Věstník (Temple, Tex.), Vol. 90, No. 37, Ed. 1 Wednesday, September 25, 2002 Page: 4 of 24
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4/VĚSTNIK—Wednesday, Séptember 25,2002
Around the State
District Three
Secretary presents
uncorrected spring
meeting minutes
District Three Spring Meeting
Lodge 135, Ennis
Sunday, Apríl 28, 2002
The meeting was called to order at
11:15 a.m. by Sister Mary Steinman,
SPJST District Three President. The
Pledge of Allegiance was led by
Makayla Yates. The Youth Pledge was
led by Dakota Yates. The registry
reflected that there were 129 members
present.
President Steinman thanked the
membership of Lodge 135, Ennis for
hosting the meeting and then intro-
duced Sister Evelyn Novotný, Presi-
dent of Lodge 135. Sister Novotný
gave the official lodge welcome to‘ the
Supreme Lodge officers, representa-
tives and all attendees. She thanked
the Sokol organization for allowing
SPJST to use the facility for the meet-
ing. She introduced the officers of
Lodge 135, Ennis: Vice President
Jerry Chudej, Secretary/Treasurer
Sylvia Laznovsky and Fratemal Activi-
ties Coordinator Larry Laznovsky. She
thanked the officers, the kitchen crew
and all members of Lodge 135 for their
contributions in hosting the meeting.
President Steinman introduced Sec-
ond Vice President Kay Lynn Kovar,
who presented the reading of the
departed members. For each member,
a silk flower was presented by a youth
member and added to a bouquet.
Memoriál poems were performed by
Amber May and Nichoias Culliton.
The youth were then dismissed from
the generál meeting to háve their dis-
trict youth meeting. Sister Bessie Petr,
District Youth Counselor, asked every-
one to keep in their thoughts and
prayers Brother Ben Jarma, whose wife
passed away just the day before.
President Steinman introduced the
Nominating Committee: Sister Peggy
Dobecka, Lodge 6, Cottonwood;
Brother Tom Weeks, Lodge 66, Waco;
and Brother Larry Laznovsky, Lodge
135, Ennis.
She then introduced the Aúditing
Committee: Brother Jodie Steinman,
Lodge 154, Fort Worth; Brother Albert
Kubala, Lodge 92, Fort Worth; and
Brother AI Soukup, Lodge 6, Cotton-
wood.
District Secretary Kay Gerlich
Weeks announced the names of the
Nominees for Fratemalist of the Year;
the Age 96 Honorees; the 75-Year
Members and the 50-Year Members.
Sister Weeks then asked if any
changes should be made to the minutes
of the District Three Fall Meeting that
was held at Lodge 25, Ennis on Octo-
ber 28, 2001. These minutes had pre-
viously been published in the Vestnik.
Brother John Engelke made a motion
that the minutes be approved as pre-
sented. The motion was seconded by
Brother Larry Laznovsky. Motion
passed.
President Steinman announced that
there was no correspondence to report.
She then introduced Sister Martha
Hubenak Durham, District Treasurer.
Sister Durham gave the District
Treasureťs report, a copy of which had
been distributed prior to the meeting.
Brother John Engelke made a motion
to accept the treasurer’s report as pre-
sented; seconded by Sister Rose Stein-
man. Motion passed.
President Steinman introduced
Supreme Lodge President Howard
Leshikar. Brother Leshikar alerted
those lodges who háve their own build-
ings about the June 30, 2002 deadline
for filing a tax exemption. He
announced that the Insurance Depart-
ment recruited the largest number of
representatives ever. In addition, they
assisted the existing base of insurance
reps and this represents a lot of time
and a lot of work. Our statě field reps,
both insurance and fratemal, attend the
lodge meetings to encourage, recruit
and offer a positive outlook. The Mis-
sion 2100 program has doně extremely
well in 2002 thus far and the applica-
tions are still coming in. In order to
accomplish this 2100 goal, we must
write 175 applications per month and
we are ahead of the game.
At the Incentive Awards Banquet
held in Holland, 71 lodges were
acknowledged in at least one of the cat-
egories in the Lodge Incentive Pro-
gram. This compares with 54 lodges
last year. Over 500 people attended
and many were recognized for their
efforts. Sales reps, fratemalists of the
year, youth leaders all add up to what
we call our Society. We want to be
sure that we exceed the 71 lodges this
next year and we are on track to do just
that.
One of the goals of the SPJST
Supreme Lodge is to ensure that every
lodge attains one of those incentive cat-
egories. He reminded the lodges that
you can seli the certificates, but you
háve to remember to do the fratemal
work for the members of the lodge.
Both must work hand-in-hand. In
addition, the Board wants to ensure
that all lodges are doing something and
not just sitting there. The Board will
be taking a very hard look at this in the
future.
If a lodge is not doing anything for
its members and/or its community, and
not selling insurance to new members,
they fall into a “do-nothing” category
and will be asked to make a decision,
i.e. reorganize, merge or, as a last
resort, disband. We will, of course,
make every attempt not to disband
because most of the areas where our
SPJST lodges are located are in good
areas, are productive and are our niche.
In summary, he reiterated that there
are a lot of things going on in our Soci-
ety. He encouraged everyone to keep
up with what is going on by reading
the Vestnik. If you know someone who
does not currently get the Vestnik and
would like to receive it, please notify
the Home Office with his name and
address and he will be put on the distri-
bution.
You are a member of the SPJST, we
are proud that you are here and work-
ing with us as a team. We should
ensure that all the tremendous benefits
offered by SPJST are being utilized by
everyone.
