As snow turns to rain, flowers start to bloom, and the sun starts shining more and more, spring has found its way to the Centreville Moose Lodge!  I am not sure I could have waited anymore too.  As we start the spring and move into summer, it is time to reflect on the good we have done in the last year.

I would like to thank the outgoing board of officers for their support of this lodge and of the Community Service committee.  To Tom Pavlik, thank you for all your guidance, good advice and support during the last year.  We were able to do many good things.  To the new board of officers, I am really looking forward to another good year at the helm of the Community Service committee.  I am excited to announce that our new Governor Steve Petty has asked me to continue on as the Community Service Chairman.

I am glad he asked me to stay on in this capacity; it gives me a chance to continue on with doing good within our Community.  In the last quarter, we helped out the Community in many ways.  Our lodge donated money to Boys State, a cancer research project, the homeless Community, the mentally challenged, and youth programs. Our Lodge helped the blind enjoy the wonders of an Easter egg hunt. It was an amazing time.  I think the kids even had fun.  It was really nice to be mentioned in the Fairfax Times News too. The article really shined a light on all the hard work we do and love.

Moving forward, we should realize that we are all Community Services directors and ambassadors of the Lodge.   Please keep an ever vigilant eye for places where we can lend a hand and practice kindness within our Community.  If you see someone in trouble, let’s give them a hand.  In our network of friends, city and county support agencies, let's assist people in crisis.  Please use the many resources we have available to help those in need.  Finally, as we get into the spring and summer season; let’s make this the best year ever.  Our Governor Steve Petty is committed to Community Service and wants to take our Lodge to the next level.  Please feel free to reach out and to comment, complain, or inform me about what is going on.  I'm making it a personal goal to reach out to all the members and get to know each and every one of you.  Past Governor Tom Pavlik has agreed to join me on the committee and I invite you to join us as we plan for 2013 and beyond.

Antlers Up! Michael Cogburn

We made it through another board of officers' election.  We are still here!  I want to take my hat off to Steve Petty for taking on the office of Governor.  He has demonstrated over the years that he has the compassion and determination to make a great Governor.  Steve, thank you for embracing the chaos and leading the lodge we all love.  As one of our Governor's first acts, he asked me to continue on with the Communications Committee.  I have gratefully accepted.

This communications committee changes each year.  Over the last year behind the scenes, we have written, approved, revised, and commented on hundreds of articles.  We have written about sickness and distress, member achievements, Friday Night Dinners, the Dulles Day Plane Pull, winners and losers of our Free Texas Hold’Em poker tournaments, and announcements of new events.  So it is expected to see new faces each year on the communications committee.  But, I want to personally thank our leaving members.   You should know that you have helped our lodge win national recognition and also given our members the best possible website and newsletter in the process.  We hope to carry on with a great tradition that you helped to make possible.

I want to thank Carole Swan of the Moose International Awards Committee for a critique of our website after the awards voting.  She had some great feedback on what we are doing and what we can do to improve for the future.  As we get closer to the Moose International Publications awards at this year’s Moose International Convention, the stress of not knowing the results is looming large.  Whatever the result, we intend to re-invent the website this year.  Please expect some wide ranging changes to happen within the next few months.

Finally, you may have heard that I ran for a contested spot on our board of officers.  I ran for Jr. Governor.  I want to congratulate Bill Stollhans for winning the race.  I know he will be a great Jr. Governor.  He has the foresight and fiscal knowledge to see issues down the road.  I wish I could say this will mean less work on my behalf for the lodge.  I really don’t think so.  I will still be at each Thursday meeting.  I will still stay informed about lodge events.  I will still be publishing the website and newsletter.  I want to thank everyone who supported me over the years as a board officer.  Your support made working for this lodge a really nice experience.  Thank you!

Dear LOOM Membership,

As your new Governor, I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your confidence in electing me to this position.  I will try my very best to ensure that your trust in my ability and integrity in assuming this position is well placed.  I want to extend my sincere gratitude to Past Governor, Tom Pavlik, for all of his hard work and dedication to our Lodge, and apologize in advance for all of the help and support I will need from him in the coming weeks.

I’m looking forward to going to my first International Convention in Milwaukee this month, where I will have the privilege to go to MooseHeart and see first hand, all of the great things being done with our donations.  I know I will learn a lot and it will be an honor to represent our Moose to those in attendance.  

