With so little seeming movement on the building project as of late, the newsletter was temporarily discontinued to remove the costs of maintenance and publication.  We are back and look forward to having more information monthly as we try to pick up steam once more.

     I will be keeping this month's straightforward and simple in design and layout to get it out quickly following our meeting today (7/14/25).

     First, we want to thank our Board of Officers for staying vested in this project.  Many have gone through the number of years we've been down working hard on generating some type of progress.  This year, Ron Jolly and Bill Stuedeman finally opted for a break after multiple years even prior to the fire and we want to express our sincere thanks for all they've done up until this year and all we know that they will continue to do from behind the scenes.  We also would like to express our gratitude to those who've stepped up to fill the slots as needed and are still looking for a few more to round out the Board of Officers.  Becky Jolly stepped into Vice President again this year and Mona Wilmot has officially joined the ranks as our new Treasurer.  Philip Thompson is our newest Moose Legion member and, now, our Chaplain.  We wish them all the best and look forward to being productive in every possible way.  Please be sure to express your thanks and best wishes to Becky Jolly as she attempts to fill the role of President in the intermim following Kevin Young's resignation. 

     So, here's the update in a nutshell....I will try to flesh this out more as time permits....

A.  Moose International declined our second request for funding citing that the dollar amount requested exceeds more than 50% of the appraised value of the current structure.  That is to be revisited following some restructuring at Moose International when the Lodge Development Board was dissolved.

B.  There is still hope for private funding and we have high hopes that something will come through with that with several promising leads already being pursued.

C.  We expect to hear next month that some funding may be coming in the form of a grant from the Gila River Grant Foundation.  These funds roughly total 150k and the recipients should be notified in August with the funds disbursed in October.  We are not waiting for this specifically and hope that outside funding will get the project back under way even before and if we receive the grant.

D.  Many of you have been to the Lodge building and have seen the potential there and have been made aware of the ultimate goal as we continue on.  With the heat, fundraisers and functions were forced to stop pending a change in the extreme heat and weather.  There are plans for a golf tournament and other fundraisers already in the works and we look forward to presenting them as soon as we can nail down specifics for time, date, and function. 

E.  For those who aren't aware, our meetings are held at the Fire Station on the second and fourth Monday of every month at 5pm.  For transparency, we have long invited all members to sit in on the Board meeting as well as any General meetings.  It must be understood that Lodge business (as discussed in meetings) is not to be taken outside of the meeting for general discussion.  It is a violation of International and Lodge by-laws to do so.  So we encourage anyone who wants detailed answers to questions to come to the meetings.  We are going to make an effort to get as much information out there as we can, but there are limits to some things that can be published or discussed outside of meetings.

F.  District meetings are held the first Sunday of every month and rotate from Lodge to Lodge.  The next meeting for August will be held at the Thunder Mountain Lodge.  Higher Degree meetings start at 9 am and District follows at 10 am.  Breakfast's are generally served prior to the HD meetings. 

G.  Membership is currently down, and that is no surprise given the ongoing struggle to get our Lodge back up and operational.  We do, however, encourage our members to maintain their memberships in that the money from that helps to support our kids at Mooseheart and our seniors at Moosehaven.  Lodge dues are not income for the Lodge, so please consider this rather paltry cost for all the good it does for those in our care and keep the faith that we are bending over backwards to try and get our Lodge, YOUR LODGE, open again for all to enjoy. 

H.  The Arizona/New Mexico Association conference will be held in Scottsdale again this year on August 21st through the 24th.  Registration fees do apply, but there is always more to learn and usually some fun activities in the evenings for those who attend.  Please check with their website or Facebook or any officer for more information if interested in attending.

I.  Lastly, I'd like to thank Mona and others who've commited (volun-told) to creating more content for this newsletter to include more community information that will help unite the community as a whole for the betterment of the Moose and it's members.