Membership challenge #2: say yes

Ask any long-time Eagles volunteer how they started volunteering and they’ll tell you the same story.

It goes like this:

“I joined with no intention of getting involved. Then one day someone asked me to help out in the kitchen/help decorate the banquet room/join the ritual team/sell raffle tickets. It just went from there.”

The three key words here: someone asked me. If you’re an active Eagle aerie or auxiliary, it’s your story too.

We’re a volunteer-run organization and all of us have the same problem. We don’t have enough volunteers.

We get deluged with suggestions for wonderful activities we could try for social or fundraising activities. They’ll improve bar revenues, attract younger members, improve our standing in the community, and increase our charity contributions.

As great as these ideas are, the people suggesting them are preaching to the choir. We have the same question every time: who’ll do it?

In my aerie Toronto 2311 every single aerie officer is also heavily involved in at least one other regular activity. In London 4060 aerie meetings a motion to launch a new activity is considered out of order unless it comes with names of the people who will actually take on responsibility for making it happen. In Sault Ste Marie 3991 (where I’m a dual member) I hear members complain that they get the same officers year after year – members who aren’t themselves willing to serve.

Here’s the response at its most basic: if all you can think of is to serve a spaghetti dinner, put on a spaghetti dinner. If that’s still all you can think of, put on another spaghetti dinner – but have different people prepare it. I’ve never heard anyone say “I don’t want spaghetti because I’ve eaten it before”.

I promise you, once you have enough people experienced at spaghetti dinners someone will suggest roast beef.

Building a volunteer base is easier than you might think. All it takes is a willingness to listen and to take the time with people.

The best piece of advice I’ve heard in 35 years as an Eagle came from Honorary Past Grand Worthy President Robert Wahls at this year’s New York State Convention. He’s a past Grand Aerie Secretary and comes from one of the biggest and most successful aeries anywhere, Carlisle Pennsylvania. New York State asks for him to be their Grand Aerie representative every Convention.

Bob said, in part, “if someone asks you if they can help say yes. If you can’t think of something for them to do, give them your job and you find something else to do.”

It’s that important to involve someone new.

Bob had more to say. “New members always ask if they can help. If you don’t say yes right there and then, they won’t come back to you.

“Most people don’t volunteer on their own, but if you ask someone to do something they’re capable of doing, most people will say yes. Ask.”

In my aerie Walter Kato was asked nearly 40 years ago to install Christmas lights in the banquet room. He’s 80 now and still installs those lights. John Talman calls the numbers for Bar Bingo, as he has for 15 years. I don’t think he’s missed a single Friday. He’s 72. Georgina Williams runs a meat roll every second Saturday afternoon, and has for years at the Eagles and at the Naval Club before that. She’s 86.

We have the same people running our darts, shuffleboard and pool leagues as we have for years. Our President is serving his fourth term.

Imagine how close we might be to serious trouble.

Here are five ways to get to yes.
1. Ask a nonmember to join you to help out next time you have something to do at the Eagles, or are participating in something they’d like. If they come along, you’ve got their undivided attention while you introduce them to other members and tell them how much you enjoy being an Eagle. Have an application form ready.
2. On the night of a new member initiation, forget about socializing with Eagles you’ve known for years. Your mission is to invest time with those new members, especially if they’re sitting alone, and introducing them to others. When they express an interest in an activity take them to the person doing it, and say the new person is interested. Get a commitment for a specific day, a specific task.
3. When you need help, don’t look first to the bar; look for someone sitting alone, new member or long-timer. No matter how long they've been around, you might be the first person to take a genuine interest.
4. Jot down a list ahead of time of simple tasks people could do to start getting involved. Don’t approach people who've done it for years, they’ll find their own way there. Go to people who aren’t involved and find something on your list you can ask them to help with.
5. Keep asking. Grand Madam Trustee Gloria Williams made this point at the Eastern Canada Regional Conference. She knew a capable but uninvolved new member and approached her with one thing or another from time to time. She finally became involved after four years and remains one of her auxiliary’s most active members. It’s worth taking the time and making the effort.

Next membership challenge post: ask people to stay.

Membership challenge #1: all you have to do is ask

The Fraternal Order of Eagles is a member-based organization. If you want your aerie to grow and prosper, you have to ask new people to join.

At the very least, they replace the aged and infirm, those who died or moved away and those who lost interest or moved on to pursue other interests. If we don’t do that, we face a future of getting older and smaller.

It sounds so very simple, but we aren’t doing it. One of our slogans is “Every Member Owes a Member Annually”, or EMOAMA.

But according to the Grand Aerie Membership Department, only 5.2 per cent of Eagles are unique proposers – people who signed up one or more new members last year. All year, only one member in 20 has encouraged at least one more person to join.

In Ontario we’re no better. Toronto Aerie 2311’s unique proposers were 7 per cent of members. London 4060 had fewer than six per cent. In Sault Ste Marie 3991 five people did (7 per cent) but three of them serve as bar stewards – people usually face to face with patrons at the bar because they aren’t volunteering for anything.

In Webbwood 4269 new members are seen as the Secretary’s responsibility – only the Secretary has been a unique proposer for years now, a practice that’s curiously common in some Eagles clubs. And in Heyden 4061 no one did.

That’s why Ontario didn’t even replace the members we lost last year, and usually haven’t for some time. In fact, in the FOE overall only seven States or Provinces reported net gains last year. The FOE has lost more members than it gained every single year since 1993, more than 20 years ago.

The critical issue here is that we’re all starved for volunteers. We need more than bar patrons. We need people to prepare dinners or to clean up afterwards. We need people to serve as officers or to sell raffle tickets, to plan and carry out fundraising activities or simply to take out the trash.

We burn out too many of the volunteers we have because we turn to them again and again.

It’s no exaggeration to say that any Ontario aerie or auxiliary signing up three – just three – new dedicated volunteers this year would transform that aerie or auxiliary.

