Letters:

New Member Wants All Moose Centers to Become ‘Smoke-Free’

> I joined the Pine Island, Florida, Moose Lodge 1954 in April 2006, before the new building was complete. It is now five months old.

Many of my friends and I are very disappointed with the heavy concentration of cigarette smoke. It is a new building and I have seen a smoke eliminator in the ceiling. But the place reeks with cigarettes. If if you were to look at the smoke eliminator, the vents are already thick with a brown residue from cigarettes. I wonder if it is working or if it has ever been cleaned.

This smoking environment is a danger to everyone, expecially children. We all know the dangers of smoking, and second-hand smoke, which both create very unhealthy air. This building, and all Moose Lodges, should be smoke-free or have an area for smokers. If no corrections are considered or put into effect, my friends and I will not renew our membership. Many people at the Moose agree.

Robert Antolak
St. James City, FL

Editor’s Note: This matter was addressed by Director General William B. Airey in the August issue of Moose Leader & WOTM Bulletin. Excerpts:

“The simple answer to ‘when will Moose International ban smoking?’ We won’t. Moose International simply doesn’t have the power to do that under the fraternity’s General Laws.

“The authority to restrict smoking (or to regulate any other legal activity) in a Moose Center, rests only locally--with an individual Lodge’s House Committee--and ultimately with the members of the Lodge. Look at General Laws Sec. 48.2: ‘The membership may submit a written request to the House Committee (the elected Board of Officers plus the Jr. Past Governor) that a rule or regulation be adopted . . . If the House Committee declines . . . the Governor shall call a special meeting of the Lodge membership whenever he receives a request, in writing, by eight members or 2% of the good-standing members . . . whichever is greater. At the special meeting, no business shall be transacted except a discussion and vote on the adoption . . . of the rule.’

“. . .(U)nless there is grassroots action from the fraternity to change the General Laws, smoking regulations in a Moose Center will remain a local decision.”

Send correspondence to LETTERS, Moose Magazine, Mooseheart, IL 60539-1174, or to kwehrmeister @mooseintl. org. Letters must be signed, and may be edited for brevity and clarity.

‘We all know the dangers of smoking and second-hand smoke.’