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newly installed officers through this lodge year.
Commitment is a word you're going to hear me use a lot in the next few minutes. Webster's dictionary defines commitment as "an agreement or pledge to do something…" You witnessed our officers making their commitment to fulfill the duties of their office to the best of their ability. I look forward to working closely with each and everyone of them and all the committee chair people to ensure that we continue the tradition of commitment to our nations veterans, the commitment we make to continue to spread the word about Americanism and Patriotism and to honor "Old Glory" on Flag Day, the commitment we make to our states "Major Project", the Pennsylvania home nursing program, the commitment we make to our communities youth, who get involved with our "Hoop Shoot" and "Soccer Shoot" contests, the commitment we make to our Drug Awareness programs, which helps school age children realize, through essay contests and poster contests, that there are positive alternatives to doing drugs. I, along with my fellow officers continue to be committed to lead by example of what an Elks lodge should exemplify, strong leadership, a willingness to help out in our surrounding community and a lodge full of members, new and old alike, that take our orders slogan to heart, Elks Care, Elks Share.
Each lodge year we set new goals to be achieved. First, I'd like us to again focus and commit our efforts on bringing in new members, because they are the lifeblood of our fraternity. Many in this room tonight at one point, in the past, were asked to join our respective lodges because someone somewhere saw in us a quality or qualities that would make a good Elk. I'll ask you now…what good quality or qualities do you see in the people that surround you on a daily basis? Invite them into your lodge, let them see and hear about the good work we do and ask them if they'd like to help us out. I'm recommitting this lodge to grow its ranks by at least 30 new members again this year. Ask a friend, a colleague or family member to join. You'll never know the answer unless you ask and their answer may even surprise you.
Being a member of The Elks and this lodge for the past 7 years now has been one of the best experiences of my life. In February, The Elks as a national organization celebrated its 136th birthday and in June this
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