Don’t ask yourself “why don’t they…?” There is no “they”, there’s only “we”. Sometimes there’s only you, and sometimes that’s all we need.

If you have read this far you care. So here’s what you need to do.

Think of a friend or relative who could be a good member, but wait until there’s something happening at the aerie that they would enjoy. You and your spouse could invite another (nonmember) couple to a dinner/dance. Ask someone who likes to play darts to join a dart league at the aerie. Ask a handyman to come by to help out with a renovation project.

You’ll show them a good time, get a chance to introduce them to other Eagles and have their undivided attention while you tell them how much you enjoy being an Eagle. Then ask them to join.

Repeat that process as often as you need to until you sign up one or two new members, and convince your brothers and sisters to take the same approach.

Next membership challenge post: say yes.

Ontario wants to stay with Quebec in Eastern Canada Region

Ontario delegates to the just-concluded Eastern Canada Regional Conference in Sault Ste Marie Ontario voted unanimously to petition jointly with Quebec Provincial Aerie to ask the Eagles’ Grand Aerie to reverse its decision to dissolve the Region.

The decision to reassign Ontario’s Aeries to two other Regions was communicated to the Ontario Provincial Aerie in May (details are here).

Under the reassignment southern Ontario aeries (London Aerie 4060 and Toronto Aerie 2311) would become part of Eastern Region (with Delaware, New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania). The northern Ontario aeries of Heyden-Goulais River 4061, Sault Ste Marie Aerie 3991 and Webbwood Aerie 4269 would go to Great Lakes Region (with northern Michigan and Wisconsin State Aerie).

All Quebec Aeries, meanwhile, would be reassigned to New England Region with aeries in Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts/Rhode Island and Vermont.

The change was set to take effect with the 2015-2016 fiscal year.

Instead, however, Ontario delegates preferred to consult with Quebec Provincial Aerie about a joint petition asking that we remain together.

No Quebec delegates were present. Past Eastern Canada Regional President Bertrand Tetreault had planned to attend with Jean-Charles Raymond (Terrebonne Aerie) but Brother Tetreault was hospitalized after a traffic accident a week before the Sault Conference.

Delegates in the Sault decided to request spokespersons from Quebec to attend the Ontario Provincial Aerie Fall Conference in London ON October 3-4 instead, to consider a joint petition.

Part of the concern of delegates in the Sault was a feeling that reassigning Ontario’s aeries was a precursor to eventual dissolution of the Ontario Provincial Aerie returning its Local Aeries to the Michigan and New York State Aeries they were part of before the OPA was formed in 1995.

Attending the Sault Conference was Grand Trustee Dave Smith from Penticton, British Columbia.

As a new Grand Trustee he was not part of the original decision to dissolve the ECRC but would be part of considering any decision to reverse it.

He is also a Past President of the now-dissolved Canadian Conference of Eagles.

Coincidentally, Brother Smith was scheduled to attend a Grand Trustees meeting in Grove City OH immediately following the Eastern Canada Region Conference.

Faster By-Laws turnaround promised by Grand Secretary

There's good news and bad news for Local Aeries where their own By-Laws are concerned.

The good news is faster-than-ever turnaround when your Aerie submits a By-Law change to Grand Secretary Chuck Cunningham. His office reviews and approves (or not) all changes to ensure they comply with the FOE Constitution and Statutes.

Currently, Brother Cunningham says submitted By-Law changes will be returned to the Local Aeries submitting them within seven days of his office receiving them. The sole exception, he says, is the time period around the Grand Aerie Convention each year, since the Grove City OH office is relocated to the Convention venue during that time.

I can recall a decade or so ago waiting as a By-Laws Committee Chair over six months for approved By-Laws to come back. In that case it mattered especially since we wanted to change our meeting nights from Mondays to Wednesdays.

If your Aerie doesn't bother to change its By-Laws when you want to change the way you operate, however, you could be in trouble.

The Grand Aerie is now reviewing change requests, Brother Cunningham says, to see which Aeries have not requested any changes in some time. There are, he says, Local Aeries who have not requested a change since 1988 - 26 years ago.

By-Laws aren't meant to be changed on a whim, of course. They're the constant set of rules we set for ourselves for how we conduct Aerie business. It beggars belief that a Local Aerie has not seen the need for change in that many years.

Your Aerie President is required to appoint a By-Laws Committee every year to review them, whether or not a specific change is contemplated. Ignorig an Aerie's By-Laws as they currently exist can put an Aerie and its officers in serious jeopardy.

For more information on what a By-Laws Committee is supposed to do, see my earlier post Procedure 101: The By-Laws Committee.

Ontario candidates fail to reach Grand office

Tamela Artuso

Two Ontario residents, Pat Gray of Depew-Lancaster Aerie 2692 and Toronto Aerie 2311 and Tamela Artuso of Sault Ste Marie Auxiliary 3991 and Negaunee MI Auxiliary 1944 failed in bids to attain Grand office at the recent Grand Aerie and Auxiliary Conventions in Orlando FL.

Pat Gray

Pat Gray is a former Grand Aerie officer who was proposed to but not nominated by the Grand Aerie nominating committee. He was then nominated off the floor but was not elected.

Tamela Artuso was proposed to but nominated by the Grand Auxiliary nominating committee. She did not run off the floor.

Delegates say no to common dues date, once-monthly meetings at GA Convention

A motion to make all FOE membership dues payable on May 31 to coincide with the end of the FOE fiscal year was defeated by aerie delegates, past presidents and 10-year secretaries at the July Grand Aerie Convention in Orlando FL.

Also defeated was a motion to allow for once-monthly Local Aerie meetings instead of the current minimum requirement of two such meetings.

The common due date of May 31 was proposed by the Board of Grand Trustees and supported by the membership department. Membership Director Vince Kinman urged passage of the motion arguing that the Grand Aerie could then assist Local Aeries in encouraging renewals, but provided no specific examples.

