July 4th what a great holiday fly the flag with pride there is no better time to celebrate America’s history, like the old Budweiser commercial celebrate it safely and responsible if you have fireworks be courteous of your neighbors and their pets as loud noises such as fire works can hurt or scare them. Remember the lodge is designated as a cooling center. Some elderly people suffer more with the heat of summer so if your looking to cool down and escape from some of those O-zone days come down to the moose lodge and enjoy the friendly confines of our social quarters. Invite that older moose neighbor or if you know of anyone who is in need of escaping the heat bring them down as well. July is also picnic time and the biggest picnic of all the Harvard -Woodstock Moose picnic on July 18th at the pavilion behind the Harvard Moose lodge. Don’t forget, on those hot days when its too hot to cook we have lunches Tuesday through Saturday, Monday and Friday dinners with chef Dave in the kitchen have a great summer and see you down at the Ole Moose lodge.
Fraternally R.H.Sweeney, Lodge Administrator
The month of June and the Moose lodge is busy as always. We have some unfinished goals remaining to be finished from last year and new ones scheduled. We plan to finish remolding the bath rooms, hang up two new TV’s in the social quarters as well as several other projects.
Woodstock lodge is bringing back the ritual so that our new members can be told the story of the moose. Some of these ritual events will be planned with a dinner or luncheon and all members of the LOOM and WOTM are invited to attend.
We have some new menu items for Friday Night Fish Fry. Chef Dave Jayne has introduced walleye, catfish and shrimp all for a nominal price plus we still have our regular fish fry for $8.00 and all you can eat fish fry for $10.00. Monday nights have a variety of different foods, check your Moose Call for all of these dinners.
Also new is the Saturday lunch served from 11:30 to 3:00 during the lightning games and don’t forget breakfast on the 1st and 2nd Sundays of every month, not enough variety? Well, here comes Pizza on the 3rd Sunday of every month during our afternoon drawings.
Don’t forget our lodge is available to rent for occasions such as birthdays, weddings, anniversaries, baby showers, high school reunions, funeral luncheons or any other party you would choose. For hall rental just call the office @ 815-338-0126 and talk to Bob or Jody to book a date or call the social quarters @ 815-338-9875 and leave a message. Have a great Summer !!!
Fraternally Yours, R.H. Sweeney Lodge Administrator
May 1st, the beginning of the lodges fiscal year, with the new board of officers men and women many challenges lie ahead. Membership for the men is down approximately 10%. However there is a lot of new membership incentives for signing new members. The lodge is giving away a years dues for signing just three members and the Illinois Moose Association is offering a chance to win $500.00 for every member you sign. The International organization is also offering a free years dues and a chance to win a cruise. With the these incentives and others we should be able to regain that 10% back. I would like to thank all of you who served as officers during 2009 - 2010 year and all of you members who have volunteered during the year. We had a lot of success in different areas as many awards were given to the lodge and individuals through out this past year and many personal goals were obtained by lodge members as well. Please continue your volunteerism at the lodge through out this year as it takes a lot of hours to make it a success for a lodge of this size. The Monday and Friday Night Dinners are becoming more popular with the introducing of new menu items. If you haven’t attended a dinner recently come down and check out the new items being offered. Again I want thank those of you who have served this past year and the best of luck to those serving in the coming year.
Fraternally Yours, R.H. Sweeney Lodge Administrator
The month of April is a busy month for both boards of officers with the new coming on and some of last years going off the board. Men and Women we commend you who have served this past year and thank you for the effort and dedication put forth and for those of you who are coming on the board this year. We appreciate the time and effort that you will be spending as an officer for the ensuing year of 2010-2011. The year ahead looks to be very busy with many new goals and projects. We are always looking forward to having new members and with the new incentives put forth by Mooseheart and the Lodge, you as sponsors can earn a free years dues by signing just two new members between March 1st and May 31st. See the WOTM and Membership articles for more information.
