Here's a chart showing the 50 closest Local Aeries to Toronto 2311. You'll note only one of them is in Ontario.
The Ontario Provincial Aerie and Auxiliary are the umbrella organizations for Ontario aeries (lodges) and auxiliaries of the Fraternal Order of Eagles. Ontario's Aeries are in Toronto (Aerie 2311), Sault Ste Marie (Aerie 3991), London (Aerie 4060), Heyden-Goulais River (Aerie 4061) and Webbwood (Aerie 4269). This blog is intended to support membership growth.
Saturday, May 03, 2014
It's a long, long way to Webbwood.
It's even farther, much farther, to two other aeries in Ontario for members of Toronto Aerie 2311.
Here's a chart showing the 50 closest Local Aeries to Toronto 2311. You'll note only one of them is in Ontario.
Here's a chart showing the 50 closest Local Aeries to Toronto 2311. You'll note only one of them is in Ontario.
Distance is the OPA's biggest challenge
With more than 1,500 Local Aeries operating under similar rules and sharing common goals, there is much to be learned by visiting other aeries. In Ontario, however, that's not always practical. With enormous distances between aeries (and not many aeries to begin with), Ontario's Local Aeries generally operate pretty much n their own.
To put that into perspective, Ontario has one aerie for roughly every 215,000 square kilometers (the land area of Idaho per aerie) while, at the opposite extreme, Ohio has 191 aeries, one per 554 square kilometers - 38 times as many aeries in one quarter the land area.
The longest trip by car between aeries in Ontario is 691 km Toronto 2311 to Heyden-Goulais River 4061. If all of Ohio's Local Aeries were along that route, they would be about 3.6 kilometers apart, an average 40 minute walk from aerie to aerie. As it is now in Ontario, you would pass only one aerie (Webbwood 426) along that route. Walking eight hours per day, you would take 11.5 days to get to Webbwood from Toronto, and another six days to get to the end of your journey.
To put that into perspective, Ontario has one aerie for roughly every 215,000 square kilometers (the land area of Idaho per aerie) while, at the opposite extreme, Ohio has 191 aeries, one per 554 square kilometers - 38 times as many aeries in one quarter the land area.
The longest trip by car between aeries in Ontario is 691 km Toronto 2311 to Heyden-Goulais River 4061. If all of Ohio's Local Aeries were along that route, they would be about 3.6 kilometers apart, an average 40 minute walk from aerie to aerie. As it is now in Ontario, you would pass only one aerie (Webbwood 426) along that route. Walking eight hours per day, you would take 11.5 days to get to Webbwood from Toronto, and another six days to get to the end of your journey.
Friday, May 02, 2014
GWP visit to Ontario cancelled
Visits in May to London Aerie 4060 and Toronto Aerie 2311 have been cancelled.
In an email yesterday to OPA Secretary Dana Leisk, Vicki Ellis, executive Secretary to GWP David Tice, advised the following:
"I must let you now some bad news. GWP David Tice and his wife Roberta will be unable to travel to Ontario due to a problem with a passport. Their last name was spelled wrong on a passport and it will be a while before they get this straightened out.
"They asked that the Province accept their apologies for this unfortunate incident. We can try to possibly get them up your way after the convention for an assignment of some sort if they are able."
In an email yesterday to OPA Secretary Dana Leisk, Vicki Ellis, executive Secretary to GWP David Tice, advised the following:
"I must let you now some bad news. GWP David Tice and his wife Roberta will be unable to travel to Ontario due to a problem with a passport. Their last name was spelled wrong on a passport and it will be a while before they get this straightened out.
"They asked that the Province accept their apologies for this unfortunate incident. We can try to possibly get them up your way after the convention for an assignment of some sort if they are able."
Thursday, May 01, 2014
GA issues Mother's Day press release
The Grand Aerie issued a very good news release yesterday on the 100th anniversary of the declaration of a national day of observance of Mother’s Day.
Here it is:
MOTHER’S DAY TURNS 100:
A Holiday Inspired by Scribbles on a Postcard
APRIL 29, 2014 - The American nationwide observance of Mother’s Day celebrates its
100th anniversary this year. In 1914, President Woodrow Wilson signed a Congressional Bill designating the second Sunday every May in honor of mothers, following a decade of activism led by the Fraternal Order of Eagles (FOE). Many trace the origin of Mother's Day to a movement begun in 1904 by Eagles Past Grand Worthy President Frank E. Hering, which would prove to be the first of the organization’s many history-making accomplishments.
In the decades to follow, the FOE has played a similarly prominent role on a broad array of social and philanthropic causes, including helping launch Social Security and Medicare and ensuring legal protection against job discrimination based on age. This Mother's Day, the Eagles celebrate the completion of $25 million, multi-year commitment to establish the Fraternal Order of Eagles Diabetes Research Center at the
University of Iowa, a state-of-the-art medical research facility dedicated to the prevention and potential eradication of diabetes.
Hering, a Notre Dame football coach and history professor and two-time FOE Grand Worthy President from South Bend, IN, made the first public plea for the establishment of a nationwide Mother’s Day during an event held at Indianapolis’ famed English Opera House. The inspiration had first come to him from a teaching colleague who set aside classroom time once a month to make his students scribble a postcard to their mothers.
Hering urged the Eagles to honor “the great things of the world that have been achieved by mothers’ love and devotion” and suggested that one Sunday each year be dedicated for that purpose. The idea was firmly embraced and promoted by the membership, and within a short time, several states had moved to formally establish Mother’s Day observances. The growing movement helped galvanize lobbying efforts that led to legislation in the U.S. Congress for the Wilson proclamation. Anna Jarvis, the other major crusader for a memorial day for mothers, suggested the date in May.
Remarkably, the FOE was founded only six years before Hering’s speech by a group of six theater owners in Seattle, WA. Meeting to decide on how to settle a musicians’ strike, the competitors also came up with the idea to join together in a non-profit organization dedicated to “uniting fraternally in the spirit of liberty, truth, justice and equality, to make human life more desirable by lessening its ills, and promoting peace, prosperity, gladness and hope.” The popularity of the organization spread rapidly via the nationwide circuit of theaters and the promotion of touring actors, stagehands and playwrights who were among the earliest members. Their ranks have broadened to include seven former U.S. Presidents, celebrities and other notables from all walks of life.
Today, 800,000 members based in over 1500 chapters (“Aeries”) and 1300 women’s Auxiliaries raise in excess of $100 million each year to benefit local communities and charities. They have also donated millions of dollars to aid medical treatment and research on a host of conditions, most recently with a priority on the prevention and cure of diabetes.
"It brings us great pride to watch the world celebrate 100 years of Mother's Day, knowing how much work was done by Eagles to make this occasion possible," Eagles’ Grand Worthy President David Tice said. "That commitment to excellence carries on today as a signature of the Eagles and shines through in our efforts to find a cure for diabetes at The Fraternal Order of Eagles Diabetes Research Center."
Here it is:
MOTHER’S DAY TURNS 100:
A Holiday Inspired by Scribbles on a Postcard
APRIL 29, 2014 - The American nationwide observance of Mother’s Day celebrates its
100th anniversary this year. In 1914, President Woodrow Wilson signed a Congressional Bill designating the second Sunday every May in honor of mothers, following a decade of activism led by the Fraternal Order of Eagles (FOE). Many trace the origin of Mother's Day to a movement begun in 1904 by Eagles Past Grand Worthy President Frank E. Hering, which would prove to be the first of the organization’s many history-making accomplishments.
In the decades to follow, the FOE has played a similarly prominent role on a broad array of social and philanthropic causes, including helping launch Social Security and Medicare and ensuring legal protection against job discrimination based on age. This Mother's Day, the Eagles celebrate the completion of $25 million, multi-year commitment to establish the Fraternal Order of Eagles Diabetes Research Center at the
University of Iowa, a state-of-the-art medical research facility dedicated to the prevention and potential eradication of diabetes.
Hering, a Notre Dame football coach and history professor and two-time FOE Grand Worthy President from South Bend, IN, made the first public plea for the establishment of a nationwide Mother’s Day during an event held at Indianapolis’ famed English Opera House. The inspiration had first come to him from a teaching colleague who set aside classroom time once a month to make his students scribble a postcard to their mothers.
Hering urged the Eagles to honor “the great things of the world that have been achieved by mothers’ love and devotion” and suggested that one Sunday each year be dedicated for that purpose. The idea was firmly embraced and promoted by the membership, and within a short time, several states had moved to formally establish Mother’s Day observances. The growing movement helped galvanize lobbying efforts that led to legislation in the U.S. Congress for the Wilson proclamation. Anna Jarvis, the other major crusader for a memorial day for mothers, suggested the date in May.
