Though the Moose fraternal organization was founded in the late 1800s with the modest goal of offering men an opportunity to gather socially, it was reinvented during the first decade of the 20th century into an organizational dynamo of men and women who set out to build a city that would brighten the futures of thousands of children in need all across North America.

Dr. John Henry Wilson
Founder, Loyal Order of Moose

When Dr. John Henry Wilson, a Louisville, Ky., physician, organized a handful of men into the Loyal Order of Moose in the parlor of his home in the spring of 1888, he and his compatriots did so apparently for no other reason than to form a string of men's social clubs. Lodges were instituted in Cincinnati, St. Louis, and the smaller Indiana towns of Crawfordsville and Frankfort by the early 1890s, but Dr. Wilson himself became dissatisfied and left the infant order well before the turn of the century.
It was just the two remaining Indiana Lodges that kept the Moose from disappearing altogether, until the fall of 1906, when an outgoing young government clerk from Elwood, Ind., was invited to enroll into the Crawfordsville Lodge. It was on James J. Davis' 33rd birthday, October 27, that he became just the 247th member of the Loyal Order of Moose.
Davis, a native of Wales who had worked from boyhood as an "iron puddler" in the steel mills of Pennsylvania, had also been a labor organizer and immediately saw potential to build the tiny Moose fraternity into a force to provide protection and security for a largely working-class membership. At the time little or no government "safety net" existed to provide benefits to the wife and children of a breadwinner who died or became disabled. Davis proposed to "pitch" Moose membership as a way to provide such protection at a bargain price; annual dues of $5 to $10. Given a green light and the title of "Supreme Organizer," Davis and a few other colleagues set out to solicit members and organize Moose Lodges across the U.S. and southern Canada. (In 1926, the Moose fraternity's presence extended across the Atlantic, with the founding of the Grand Lodge of Great Britain.)

James J. Davis
Founder: Mooseheart & Moosehaven

Davis' marketing instincts were on-target: By 1912, the order had grown from 247 members in two Lodges, to a colossus of nearly 500,000 in more than 1,000 Lodges. Davis, appointed the organization's first chief executive with the new title of Director General, realized it was time to make good on the promise. The Moose began a program of paying "sick benefits" to members too ill to work--and, more ambitiously, Davis and the organization's other officers made plans for a "Moose Institute," to be centrally located somewhere in the Midwest that would provide a home, schooling and vocational training to children of deceased Moose members.

With Regrets

It is with great sadness that we inform you of the passing of family members of our Lodge. Jason "Jake" Nelson, step-son of David Johnstone and Alma Walsworth mother-in-law to Ken Conkey.

Siren Shelter

We are taking up non-perishable food items and clothing / household items for the Siren Shelter. Stop by the Lodge and bring in your donations.

Legion News

There will be a startup meeting of the Legion October 13, 2004 at the Lodge, starting time will be 7:00pm. They will be held on the second Wednesday of every month.

October Dinner

The October dinner(BBQ Chicken) will be held on the 16th of October. Please make note of the following: 1. We will be making this our Halloween Dinner. There will be games and candy for the young and the young at heart. We will also have costume judging(costumes optional) for those that would like to participate. We will have some makeup for your use, if needed. 2. We will also need all ladies that are interested in joining Woman of the Moose to be here too. Yes, you read that right. The long awaited start for the WOTM has arrived. Come on out and show your support for all that Moose International stands for.

Football Raffle Tickets

We now have the raffle tickets for a prize of 4 tickets to the Bears / Lions game to be held on December 26th. These are goal end seats and raffle tickets will cost $1.00 each or 6 for $5.00.

Thank You

We would like to thank Buster and Karen Edgerly for the draping of the Charter. We would also like to thank Ron Smith Sr. for making up the backboards for the horse shoe pits.
We would like to thank everyone that made the October dinner possible. Without your support we would all have to eat at home or worse yet, some fast food restaurant. We would also like to thank Dennis Hall's mom for her donation of the Halloween Pumpkin Bear, being raffled now, and for her donation of the Snow Shoeing Santa, to be raffled soon. Tickets for both of these items will be $1.00 each or 6 for $5.00.

Pool Tournament

Octobers pool tournament saw a new winner. Dan Black Sr. competed against 5 others and won the tournament, congratulations Dan. We will be holding a "Broom Stick" pool tournament in the near future. I've been told that it is fun and that you need to forget everything you know about pool.

In The News

We have successfully bid on a used cash register which should be delivered on Monday, September 27th. The register is a Royal Alpha 587cx and has more bells and whistles than you can shake a stick at. These units sold for $200 to $300 dollars new, can be found "Factory Refurbished" for around $129.00. We picked ours up for $90.56, shipping included.

October Birthday's

Happy Birthday to those people born in October. Gene Byrd, Shane Copher, Gary Friel, David Johnstone, Geraldo Valero.

District Meeting

There will be a district meeting on the 3rd of October in Ionia. Starting time is 1:00pm.

Lodge Officers

Governor Dennis Hall
Junior Governor Gary A. Jacobson
Prelate Morris Edgerly "Buster"
Administrator Ryan McGregor
Treasurer Gene Byrd
1st year Trustee Kenneth E. Young
2nd year Trustee Steven Wythe
3rd year Trustee Shane Copher

Electronic Newsletter

I would again like to ask everyone that has email and who would like to get the newsletter before anyone else to please send me an email with Moose Newsletter in the subject line. It will be in MS Word format. [email protected]