Message from the Board

July 2021 – Hermann Sons Life – Page 5

A Message from the Board of Directors

By now we hope that most of you have had the chance to view the “Behind the Scenes” video and have shared with fellow lodge members and non-members.

This was a major undertaking for Hermann Sons Life and one that will be used for years to come.

Thanks go to President and CEO Eugene Zollinger, all the employees at the Home Office, Camp and the Retirement Home who helped bring this feature to life and tell the Hermann Sons Life story.

A very special thank you to a special lady, Mary Beam, for coming out of retirement life for a day to be a part of the video. Mary spoke of fraternalism and what we do to give back to the community. She knows Hermann Sons Life and what we stand for and spoke from her heart and her love for our organization.

Thanks also go to Home Office employee Rebecca Henley for sharing her own personal experience through her words about the importance of having insurance.

If you have not had a chance to view the video and share it with friends and family, please go to the website and watch it.

Also, keep an eye out for the commercial that is airing on several national news stations, including the Fox brand stations and the CNN brand stations.

The Board of Directors sat in on the Business Operations Committee meeting on Tuesday, May 18. The committee discussed the benefits offered by Hermann Sons Life and the cost associated with these benefits.

The Board appreciated their ideas and will discuss them further during future Board meetings.

They also discussed the cost of the newspaper, lodges having email addresses for their members and the new policy administration system.

The Board of Directors called their regular meeting to order in the afternoon and the first order of business was to welcome our new Vice President of Sales – Robin Czarnek. We are looking forward to working with her and hearing her ideas for Hermann Sons Life.

Marketing Manager Letricia Rodriguez gave a report on projects she has planned for 2021.

Projects include social media, brand awareness, new audio productions for the Home Office on-hold messaging and plans for an online store where members can purchase new merchandise.

Vice President of Information Technology Matt Walker gave his update on where we stand with the conversion to a new policy administration system. He reported there are several other software products that are being updated – tax reporting, as well as mortgage loans.

Vice President of Member Benefits Cecily Kelly was then asked to give her report. Exciting news was that the Retirement Home has reopened to visitors and prospective residents. There has already been one new resident application approved for the Home.

She reported that dance recitals are taking place and the news so far is that everything about them is positive. President Eugene Zollinger commented that he had attended the New Braunfels recital and was very impressed.

Camp is ready for the 2021 camping season and Executive Camp Director Ian Brassett is beyond excited to welcome campers.

Family Fun Day was scheduled for June 26 at Schlitterbahn.

The Member Benefits Department is working on an annual company event for members and guests to enjoy later this year.

More information will be in upcoming issues of the newspaper as well as on Facebook.

Vice President of Sales Robin Czarnek was invited to give her first report to the Board.

Being new to the organization, she had been busy during her first weeks gathering information about her department and working on new ideas for our organization to increase sales and membership. She presented a comparison of sales for the first quarter for the past three years to the first quarter of 2021.

She will be working on hiring more agents, getting everyone active on social media and working on community events to get our name out in the public.

Vice President of Finance and CFO Mary Pruitt gave the results for the first quarter of 2021.

She spoke on our portfolio yield, other assets and revenue and our mortgage loans. Her department is busy with two routine audits, in addition to navigating their new accounting software.

Vice President of Operations and COO Samantha Schulmeier provided details regarding a death claim she felt the Board needed to know about. She also reported that she had been tasked by President Zollinger with working on a special project with legal counsel, the details and findings of which were presented to the Board.

President Zollinger’s report was filled with various updates, as well as working budget details.

The Board wishes to thank President Zollinger and each of the Vice Presidents for their reports, as the facts we are given by them helps us make the decisions that are best for Hermann Sons Life.

On Wednesday, May 19, the Board of Directors met at Riverside Camp to tour Riverside, Hilltop and the Retirement Home.

Executive Camp Director Ian Brassett met us at Riverside Camp and was excited to show us all the improvements and measures he has set in place to protect your children. Dorms have been cleaned and curtains added to the bottom floor windows.

The Camp Store is packed with items for the kids to purchase. Tell your children who are going to Camp to check out all the bulletin boards and new exit signs.

We then toured Hilltop Camp and again lots of safety measures are in place and the dorms have bulletin boards and exit signs.

Since coming to Hermann Sons Life to become the Executive Camp Director, Ian has worked hard to make the two camps more inviting to the kids and is always implementing new games and activities to keep them busy.

Next it was on to the Retirement Home. Manager Brenda Gunnink met us and showed us the room that had been set up for rent to Hermann Sons Life members. The rooms in the annex will be ready for rental in the near future, but only to members. Meals will also be available for a small fee.

If you are headed to the Hill Country for a night, contact Brenda and see if she has a room available. We were then treated to lunch with the residents at the Home.

Thanks go to Ian and Brenda for taking the time to show us the facilities.

We are more than excited to read the newspaper each month and see how lodges are starting to meet again and are getting out and doing community projects. T hanks go to each and every one of you for all you do for Hermann Sons Life and helping to get our name out in the public.

Happy summer and be safe!