Masonic Motorcycle Club International |
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Fall 2005 News Letter |
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Following are the minutes of the International Executive Board and the Annual Meeting of the Corporation at the Grand Casino in Mille Lacs Minnesota at the Annual Convention hosted by Chapter # 24.
The International Executive Board meeting was called to order by Vice President, Gary O'Neal at 8:00 PM on August 4, 2005. Minutes of the last Executive Board were accepted as published. The Treasurer gave a brief report and stated that his fiscal year report will be read at the Annual Meeting. The International By-Laws changes were discussed and voted to hold the present dues structure until the first of the year because we still have some membership flyers out with the $10.00 fee. Doug Kelley will have new brochures printed with the new price increase in it. Quartermaster Cliff gave a brief report and said his supply of product is current but running low on small patches. The Board approved the purchase of 1000 small patches. He is also working on several new products. The newsletter seems to be the biggest expense that the Club has. However, we will continue to mail the newsletter since it is figured in as a line item in our budget. Presently we are surviving within our income . Death Benefit Fund report was accepted as read. We had three members pass away last year. Funds were drawn on the account and sent to the families our departed Brothers. The "Brothers of the Open Road" degree will be presented after the dinner on Saturday evening.
The Open House at Americade was discussed. because of rising costs, Hotels that tend to over charge and the lack of help to coordinate the breakfast at the Lodge, the Board will make a decision at the next Board meeting whether or not to continue the event. Several members travel long distances just to attend the Open House and we didn't gain any new members this year. That was the original intent of Open House. About this time our President, Mike Rapson returned from the Great Mall of America and proceeded to run the meeting. The slate of New Officers for the coming two years were read by David Page.
Doug said he has had several requests to post items for sale on the Web-Site. He was concerned about liability and who would monitor what was posted. It was decided to set up a " Items For Sale " spot , only showing items for a month at a time and it should be the responsibility of the seller to inform Doug when to pull them off. This will be another free feature for the membership. A proposal was read to allow Active Overseas Military members to have their dues remitted by the Chapters.
No action taken at this time. Because of the hour, the meeting was adjourned. The next Executive Board Meeting will be at Quality Inn, ( Dolphin Inn ) in Apalachin, New York on November 5, 2005 at 4:00 PM.
The Annual Meeting of the Corporation of the Masonic Motorcycle Club International ® Inc. was called to order by the International President, Mike Rapson on August 6, 2005 at the Town Hall in Emily Minnesota at about 9:30 AM. Roll Call of Officers found all Officers present with the exception of Trustee, Art Dorney who was excused for health reasons. Roll call of Chapters; 12 Chapters represented, We have a quorum. The International Chaplain, Neal B. Forbes prayed for us, our deliberations and safety followed by the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag of our Country. A memorial service was presented for our departed Brothers, Ralph Christopher, Chapter # 6, Larry H. Samsel, Chapter # 25 and Casmire Gervase, Chapter # 12. All stood in silence while our Chaplain recited the 23 Psalm. All members, guests, spouses and "Chopped Liver" were introduced. Members sick or in distress found Art Dorney, Leon French ,and Dick Foxen under the weather. Our thoughts and prayers are with them.
The minutes of last years Annual Meeting were accepted as published in the hand out program. The Treasurers report was read and accepted. The Death Benefit Report was read and accepted. As previously disclosed, three Brothers passed away this last year. Checks were sent to their families in their remembrance. C.D's # 4 & # 5 were purchased after last years Annual Meeting giving us a balance of almost a thousand dollars in the checking account as of today.
OFFICERS, All the Officers reports were accepted as published in the handouts. ( Available upon request )Mike Rapson thanked the Officers for their cooperation and dedication during this last two years wishing the new Officers Good Luck.
