart’s entire address at: www.mooseintl.org/portal/Convention/2007Orlando/
pdf/2007-AllOfUsDream.pdf.

Class of ’07’s Adrianna Says Thanks

Adrianna Tezanos-Pinto

> It was a moment 10 years in the making, but it was not a moment that came without Adrianna Tezanos-Pinto first overcoming a series of challenges.

Adrianna, who graduated from Mooseheart in May, addressed the International Convention twice, with her extended remarks coming Saturday to the Women of the Moose gathering at the Rosen Centre Hotel Grand Ballroom.

Tezanos-Pinto recounted a series of changes that marked her life after she arrived at the Child City in 1997 with older brother Joseph, a 2005 Mooseheart grad, and fellow Class of 2007 member and her twin brother Stephen.

Adrianna mentioned the many things she learned at Mooseheart, from learning to shave her legs, to more serious matters such as following rules.

“As a senior at Mooseheart, I knew my time there would soon end and I would be begin a new chapter in my life,” Tezanos-Pinto said. “I was terrified yet excited about my new journey.”

Tezanos-Pinto said she was happy and sad at the same time at Commencement.

But her journey continues this fall as she attends college. Stephen and Adrianna rejoin Joseph, all in attendance at Sacramento City College.

“I already miss Mooseheart, but it will always be my home and in my heart,” Tezanos-Pinto said.

Adrianna Tezanos-Pinto’s speech can be found on the Internet at: www.mooseintl.org/portal/Convention/2007Orlando/
pdf/Adrianna'sSpeech2007.pdf.

Stephen Pinto’07 Addresses ‘Extended Family’

Stephen Tezano-Pinto

> Stephen Tezanos-Pinto is able to pinpoint the moment when he started to feel Mooseheart was truly his home.

The moment was Christmas 1997 at the Child City. Tezanos-Pinto had arrived some weeks before from California with older brother Joseph and twin sister Adrianna.

“Santa remembered I had moved halfway across the country,” Stephen Tezanos-Pinto said. “These new experiences led to happy memories-- and the sadder ones from the past began to fade away. That’s when I really started understanding that Mooseheart was my true family.”

Tezanos-Pinto recounted some of the highlights of his 10 years at the Child City when he addressed the Rosen Centre Hotel Grand Ballroom crowd on Monday afternoon.

Tezanos-Pinto graduated from Mooseheart as Valedictorian in May and said he was proud to address his extended family--the men and women of the Moose.

A talented athlete, Tezanos-Pinto said he had the Moose with him when he competed. “You see, you didn’t block for me in football, but you gave me food to eat and a bed to rest to make me strong so I could run through tackles,” Tezanos-Pinto said. “You didn’t screen for me in basketball so I could get the open shot. But you provided me the right academic environment to grow in wisdom and knowledge so I could find the opening in the defense and hit the last second basket to win the game...you believed in me and encouraged me to do my best and cross the finish line knowing I had given my all.”

The entire text of Stephen Tezano-Pinto’s speech can be found at: www.mooseintl.org/portal/Convention/2007Orlando/
pdf/2007-StephenTezanos-Pinto.pdf.