Also assumed by delegates but not mentioned in debate was that a common dues payable date would more easily pave the way for future online dues payments through the foe.com website, as is now offered by the Loyal Order of Moose and American Legion central websites.

None of Ontario’s Local Aeries currently have dues payable on May 31. Annual dues are payable August 31 by London 4060 ($25), Sault Ste Marie 3991 ($30) and Heyden-Goulais River 4061 ($25). Annual dues are payable by February 28 by Webbwood 4269 ($20). Annual dues are payable by Toronto 2311 ($50) either on January 31 or July 31.

Also defeated was a motion proposed by several New York State Aeries to allow for general meetings as infrequently as once monthly instead of the current minimum twice monthly.

Proponents argued that it would make better use of member and volunteer time. Opponents argued that once-monthly meetings would not allow sufficient accountability of officers to members, and would not permit time to complete the many statutory requirements for work to be completed or approved in Local Aerie general meetings.

Current statutes require meetings at least twice monthly, but allow for a quorum of only seven members in good standing, at least two of whom must be Local Aerie officers.

Approved by delegates were several housekeeping motions intended to ensure that all internal units are covered by a common statute.

Previously Retired Eagles Activities Clubs (REACs), Past Presidents Clubs, Eagle Riders and Junior Order of Eagles Clubs (JOEs) were governed under separate statutes.

Delegates approved a motion allowing election for three-year terms for the Grand Secretary and Grand Treasurer instead of the previous one-year terms as remains the case for all other Grand Aerie elective offices.

Arguments in favour were generally about greater stability in Grand Aerie office management. The case was also made that while other Grand Aerie officers may continue to reside wherever they wished, the Grand Secretary and Grand Treasurer must have residences near the Grand Aerie headquarters in Grove City OH.

Also approved was a motion requiring that a stay or suspension of a Local Aerie Trial Committee rulings pending appeal must be approved by a majority of Grand Tribunal members. Previously a single Grand Tribunal Justice could issue such a stay or suspension.

Rejected was a constitutional change removing Grand Tribunal Justices from the list of Grand Aerie officers, since they are appointed rather than elected.

Delegates appeared to feel that further examination of the issue was required, especially to ensure an independent judiciary branch of Grand Aerie governance.

Provincial Aerie must now carry liability insurance, GA delegates decide

In addition to general liability coverage by all Local Aeries naming the Grand Aerie as an additional insured party, all State and Provincial Aeries must now have their own liability coverage also naming the Grand Aerie as an additional insured party.

New statutory requirements were approved by delegates to the recent Grand Aerie Convention in Orlando FL.

Provincial and State Aeries must also file up to date affiliation agreements with the Grand Worthy President's office. Such agreements detail the relationships between the two Eagles jurisdictions and their contractual obligations to one another. responsibility for ensuring that these documents are filed now lie with the Provincial or State Worthy President and Secretary.

To further enforce these requirements Provincial and State Aeries will no longer be entitled to services from the Grand Aerie, including Grand Aerie representation at Conventions, if the documents have not been filed.

Nor will members of any Local Aerie not compliant with all statutory requirements, including current liability coverage and affiliation agreements and payment of per capita taxes, be entitled to attend or send delegates to any Provincial Aerie function, including strictly social events.

No Ontario Local Aerie is fully compliant, according to today's Member Management System Club Health Report, though mailing delays could account for some of the issues. Only Webbwood 4269 shows documentation submitted that its officers are bonded.

Toronto 2311, London 4060 and Heyden-Goulais Rover 4061 do not show evidence of current general liability coverage. Toronto 2311 shows membership fees of $360 due and Webbwood 4269 shows $50 in membership fees due. Heyden-Goulais River 4061 shows per capita taxes of $154 due.

Toronto 2311 tops leader board for July new members

With 36 new members reported in July, Toronto's Maple Leaf Aerie 2311 ranked first among all FOE aeries and auxiliaries for the month of July, as reported in the August FOE newsletter Straight From the Eagles' Nest.

I never thought I'd live to see the day.

Re-enrolment: there’s gold in them thar lists

There are lists of prime prospects for membership in Ontario’s Eagles Clubs, nearly eight times our total annual membership quotas for the year.

They’re the lists of former members who have already been members in recent years, who we let drift away and who were dropped from our rosters for failure to pay dues.

For the most part we’ve done very little to ask them to come back. Toronto 2311 has contact information for 209 of these people. London 4060 has 139, Sault Ste Marie has 92, Heyden-Goulais River has 68 and Webbwood 4269 has 54. In all cases, these 562 people represent numbers equal to or even greater than our entire active membership lists.

Some, of course, have passed away, are too infirm to participate any longer or have moved away. There may be some we don’t want to see again and others who, for whatever reason, don’t want to see us again.

It’s the job of the Membership Security Committee (FOE Statutes Section 100.2) to encourage the rest of these people to come back. All it takes is a $10 re-enrolment fee, their annual dues and an aerie ballot. They don’t have to be initiated again. Problem is, not one of our Local Aeries has a membership security committee.

Here are 10 tips to help you get started.

1. Ask your Aerie President to form a Membership Security Committee of at least three people to send letters and emails and who would be good on the phone – nothing beats the personal contact of telephone calls.

2. The Membership Security Committee has two jobs – to encourage members about to become delinquent to renew on time (renewal) and to encourage inactive former members to come back (re-enrollment). Campaigns should be done separately, so that re-enrollment activities don’t interfere with the more time-sensitive renewal activities.

3. Take the time to plan what you’ll say in letters and emails or on the phone, and make sure you get a postage budget.

4. Post the names of people you’re approaching to renew or re-enroll in a prominent place so your Brothers and Sisters in the Aerie who know them can help out as well.

5. For re-enrollments, cull the lists first – cross out who would be unable or unlikely to return or whose contact information is unknown. You may have to pare the list down by as much as half what you started with, but that’s still a pretty hefty group of prospects.