Remarkably, the FOE was founded only six years before Hering’s speech by a group of six theater owners in Seattle, WA. Meeting to decide on how to settle a musicians’ strike, the competitors also came up with the idea to join together in a non-profit organization dedicated to “uniting fraternally in the spirit of liberty, truth, justice and equality, to make human life more desirable by lessening its ills, and promoting peace, prosperity, gladness and hope.” The popularity of the organization spread rapidly via the nationwide circuit of theaters and the promotion of touring actors, stagehands and playwrights who were among the earliest members. Their ranks have broadened to include seven former U.S. Presidents, celebrities and other notables from all walks of life.
Today, 800,000 members based in over 1500 chapters (“Aeries”) and 1300 women’s Auxiliaries raise in excess of $100 million each year to benefit local communities and charities. They have also donated millions of dollars to aid medical treatment and research on a host of conditions, most recently with a priority on the prevention and cure of diabetes.
"It brings us great pride to watch the world celebrate 100 years of Mother's Day, knowing how much work was done by Eagles to make this occasion possible," Eagles’ Grand Worthy President David Tice said. "That commitment to excellence carries on today as a signature of the Eagles and shines through in our efforts to find a cure for diabetes at The Fraternal Order of Eagles Diabetes Research Center."
The top 10 excuses for not supporting FOE charities (and how to answer them)
Charity activity will transform our aeries - as long as we can counter the naysayers. Here are a few suggestions:
1. “Can’t afford it – the Aerie needs money.” If we raise money for the premises and not for charity, we end up as a bar that charges dues competing with bars that do not – and expecting people to contribute for improvements that our competitors pay for out of their bar revenues. A charity event gives more people a reason to support the bar. It gives them a reason to invite others to join them. And when a charity event raises money, the bar generally takes in more money that neither the charity nor the bar would have seen otherwise. Charity makes more money for the Aerie.
2. “Our members can’t afford it.” Instead of relying only on outright contributions and raffles, look first for ways we can together provide entertainment “bargains” for members – a lunch or dinner, entertainment or other social outing members wouldn’t have elsewhere or on their own. That by itself is an important contributor to the well-being of our community.
3. “We don’t even know where to begin.” Start by appointing Committee Chairmen for all or most of the FOE charities, even if their only role for now is to report at meetings whenever others express an interest in helping those causes. It gives people someone to go to when they have an idea. No Eagles Club in Ontario is large enough to become large donors to every FOE Charity Foundation charity, and some of those Committee Chairmen will only report that there’s no activity so far.
4. “We don’t have the money for expenses.” Start with small things that don’t cost much. The money raised will be in the Aerie Charity Fund if needed for investments in bigger events. You’ll know from the success of your smaller events and the volunteers they attract if you’re ready for a big event. If not, just keep on with the smaller activities until the opportunity does arise. Ten $50 events is the same revenue as a single $500 event, often at less total cost.
5. “People don’t want to be hounded for money all the time.” Raffles and 50-50 draws have their places, but they shouldn’t be relied upon for most fundraising dollars. With social events for charity, people with limited means should be able to have just as much fun as those with more money who choose to participate in extras like raffles. The event that turns a modest profit for the charity will also generate a big increase in bar revenues.
6. “We need to focus on increasing membership first.” New members come from sponsors who are current members. Our members need something to feel proud of, something to brag about to their friends and relatives who aren’t Eagles now. A member working for the Diabetes Fund now has a reason to bring in as a new member that diabetic cousin or nephew who otherwise wouldn’t be attracted to the Eagles, to help out in a cause that’s important to him. Relying on cheap bar prices only attracts cheap drinkers, discouraging others who want something more meaningful for their leisure time.
7. “We don’t have the volunteers for a big event.” Nothing succeeds like success. Start with a small fundraiser that needs two or three people to make it work. That makes people aware of the charity and generates the seed money to do something a little bigger next time. Now that others have seen exactly what’s involved, it’s easier to get more volunteers for the next time.
8. “We support the big charities.” The big charities are so well known because they keep so much of your donations for administrative expenses and salaries, advertising and promotion and “awareness
programs”. The small portion that’s left for research could be going anywhere. You as the donor have no say in who gets it. The Fraternal Order of Eagles Charity Foundation already has a structure, the Grand and Provincial Aeries, which we already pay for through our membership dues: no administrative rake-off.
9. “Charity begins at home – we should help local causes here in town.” Indeed we should. Only the Fraternal Order of Eagles Charity Foundation lets a Local Aerie “earmark” funds it raises to meet a local need – and then allows the Provincial Aerie to “top up” that money to produce a larger grant than would have been possible otherwise. Donations made locally might produce a thank-you letter that will gather dust on an Aerie bulletin board. But a grant from the FOE might make our aerie the largest single contributor to a local support group or treatment center.
10. “We don’t get any recognition for sending money to the Grand Aerie.” We don’t “give” the money we raise to the Grand Aerie. The Grand Aerie holds those funds in trust, and for the most part returns it to the Province or State it came from. Our money is spent on grants in our communities. We can’t count on that from other charity fundraising organizations. The only exceptions are funds used for large grants at our annual Conventions that significantly raise awareness of the Fraternal Order of Eagles, and small grants provided to new Local Aeries to kick-start public appreciation of the Eagles in new communities.
1. “Can’t afford it – the Aerie needs money.” If we raise money for the premises and not for charity, we end up as a bar that charges dues competing with bars that do not – and expecting people to contribute for improvements that our competitors pay for out of their bar revenues. A charity event gives more people a reason to support the bar. It gives them a reason to invite others to join them. And when a charity event raises money, the bar generally takes in more money that neither the charity nor the bar would have seen otherwise. Charity makes more money for the Aerie.
2. “Our members can’t afford it.” Instead of relying only on outright contributions and raffles, look first for ways we can together provide entertainment “bargains” for members – a lunch or dinner, entertainment or other social outing members wouldn’t have elsewhere or on their own. That by itself is an important contributor to the well-being of our community.
3. “We don’t even know where to begin.” Start by appointing Committee Chairmen for all or most of the FOE charities, even if their only role for now is to report at meetings whenever others express an interest in helping those causes. It gives people someone to go to when they have an idea. No Eagles Club in Ontario is large enough to become large donors to every FOE Charity Foundation charity, and some of those Committee Chairmen will only report that there’s no activity so far.
 | ||
| The FOE Charity Foundation logo is not free clip art people can slap onto posters for whatever fundraisers they like. It's meant to be used to show that your event is part of the very special effort that has helped Eagles raise well over $100 million so far – all of which aids research and treatment. |
4. “We don’t have the money for expenses.” Start with small things that don’t cost much. The money raised will be in the Aerie Charity Fund if needed for investments in bigger events. You’ll know from the success of your smaller events and the volunteers they attract if you’re ready for a big event. If not, just keep on with the smaller activities until the opportunity does arise. Ten $50 events is the same revenue as a single $500 event, often at less total cost.
5. “People don’t want to be hounded for money all the time.” Raffles and 50-50 draws have their places, but they shouldn’t be relied upon for most fundraising dollars. With social events for charity, people with limited means should be able to have just as much fun as those with more money who choose to participate in extras like raffles. The event that turns a modest profit for the charity will also generate a big increase in bar revenues.
6. “We need to focus on increasing membership first.” New members come from sponsors who are current members. Our members need something to feel proud of, something to brag about to their friends and relatives who aren’t Eagles now. A member working for the Diabetes Fund now has a reason to bring in as a new member that diabetic cousin or nephew who otherwise wouldn’t be attracted to the Eagles, to help out in a cause that’s important to him. Relying on cheap bar prices only attracts cheap drinkers, discouraging others who want something more meaningful for their leisure time.
7. “We don’t have the volunteers for a big event.” Nothing succeeds like success. Start with a small fundraiser that needs two or three people to make it work. That makes people aware of the charity and generates the seed money to do something a little bigger next time. Now that others have seen exactly what’s involved, it’s easier to get more volunteers for the next time.
8. “We support the big charities.” The big charities are so well known because they keep so much of your donations for administrative expenses and salaries, advertising and promotion and “awareness
programs”. The small portion that’s left for research could be going anywhere. You as the donor have no say in who gets it. The Fraternal Order of Eagles Charity Foundation already has a structure, the Grand and Provincial Aeries, which we already pay for through our membership dues: no administrative rake-off.
