CANADIAN ELK ÉLANS CANADIEN - Elks of Canada

• That the National Charities Committee
and the provinces/territories
seek out new and exciting programs
in speech and hearing or any other
areas which will get the membership
excited in promoting and fundraising
for.
• That we put more emphasis and
money towards personal assistance
cases that will help raise the profile of
our Lodges.
• That we examine other areas beside
speech and hearing as speech
and hearing is considered by some
members as not being as marketable
as some other charitable areas
and makes it difficult to promote our
“brand”. There are other causes
which seem to be more noticed than
speech and hearing.
D) Ritual and Regalia Considerations
• Is our Ritual and Regalia practical
in today’s society?
• Is it the image we want to portray
when we are looking for today’s and
tomorrow’s volunteers?
• If we stopped emphasizing it what
would happen?
Specific recommendations made
by all the groups after individual discussion:
• That Regulation 13 – Regalia of
the Order (pg 45) be amended as follows:
“Regulation 13 – Order of Dress
1.1 Formal Dress as in Regulation
13 (pg 45).
1.2 Semi-Formal Dress: Black Elks
jacket.
1.3 Casual Dress: Members are encouraged
to wear articles of clothing
that identify them as an Elk.”
• Opening Ceremony (Lodge)
The participants agreed that following
resolution be presented to the 2013
Grand Lodge Convention:
WHEREAS we are trying to promote
ourselves as a friendly,
welcoming organization;
AND WHEREAS we are not a
secret “society” that needs to
“guard” our doors to be “secure
against intrusion”;
AND WHEREAS we should be
clearly demonstrating to all
Elks and other guests that we
value their presence;
AND WHEREAS we have an Officer
at the door to greet members
(and visitors) that control
access to the meeting;
NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RE-
SOLVED THAT the Opening Ceremony
(Lodge) in the Book of
Ritual be changed to read:
“EXALTED RULER: Brother/Sister
Membership Director, are
you at the door ready to receive
members (and visitors) and are
all present and entitled to remain?
(When the Membership Director
is assured that all have signed
in and are entitled to remain,
the following shall be reported…)
MEMBERSHIP DIRECTOR: Worthy
Exalted Ruler, I am at the
door ready to receive members
(and visitors) and all present
are entitled to remain.
EXALTED RULER: Under the assurance
given by our Membership
Director that all of you
are worthy Elks (and visitors),
I bid you welcome.”
• The participants agreed that the
Grand Lodge Ritual Committee revise
the Installation of Officers for
Lodges who hold round table meetings.
4. SESSION 3 – STRUCTURE
A) Lodges Considerations
• Is there a need for the Elks of
Canada?
• What role can the Lodges play
within the community?
• What do Lodges have to offer to
their members?
• Do the Lodges understand the
needs of the volunteers within the
communities?
• What do the volunteers want from
us?
• Is the work in the community the
best way for a Lodge to attract new
m e m - bers?
51
• How do we address the leadership
issue within our Lodges?
Specific recommendations made
by all the groups after individual discussion:
• That the size of the Lodge Executive
be a minimum of – President,
Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer
(or Secretary-Treasurer).
• That a member survey be created
for new members to keep track of
their needs/skill sets.
• That all Lodges be mandated
to provide an orientation for a new
member of the Lodge.
• That an obituary be sent to Lodges
to help convince the Lodges of how
serious our concerns are. The obituary
would show the birth and death of
the Elks – advising what would happen
if we don’t bring in new members
and retain them.
The following recommendation
was discussed and defeated:
• That Exalted Rulers serve a maximum
2 year term (consecutive) with
no exceptions to extend. No special
permission would be provided to
serve additional consecutive terms.
B) Provincial/Territorial Associations
Considerations
• Is there a need for the Provincial/
Territorial Association legally and operationally?
• Is the current structure of the Provincial/Territorial
Associations effective,
representative, and efficient?
• Do the Lodges and members really
care what we do at a provincial/
territorial level?
• Are the Provincial/Territorial Associations
focused on the future?
The following recommendation
was discussed and defeated:
• That we remove the Provincial/
Territorial Associations but retain District
Deputies/Regional Reps/Zones/
Coordinators/Etc. and that the retained
position be under the jurisdiction
of Grand Lodge.
C) Staff Considerations
• What role does the staff play in the
governance of the Order?
• What role does the staff play in the
administration of the Order?
Continued on page 54 . . .
1987-2012 History 51