6. Before you cross out someone with a bad address, check the name on the website Canada 411  (www.canada411.ca) . You may be able to locate quite a few of them that way.

7. For both renewals and re-enrollments, consider contacting their original proposers (if they’re still active members) and ask the proposers to contact them as well. That personal touch could make all the difference.

8. Make sure you keep members well informed of your progress at general meetings. Ask them to make a special effort to make returning members feel welcome and appreciated. If that wasn’t done when they were here last, it could well be why they left.

9. Also for re-enrollments, build a mailing/calling campaign around a big upcoming social event. It gives you a reason why you’re calling or writing now.

10. The Aerie, if it chooses to, can provide a financial incentive for a calling campaign – free admission to a special event, for example, or $5 off the re-enrollment fee. When you have a campaign proposal ready to go, pitch the discount idea at an Aerie general meeting.

Three reasons we’re losing members

EMOAMA is the new marketing slogan for Eagles membership - Every Member Owes A Member Annually.

It’s an ambitious goal for an organization in long-term decline. The FOE has suffered a net loss every year since 1993. The Eagles overall enrolled 101,074 new members last year but suffered a net loss of 32,508. Toronto Aerie 2311 signed up 28 new members last fiscal year but dropped 32.  Only 7 States and Provinces have a net membership gain for the year.

But all of this can be reversed. The common excuse for decline is that fraternal organizations are no longer fashionable, or that people now seek community through social media and the Internet. Yet how does that explain the top five local aeries signing up an average of 350 members each last year? How does it explain 142 new members signed by one person in Coeur D’Alene ID Aerie 486, or the top 10 individuals  in the Eagles who signed up an average of 112 new members each?

There are, according to the Grand Aerie Membership Department, three reasons for our decline.

The first is simple: we don’t ask people to join. Only 5.2 percent of all FOE members are unique proposers. Toronto Aerie 2311 is slightly better, at 7.9 percent - 19 members proposed a new member last year out of 247 members. If only 4 percent of all new members who joined the FOE during the current year proposed a new member, the FOE would reverse its decline and have a net gain every year.

The second reason is that we don’t do enough to keep people. Aerie activities have a direct bearing on both new member development and retention of those members we have and are about to lose. The strongest Aeries are those with a variety of social activities, community involvement and charity fundraising. Those who content themselves with being a bar or fundraising for the Aerie itself almost inevitably fail.

The third reason is that we don’t ask people to stay. Our Member Management System has an automated renewal notice feature to alert members that their dues are due, that they are delinquent, and that they are about to be dropped from the membership roster for failure to pay dues. Yet 50.6 percent of Local Aerie Secretaries do not use this proven system. Aeries which use direct contact with organized calling of delinquent members report a reduction in dropped members of more than half.

Some impressions from the New York State Convention

I don't take pictures often, and rarely still take posed photos of officials lined up holding plaques and cheques, so you won't see any here. (If anyone else has Convention photos of the June 19-21 Convention in Johnstown NY Aerie 1575, I'll be happy to post them here so anyone can access them. Just email the photos to me and I'll take care of it.)

First, why did I go to New York?

Just a few days before I became President-Elect of the Ontario Provincial Aerie on June 7, the Eagles' Board of Grand Trustees announced a realignment of Regional boundaries, putting two aeries from Ontario (my own Toronto 2311 and London 4060) with Eastern Region (with New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Delaware State Aeries), dissolving Eastern Canada Region (all of Ontario and all of Quebec).

The Ontario Provincial Aerie was formed 18 years ago. Before that, my Aerie 2311 had been part of New York State Aerie and Eastern Region. I had been a member for 16 years as part of New York, almost as long as I've been a member of the Ontario Provincial Aerie. It was time to reintroduce myself and get a better idea of the reception we'd get there.

I also wanted to take the train - Amtrak's Maple Leaf, which leaves Toronto at 8:20 am seven days a week on its way to New York City. The Maple Leaf provides ready access to 19 New York State aeries along the way. At least two of them, Depew-Lancaster Aerie 2692 and Rensselaer Aerie 4446, are within easy walking distance of the train station.

The Maple Leaf doesn't stop in Johnstown but does in nearby Amsterdam. The unattended station stop doesn't get much use - I was the only arriving passenger last Wednesday. The pay phone (pictured on the wall at the far corner) was out of order, so I couldn't phone a cab as I had planned. The picture below shows you the view of the other side of the tracks.

Fortunately a very nice lady who lived not far from the station invited me into her home to call for a taxi. Clearly Johnstown is in a much more rural area than I'm used to, though it's within commuting distance of the State capitol, Albany.

Because it is in a small town, real estate costs are lower. Johnstown Aerie is huge by Ontario standards. They've got unused space bigger than the used space of all five of Ontario's aeries. Toronto 2311 is too small for our membership, but most of us would hate to leave our prime downtown location. Some Johnstown members may feel the same way - their aerie is too big (which they have to heat and pay taxes on), but they're also in a prime location, a block from the main street in the midst of a beautiful historic district.

So with all this space, why is there such a large additional piece added as the member's entrance?

Convention impressions Part Two

This is the inside of the entrance. There's a stairway leading to the door (below the light), but also the most impressive wheelchair ramp I've ever seen. The late (and disabled) Eagles member Franklin Delano Roosevelt would have been proud!

Perhaps less impressed would have been two of the greatest historic figures in the struggle for women's' rights, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B Anthony. Stanton was born here in Johnstown, and she spent the summer of 1884 in Mrs Brown's boarding house, above, where Susan B Anthony lived, while the two of them worked on a volume of their landmark History of Womens' Suffrage. It's directly across the street from Johnstown Aerie 1575. The Aerie itself, while 107 years old, was until 1992 a strictly men-only fraternal organization with no Auxiliary.

Convention impressions Part Three

Welcome to the social rooms of Aerie 1575. This is one corner of an area bigger than Toronto 2311's entire premises when you include the adjacent washrooms, Secretary, Trustees and Auxiliary offices.