As the newly elected Governor, I have the responsibility for filling all of the Committee Chairmanships.  If you would be willing to join us and fill one of the Chairmanships, or serve on one of the Committees, please do not hesitate to talk to me or one of the other Board members.  These Committees are very important for the implementation of programs and activities in many different areas, such as membership and community services.  If you are a new member, please don’t be hesitant about coming forward and serving, as we always welcome new ideas and viewpoints at the Centreville Moose.

Our Moose is looking great, and I would like to thank everyone who came out and cleaned, landscaped, painted and organized on our recent Revitalization Day.  Centreville has some hardworking, dedicated volunteers that are always generous with their time and talents. 

I want to encourage everyone to come out and participate in our events and scheduled activities, such as Karaoke, Texas hold’em poker, Friday night dinners, taco night, open mike night, and our yearly events such as the shrimp feast.  We also encourage members to support our charitable endeavors by donating canned food or gently used clothing for our collection boxes.  There continues to be many needy families in our area and we want to do our part in helping out in the community.

In closing, I hope to get to know all of our new members, and hope everyone will feel free to share any ideas and/or suggestions for the betterment of our Lodge.  Thanks again for all of your well wishes and congratulations as I assume my role as your Governor.

Respectfully,
Steve Petty, Sr.

As you are probably aware, our lodge held another successful LOOM election on April 4th. I would like to congratulate our new Governor, Steve Petty and wish him all the best as he takes up his new position in our Lodge. I’m sure you will show him the same respect you have given me over the last two years, and I’m confident that he and the new Board of Officers will do an incredible job leading our Lodge into the future. Along with congratulating the rest of the Board on winning their new positions, I’d like to welcome two new members to our board. I am sure these two new trustees, Joseph "Slick" Craun and Bill Brument will do a great job in their new positions, and hopefully will enjoy their new jobs as much as I have enjoyed serving on the board.

I would also like to mention and thank one member that stood out to me during this election process. Dan Sullivan, our outgoing prelate has done an incredible job not only as an officer, but as Communications Chairman and a whole lot of other duties around the lodge. What stood out to me the most occurred when a difficult thing happened to him, losing a bid for a position on the board that had several members seek election for. During my six years on the board, I have seen many members become a lot less active in our Lodge, and sometimes become a little bitter over losing an election or receiving a "no" from the Board of Officers on a request. Not only did Dan graciously take the election in stride, he went straight back to his other duties, and had articles out that night about the election. I hope everyone can take a note from him when they feel a little down about something at the Lodge, and realize that we are all on the same team trying to achieve the same goals. Thank you Dan for all of your hard work and leadership!

If I tried to thank everyone that has made a difference in the lodge over the past two years, I’d be writing this article for weeks. With that being said, I’ll simply send out one last huge THANK YOU to every LOOM and WOTM member that has helped out. We have made incredible strides over the last few years, and none of this would have been possible without your help. I hope that you continue to volunteer, so our lodge can continue to prosper with our new leadership.

A few members have asked me "what’s next?" after leaving the Governor’s position. The first thing I’d like to mention is that I look forward to being on the Board as Jr. Past Governor. I’ll continue to attend meetings, and will do everything possible to ensure Steve and the rest of the board have all of the tools necessary to lead our Lodge into a successful future! Besides serving in this position and catching up with my wife and family, I would also like to get more involved in the Moose Legion. As Governor it was a bit difficult to get to Moose Legion meetings. Now that I will have a little more time, I can’t get wait to get to more of them. Ernie and the Legion Committee have done a great job steering our Legion in the right direction, and I hope this continues for many years to come. I also hope to get involved in a few smaller projects around the lodge. Fuzzy has brought up a great idea of having a Chile Cook-off at the Lodge this summer. I would love to help out on a project like this to get it from an idea to fruition.

With that being said, I’ll say one last thing in this writing; As I tell many members around the lodge when they chat with me about leaving the Governor’s position, I simply say "you’re not getting rid of me that easy". I’ll still be around on Thursdays, and hopefully will be able to be around more on the weekends. See you at the lodge, peace out!

Fraternally Yours,
Tom Pavlik
Jr. Past Governor