Fraternally RH Sweeney, Administrator
Now that winter is about over, let’s take time to invite that next door neighbor, work associate or good friend to come down to the Moose Lodge with your for a visit. Especially on one of our Monday or Friday dinners and don’t forget our ever popular Sunday breakfasts on the 1st and 2nd weekend of the month. Our special dinner event of this month will be the Saint Patrick’s Day Corned Beef & Cabbage dinner on the 15th of March. Our dinners and breakfasts offer some of the best food in town and I know the best prices anywhere. Complete dinners including coffee, tea, salad bar, soup and desert for $6.00 or $8.00, depending on the meal. Prime Rib dinner on the 2nd Monday of the month at an unheard of price anywhere, for only $12.00 per person. Friday night fish fry is only $8.00 and children $4.00. Our breakfasts start at $3.00 – you can’t even cook at home for those prices.
We are approaching the 50% mark of our membership quota, keep up the good work. Our lodge has grown to over 900 men and 500+ women during the “Be a Part of the Puzzle” campaign. Thank you very much for helping our membership and lodge grow, with this kind of devotion we will be a lodge of 1500 by the end of this campaign.
Fraternally RH Sweeney, Administrator
With the elections for the LOOM and the WOTM board of Officers coming up in April, it’s time for all members to decide if you want to be a LOOM/WOTM Officer. Great things have been accomplished at our Lodge in the past few years and what better way to be an intimate part of future achievements than to be on a Board that makes things happen. The improvements at our Lodge have been from new paint and windows to new kitchen equipment and the loading doc, to a much needed handicapped accessible bathroom in the dining hall. Take a look around the Lodge, there’s always something being fixed and improved, even behind the scenes.
Looking forward to upcoming years we are sure to see the further combining of the LOOM and WOTM board of officers as great strides to accomplish this have already been made. What does it take to be a board of officer? The question is surely asked by all members with the busy lives we lead. The obvious answer is dedication, if you are considering becoming a board of officer, you realize that a portion of your time will be dedicated to the Lodge. How much you dedicate is up to you. The more time you allocate to the Lodge, the more satisfying your adventure being a Board of Officer will be.
There are meetings 3 times a month for both boards as well as a combined LOOM/WOTM board meeting once a month. Being a board of officer gives you the opportunity to make changes in our Lodge, keeping our Lodge growing and prospering through-out the years.
Begin your journey today!
Fraternally, R.H. Sweeney, Administrator
Woodstock Moose lodge ranked in the top 5 of Illinois according to IMA statistics for 2009 was established on January 25th 1918, celebrating 92 years of service to the community and fraternalism this year we celebrate the anniversary on January 23rd all fraternal brothers and sisters are invited to attend this great event. The day will include dinner with a cocktail hour and a visit from Moose International Past Director General Donald Ross, who will be our guest speaker for the evening. Our lodge, now located at the corner of Clay and Hutchins street since 1952, has had many changes over the years with a membership of only 19 members during the late 20’s and 30’s to a level of 2000 plus back in the 70’s. We now have close to 1000 men and 500 women. We hope you will attend this celebration and join us many times though out the year. As you can see by reading the Moose Call we are one of the more active lodges in the fraternity with a lot of history behind it and I believe we have many more years of success to come in the future. I hope everyone had a joyous Holiday season and I’m looking forward to seeing all of you down at the lodge throughout the year.
Fraternally Yours, R.H.Sweeney, Administrator
December and the end of another year the lodge has had a challenging but prosperous year, financially we are paying our bills on time and putting a little away for a rainy day. However membership is lacking with a quota of 148 we have signed 36 thus far, we ended our fiscal year in April with 996 and at present we have a membership of 947 which means we need to get busy and sign more new members along with retaining the members we now have. A great way to build membership is to give one as a Christmas gift to that special person on your Holiday list and also invite them down to one of our great dinners or lodge events. You may of noticed that Moose International has begun offering some mini campaigns for the lodges to use for membership growth. Our lodge has presently been using the Be A Piece of the Solution Campaign where a small desk top puzzle piece is given away with every two members signed. Also, our own Lodge Campaign gives away a FREE years dues for every 3 members signed by you — that’s a $55.00 savings for you and builds the lodges membership. We are eagerly looking towards the New Year with anticipation of a better year financially and one of the membership growth.
I wish all of you a great Christmas and New Year and may all of you experience Health and Prosperity in the coming year.