Upstairs is the recently refurbished ballroom, where State Aerie meetings took place. This is a partial shot, taken from the large balcony above the bar area and overlooking the stage. The balcony is in front of the auxiliary's own meeting rooms.

Convention impressions Part Four

Coming from an aerie whose Auxiliary charter was surrendered several years ago, it was nice to see the incoming Auxiliary officers, above, getting pumped for their installation. I'll be posting soon my view that if an aerie is to prosper, it's as important if not more so that they do everything they can to ensure they also have a strong and growing auxiliary. Like the song says, "you don't know what you've got till it's gone". For Ontario Eagles, the Sister on the right is Lola Collie, once a major driving force in the Ft Erie Ontario Auxiliary before that Ontario aerie collapsed.

Community involvement is an important component of the success of a local aerie. This clothing donation box is one example, just beside the front entrance of Aerie 1575. It speaks for itself.

Here's another shot of the banquet room, taken half an hour before a State Aerie session. Everything from the opening ceremony, convention sessions and the installation ceremony to lunches, the memorial service and the banquet started on time! There's a growing sentiment that the New York State Convention should be cut back from three days to two. It's none of my business, of course, but I'll soon be posting my view that the Ontario Provincial Aerie Conventions be expanded from two days to three - based on my experience here.

Convention impressions Part Five

Pat Gray, above left, an impresario of Eagles ritual, was the installing Grand Aerie Conductor for the joint installation ceremony. Originally from Toronto Aerie 2311 (and later also of Depew Aerie 2692), Pat was the installing officer when I first was elected to aerie office over 30 years ago. Here he's briefing two incoming State officers, Junior Past President Garrett Smith and Vice President John Badi. Pat will again be a candidate for Grand Aerie office in Orlando in July.

Many of the New York State delegates proudly wore the "Return Pat Gray to Grand Aerie Office" button in Johnstown. If you haven't received a button, there'll be plenty more available at the Grand Aerie Convention in Orlando.

I wasn't the only outside visitor to New York State's Convention. Above right, incoming New York State President Robert G T Yager sits with Joe Marcovic, Past Connecticut State President and State Membership Chairman, one of several visitors from Connecticut. Bob Yager is also a Past Connecticut State President. Joe will also again be a candidate for Grand Aerie office at the Grand Aerie Convention. New York State also had several visiting Eagles from Tennessee.

And last, Convention impressions Part Six

In his installation ceremony speech, incoming New York State President Robert G T Yager asked his fellow Eagles to focus in the coming year on "being a little kinder (to fellow aerie and auxiliary members), a little friendlier (especially to new members) and a little more charitable (in support of Eagles charities)."

My own impression of my visit to Johnstown is that New York State Eagles already set a very high standard on all three counts.

Grand Aerie Representative Robert P Wahls (Honorary Past Grand Worthy President and past Grand Aerie Secretary) spoke to us about the importance of attracting, keeping and cultivating volunteers in all we do.

"Once you turn down their offer to help they won't come back," Brother Wahls warned. "Whenever someone asks if they can help say yes. If there's nothing else that comes to mind right away, give them your job and find something else to do.

"Not many volunteer on their own, but very few say no when they're asked."

I was made more welcome than I had any right to expect, including receiving a rare special invitation to the Past New York State Presidents Luncheon. The Ontario Provincial Aerie was formed in 1995 from Ontario Aeries once part of New York and Michigan State Aeries. In our enthusiasm at the time, none of us consulted or even warned the New York and Michigan executives. Nor did we even consult our own Auxiliaries.

The Award of Merit plaque I received as an organizer at the OPA inaugural convention doesn't mention that particular detail. I did hear it more than once in Johnstown, however, but always in friendship.

Because my own Toronto Aerie 2311 has had such membership turnover since 1995, I also welcomed several opportunities to swap stories about my own Aerie 2311 heroes of the past -  Frank Stokes, Don Rettinger, Ian Carry and Mary Dunn (all Grand Hall of Fame members) and my original sponsor Tom Philpott, all of them now gone but fondly remembered in New York.

My visit to Johnstown was the first in a series to gather information about Ontario's renewed relationships through Michigan in the Great Lakes Region and through New York in the Eastern Region. Next is the Grand Aerie Convention itself in Orlando, Florida July 15 to 18. I will visit (perhaps the last) Eastern Canada Regional Convention in Sault Ste Marie Aerie 3991 September 19 and 20, and the Ontario Provincial Aerie Fall Conference in London 4060 October 3 to 5, followed by the Eastern Regional Conference in Clearfield Pennsylvania Aerie 812 October 10 and 11.

Here's the blog of "Bob and Bing on the road again"

The term "blog" is a shortened version of "weblog" as in, you know, a log of events posted on the web. That was before bloggers expanded them to include repositories of photos and videos, reporting, lecturing and preaching (just like I have).

Everyone's favourite Chaplain Spencer Doyle and I just completed an eight day tour of Ontario West (as the Grand Aerie likes to call the Ontario Provincial Aerie's District One). I thought an account of what Aerie 2311 member Jo-Anne Chupa calls "Bob and Bing on the road again" - Spencer and I have travelled to Eagles events for years - would be a good way to show you how modest a "weblog" was originally intended to be. It’s a bit long, but here goes.

Wednesday, June 4.

Spencer and I catch the free shuttle bus to the free ferry to Billy Bishop Airport for our flight to Sault Ste Marie. It's a wonderful alternative to Pearson Airport, to which cab fare for either of us would be half as much again as airfare to the Soo. Flight is excellent, service is amazing as we have come to expect from Porter Airlines.

We're picked up at the airport by incoming Eastern Canada Regional Auxiliary President Tammie Artuso, check in and get briefed on what's been happening in Sault Ste Marie Aerie 3991, Heyden-Goulais River Aerie 4061 and Webbwood Aerie 4269, along with their Auxiliaries while we unpack. Tammie is also a contender for Grand Auxiliary office at the upcoming Grand Convention in Orlando, Florida in July, so we discuss how that's going.

