I hope everyone had a wonderful 17th of May.
The district has started a Leadership Training program again. The first session took place in Zone One and was a complete success. We are working with each zone director to provide the training in the way most fitting for each zone.
Summer Youth Camp is set for July 16th to the 22nd. The deadline for applying to go to camp has been extended till July 8th and the age limit has been changed to 17 years of age. So, if your child or grandchild wants to go there is still time.
The District Cultural Committee under Cultural Director Andy Mathisen has been busy working on a Cultural/Sports weekend for next year. It will be open to all, young and old, families and singles. We are looking to have instructions in rosemaling, woodcarving, language and more. Sports will be available also, with Kubb games or even a tournament possible as well as golf at a nearby golf course. It will be from Thursday evening to Sunday morning to give 2 full days of culture, sports, and lots of fun for everyone.
The 3rd District Board has also been very busy with writing updated Guidelines and Policies for hosting a convention. While it is always a good practice to review policies, there was a more pressing need to revisit the policy for host committees at this time.
After years of precedent of a host committee getting a loan for seed money from the Third District Board and repaying that loan at the end of the Convention if not sooner, in 2022 the host lodge to the 2022 Convention, Gateway to Florida, refused to return the $5,000 seed money it borrowed from the Third District. Those at the 2018 Convention who voted to have the next Convention in Florida heard the committee say that they did not need the seed money. However, their convention advisor, who has been the only person to communicate with the Board about the convention, approached the Third District Board and requested the loan, a request which the Board generously granted. Not long after that, the convention advisor again approached the Third District Board asking the district to assume the cost of the audio visual at convention, a cost which was clearly allocated to the host lodge in the policy guidelines. The Board again came to the rescue of the host committee and agreed to pay up to $7500.00 toward the costs of the audio visual.
Due to the uncertainties caused by the COVID pandemic the Board even went as far as to promise the host committee that if the convention financials showed a loss, the Board would cover that loss.
When the financials that were sent were reviewed by the auditors, they were found lacking in supporting documentation. On more than one occasion, the auditors through the Board asked for more information, but no receipts for any expenses were ever received. The auditor’s final report made in March of 2023 was reviewed by the Board and as in the past will appear in the 2024 Third District Convention reports book which is sent to all delegates. The report lists the deficiencies found in the 2022 Convention Financial Report. But even without the documentation, taking the numbers in the report at face value, the convention committee made a profit of over $18,000. These numbers were confirmed by other financial documents prepared by the lodge. As has been the case in the past, the convention financial report will also appear in the 2024 Third District Convention reports book. Despite many requests, to this day the loan has not been repaid.
They claim that the Board forgave the loan. After a review of 4 years of minutes, starting with the 2018 Convention and going through the end of the 2022 Convention, it was determined that no such promise was made or approved.
Your Board has a fiduciary responsibility to protect the finances of the district for its members. Dealing with this unfortunate situation has taken many hours of our Board members’ time away from doing the great projects that have been undertaken since June 2022. It is my sincere hope that Gateway to Florida Lodge resolves this matter as soon as possible by living up to their obligation and repaying their debt to the Third District Board alleviating the need to waste any more time taking further action.
I hope I can start my next President’s message with good news about this situation.
The new updated Convention Policy and Guidelines will be sent to all Lodge Presidents and Secretaries by the end of May. I hope that your lodge will consider hosting the 2026 Third District Convention.
At this time Karen and I would like to wish you all a very happy summer.
Fraternally,
Stephen Helmold