Fall is upon us and your Third District Board and its committees have been very busy working in all areas of District business.
The website committee met and determined that the district website was too old and recommended to the Board that a completely new website was needed, so I appointed a website search committee to get quotes (bids) from companies for what was needed for a user-friendly website that would allow us to add more things on as needed in the future. Cost for the new website will also be considered. This committee will choose the top 3 bids and refer those bids to the Board for a final decision.
Tom Bakos, Third District Youth Camp Director with Susan Olson, Third District Youth Director are working on having youth camp in summer of 2023. If you have children, grandchildren, nieces, or nephews of camp, age 8 to 16 years old, please consider having them attend youth camp so they can learn about their heritage and culture and make new friends.
Tom and the District Board are looking at sites for camp which would be in either New Jersey or New York. The final decision for the site will be decided at the Third District Board meeting at the end of October. Susan will be sending out letters to the lodges to see if there are any children that would like to attend camp. Please respond to her letter.
The By-Laws and Policy Review Committee have been busy updating the Third District by-laws and polices since the new International Constitution and By-Laws came out in mid-September. The International Constitution and By-Laws are available for you to view on the Sons of Norway website.
The convention policy committee has been working on convention policies for potential host lodges/zones which will help them to know what is expected of them and what they can expect of the District. This will be a big help going forward as the policy book for conventions needed to be brought up to date and clarified.
The Local Lodge Support Committee (Team) has met several times and is working on ways to help lodges that are struggling with their membership, programs and getting officers. They have renamed their committee to the Lodge Revitalization Committee, a name that better fits their goals.
Going forward I am going to be starting zoom meetings with all the district lodge presidents so they can express their concerns about their lodges, zone, district, and Sons of Norway. Hopefully, this will also be an opportunity for the sharing of ideas among lodge presidents.
We have hopes to have zoom meetings with the District Vice President and lodge vice presidents coming up in the new year so they can discuss membership issues.
It is my goal to have better communications with all the district lodges and the District Board.
If your lodge has zoom or hybrid meetings please include me in your zoom link invitation, as, if possible, I would love to attend your meeting.
Fraternally,
Stephen Helmold