I tell her Pat Gray of Toronto Aerie 2311 and Depew New York Aerie, who is running again for Grand Aerie office, is retiring from his job this week so he'll have more time for the Eagles. He will be attending the New York State Convention as well as Ohio State and Pennsylvania State, all taking place this month. Tammie will be attending the Michigan State Convention (she's a dual member in Negaunee, Michigan Aerie).

I'll also be attending the New York State Convention, as will Lucky Thornton and Malcolm Ross, Pat Gillespie and Jacquie Smith, all from Toronto Aerie 2311. I tell her Pat Gray has asked me to give his nominating speech at the Grand Convention, a distinction usually reserved for past Grand Aerie Presidents, Eagles Hall of Fame members and the like (John Noldan from Seattle, Washington, for example, will be nominated by Mike Lagervall, and he's both).

Getting more mileage from my button maker (Jacquie Smith lost an election using my buttons) I'm preparing 1,000 campaign buttons for Pat Gray for the Conventions. I can't do the same for Tammie since the Grand Auxiliary doesn't allow them.

We then travel to Aerie 3991 where we meet with all the usual suspects, including Tammie's husband "Uncle Ray" Artuso, incoming Provincial Aerie (and Aerie 3991) President. We see, again, genial bar steward (and Provincial Trustee) Ron Faught and his wife Laurie. Curmudgeon and long-serving Aerie Secretary Bob Crowe is there, so we know we can count on yet another lecture on how incompetent the Provincial Officers are (which we get). So are the regulars - Trapper, Wally, Ernie and all the Auxiliary members hard at work on the Wednesday Night Aerie Dinner.

Thursday, June 5.

We're in a nonsmoking hotel, so come morning we're at our usual spot - the tiny designated smoking area outside the hotel entrance. Our original schedule says we have the day free to visit the Bushplane Museum (the Soo's top-rated attraction which I hear is fantastic). Spencer says the day is so nice we should visit the city's boardwalk and tour the locks first, since we have so much time before dropping into the Heyden-Goulais River Aerie 4061 for the evening.

Instead along comes John Noldan, Grand Aerie Outside Guard, who has arrived early for his visit as Grand Aerie representative for the Provincial Convention. He was out for a morning walk. I ask him why we get the Grand Aerie officer from furthest away (Seattle, Washington). He tells us he requested Ontario as his first official visit. We're flattered. We tell him our plans and he says he has a rental car, why don't we go to Heyden right now, so we do. Heyden doesn't get many Grand Aerie visitors or Provincial officers either, for that matter.

We have a great visit with several Heyden Aerie and Auxiliary members and one with Dave from the RV dealership that surrounds much of the Aerie. Dave tells us he's very supportive of the Eagles here for the great work it does serving a local community that doesn't have many alternatives.

Through most of this Spencer is regaling the ladies at work in the kitchen with his observations of how wonderful they are for all they do. The bar steward tells Spencer the kitchen isn't licensed for alcohol consumption, but Spencer stays so long in the kitchen the steward hands him a beer in a brown paper bag. "Just like the boys under the train bridge, Spencer" I tell him.

After our visit we return to the Soo, for the Provincial Convention "meet and greet" event at Aerie 3991. I observe that meeting and greeting people we've both known for decades seems a bit over the top, but it goes well.

After such a long day we retire to the hotel early, along with Provincial President Bob Williams and Aerie Secretary Jim Tolley from London Aerie 4060, who have driven to the Soo through Michigan all day; John Noldan and the Artusos; and Auxiliary Provincial officer Marion Waters also from London 4060, where she transferred from Sarnia Aerie when it surrendered its charter last year.

Also with us are our Eagles travel buddies since the early 1980s, Rose Carry and Lucky Thornton, both formerly of Toronto Auxiliary 2311 before its charter was surrendered. Both now in their eighties, these dedicated Eagles are still trembling from driving all the way here from Ajax, where Lucky drove to pick up Rose before heading north.

So much for our scheduled early night. John Noldan holds court as we gather nearly every table in the hotel lounge together to talk Eagles with our brothers and sisters. The bar graciously agrees to keep the bar open 2 1/2 hours longer than they usually do on a Thursday.

Since Jim Tolley is the only person for a thousand miles who smokes more than I do, we have lots of opportunity to chat in the designated smoking area. We discuss London 4060's Peter Colgate's plans to run against me for Provincial Aerie Vice President.

I say Peter has a shot, since he's a Past President of the Sault, a long-serving Provincial officer and now a London 4060 member, so he should carry the 4060 aerie vote credentials Jim would have given to the Provincial Secretary.

Jim, who is also running for Provincial office for the first time, looks nervously at Provincial President Bob Williams and says "you never told me we had to submit a signed letter from the Aerie for the vote." Jim says since he's Aerie Secretary he can draft and sign a letter right here in the hotel's business centre. I tell him that would be fine if he's brought the Aerie seal with him. I love it when a plan comes together.

Friday, June 6.

Off to breakfast and Spencer says he feels like we’ve already been here a month. I tell him at least the Convention is about to begin.

The restaurant is filled with Eagles. You can tell that because all the real cream is gone and there’s only the two percent milk left. The hotel learns: for the rest of the Convention there’s only cream. Our convoy heads off to the aerie for 9:00 am registration and the opening ceremony. I do the Secretary’s part in the ceremony (roll call) and they finally, grudgingly let me do the Invocation. I am, after all, only the official Provincial Chaplain instead of the “real” Chaplain, Spencer.

Malcolm Ross arrives early from Toronto 2311. I tell him his significant other Pat Gillespie was thrilled to tell me in Toronto they have a nonsmoking room for the New York State Convention, while since I booked early I have a smoking room. “You get Malcolm for the weekend”, she tells me gleefully.

