My fellow Moose members, this last month we celebrated the Moose lodge ritual of renewal.  Once a year, we all join together to vote for the candidates that will best represent the lodge in the coming year.  The board of officers and I would like to thank you for entrusting us with your vote.  It is because of your continued support that this lodge is making strides in the right direction.  In our efforts to renew our lodge, we must be bold.  This is not to say that tough times are not ahead of us.  We still have many unfinished challenges from years past.  Currently, we are meeting these challenges head on. 

I would like to personally thank Ronald Apostolakis for all his hard work in attempting to acquire our Fairfax City charitable tax exemption.  We did not succeed.  And, we have not given up.  There is a permanent solution to this issue.  We now have temporary answer for this problem.  On April 14, 2010, our lodge had a resolution approved by the Supreme Governor of Moose International to deal with the pressing issue of our lodge investment accounts.  This re-investment of funds is putting us in position to deal with our city tax issue.  As the United States government sees us as a tax exempt non-profit organization doing good in our community, the city has not granted us a charitable tax exemption like similar non-profits in the area.  This will greatly impact our ability to make donations in our community.  We hope to mitigate this impact in other ways by volunteering more, and though continued food and clothing drives.

As a board, we know we have to face hard truths and take strong steps in order to move our lodge forward.  The founders of this lodge did not shrug their responsibilities.  This new board of officers will not shrug their responsibilities.  We have a vested interest and fiduciary responsibility to make this lodge the best it can be.  To renew this lodge, we must meet the challenges of our fraternity, community, and membership. 

My fellow Moose members, you too, must play your part in our renewal. I challenge a new generation of young Moose members to help our fraternity to act on your idealism by helping troubled children, helping honored seniors, and reconnecting with our community.  We believe a simple but powerful truth:  We do need each other, and must strive to care for one another.

In conclusion, I want to thank you for allowing me to serve as your Governor for the last year.  It has been a great honor.  And, I look forward to working with my new board of officers over the coming year.  I also want to say that this is a truly great lodge and our best days are still to come.