9. “Charity begins at home – we should help local causes here in town.” Indeed we should. Only the Fraternal Order of Eagles Charity Foundation lets a Local Aerie “earmark” funds it raises to meet a local need – and then allows the Provincial Aerie to “top up” that money to produce a larger grant than would have been possible otherwise. Donations made locally might produce a thank-you letter that will gather dust on an Aerie bulletin board. But a grant from the FOE might make our aerie the largest single contributor to a local support group or treatment center.
10. “We don’t get any recognition for sending money to the Grand Aerie.” We don’t “give” the money we raise to the Grand Aerie. The Grand Aerie holds those funds in trust, and for the most part returns it to the Province or State it came from. Our money is spent on grants in our communities. We can’t count on that from other charity fundraising organizations. The only exceptions are funds used for large grants at our annual Conventions that significantly raise awareness of the Fraternal Order of Eagles, and small grants provided to new Local Aeries to kick-start public appreciation of the Eagles in new communities.
Wednesday, April 30, 2014
Former Toronto 2311 member Kim Coady has passed away
Kim Coady, former member of Toronto 2311 Auxiliary, passed away two days ago from cancer.
She was no longer a member of the Eagles but will be fondly remembered by several old-timers. She passed away peacefully at the age of 54. Visitation will be from noon to 4:00 .m. Sunday, May 4 at Giffen-Mack Funeral Home at 2570 Danforth Avenue at the Main Street Subway Station.
There will be a Celebration of Life after the visitation at Royal Canadian Legion Branch 1 Baron Byng Beaches, 243 Coxwell Ave at Broadview Ave.
She was no longer a member of the Eagles but will be fondly remembered by several old-timers. She passed away peacefully at the age of 54. Visitation will be from noon to 4:00 .m. Sunday, May 4 at Giffen-Mack Funeral Home at 2570 Danforth Avenue at the Main Street Subway Station.There will be a Celebration of Life after the visitation at Royal Canadian Legion Branch 1 Baron Byng Beaches, 243 Coxwell Ave at Broadview Ave.
Tuesday, April 29, 2014
New FOE video promo posted
The Grand Aerie uploaded a short video promo yesterday for Eagles membership highlighting our involvement in Mother's Day.
Monday, April 28, 2014
There's still time to plan a function for Mother's Day
Every Eagle, surely, is well aware of the role played by the Fraternal Order of Eagles in having a national day of observance declared in 1914 to honour our mothers on the second Sunday in May.
For those who aren't aware, FOE member and entertainer Tony Orlando appears on Fox News' The Huckabee Show Mother's Day weekend. Here is the FOE information with other information sources. I'll try to post the interview on Saturday.
My personal opinion is that the long-term importance of Grand Aerie President Frank Hering's campaign for Mothers Day was that it taught the Eagles how to lobby at the grassroots level - campaigning aerie by aerie in their cities and towns, in their States and Provinces, in support of an issue they felt was important.
The lessons the Eagles learned during that campaign served them well as they later campaigned for the first widows' pensions, then old age pensions at the State level, then the federal US Old Age Security program, which fellow Eagle and US President Franklin Delano Roosevelt admitted would not have been possible without the tireless campaigning of the Eagles.
Throughout those campaigns, many of the pioneering legislation for the first government pensions was actually drafted by Eagles before they were adopted State after State.
Our Statutes actually require a Mothers' Day observance. FOE Statute Section 72.4 says, in part, "On the second Sunday in May of each year, each local aerie shall hold services appropriate to Mother's Day."
We miss that occasion far too often.
At minimum we should do what the Eagles did a century ago: sell carnations to our members, who would wear a white carnation if their mothers were deceased, a red one if they were not. You've still got time. Take a look a this video the Grand Aerie produced for Mother's Day.
For those who aren't aware, FOE member and entertainer Tony Orlando appears on Fox News' The Huckabee Show Mother's Day weekend. Here is the FOE information with other information sources. I'll try to post the interview on Saturday.
 |
| Frank Hering's campaign for Mother's Day gave the Eagles the political skills to fight for numerous causes in later years. |
My personal opinion is that the long-term importance of Grand Aerie President Frank Hering's campaign for Mothers Day was that it taught the Eagles how to lobby at the grassroots level - campaigning aerie by aerie in their cities and towns, in their States and Provinces, in support of an issue they felt was important.
The lessons the Eagles learned during that campaign served them well as they later campaigned for the first widows' pensions, then old age pensions at the State level, then the federal US Old Age Security program, which fellow Eagle and US President Franklin Delano Roosevelt admitted would not have been possible without the tireless campaigning of the Eagles.
Throughout those campaigns, many of the pioneering legislation for the first government pensions was actually drafted by Eagles before they were adopted State after State.
Our Statutes actually require a Mothers' Day observance. FOE Statute Section 72.4 says, in part, "On the second Sunday in May of each year, each local aerie shall hold services appropriate to Mother's Day."
We miss that occasion far too often.
At minimum we should do what the Eagles did a century ago: sell carnations to our members, who would wear a white carnation if their mothers were deceased, a red one if they were not. You've still got time. Take a look a this video the Grand Aerie produced for Mother's Day.
Friday, April 25, 2014
Even "dumb criminals" come to the Eagles
This is the funniest video about the Eagles I've ever seen.
Last month Aerie 3004 in Okanagon County Washington was burglarized - by the second time yet - by a genius who was at the time wearing an ankle bracelet awaiting trial on another charge.
In case you didn't know, ankle bracelets are equipped with a global positioning system (GPS) so the police can track you wherever you go.
The police wasted no time picking up a "suspect".
You can watch the video here.
Last month Aerie 3004 in Okanagon County Washington was burglarized - by the second time yet - by a genius who was at the time wearing an ankle bracelet awaiting trial on another charge.
In case you didn't know, ankle bracelets are equipped with a global positioning system (GPS) so the police can track you wherever you go.
The police wasted no time picking up a "suspect".
You can watch the video here.
Report of aerie physician? What’s that?
You’ll see it in the FOE Ritual book, the eighth item on the Order of Business for general meetings: “Report of aerie physician”. No President in Ontario reads that item, and I’m not aware of any aerie anywhere that does. But there was a time when it was a very big deal indeed.
You’ll see it in the Statutes FOE as well. Section 80.1 lists Local Aerie Officers, including an aerie physician “when so provided by an Aerie in its By-Laws”. Section 90.1 goes on to say those By-Laws should have provisions “regulating his or their duties and compensation, the manner of selection by election or appointment, and the term of office, which shall not exceed three (3) years.”
At the dawn of the 20th century some fraternal organizations contracted with physicians to provide medical care for their members in return for an annual fee paid by the fraternal from dues revenue. It was called the Lodge Doctor system, a wonderful free-market system that provided house calls, treatment, and even minor surgery for an annual cost to the lodge brother or sister for a dollar or two per year, about the cost of a single doctor’s visit on a fee-for-service basis. The big exception usually was denial of treatment for conditions caused by alcohol or whatever the lodge defined as “immoral behavior”.
The best and best-known account of the system is in David Beito’s book From Mutual Aid to the Welfare State: Fraternal Societies and Social Services, 1890-1967. You can also read about it in Puck Smith’s blog Things I’ve Found.
Beito in particular tells the story to make his case that a completely free market medical system would work best because the Lodge Doctor system was the free market: easy access, low cost and voluntary participation.
The Lodge Doctor patient had a good deal of power in the doctor-patient relationship: if they weren’t treated well and respectfully, they would be reported to the lodge, where there could be sanctions against the physician, who might even lose his contract.
It was first popular among small urban lodges, especially among eastern European Jews in New York’s Lower East Side and black women’s’ lodges in New Orleans – groups with low incomes and a tough time getting respect from society doctors.
Some 500 physicians catered to these New York Jewish societies by 1915 and among blacks in New Orleans there were more than 600 fraternal societies with Lodge Doctors in the 1920s.
And while the system was small-time, local and mainly for the poor who wouldn’t pay regular doctors’ fees anyway, it worked very well indeed. The low cost and guaranteed service encouraged early treatment (preventive medicine), less reliance on cure-worse-than-the-disease folk remedies and the patent medicines readily available, like morphine, laudanum, heroin and cocaine (if there was anything useful in them at all). A young doctor new in town could pick up an entire practice immediately with this bulk contracting of his services. There was nothing then (nor is there today) to match it for people of modest means needing regular care for their families.
Then it went big time. The Lodge Doctor system was adopted by the two fastest-growing fraternal organizations ever, the Fraternal Order of Eagles and the Independent Order of Foresters (where I worked before I retired). Many thousands of people opted for a Lodge Doctor instead of paying fees per visit. In Beito’s book he says that by 1906 in Seattle (where the Eagles was founded) some 20 per cent of adult males were covered by a Lodge Doctor.