I tell Malcolm if I win my election, fine, but if I lose here he can stand outside to smoke in New York.

At the first Convention session a block away at a nearby church, I give my report as Provincial Membership Chairman. I tell them this is my fourth term as Membership Chairman and we’ve lost four Local Aeries in four years. Top of my bucket list is to serve as Membership Chairman in a year when we don’t lose an entire Aerie.

We get the usual raft of letters asking for support by various candidates for Grand Aerie office at the Convention. I say we support so many people every year we end up supporting candidates who run against each other. Since Pat Gray is one of our own, I move instead that we support only Pat Gray. People start talking about what a great guy this one is, or that one is. I say that while not everyone in this room knows every Grand Aerie officer, it’s likely every Grand Aerie candidate is known by someone in this room. Things look bad for the motion.

Then John Noldan rises in support of my motion. When he ran against Pat, we had supported both of them. Pat was defeated last year by Dave Smith from British Columbia, and we had supported both of them. He says my motion makes sense and it passes. Whew.

Lunch again at the Aerie, then back for the afternoon session, including the candidates’ interviews by the Nominations Committee. I make a big pitch for how great the Grand Aerie’s new member discount partner program is, including the fantastic discount offered by Vonage. John Noldan punctures that balloon by telling us Vonage has pulled out of the deal. We return to the aerie for dinner and meeting the folks at the Soo once again, and again leave early.

Naturally, the hotel lounge remembers all of us and we remember them. Once again, we circle all the tables for a late-night Eagles session.

Saturday, June 7.

I’m up early working on the blog and other Eagles business. Spencer drags himself out of bed and asks if we’ve been here for a month yet. I cheerfully tell him that by the end of the day we’ll have been here for half our visit.

In the Saturday sessions we have a Bylaw amendment that changes the term Zone for District in our Bylaws at the request of our perennial opponent Bob Crowe, Aerie Secretary at 3991 (who never attends our meetings). It matters to Bob, I say, so we should support it. John Noldan says the Grand Aerie doesn’t care what we call them. It looks like, for that reason, people are about to drop the amendment.

I say since the Grand Aerie doesn’t care, they also don’t mind. Since Bob Crowe wants it, why not? I also mention that I wanted it passed simply because I have another, unrelated amendment to correct grammatical errors in the current Bylaw. Fortunately, the amendment passes, as does my amendment.

I win the election, becoming Vice President and President-Elect; and the Provincial Aerie is spared my service as Chaplain. Spencer has returned to the position most people never thought he had left. Graciously, Peter Colgate agrees to serve again as Conductor. I share with most other officers the arthritic knees that make serving as Conductor too much walking around, so we’re all relieved.

The highlight of the banquet is the presentation of a huge birthday cake for Spencer’s 70th birthday. Since his birthday almost always falls within the dates of the Convention, this is becoming an annual event. Peter Colgate’s birthday is June 16th. If he’d been born a week earlier, he would have had all the fuss every year, and might have been elected. It’s always these little things.

We again leave early. Did I mention you pass the entrance to the hotel lounge when you walk through the lobby? Once again we take every table. When the bar closes, several people retire to our room, to rehash. Malcolm is the last to leave, at 4:00 am.

Sunday, June 8. 

OK, this is seriously our day off: nothing but laundry. Tammie calls and invites us to a barbecue at their home. We bring our laundry. Who knew we had to travel this far north for both of us to get sunburns, talking Eagles with Tammie and Ray? Well, with Ray. Tammie had laundry.

Monday, June 9.

No tour of the Bushplane Museum today either. Tammie again picks us up for another visit to the Aerie for the Aerie meeting; after which the Heyden Auxiliary uses 3991’s facilities for their installation of officers. We’ve already met several of the ladies, of course. They especially remember Spencer.

To our surprise, the officers at 3991 invite Spencer and me to become dual members of Aerie 3991. We’ve known most of them longer than most Toronto Aerie 2311 members have been Eagles. Trustee Jim Doyle gives the interviewing committee report and we’re balloted successfully. Spencer immediately rises, confirms that we’re now members of Aerie 3991, and immediately launches into a lengthy complaint about an issue between “his” aerie and its relationship with the auxiliary. The officers kindly suggest they’ll speak to him after the meeting. It’s a great meeting. I had no idea Aerie 3991 had as much money as they do. Toronto 2311 members would drool.

After the Heyden Auxiliary installation (where Spencer has a great time renewing his acquaintance with the ladies from Heyden’s kitchen) we retire again to the hotel. Since everyone else has left, we only have one drink (OK, two) in the lounge before retiring. We have an early start in the morning.

Tuesday, June 10.

We’re up early because Webbwood Aerie 4269, 3 ½ hours away, has their aerie and auxiliary meetings today. Jim Doyle lives in the Soo but is serving as Aerie 4269 President to help them through a rough patch. Jim is driving us, and Uncle Ray is coming with us.

We head on up to the highway, where we pass the Bushplane Heritage Museum. At least I can now say I’ve seen it.

It’s a long drive, though we stop for breakfast along the way. Jim has a guitar collection he talks about, and Ray talks about the band he was in 30 years ago, which has gotten back together. Spencer mentions how much he dislikes country music, whereupon the three of us immediately launch into a rousing rendition or “Where Am I Gonna Live When I Get Home?” The original artist, Billy Ray Cyrus, is an Eagles member, after all. Time flies while we entertain Spencer with the best country music has to offer. Spencer says he’ll be walking back to the Soo.

We have a great time in Webbwood. At the meeting they’re a bit rusty with the Ritual, so we all sit in. Jim Doyle is President anyway. Ray sits as Junior Past President, I’m Conductor and Spencer, of course, is Chaplain. The meeting goes very well, with lots of positive news on the aerie’s turnaround.