Fraternally yours R.H.Sweeney / Administrator
October 3rd, what a great day for the Mooseheart football team as they played Alden-Hebron team that day and visited the lodge afterwards for food and congratulations on their win. The lodge was presented with a football helmet and jersey signed by all the players and coaches of which we will proudly display in the social quarters of the lodge for everyone to see. We will be watching their progress as they near the end of the season. I’m hearing some remarks that some of you would like to attend a play off game if this happens we will post it in the lodge for anyone interested in going. As we go into November we look forward to some big events such as the annual Silvermanes Turkey dinner on November 7th, the lodge Steak Fry and Thunder at the Moose on November 14th and as always our famous Tom & Jerry’s Holiday drink on Thanksgiving day. Tickets for these events are on sale at the lodge.
Fraternally Yours, R.H.Sweeney
Wow!!! Have you seen the fall decorations at the lodge - ? What a great job as always by Diana Healy and this time she teamed up with Carol Sweeney nice going girls. Well October is here and we have very busy calendar of events starting with the Mooseheart football team playing on the 3rd at Alden-Hebron high school and then visiting the lodge for an early dinner before returning back to Mooseheart. Also that night we have our welcome new member night introducing some of our newest members to the lodge, so while you are here to see the Mooseheart kids you can also meet some of our new members as well. October 17th will be the annual Fellowship dinner introducing our new fellows Al Klabunde and Steve Krause. Congratulations guys on receiving the 3rd degree of our fraternity. Rounding the month out is our Kids Holloween party on the 25th of the month. So in between these dates don’t forget our Monday and Friday night dinners invite a friend or that neighbor of yours down for some fellowship and fun at the ‘ole moose lodge and remember sign a member and you gain a Moose friend.
Fraternally yours, R.H.Sweeney, Lodge Administrator
September the beginning of fall a great time of the year, Labor day, football fall festivals, Illinois day at Mooseheart and speaking of that we have a mini van hired and several lodge members driving to Mooseheart on that day. We have a sign up sheet in the front lobby for all those interested in seeing our child city, times and further info are also posted there.
The Mooseheart football team will be playing the Alden-Hebron team on October 3rd at the Alden -Hebron high school. Lets show our support and go to the game that day. It is scheduled at 2:00pm. Afterwards the team will be here at the lodge for a little somthing to eat and meet you, the woodstock members. Come down to the lodge and greet the kids. Lots of activities are happening at the ‘ole Moose Lodge come on down and join in on the fun. See you at Mooseheart on the 12th and of course at the lodge.
Fraternally yours, R.H. Sweeney
We are approaching the middle of summer and some of our warmest days, the Lodge is a designated cooling center in Woodstock. Also in August is our State Convention which will be held in St. Louis this year. We are looking forward to winning awards for Community Service, Family Activities and the Lodge Premier Award. September looks to be very busy as we celebrate Illinois Day at Mooseheart on September 12th. A minibus will be provided and several members will be driving to Mooseheart. So if you want to see what your Fraternity is all about (our children at Mooseheart) join us that day. A sign up sheet will be on the desk in the front foyer of the Lodge. Enjoy the rest of summer and remember to sign a new member today.
Fraternally yours, R.H. Sweeney
The month of June and the beginning of summer is a very busy time of the year for us
at the Moose. Plans are set in motion to remodel the men’s bath room, seal coat the
drive way for another year, our International convention in Chicago has just wrapped up and we are looking forward to the state convention being held at St. Louis in August of this year.
We are also planning some new member welcome nights. These nights will be filled with information about the Moose organization with games, entertainment and food. We would appreciate all of our present members to join in on these nights and be part of our welcoming committee. There is no charge - the food and entertainment is free to you as a member. Just call the office or the Social Quarters and let us know you’re coming so we can prepare enough (or not too much) food. As of this writing we have a welcome night planned for May, July, and October. Watch your Moose Call for exact dates. Don’t forget our Monday and Friday dinners and our lodge also offers luncheons and dinners for those occasions such as weddings, anniversaries, birthdays, baby showers, high school reunions and funeral luncheons. We have three breakfasts scheduled this month 1st Sunday Legion breakfast 2nd the Board breakfast and 3rd Fathers Day put on by the W.O.T.M. have a great Summer.
Fraternally Yours, R.H. Sweeney Administrator