Two things happened.
First, some doctors got greedy, contracting with as many as 10 different lodges to be their doctor and seeing as many as 100 patients per day. Then all doctors, through their powerful new closed-shop union, the American Medical Association, launched an all-out assault on this growing threat to their fee-based incomes. As early as 1913 the AMA founded a “Propaganda Department” to spread information about health fraud including the evils of the Lodge Doctor. They also campaigned stridently that there were too many physicians in the marketplace because there were too many medical schools.
Its Code of Ethics prohibited the solicitation of patients by physicians in 1922, and by 1934 made it unethical for any physician to dispose of his or her services to any lay body, organization, group, or individual under the conditions that would permit any of them to receive a profit on the doctor's services.
Throughout this campaign, those Lodge Doctors were sometimes expelled from the AMA or denied hospital facilities. In some cases individuals who used a doctor who had worked even in the past for a lodge would be denied medical treatment, even sometimes emergency hospital treatment.
The campaign worked wonderfully for the AMA in protecting doctors’ fees. From 1916 to 1919 alone it is estimated that physician income soared by 41 per cent. As the AMA tightened the noose, the number of medical schools also plummeted, from 166 in 1904 to 81 in 1922.
By the late 1930s the Lodge Doctor system all but disappeared – except, apparently, in the Eagles’ ritual.
You’ll see it in the Statutes FOE as well. Section 80.1 lists Local Aerie Officers, including an aerie physician “when so provided by an Aerie in its By-Laws”. Section 90.1 goes on to say those By-Laws should have provisions “regulating his or their duties and compensation, the manner of selection by election or appointment, and the term of office, which shall not exceed three (3) years.”
At the dawn of the 20th century some fraternal organizations contracted with physicians to provide medical care for their members in return for an annual fee paid by the fraternal from dues revenue. It was called the Lodge Doctor system, a wonderful free-market system that provided house calls, treatment, and even minor surgery for an annual cost to the lodge brother or sister for a dollar or two per year, about the cost of a single doctor’s visit on a fee-for-service basis. The big exception usually was denial of treatment for conditions caused by alcohol or whatever the lodge defined as “immoral behavior”.
The best and best-known account of the system is in David Beito’s book From Mutual Aid to the Welfare State: Fraternal Societies and Social Services, 1890-1967. You can also read about it in Puck Smith’s blog Things I’ve Found.
Beito in particular tells the story to make his case that a completely free market medical system would work best because the Lodge Doctor system was the free market: easy access, low cost and voluntary participation.
The Lodge Doctor patient had a good deal of power in the doctor-patient relationship: if they weren’t treated well and respectfully, they would be reported to the lodge, where there could be sanctions against the physician, who might even lose his contract.
It was first popular among small urban lodges, especially among eastern European Jews in New York’s Lower East Side and black women’s’ lodges in New Orleans – groups with low incomes and a tough time getting respect from society doctors.
Some 500 physicians catered to these New York Jewish societies by 1915 and among blacks in New Orleans there were more than 600 fraternal societies with Lodge Doctors in the 1920s.
And while the system was small-time, local and mainly for the poor who wouldn’t pay regular doctors’ fees anyway, it worked very well indeed. The low cost and guaranteed service encouraged early treatment (preventive medicine), less reliance on cure-worse-than-the-disease folk remedies and the patent medicines readily available, like morphine, laudanum, heroin and cocaine (if there was anything useful in them at all). A young doctor new in town could pick up an entire practice immediately with this bulk contracting of his services. There was nothing then (nor is there today) to match it for people of modest means needing regular care for their families.
Then it went big time. The Lodge Doctor system was adopted by the two fastest-growing fraternal organizations ever, the Fraternal Order of Eagles and the Independent Order of Foresters (where I worked before I retired). Many thousands of people opted for a Lodge Doctor instead of paying fees per visit. In Beito’s book he says that by 1906 in Seattle (where the Eagles was founded) some 20 per cent of adult males were covered by a Lodge Doctor.
Two things happened.
First, some doctors got greedy, contracting with as many as 10 different lodges to be their doctor and seeing as many as 100 patients per day. Then all doctors, through their powerful new closed-shop union, the American Medical Association, launched an all-out assault on this growing threat to their fee-based incomes. As early as 1913 the AMA founded a “Propaganda Department” to spread information about health fraud including the evils of the Lodge Doctor. They also campaigned stridently that there were too many physicians in the marketplace because there were too many medical schools.
Its Code of Ethics prohibited the solicitation of patients by physicians in 1922, and by 1934 made it unethical for any physician to dispose of his or her services to any lay body, organization, group, or individual under the conditions that would permit any of them to receive a profit on the doctor's services.
Throughout this campaign, those Lodge Doctors were sometimes expelled from the AMA or denied hospital facilities. In some cases individuals who used a doctor who had worked even in the past for a lodge would be denied medical treatment, even sometimes emergency hospital treatment.
The campaign worked wonderfully for the AMA in protecting doctors’ fees. From 1916 to 1919 alone it is estimated that physician income soared by 41 per cent. As the AMA tightened the noose, the number of medical schools also plummeted, from 166 in 1904 to 81 in 1922.
By the late 1930s the Lodge Doctor system all but disappeared – except, apparently, in the Eagles’ ritual.
Thursday, April 24, 2014
Tammey Artuso Eastern Canada Auxiliary President
Incoming 2014-2015 Ontario Provincial Madam President Tammey Artuso has also been named Eastern Canada Regional Auxiliary President for the same term.
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A charter member (1981) of the Sault Ste Marie Auxiliary 3991, Tammey has held every office except Secretary in her Local Auxiliary, Mother and Grandmother.
During the years of Sault Ste Marie 3991’s association with Michigan State she was a District Chairman, Zone Chairman and Auxiliary Adviser for the Junior Eagle Thunderbirds. During the Sault’s years with the Ontario Provincial Aerie she has been Zone 1 Vice Chairman and Chairman, Provincial President, Vice President and Past President as well as Ontario Provincial Mother.
She is a past charity chair for the Diabetes Research Center, Art Ehrmann Cancer Fund, Robert Hansen Diabetes Fund, Jimmy Durante Children’s Fund, Lew Reed Spinal Cord Injury Fund and Alzheimer’s Fund.
She was also Co-chair of the Christmas Box Charity for Grand Madam President Katie Ziebol.
The Eastern Canada Region is composed of the Ontario Provincial Auxiliary and the Quebec Provincial Auxiliary.
A charter member (1981) of the Sault Ste Marie Auxiliary 3991, Tammey has held every office except Secretary in her Local Auxiliary, Mother and Grandmother.
During the years of Sault Ste Marie 3991’s association with Michigan State she was a District Chairman, Zone Chairman and Auxiliary Adviser for the Junior Eagle Thunderbirds. During the Sault’s years with the Ontario Provincial Aerie she has been Zone 1 Vice Chairman and Chairman, Provincial President, Vice President and Past President as well as Ontario Provincial Mother.
She is a past charity chair for the Diabetes Research Center, Art Ehrmann Cancer Fund, Robert Hansen Diabetes Fund, Jimmy Durante Children’s Fund, Lew Reed Spinal Cord Injury Fund and Alzheimer’s Fund.
She was also Co-chair of the Christmas Box Charity for Grand Madam President Katie Ziebol.
The Eastern Canada Region is composed of the Ontario Provincial Auxiliary and the Quebec Provincial Auxiliary.
Toronto 2311 to elect 3 officers May 14
Toronto’s Maple Leaf Aerie 2311 will hold elections May 14 for the offices of Vice President, Secretary and Trustee, while the positions of Chaplain and Inside Guard remain vacant following nominations April 23.
Candidates for Vice President are incumbent Tom Robson and previous officer Roger Hubbard. Candidates for Secretary are incumbent Jacquie Smith and Brad Fortner. Candidates for Trustee are incumbent Dan O’Reilly and Ron Rankine.
At the same meeting Ken Cooper was acclaimed for a fourth term as Aerie President and Vicki Reid was acclaimed for a fourth term as Conductor.
Treasurer Art Richard and Trustees Bob Boag and Mike Wolfe are serving multi-year terms and continue in office.
In accordance with Aerie 2311 Bylaws, polls will be open from noon to 7:30 p.m. Election will be by printed ballot. Under the FOE Model Election Rules, each nominee may have an observer at the polls and/or at the counting of the ballots.
Members voting must have their current official dues receipt with them – the Secretary cannot vouch for a member who does not have his or her receipt. Members do not have to vote for all positions. Tellers ignore blanks and count only ballots cast. Election tellers present their report at the meeting that evening, with the President announcing the results.
