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Official Organ Of The Slavonic Benevolent Order Of The State Of Texas, Founded 1897 HUMANITY
BENEVOLENCE
BROTHERHOOD
Postmaster: Please Send Form 3579 to: SUPREME LODGE, SPJST, P.O. Box 100, Temple, Texas 76501 FEBRUARY 16, 1977 VOLUME 65, NUMBER 7
FROM THE EDITOR'S DE What a certificate of membership in a Fraternal Benefit Society really means is that fraternal societies use certificates as against policies. Policies are merely contracts on paper or business contracts. Certificates are more than that, they bind members together with rights and privileges of the Society and sharing in its benefits and funds in such amount and such privileges as stated in the certificate. Being members they have rights to make and/or change bylaws, have an interest in the major welfare activities and are, and can be, actively identified with its fellowship. Theirs is and should be an enterprise with obligation upon all and benefits to ALL. The certificate offers association of a lodge room, of lodge sympathy and aid in time of desire and/or need. It also stands for good sound protection. -Through well-protected citiiens, fraternal societies also build fraternalists who serve the communities in which they live and entire humanity in general throughout the state and nation. When you compare your SPJST certificate of insurance with some policy from a company with its headquarters in some distant city and state and realize that you never see anyone from the company, unless by coincidence, and never realize any benefits except life insurance from having bought
it, then you are suddenly aware of how much more you have in a certificate of insurance in the Society. To enumerate a few, you find fraternal fellowship• among your fellow members in your lodge gatherings and lodge halls, friendly and safe environment for the entire family, encouragement for our youth in their future through sports, crafts, music, and various talents, all done in a spirit of fraternal efforts and desire that is evident especially by the sportsmanship displayed by all of our youth at the YADs, summer camps for the youth, etc.; a weekly publication, the SPJST Vestnik, bringing you articles of interest from your fellow members and lodges, the opportunity to get real estate loans from your own organization, the realization that your Society is helping our state and nation care for our aged citizens by supporting
two rest homes, and we could go on listing these benefits, however, the main one is that YOU as a member do have a voice in your Society's affairs which is truly the real meaning of a democratic organization. Our SPJST is indeed a unique organiyation in still another respect. Not too long ago, your editor got into a conversation with a representative selling regular old line commercial life insurance. When we compared the rates, they were not too far off, however, when it came to the other aspects such as lodges, premium refunds, lodge activities, fellowship with other policy holders, etc., there were none. Another aspect that interested this writer was how much it cost his company and the amount of help in employees they had to do the collecting of dues from their policy holders. In our Society the dues are collected, notices sent out, etc., by our lodges' secretaries and the mortuary dues are sent to our Supreme Lodge by each lodge. This Method keeps our members in touch with their local lodge officers plus saving our Society many headaches and expenses, Just imagine how many employees SL Financial Secretary Jerry Mikulas' department would have to employ if that department had to process about 50,000 individual receipts from members instead of about 3i0