We retire to one of the two remaining Aerie licensed, smoking patios afterward, to sit with a full house of aerie and auxiliary members. It’s a beautiful day and we all give speeches. Jim introduces us – the Provincial President, President-Elect and Chaplain. Ray gives a great speech on how they should treat new members so they will feel included and involved right after their initiation. I tell them if Toronto 2311 loses a member we can always get another one from our five million population. With their small town (population 600) they can’t afford that. They need to keep all the members they have and bring back the ones they’ve lost, and they all need to get along with their brothers and sisters, almost all of whom have home addresses with the same postal code.

Spencer advises them he is responsible for their morals, and to see that they keep their obligation as Eagles to love one another. He launches into a joke about his days in Montreal, telling the whole thing in French. He likes to live in the moment.

We visit a fish and chip stand for dinner, so good Spencer and I remember it from our visit three years ago. We head off for the long drive back, when every time somebody says a word that’s in the title of a country song, our new trio bursts into song again. The things we do to entertain Spencer.

We get back to the Soo and Jim Doyle invites us to his home, with his wife Betty (Provincial Chaplain). Tammie is there to meet us to drive Ray home. Well into the evening, as we’re all bushed from the day, Wally calls from the Aerie. They’re having karaoke and wanted Spencer and me to come down. We decline. Tomorrow we fly back to Toronto and we haven’t packed yet.

Wednesday, June 11.

Tammie picks up at noon to drive us to the airport, where we’ll have lots of time to get our 1:45 flight. We say our goodbyes and go into the airport. We’re advised due to bad weather in Toronto our plane is still there, the flight has been cancelled and we’re on the 5:40 p.m. flight. Jim Doyle had offered to drive us to the airport but I said Tammie and Ray would do that. So I call Jim and tell him our pathetic plight (Tammie had gone to work, Ray was scheduled for a shift on the bar at the aerie).

While waiting for Jim I call Toronto 2311, to tell the bar steward I wouldn’t be making the aerie meeting tonight. I tell Keith about our flight delay so he says “so you’re calling to ask me if I’ll keep the bar open until 2:00 a.m.?” I say no, just tell them I won’t be at the meeting.

Having already repeatedly said our goodbyes to the folks in the Soo, we arrive at the aerie again. The auxiliary offers us complementary tickets for the Wednesday dinner (this is our second one). We spend the afternoon, have dinner and Jim drives us back to the airport. The minute he drives off, Spencer says he’s left his jacket in Jim’s car – with his boarding pass in it. (Oh why, Lord?)

The Porter attendant gives us another boarding pass and we make it through security (because this flight is also late). We arrive in Toronto and the pilot tells us again due to bad weather we’ll be circling the airport until he gets permission to land. The one-hour flight turns out to be two.

But, at long last, we’re home.

Bruce Hacon leads London 4060's experienced executive

Aerie Trustee since 2005 and one of the hardest-working, most dedicated Eagles I have seen in 35 years, Bruce Hacon was installed as President of London Aerie 4060 at the aerie's installation ceremony Wednesday, June 4.

Ironically despite all that, Bruce Hacon is one of the least-experienced of the aerie's new executive. Aerie Vice President John Hills is in his seventh term in that office, having served also as Aerie President. He has been an officer since 2005. Jim Tolley is now in his 13th term as Aerie Secretary, is a former Trustee and was just installed as 2014-2015 Ontario Provincial Aerie Trustee.

Treasurer Robert Williams has served as Aerie President three times and has just completed a term as Ontario Provincial President. Jim Everingham will serve his sixth term as Aerie Conductor. Inside Guard Ron Burt has been an officer since 1996, Aerie President twice, was Provincial President, Provincial Trustee and until this year was long-serving Provincial Treasurer. He is also Past President of Eastern Canada Region.

The Trustees are equally experienced: Roy Marshall is serving his second term in that office, Richard Guay his fourth term, David Rowe his sixth term and Mark Ticehurst is stepping down from his sixth term as Aerie President during 12 years as an aerie officer.

Provincial Officers at a past gathering at London Aerie 4060, above. Left to right are Ivan Hill and me, Toronto 2311; Robert Williams (now Aerie 4060 Treasurer) and Dana Leisk, Toronto 2311. Standing is Ron Burt, now Aerie 4060 Inside Guard.

Peter Colgate serves as Chaplain for the second year - but he transferred from Sault Ste Marie Aerie 3991. There he was President four times and Trustee three times, Junior Past President three times and served as Vice President twice. Meanwhile he has been a Provincial Trustee, Chaplain twice and is currently serving for the second time as Conductor.

Having created an executive of that stature it's little wonder the aerie has yet to fill the Position of Junior Past President - so many are already something else.

It's reassuring to see the fastest-growing Aerie in Ontario in such good hands.

Tuesday was a terrible day for Eagles publicity

An Aerie in financial trouble is sad, but it isn't automatically bad publicity. While we are sad to see something like the story below, of an Aerie in financial difficulty, there are many Aeries that are doing very well indeed.

But for all the good done by Local Aeries and all the good publicity we get for it, Tuesday was an especially bad day for the Eagles. In Johnson City, New York, police arrested a former Trustee after the Aerie said he stole $49,895 between June 7, 2011, and March 1. Johnson City is a small aerie in a small community, one that could ill afford such a thing. You can read about it here.

That's much worse publicity than a failing Aerie, but nothing compared to a story about a New Port Richey Aerie bar steward arrested for - get this - beating an elderly patron. You can read about this dreadful episode here.

Being the biggest is no guarantee

Alton, Illinois Aerie 254 would know. Until recently the biggest aerie in all of the Eagles, the Aerie is now on the brink, and will either close or move to smaller quarters shortly.

You can read all about it here.

You know about Crocodile Dundee...

Ontario Eagles have Alligator Doyle. Several people have asked about the infamous photo of Ontario Provincial Chaplain Spencer Doyle's alligator encounter while on vacation this winter, so here it is.

June 8 was the Provincial Aerie's main Convention Day as well as Spencer's birthday. At the banquet he was presented with this cake. (Thanks to Jr Past President Bob Williams for the photo.)