The new executive, including candidates elected May 14, will be installed at a ceremony May 28, scheduled to be conducted by Grand Worthy President David Tice. They take office officially at the first general meeting in June.
Candidates for Vice President are incumbent Tom Robson and previous officer Roger Hubbard. Candidates for Secretary are incumbent Jacquie Smith and Brad Fortner. Candidates for Trustee are incumbent Dan O’Reilly and Ron Rankine.
At the same meeting Ken Cooper was acclaimed for a fourth term as Aerie President and Vicki Reid was acclaimed for a fourth term as Conductor.
Treasurer Art Richard and Trustees Bob Boag and Mike Wolfe are serving multi-year terms and continue in office.
In accordance with Aerie 2311 Bylaws, polls will be open from noon to 7:30 p.m. Election will be by printed ballot. Under the FOE Model Election Rules, each nominee may have an observer at the polls and/or at the counting of the ballots.
Members voting must have their current official dues receipt with them – the Secretary cannot vouch for a member who does not have his or her receipt. Members do not have to vote for all positions. Tellers ignore blanks and count only ballots cast. Election tellers present their report at the meeting that evening, with the President announcing the results.
The new executive, including candidates elected May 14, will be installed at a ceremony May 28, scheduled to be conducted by Grand Worthy President David Tice. They take office officially at the first general meeting in June.
Sunday, April 20, 2014
The Eagles' yellow card story
During the last half of the nineteenth century hundreds of fraternal organizations were formed in Canada and the United States, and most of them failed or were merged into other fraternals fairly quickly. So how did the Fraternal Order of Eagles do so well?
Founded in 1898, new lodges called aeries and new memberships soared: by 1911 there more than 1,000 aeries, more than a million members at a time when it had, as most fraternals did, men-only memberships. It was the fastest-growing fraternal organization in history.
Sure, the feel-good accounts about a commitment to equality, more open membership requirements and an early commitment to charity all contributed.
But the short answer is that the Eagles came along at the right time, in the right place, and was founded by the right people; the show business industry was in the midst of unprecedented upheaval; and a great many jobs were at stake.
The FOE was one of the last attempts to form a fraternal organization, in 1898 Seattle Washington, by a group of theatre owners. They included two of the greatest show business pioneers: John Cort, who would become the owner of more independent legitimate theatres (assigned seating, no liquor) than anyone in history; and John Considine, co-founder of one of the largest vaudeville circuits in America, the Sullivan-Considine circuit, the first to offer top-level entertainers contracts for 26 weeks of continuous work from one town to the next.
The founders first called it The Order of Good Things. They wanted a place where theatre people could socialize among themselves, resolve constant labour disputes and business rivalries, and do some good for their community.
The railway had just come to Seattle, transforming the city from a sleepy lumber town that had shipped most of its output by sea to San Francisco. The railway also made possible the choice of Seattle as the departure and return point for the many dreamers and schemers who joined the Yukon Gold Rush, the biggest and longest-lasting scramble for gold in history.
Seattle boomed, equipping would-be gold miners heading north and buying their gold when they returned. Most importantly for the Eagles founders, they also entertained legions of single men with get-rich-quick dreams, (sometimes) lots of money and no family responsibilities.
Crews of railway navvies were laying new track everywhere, transforming a continent used to travel only by ship, stagecoach, by wagon or on horseback. One of the biggest changes came to the entertainment industry.
All entertainment then, of course, was live entertainment. The talent would travel from town to town, find a local producer to put on a show and hire local people as stage hands, to build props and sets, to make costumes and whatever else was required for the show. The railway changed all that. Now entire shows – sets, props, costumes and instruments, along with the entire talent and support staffs could show up good to go.
So who got the work – the local people who made their living supporting shows when they came to town or the out-of-town crews down at the railway station? The conflict prompted formation of a new union, the National Association of Theatrical and Stage Employes (that’s how they spelled it), soon to be renamed the International Association of Theatrical and Stage Employes, or IATSE, when Canadian locals were admitted. Early Locals in New York and Chicago at first tried a local-hire-only approach, a losing battle when so much was to be gained shipping everything by rail.
The new Northwest District of the union, based in Seattle, had a better idea. There was this new fraternal organization where the producers mingled with show business people and support staff. They approached men like Cort and Considine with a proposal: we’ll do all the hiring here at the aerie, whether local or out of town, and guarantee fully-staffed shows for their entire runs, saving you labour strife and critical staff shortages.
By using the local aerie as a hiring hall (something the union couldn’t afford to set up itself), the union had a ready pool of members while the producers as Eagles leaders got a powerful incentive for show people to join the FOE to get those jobs.
Named after the FOE’s yellow membership cards, it was called the yellow card system, and the shows so organized were called yellow card shows (as they are to this day).
The union-fraternity partnership caused membership in the FOE to soar. New aeries were launched throughout the American northwest and in southern British Columbia, and then followed the railways. Aeries were numbered in order of their charter dates. Aerie 1 was (and is) in downtown Seattle, Aerie 6 in Vancouver BC. Aerie 10 in Rossland BC and Aerie 23 at Winnipeg’s railhead (both still operating) followed. Even Ontario chartered two aeries in 1904, in Sault Ste Marie and Toronto, though both failed the first time.
By 1911 the Fraternal Order of Eagles had its million members in 1,000 aeries. The yellow card system worked well for all concerned. IATSE became (and remains) one of the most successful unions in history. By 1913 IATSE members voted in international convention in Ottawa to adopt the yellow card system everywhere. And IATSE was now successful enough to have its own hiring halls, bypassing the Eagles altogether.
But the Fraternal Order of Eagles was now firmly established even without IATSE.
Founded in 1898, new lodges called aeries and new memberships soared: by 1911 there more than 1,000 aeries, more than a million members at a time when it had, as most fraternals did, men-only memberships. It was the fastest-growing fraternal organization in history.
Sure, the feel-good accounts about a commitment to equality, more open membership requirements and an early commitment to charity all contributed.
 |
| John Considine, left, and John Cort, right were among theatrical pioneers who founded the FOE. |
The FOE was one of the last attempts to form a fraternal organization, in 1898 Seattle Washington, by a group of theatre owners. They included two of the greatest show business pioneers: John Cort, who would become the owner of more independent legitimate theatres (assigned seating, no liquor) than anyone in history; and John Considine, co-founder of one of the largest vaudeville circuits in America, the Sullivan-Considine circuit, the first to offer top-level entertainers contracts for 26 weeks of continuous work from one town to the next.
The founders first called it The Order of Good Things. They wanted a place where theatre people could socialize among themselves, resolve constant labour disputes and business rivalries, and do some good for their community.
 |
| The Eagles founders started the fraternity in 1898 for theatre people to socialize among themselves, to settle labour disputes and business rivalries, and to do some good for the community. |
The railway had just come to Seattle, transforming the city from a sleepy lumber town that had shipped most of its output by sea to San Francisco. The railway also made possible the choice of Seattle as the departure and return point for the many dreamers and schemers who joined the Yukon Gold Rush, the biggest and longest-lasting scramble for gold in history.
Seattle boomed, equipping would-be gold miners heading north and buying their gold when they returned. Most importantly for the Eagles founders, they also entertained legions of single men with get-rich-quick dreams, (sometimes) lots of money and no family responsibilities.
Crews of railway navvies were laying new track everywhere, transforming a continent used to travel only by ship, stagecoach, by wagon or on horseback. One of the biggest changes came to the entertainment industry.
All entertainment then, of course, was live entertainment. The talent would travel from town to town, find a local producer to put on a show and hire local people as stage hands, to build props and sets, to make costumes and whatever else was required for the show. The railway changed all that. Now entire shows – sets, props, costumes and instruments, along with the entire talent and support staffs could show up good to go.
So who got the work – the local people who made their living supporting shows when they came to town or the out-of-town crews down at the railway station? The conflict prompted formation of a new union, the National Association of Theatrical and Stage Employes (that’s how they spelled it), soon to be renamed the International Association of Theatrical and Stage Employes, or IATSE, when Canadian locals were admitted. Early Locals in New York and Chicago at first tried a local-hire-only approach, a losing battle when so much was to be gained shipping everything by rail.
The new Northwest District of the union, based in Seattle, had a better idea. There was this new fraternal organization where the producers mingled with show business people and support staff. They approached men like Cort and Considine with a proposal: we’ll do all the hiring here at the aerie, whether local or out of town, and guarantee fully-staffed shows for their entire runs, saving you labour strife and critical staff shortages.
 |
| There's a history behind the Eagles membership card being yellow in colour. |
Named after the FOE’s yellow membership cards, it was called the yellow card system, and the shows so organized were called yellow card shows (as they are to this day).