By the end of 2002, we expect to
háve nine new youth clubs on the
ground and running. We all know a
youth club brings a remarkable amount
of vitality, energy and enthusiasm to a
lodge. Last year, every lodge with an
active youth club was a winner in the
Lodge Incentive Program, so we know
there are big dividends for a lodge to
háve a youth club. We want to thank
all the youth leaders for their efforts.
In addition, the parents háve to be
commended for their efforts in getting
the youth to the meetings and activi-
ties.
Finally, he strongly recommended
that lodge officers call the Home
Office any time that they háve any type
of questions. The Home Office is there
to assist the lodges and its officers, so
please utilize that resource.
President Steinman asked everyone
to keep the following people and their
families in their prayers:
Emil Petr, who suffered a stroke and
is still in the hospital.
Gordon Hubenak, President of
Lodge 92, who suffered a heart attack.
Wife of Ben Jarma, who passed
away last night.
Carl Johnson, from Lodge 154, who
recently passed away.
President Steinman introduced Dis-
trict Director, Johnnie Krizan. She
asked Brother Krizan to speak about
the recent contribution by three lodges
in the West area toward a trailer for the
Boy Scouts.
Brother Krizan explained that he
was elected to be the District Three
representative and he is there for any-
one who may háve questions, con-
cems, ideas and feedback. The SPJST
is an open society. Every certificate
holder owns this company and has a
direct ťinancial responsibility toward it.
It is yours, so feel free to ask questions
when you háve them. He reviewed the
organization of the Supreme Lodge
Board: seven District Directors, five
Supreme Lodge Officers. This group
runs the company between conven-
tions. They act on the guidelines of the
Bylaws and rules set by the delegates
at the convention held every four years.
Other than that, the Supreme Lodge
has the discretion to make decisions
regarding matters related to “unchar-
tered territory.” He commented that
this is a fine group of people with
which to work and they háve accom-
plished so much.
Brother Krizan reported on the
lodges’ contributions toward the Boy
Scout trailer. He said that this situation
represents something that he feels
SPJST needs to improve upon - getting
our name out there, who we are and
what we do. He went on to say that
John Sharp, former Comptroller of
Public Accounts, once said that SPJST
is one of the best kept secrets in Texas.
Anytime an SPJST member has a
chance to do something good and get
the SPJST name out there, do it. Don’t
be bashful.
He said that each of the three
lodges, 6, 54 and 66, agreed to a contri-
bution and Brother Krizan matched
those funds for this worthy project.
This tumed out to be very good public-
ity for SPJST.
Brother Krizan announced that he
had brought a few SPJST calendars, as
well as some pocket calendars, if any-
one would like to háve one. Fle
thanked Lodge 135 for hosting the
meeting and thanked everyone for
attending. He reminded everyone
about the upcoming Naional Polka
Festival in Ennis on Memoriál Day
Weekend.
Brother Krizan reported that SPJST
had a good year. For a number of
years, we háve been successful in writ-
ing 1200-1400 applications but would
také many off the books due to cancel-
íations, expirations, etc.; therefore,
resulting in a net decrease. It has been
a longstanding trend of 150-300 annual
decrease in certificates. The balance
sheet hasn’t changed much and the
SPJST continues to be financially
strong.
When our rating was downgraded
from A- to B+ a year or two ago,
SPJST became more aggressive in its
marketing efforts and strategies in an
effort to change the ratings and tum the
trend around. Some of our strategies
and philosophies háve changed to keep
up with the changing worid. We háve
increased incentives and commíssions
for our Sales reps; added end-of-year
incentives, added lodge incentives.
This has resulted in great success for
SPJST. We anticipate that 2002 may
not be as good as 2001, but there are
many different ways to compare suc-
cess. As in any company, if you can
balance out the problém areas with
smart investing and growth, you will
succeed.
He reported that Vision 2100 is on
track and ahead of where we were last
year at this time. He thanked eveiyone
for their efforts.
Brother Krizan reminded everyone
about the deadline for submitting the
application for the ad valorem tax
exemption. Although we would háve
preferred a blanket exemption, we
must také what we can get. Some of us
will be successful in getting the
exemption, others will not because it is
dependent upon each taxing entity’s
evaluation.
Brother Krizan reported that there
was tremendous interest in the recent
statewide camp, a new venture for
SPJST. The youth had said that they
wanted a more relaxing environment
than State Youth Achievement Day to
get to know youth from around the
statě. The cost for the Friday - Sunday
Statewide Camp was $85 per camper.
Although the Supreme Lodge was not
able to fund it 100 percent, some
lodges subsidized the cost, and in other
cases, the individuals paid the cost.
There is a requirement that the camper
must be a member of SPJST - but not
necessarily a member of a lodge with
an active youth club. This was our first
year and we had 50 youth attend with
about 14 chaperones. We can build on
this. Get the word out, especially for
those inactive youth members.
Brother Krizan mentioned that the
SPJST has been offering 75 percent
mortgage loans with a 30-year term at
6.25 - 7 percent. He went on to say
that there háve been remarks about
what a hardship it is to put down 25
percent. Therefore, the SPJST can
now offer 85 percent mortgage loans;
however the interest rate will be
increased to 7.25 percent.
When Brother Krizan asked for any
questions from the membership, Sister
Martha Hubenak Durham asked about
the interest rates on annuities. Brother
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Vanicek, Brian. Věstník (Temple, Tex.), Vol. 90, No. 37, Ed. 1 Wednesday, September 25, 2002, newspaper, September 25, 2002; Temple, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth631918/m1/4/: accessed April 23, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Slovanska Podporujici Jednota Statu Texas.