COMMITTEES. By-Laws changes were read, increasing the Annual dues from $ 8.00 to $ 10.00 for all members and $ 10.00 to $ 12.00 for new Members -at -Large. The $100.00 new Chapter fee remains the same. At some point in time, this should be reviewed. Audit & Finance, This fiscal years books have not been audited. Safety, No report. Grievance, No Report. AMA & CMA, No Reports. Americade, There is a Question if Americade will be in Lake George New York next year so the Executive Board will wait till the next Board Meeting to make a decision on an Open House. ( Note. Late breaking news, Americade will be at Lake George next year on June 5-10, 2006 ) Membership, Rex Baker has accepted 43 new Members- at- Large this last fiscal year, reinstated Chapter # 3 and welcomed Chapters # 32 of Williamsport, PA and Chapter # 34 of Deadwood SD. The President thanked Rex for keeping up with the Membership Committee. Quartermaster, Cliff said the inventory list is in his report and the Board approved the purchase of 1000 small patches. He is in the process of looking at several new items to add to the International catalog. Web-Site, Doug reported that he will be removing Chapter Web-Pages if they have not been used for the last year. There is no sense keeping them there if they are not being taken advantage off.
Sending the newsletter to the members was discussed. Doug said that it is very difficult because not everyone has E-Mail and addresses change so frequently. Besides, it takes lots of time to maintain a current E-Mail list. His report was read and accepted. Convention 2006 was presented by Chapter # 25, Berwick PA. The proposed date is August 10-13 2006 at the Days Inn at Danville PA located at I-80 & US # 54, Exit # 224. A motion was made, seconded and passed to accept their proposal. Convention 2005, Ken White thanked everyone for coming to Minnesota and hoped everyone was having a great time. He introduced his Committee with thanks and announced that the dinner will be in the Autumn Room at the back of the Casino at 6:00 PM. Also several other timely announcements. It was announced that the " Brothers of the Open Road " degree would also be presented after the dinner. The Nomination Committee, pro-tem Chairman, David Page, read the slate of 2005- 2007 Officers. President; Gary O'Neal, Chapter # 25, Vice President; Don Crete Chapter # 14 and Kent Dorney, Chapter # 12. Secretary; Open, Treasurer; John VanKirk, 6 Year Trustee; Cliff Wilson Chapter # 1 and Douglas Kelley, Chapter # 1, and Honorary Trustee; Mike Rapson, Chapter # 12. Motion to accept the slate for election. Nominations can also be taken from the floor. The Chaplain announced that he will be installing the new Officers after the dinner and he has also taken on the job of the Sunshine Chairman.
OLD BUSINESS, A new Chapter application was read from Waymart, PA. It being completed and having the proper fees attached, the new Chapter was accepted. It will be Chapter # 35. The Convention Book is still missing. Anyone knowing of it's location, please contact one of the Officers. The Membership Committee will meet after the Convention and update the Mail List and drop any members who are in arrears in their dues.
NEW BUSINESS, At this time the slate of Officers were read, Election opened ,nominations offered to the floor and ballots accepted. The results were, President, Gary O'Neal, Vice President, Don Crete, Secretary, Dick Morse, Treasurer, John VanKirk, 6 Year Trustee, Cliff Wilson and Honorary Trustee, Mike Rapson. The By-Laws changes were also passed. Motion was made, seconded and passed to elect Doug Kelley to the open Trustees Office that was vacated by 4 Year Trustee, Don Crete. President Rapson again thanked everyone for attending the convention and wished all a safe ride home. He also discharged his Committees with thanks. A motion was made to pay all presented bills and budgeted expenses. Chapter # 24's Secretary, Gordy Aune, presented International a check for $200.00 to help with expenses for the coming year. Thanks, Brothers. After several other announcements, and no further business to come before the Club, the meeting was adjourned.
At the Annual Dinner, the new Officers were installed by Chaplain Neal Forbes. President Gary O'Neal spoke on how proud he was to be the leader of the MMCI and where he planned to guide the Club. He spoke of Mike Rapson and the great job he did as our President the last two years. Several Awards were presented and Ken White took the floor and repeated several humorous stories! The " Brothers of the Open Road " degree was presented honoring the members who are in a better place.
WELCOME. The Executive Board and Members would like to welcome the new Chapters and Members-at-Large to one of the fastest growing Clubs in the Fraternity. Also it's great to have Chapter # 3 back with us. Jim Beeman saw the need for a Chapter in the Youngstown Ohio area and the Board issued the Chapter the original number that existed several years ago. Great to have you back with us.