The union-fraternity partnership caused membership in the FOE to soar. New aeries were launched throughout the American northwest and in southern British Columbia, and then followed the railways. Aeries were numbered in order of their charter dates. Aerie 1 was (and is) in downtown Seattle, Aerie 6 in Vancouver BC. Aerie 10 in Rossland BC and Aerie 23 at Winnipeg’s railhead (both still operating) followed. Even Ontario chartered two aeries in 1904, in Sault Ste Marie and Toronto, though both failed the first time.
By 1911 the Fraternal Order of Eagles had its million members in 1,000 aeries. The yellow card system worked well for all concerned. IATSE became (and remains) one of the most successful unions in history. By 1913 IATSE members voted in international convention in Ottawa to adopt the yellow card system everywhere. And IATSE was now successful enough to have its own hiring halls, bypassing the Eagles altogether.
But the Fraternal Order of Eagles was now firmly established even without IATSE.
Friday, April 18, 2014
How's the rest of Canada doing?
In addition to the Ontario Provincial Aerie, Canada has four other provincial jurisdictions.
The brightest spot is Alberta/Saskatchewan, combining the two provinces. Its eight Aeries are, as of the end of March, 140 per cent of quota, with 337 new members signed up - 30 more than last year. Alberta/Saskatchewan's eight Auxiliaries are at 115 per cent of their annual quota already, with 166 new members, 22 more than last year.
By far the biggest Canadian jurisdiction is British Columbia. Its 402 new Local Aerie members in 23 aeries amounts to 99 per cent of its quota for the year, but it's 20 fewer than last year at this point. BC's 21 Auxiliaries signed up 91, only 32 per cent of its annual quota and 43 fewer than last year.
Manitoba's four Local Aeries make it the smallest jurisdiction anywhere in the Eagles, and continues to suffer declines. It had 12 new members by the end of March, 25 per cent of quota and 11 fewer than last year. Manitoba's lone Auxiliary signed up two, 17 per cent of its annual quota and one fewer than last year.
Quebec is the other Provincial Aerie in Eastern Canada Region. Its six Local Aeries signed up 81 new members, 96 per cent of its annual quota and two fewer than last year, while its six Auxiliaries signed up 18 new members, only 25 per cent of annual quota and six fewer than last year.
The brightest spot is Alberta/Saskatchewan, combining the two provinces. Its eight Aeries are, as of the end of March, 140 per cent of quota, with 337 new members signed up - 30 more than last year. Alberta/Saskatchewan's eight Auxiliaries are at 115 per cent of their annual quota already, with 166 new members, 22 more than last year.
By far the biggest Canadian jurisdiction is British Columbia. Its 402 new Local Aerie members in 23 aeries amounts to 99 per cent of its quota for the year, but it's 20 fewer than last year at this point. BC's 21 Auxiliaries signed up 91, only 32 per cent of its annual quota and 43 fewer than last year.
Manitoba's four Local Aeries make it the smallest jurisdiction anywhere in the Eagles, and continues to suffer declines. It had 12 new members by the end of March, 25 per cent of quota and 11 fewer than last year. Manitoba's lone Auxiliary signed up two, 17 per cent of its annual quota and one fewer than last year.
Quebec is the other Provincial Aerie in Eastern Canada Region. Its six Local Aeries signed up 81 new members, 96 per cent of its annual quota and two fewer than last year, while its six Auxiliaries signed up 18 new members, only 25 per cent of annual quota and six fewer than last year.
Best source of new members? New members, of course.
The new member initiation ceremony isn’t just the end of the process of recruiting those members; it’s the beginning of your best chance to grow your aerie or auxiliary membership even more. Those new brothers and sisters are themselves gold mines for new prospects.
New members have family, friends, neighbours, co-workers, fishing buddies and fellow softball team members who know little or nothing about the Eagles. They need to be motivated to recruit them.
Remember EMOALONMTHAEY? We often say (and most of us post a sign saying) “every member owes at least one new member to his/her aerie/auxiliary every year”. If all Eagles did that, of course, our overall membership would double every year, while we are in fact declining in membership numbers. The Grand Aerie Membership Department says only eight percent of us sign a new member in any given year.
If we can get new members to sign up others right away we can make a dramatic difference. According to Grand Aerie Membership Director Vince Kinman, “if only four percent of new members signed up another member during their first year, the FOE overall would have a net gain in members every year.”
Imagine what could happen if each of our Local Aeries set a goal of one new member from each new member. It’s a modest enough goal, but the payoff would be spectacular!
Here are a few suggestions for meeting that goal:
• Have an officers meeting before an initiation, to review what we know about each candidate. Assign an officer to be in charge of welcoming each new member, along with that new member’s proposer.
• The assigned officer’s job begins at the end of the ceremony: he or she now has to engage the new member in conversation, take him or her around to introduce other members, and let the new member know what upcoming activities there are that might be of interest.
• The assigned officer is given a list of upcoming events (dinners, dances, work parties, etc.) and regularly scheduled activities (darts, shuffleboard) that might be of interest to the new member. The goal here is to get a commitment from the new member to come back one more time.
• The assigned officer also gives the new member an application form and lets him or her know that we expect him/her to sign up someone else right away.
• The assigned officer’s job doesn’t end until the new member leaves for the night or gets involved in conversation with someone he/she did not know before the initiation.
• People organizing upcoming events should be asked to be present, and to have one or two specific tasks they could ask the new member to help with.
• Make sure there’s food available on initiation nights. It doesn’t have to be a full-blown dinner. Throw some Kraft Dinner into a crock pot or whip together a couple of loaves worth of egg salad sandwiches if you have to. The whole point is to give the new member a reason to stick around at least for a few minutes after the ceremony.
• The day after the ceremony, mail a personalized welcome letter from the membership chairman or the President to the new member’s home. Repeat the request to sign up a new member and include another application form.
By the end of March, Ontario’s Local Aeries signed up 60 new members. Imagine where we’d all be if each one of them signed another new member of their own. Three of our five Local Aeries don’t even have 60 members in total. Ontario’s four Local Auxiliaries (Toronto 2311 doesn’t have one) signed up 14 new members by the end of March. All of us could become net gain aeries or auxiliaries, and we could guarantee ourselves that every new member has a friend at the Eagles, a reason to come by more often.
Let me know if you can think of any reason this wouldn’t work.
New members have family, friends, neighbours, co-workers, fishing buddies and fellow softball team members who know little or nothing about the Eagles. They need to be motivated to recruit them.
Remember EMOALONMTHAEY? We often say (and most of us post a sign saying) “every member owes at least one new member to his/her aerie/auxiliary every year”. If all Eagles did that, of course, our overall membership would double every year, while we are in fact declining in membership numbers. The Grand Aerie Membership Department says only eight percent of us sign a new member in any given year.
If we can get new members to sign up others right away we can make a dramatic difference. According to Grand Aerie Membership Director Vince Kinman, “if only four percent of new members signed up another member during their first year, the FOE overall would have a net gain in members every year.”
Imagine what could happen if each of our Local Aeries set a goal of one new member from each new member. It’s a modest enough goal, but the payoff would be spectacular!
Here are a few suggestions for meeting that goal:
• Have an officers meeting before an initiation, to review what we know about each candidate. Assign an officer to be in charge of welcoming each new member, along with that new member’s proposer.
• The assigned officer’s job begins at the end of the ceremony: he or she now has to engage the new member in conversation, take him or her around to introduce other members, and let the new member know what upcoming activities there are that might be of interest.
• The assigned officer is given a list of upcoming events (dinners, dances, work parties, etc.) and regularly scheduled activities (darts, shuffleboard) that might be of interest to the new member. The goal here is to get a commitment from the new member to come back one more time.
• The assigned officer also gives the new member an application form and lets him or her know that we expect him/her to sign up someone else right away.
• The assigned officer’s job doesn’t end until the new member leaves for the night or gets involved in conversation with someone he/she did not know before the initiation.
• People organizing upcoming events should be asked to be present, and to have one or two specific tasks they could ask the new member to help with.
• Make sure there’s food available on initiation nights. It doesn’t have to be a full-blown dinner. Throw some Kraft Dinner into a crock pot or whip together a couple of loaves worth of egg salad sandwiches if you have to. The whole point is to give the new member a reason to stick around at least for a few minutes after the ceremony.
• The day after the ceremony, mail a personalized welcome letter from the membership chairman or the President to the new member’s home. Repeat the request to sign up a new member and include another application form.
