I Love Hearing From You, But . . .
Your Officers Should, Too

> Late in 2006, at the suggestion of a member, we established a prominent link on the Members Only home page of www.mooseintl.org entitled, “We Want Your Ideas.” I instructed that the correspondence generated from this link should come directly to me--because I wanted to learn, first-hand, what ideas Moose members might offer as to how we could, or should, better serve our Lodges, Chapters and members from Moose International headquarters.

To a degree, the link has operated as I’d hoped: We’ve indeed received several great ideas from members, ones we likely wouldn’t have thought of otherwise, which have caused me and several of our department heads to make adjustments, even significant revisions, in numerous procedures and programs.

But, unfortunately, the great bulk of the response we’ve received via the “We Want Your Ideas” link haven’t really been ideas for Moose International at all.

Instead, they’ve been complaints from members strictly about goings-on in their own local Lodge or Chapter--about second-hand smoke, about scheduling of activities (or lack of activities), about inappropriate conduct of other members in the Social Quarters, etc.

These kinds of complaints coming into headquarters are nothing new (though this new website outlet has served to concentrate them into one electronic receptacle). We generally receive them here because the writer is under a basic misunderstanding--that Lodge or Chapter officers somehow report directly to us here at headquarters; that we’re their “bosses.”

This is not the case at all. Moose Lodges and Chapters are not “field offices” or even “franchises” of Moose International. Each Lodge and Chapter is an independent corporation; its officers are answerable to the Lodge or Chapter membership, under bylaws established by vote of the Lodge or Chapter.

Now, it is true that the operation of every Lodge and Chapter is subject to the fraternity’s Constitution and General Laws. But this governing document is established and amended not by Moose International staff; rather only by vote of the Supreme Lodge--delegates of each Lodge who gather annually at the International Convention to vote on such matters. Enforcement of the General Laws is delegated to the office of General Governor Steven Greene--but he’s only enforcing what Lodge representatives have set into place.

A significant portion of the General Laws are devoted to setting down in detail (see Sections III, IV, VI and VII in this document) the procedures available to every Moose member to make a difference in his Lodge. (Women of the Moose General Laws can be ordered from Catalog Sales.) One fact quickly apparent from reading these sections is that nearly every essential aspect of the fraternal operation of every Lodge and Chapter must go to a vote of the full membership in attendance at a regular bimonthly meeting. Attend these meetings and you have a say. Skip them, and you rob yourself of the opportunity to make a difference.

Of course, you can have even more influence over the operation of your Lodge, Chapter and Moose Center if you commit the time and energy to seek election as an officer. This happens to be exactly the time of year for you to do so. The annual nomination process begins this month, February, and continues with elections in April; installation of new officers and appointment of new committee chairs follow in early May. For full details on the process, see Chapter 33 of the General Laws. For while I love hearing from you, I must tell you that you have much greater power to effectively address your local issues with your vote--in meetings and elections.

--W.B. Airey
Director General