CONVENTION. As you will read elsewhere in this rag, Chapter # 24 did a super job in hosting a great convention. During a 1000 mile trip by Chapter # 1 to get to the Convention site on Tuesday, We only had 10 minutes of rain. The cooperation of the Hotel staff and Security was un-paralleled upon our arrival. The rooms were modern and roomy. The rest of the week was spent discovering Northern Minnesota, new Restaurants, Great Mall of America, 70 MPH + roads that seemed to go on forever, and some of the greatest hospitality that one could experience. I'm not going to dwell on the Casino part of the Convention, But Shirley Krietzer was offered a job as an slot machine hostess!
Things Remembered. How small the Mississippi River is in Minnesota. One Stop light in Aitkins County and traffic was backed up! The first time we paid $ 3.00 for a gallon of gas. Brother's Motorcycle dealership in Brainerd. How everyone helped fix Cliffs Yamaha in Emily. The fire in the kitchen in the dinning room. The white rock in the middle of the lake. "Chopped Liver Barb". The Badger ride across Lake Michigan. Etc .Etc
WEB-SITE. Don't forget to check out the MMCI Web-Site at www.masonicmotorcycleclub.org . Doug has put a lot of new photos up and refreshed some of the Chapter pages. Also, check out our Quartermasters product catalog. ( Some Chapter # 8 dues are past due)
EXECUTIVE BOARD MEETING The next International Executive Board Meeting. We will return to the Quality Inn, (Dolphin Inn) at Apalachin NY. November 5, 2005 at 4:00 PM. If you wish to stay for the evening, the cost is $ 64.96 for MMCI members. Number to call, 1-887-625-4441. All members are invited to attend the meeting and for anyone who would like to receive the " Order of the Open Road " degree, the Officers have agreed to do it again. Please check out the new Officers information sheet on the back of the cover page, The President has appointed his Committees and we are sure they will serve well. Excuse me for the short late newsletter but it has been a very busy Summer. I'm sure it was a quick Summer for you also. Thanks.
As often as it's said, it's usually never enough. But this is all I can do or say to everyone who supported the Masonic Motorcycle Club International Chapter # 24 convention in Minnesota. I know it's not really proper to select a few names to make a public acknowledgement and you usually leave someone out but I'm going to say a special "Thank You" to some of the folks who really stepped forward and made this event a great success for our Chapter.
First off I'd like to thank everyone from Chapter # 24 who helped out. Many thanks go to Gordy and Marie Aune. Without them my job would have been almost impossible. They really did a lot to pull everything together. To Jim and Candy Luschinger who did a wonderful job on the convention booklet, congratulations on a job well done. Lloyd Bendickson thank you for handling all of the shirts. Steve Hoepner, thank you for doing the tickets for the bike show.
Special thanks go to 3 Northern Lodges for stepping up and hosting the lunches and dinners. Mesaba Lodge #255-Hibbing, hosted our lunch for our Friday ride. WB Skip Current and his brothers couldn't have been better hosts. Thank You Hibbing. We had a wonderful spaghetti dinner hosted by Mystic Lodge #213-Aitkin and Cuyuna Range #276-Crosby at the lodge hall in Crosby. With approximately 100 served, it was a huge success. Cuyuna also hosted the annual meeting and lunch at the Emily Town Hall on Saturday. Thank you WB Tony Kiel and his wife for their hard work and allowing us the use of the Town Hall for our meeting.
The Grand Casino Mille Lacs was a great place to hold the Convention and were the greatest folks I've ever had the chance to work with on such a venue. Thank you for making our Convention a success.
As you can see, a lot of people were involved in this Convention and I just can't say "THANK YOU" enough. It was a great pleasure working with all of you and getting to make new friends.
The International Executive Board and the folks who attended the Annual Convention at Mille Lac, Minnesota, hosted by MMCI Chapter # 24, would sincerely like extend our thanks to the Chapter for all the work it took to pull off a very-complex Convention. The first day we arrived, we were overwhelmed by our surroundings and wondered if we were going to get through the Casino atmosphere that confronted us: But after our Casino Hostess invited us to dinner. and picked up the tab, we all knew we were on our way to a very enjoyable visit in Central Minnesota. With out going into great detail and make the members who were not able attend envious, the several trips that were offered by the Committee were memorable at the least. When Chapter # 24 goes for a short ride, plan on putting on a couple hundred miles. Best of all, for those members who regularly attend the Annual Conventions, it was great to meet MMCI members that we have not met before and seeing the friendship and brotherhood that all members of the our fraternity share. Good Job, Chapter # 24 and we hope to see you in Central PA next year.