By the end of March, Ontario’s Local Aeries signed up 60 new members. Imagine where we’d all be if each one of them signed another new member of their own. Three of our five Local Aeries don’t even have 60 members in total. Ontario’s four Local Auxiliaries (Toronto 2311 doesn’t have one) signed up 14 new members by the end of March. All of us could become net gain aeries or auxiliaries, and we could guarantee ourselves that every new member has a friend at the Eagles, a reason to come by more often.
Let me know if you can think of any reason this wouldn’t work.
Tuesday, April 15, 2014
Do you have your elevator pitch ready?
It's great to ask friends and family who don't know the Eagles to join your aerie. One of the best ways to get them interested is to invite them to a special function at the aerie, so they'll see the Eagles at its best.
But somewhere along the line, they'll ask "what is the Eagles all about? Why should I join?"
You might answer, or someone in the aerie might. If you leave it to chance, your guest will most likely find a barfly - someone who's had a few beers, who's got lots of free time (because he never volunteers for anything), who's always looking for someone to talk to (because the other members have tired of him). Is that the spokesperson you want? Your guests will get responses like "cheap beer", "I live around the corner", or "they wouldn't accept me in the Elks".
You might lose a new member that way, or worse, the barfly's reasons might appeal and you've signed up another barfly. Big deal.
Where the lack of a brief, compelling explanation really hurts is when it's an aerie officer speaking to someone from the news media. The unprepared officer sends the wrong message to thousands of people all at once that way.
An elevator pitch is an explanation of your organization you might give to someone you meet in an elevator. You really want the person to join, and you've only got a few seconds to take them to the next step. If you really want to sign up new members, you might try making a few notes, asking a few questions, and practicing that elevator pitch. If you're an officer, you especially should have one ready, and you should try it out whenever someone brings in a nonmember guest. One day, if you're lucky, a community events reporter from a local newspaper, radio or TV station will ask you about the Eagles, and you'll be ready.
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Sales people, evangelists and politicians rehearse their elevator pitches all the time, because they know it's important.
The Grand Aerie Marketing Department is more than willing to help you with media support, to help you promote an event, fundraiser or open house. If it's newsworthy, they'll draft a press release with you and distribute it to your local media. If you think you've got something that might get coverage, email marketing@foe.com and they'll get back to you.
There's also an excellent local publicity guide available for download from the members only section of the Grand Aerie website under Media Support. Everyone should read it carefully.
If you want more local advice email me (I worked 20 years in public relations). I'll be delighted to help any way I can.
But at the end of the day, what'll make the difference is your elevator pitch. Blow it and you might lose some very valuable news coverage.
The idea is actually centuries old. A couple of years BC, a Jewish cleric called Rabbi Hillel was asked by a non-Jew to explain his religion "while standing on one leg" (meaning as briefly as possible).
Rabbi Hillel replied, “That which is hateful to you, do not unto another: this is the whole Torah (scripture). The rest is commentary — now go study.”
You don't have to be a media star to make your pitch work, but you do have to be prepared. Take a look at the YouTube video posted on Mar 27. Indiana State President Bill Dickey and State Trustee Dan Frick are being interviewed by local community affairs host Bill Potter about a fundraising event. You might have said different things, you might have been more concise. But there's no denying the fact they're prepared. Very prepared. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pol9wH8AO-w
But somewhere along the line, they'll ask "what is the Eagles all about? Why should I join?"
You might answer, or someone in the aerie might. If you leave it to chance, your guest will most likely find a barfly - someone who's had a few beers, who's got lots of free time (because he never volunteers for anything), who's always looking for someone to talk to (because the other members have tired of him). Is that the spokesperson you want? Your guests will get responses like "cheap beer", "I live around the corner", or "they wouldn't accept me in the Elks".
You might lose a new member that way, or worse, the barfly's reasons might appeal and you've signed up another barfly. Big deal.
Where the lack of a brief, compelling explanation really hurts is when it's an aerie officer speaking to someone from the news media. The unprepared officer sends the wrong message to thousands of people all at once that way.
An elevator pitch is an explanation of your organization you might give to someone you meet in an elevator. You really want the person to join, and you've only got a few seconds to take them to the next step. If you really want to sign up new members, you might try making a few notes, asking a few questions, and practicing that elevator pitch. If you're an officer, you especially should have one ready, and you should try it out whenever someone brings in a nonmember guest. One day, if you're lucky, a community events reporter from a local newspaper, radio or TV station will ask you about the Eagles, and you'll be ready.
Sales people, evangelists and politicians rehearse their elevator pitches all the time, because they know it's important.The Grand Aerie Marketing Department is more than willing to help you with media support, to help you promote an event, fundraiser or open house. If it's newsworthy, they'll draft a press release with you and distribute it to your local media. If you think you've got something that might get coverage, email marketing@foe.com and they'll get back to you.
There's also an excellent local publicity guide available for download from the members only section of the Grand Aerie website under Media Support. Everyone should read it carefully.
If you want more local advice email me (I worked 20 years in public relations). I'll be delighted to help any way I can.
But at the end of the day, what'll make the difference is your elevator pitch. Blow it and you might lose some very valuable news coverage.
The idea is actually centuries old. A couple of years BC, a Jewish cleric called Rabbi Hillel was asked by a non-Jew to explain his religion "while standing on one leg" (meaning as briefly as possible).
Rabbi Hillel replied, “That which is hateful to you, do not unto another: this is the whole Torah (scripture). The rest is commentary — now go study.”
You don't have to be a media star to make your pitch work, but you do have to be prepared. Take a look at the YouTube video posted on Mar 27. Indiana State President Bill Dickey and State Trustee Dan Frick are being interviewed by local community affairs host Bill Potter about a fundraising event. You might have said different things, you might have been more concise. But there's no denying the fact they're prepared. Very prepared. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pol9wH8AO-w
My Eagles travel plans
This blog has just begun, so I haven't really set things up very well to gather information about aeries other than my own, Toronto 2311. That will change gradually, but I do have some upcoming travel plans that will help.
The Ontario Provincial Aerie and Auxiliary annual convention is set for Sault Ste Marie 3991 June 6 to 8. I'll be spending a longer time there this year, though. I'm travelling with my good friend Spencer Doyle (currently a Provincial Trustee and also a Past Provincial President).
We plan to spend the day/evening at Heyden-Goulais River 4061 June 5; at Sault Ste Marie 3991 Monday June 9; and at Webbwood 4269 Tuesday June 10. These are also the local aerie general meeting nights in all three cases.
The New York State Convention takes place a week after Ontario's, June 19 to 21 in Johnstown NY. I'll be visiting there as well, travelling by rail (VIA/AMTRAK). The train trip takes 9 and a half hours, which would have seemed intolerably slow before I retired (January 31). But it takes two flights to get to Albany NY from here, and with the stopover included that's also nine and a half hours - and flying into Albany leaves me another half-hour drive to Johnstown!
Taking the train means I can walk around (actually back and forth) and even visit the dining room or the bar car if I'm so inclined. It's an all-daylight trip, so I'm also looking forward to some pretty spectacular scenery.
And, of course, there's the 2014 Grand Aerie International Convention July 14 to 17 in Orlando FL.
I'll be posting frequently from the Sault, from Johnstown and from Orlando.
The Ontario Provincial Aerie and Auxiliary annual convention is set for Sault Ste Marie 3991 June 6 to 8. I'll be spending a longer time there this year, though. I'm travelling with my good friend Spencer Doyle (currently a Provincial Trustee and also a Past Provincial President).
We plan to spend the day/evening at Heyden-Goulais River 4061 June 5; at Sault Ste Marie 3991 Monday June 9; and at Webbwood 4269 Tuesday June 10. These are also the local aerie general meeting nights in all three cases.
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| Last time Spencer (in the picture) and I were in Webbwood the weather wasn't ideal for enjoying their wonderful deck. It's much busier in summer. |
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| Here's Webbwood's outdoor licensed area. That's Toronto 2311 Past President Maxwell Stewart in the foreground left. As you can see, Webbwood is the kind of place where you can drive an all-terrain vehicle right to the aerie. |
The New York State Convention takes place a week after Ontario's, June 19 to 21 in Johnstown NY. I'll be visiting there as well, travelling by rail (VIA/AMTRAK). The train trip takes 9 and a half hours, which would have seemed intolerably slow before I retired (January 31). But it takes two flights to get to Albany NY from here, and with the stopover included that's also nine and a half hours - and flying into Albany leaves me another half-hour drive to Johnstown!
Taking the train means I can walk around (actually back and forth) and even visit the dining room or the bar car if I'm so inclined. It's an all-daylight trip, so I'm also looking forward to some pretty spectacular scenery.
And, of course, there's the 2014 Grand Aerie International Convention July 14 to 17 in Orlando FL.
I'll be posting frequently from the Sault, from Johnstown and from Orlando.
We're inching up there
We've added three new members in Toronto 2311 and one in London 4060 so far this month. Welcome Eagle Brothers Pedro Barata and Richard Barry (both proposed by Past Worthy President Richard Sherman) and Shivand Luke (proposed by Dave Cunningham) to Toronto 2311 reported on April 7; and James Fleetwood (proposed by Secretary James Tolley) to London 4060, reported April 3.
Saturday, April 12, 2014
The Constitution is not "just a guideline".
The most preposterous thing I ever heard an Aerie officer say is "the Constitution is just a guideline." Over 117 years, the Fraternal Order of Eagles has refined its Constitution and Statutes every year, for the protection of Eagle members from officers who are negligent or worse, and to ensure principles of transparency, accountability and democracy.
No one is perfect. I have visited about 60 Aeries over the past 35 years, and I'm not sure I ever visited one that was 100 per cent compliant. There is a limit, however, to how far we can allow Aerie officers to decide for themselves what is best for Aerie members. For better or worse, the members have the right in general meetings to make informed judgments about anything their officers wish to do - and within the limits of the Statutes, to tell them what they cannot do.
The Grand Aerie is taking a more active role in this regard, and expects the Provincial Officers to do likewise. We have been asked to set our own protocols at this year's OPA Convention in June, to ensure that every Ontario Aerie undertakes a Grand Aerie Survey of its affairs during the fiscal year. The Survey indicates where the President, Secretary, Treasurer and Trustees comply with their sworn duties; and, where they do not, there is room for explanation. Based on that and other information, the Provincial Officer conducting the survey may recommend either that one or more Local Aerie Officers be removed from office; or that the Aerie's Charter be suspended and a Grand Aerie Agent be brought in to run the Aerie until the situation is corrected.
It's a distasteful business but a necessary one. The Ontario Provincial Aerie has not conducted these Surveys very often in the past, at least until it was far too late. In addition to the five Aeries we still have, we have as a result lost an equal number - Aeries in Sudbury, St Catharines, Espanola, Ft Erie and Sarnia. I believe all of them could have been saved had we acted in time. A couple of years ago I declined an opportunity to be trained as a Grand Aerie Agent, certain I wouldn't have the heart for it.
In today's Lawrence Journal-World (Lawrence Kansas) there's a Town Talk blog by reporter Chad Lawhorn describing the suspension of the city's Local Aerie (Aerie 309 Mt Oread). The suspension notice on the Aerie door says it was done due to "at least a half-dozen violations of the by-laws of the organization, including violations of presidential duty, secretarial duty, treasurer duty and auditor duties".
The now-removed Aerie officers will hear April 18 when (or if) the Aerie will be allowed to re-open, and if so who will be allowed to continue in office.
The Statutes are clear. Section 5.2 reads "The Grand Worthy President shall have the power to remove and replace any Local Aerie Officer who neglects the duties of his office or is guilty of conduct injurious to his Aerie or to the Order.....Any Local Aerie Officer removed shall not be allowed to run for election or be appointed to any Local Office until three (3) regular elections have been held."
According to Section 39.4 "(a) The Grand Worthy President shall commission an Agent to represent a suspended Aerie. The agent is vested with all the powers of the Trustees and all other Aerie Officers and members, including but not limited to, the authority to act on behalf of the Aerie in all legal and governmental matters....(b) The Agent shall have the authority to remove and replace any officers of the suspended Aerie....Any officer so removed shall have no right of appeal...."
Members can download a copy of the Grand Aerie Survey form from the members only section of the FOE website.
No one is perfect. I have visited about 60 Aeries over the past 35 years, and I'm not sure I ever visited one that was 100 per cent compliant. There is a limit, however, to how far we can allow Aerie officers to decide for themselves what is best for Aerie members. For better or worse, the members have the right in general meetings to make informed judgments about anything their officers wish to do - and within the limits of the Statutes, to tell them what they cannot do.
The Grand Aerie is taking a more active role in this regard, and expects the Provincial Officers to do likewise. We have been asked to set our own protocols at this year's OPA Convention in June, to ensure that every Ontario Aerie undertakes a Grand Aerie Survey of its affairs during the fiscal year. The Survey indicates where the President, Secretary, Treasurer and Trustees comply with their sworn duties; and, where they do not, there is room for explanation. Based on that and other information, the Provincial Officer conducting the survey may recommend either that one or more Local Aerie Officers be removed from office; or that the Aerie's Charter be suspended and a Grand Aerie Agent be brought in to run the Aerie until the situation is corrected.
It's a distasteful business but a necessary one. The Ontario Provincial Aerie has not conducted these Surveys very often in the past, at least until it was far too late. In addition to the five Aeries we still have, we have as a result lost an equal number - Aeries in Sudbury, St Catharines, Espanola, Ft Erie and Sarnia. I believe all of them could have been saved had we acted in time. A couple of years ago I declined an opportunity to be trained as a Grand Aerie Agent, certain I wouldn't have the heart for it.
In today's Lawrence Journal-World (Lawrence Kansas) there's a Town Talk blog by reporter Chad Lawhorn describing the suspension of the city's Local Aerie (Aerie 309 Mt Oread). The suspension notice on the Aerie door says it was done due to "at least a half-dozen violations of the by-laws of the organization, including violations of presidential duty, secretarial duty, treasurer duty and auditor duties".
The now-removed Aerie officers will hear April 18 when (or if) the Aerie will be allowed to re-open, and if so who will be allowed to continue in office.
The Statutes are clear. Section 5.2 reads "The Grand Worthy President shall have the power to remove and replace any Local Aerie Officer who neglects the duties of his office or is guilty of conduct injurious to his Aerie or to the Order.....Any Local Aerie Officer removed shall not be allowed to run for election or be appointed to any Local Office until three (3) regular elections have been held."
According to Section 39.4 "(a) The Grand Worthy President shall commission an Agent to represent a suspended Aerie. The agent is vested with all the powers of the Trustees and all other Aerie Officers and members, including but not limited to, the authority to act on behalf of the Aerie in all legal and governmental matters....(b) The Agent shall have the authority to remove and replace any officers of the suspended Aerie....Any officer so removed shall have no right of appeal...."
Members can download a copy of the Grand Aerie Survey form from the members only section of the FOE website.
Friday, April 11, 2014
If you remember Ft Erie Aerie, this will break your heart
Fort Erie Aerie 3155 was, until its charter was surrendered this past year, the second-oldest aerie in Ontario with by far the largest property. The video below gives you a brief look at how spectacular the place was. It's an object lesson to all of us about how much we can lose, how quickly, by putting off whatever is necessary to keep our aeries prosperous and growing.
Toronto 2311 and Ft Erie 3155 were, before the OPA was formed in 1995, part of the New York State Aerie (while all other Ontario aeries were part of Michigan). In the old days, many of us traveled to New York Eagles events. Most times, it was traditional on the return trip, as soon as we crossed the border, to stop in for a beer "at home" in Ft Erie.
Last year, before the charter was surrendered, they had no functioning executive. At an OPA meeting we needed to send a letter to someone responsible advising them what we needed so we could try to help. Having no one, we decided to send the letter to every Ft Erie member on their roster. Nearly half came back as bad addresses. No one replied.
That's why it's such a relief that Toronto, London and Sault Ste Marie all have dedicated Secretaries keeping our records up to date, while new Secretaries in Heyden-Goulais River and Webbwood are eager to learn.
This beautiful property was sold to cover just some of their debts.
Blogger Linda Randall shot the video for her blog Niagara Region Ontario Canada / in September, 2011.
Toronto 2311 and Ft Erie 3155 were, before the OPA was formed in 1995, part of the New York State Aerie (while all other Ontario aeries were part of Michigan). In the old days, many of us traveled to New York Eagles events. Most times, it was traditional on the return trip, as soon as we crossed the border, to stop in for a beer "at home" in Ft Erie.
Last year, before the charter was surrendered, they had no functioning executive. At an OPA meeting we needed to send a letter to someone responsible advising them what we needed so we could try to help. Having no one, we decided to send the letter to every Ft Erie member on their roster. Nearly half came back as bad addresses. No one replied.
That's why it's such a relief that Toronto, London and Sault Ste Marie all have dedicated Secretaries keeping our records up to date, while new Secretaries in Heyden-Goulais River and Webbwood are eager to learn.
This beautiful property was sold to cover just some of their debts.
Blogger Linda Randall shot the video for her blog Niagara Region Ontario Canada / in September, 2011.
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