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Official Organ Of The Slavonic Benevolent Order Of The State Of Texas, Founded 1897 BROTHERHOOD
HUMANITY
BENEVOLENCE
Postmaster: Please Send Form 3579 to: SUPREME LODGE, SPJST, P. 0. Box 100, Temple, Texas 76501 MAY 28, 1980 VOLUME 68 NUMBER 22 USPS — 658480
FROM THE EDITOR'S DESK We are nearly THERE! Yes, our convention is nearly here. In this issue, again, is a report from the By-Law Committee, via Sister Thelma Hrncir, secretary of By-Law Committee and others. One is from Lodge No. 133, San Antonio sent in to the committee in late 1979, however, must have been delayed. You are, again advised to read all of them carefully. In this connection, your editor and wife, Sister Maxine Sefcik are attempting to get the larger convention issue together and our hope is that we can get all of the recommendations to the by-laws printed in the convention Issue. We feel that this would be much more convenient for all the delegates instead of having to bring all of the various issues of Vestnik they appeared in to the • convention. We hope our desire and hopes will materialize. We should know by next week if that will be possible; we hope it will be! By the way, your convention issue may be a day or so late due to the size of it and the extra cover having to be "stitched" on it. We hope our members and readers understand; we will do our best and appreciate the cooperation and understanding of the help in the print shop. This writer is a very democraticallyinclined individual and has always lived by the axioms that: "two heads are better than one," "Look before you leap," "Measure twice before you cut once," etc. and, so far, it has proved to be valuable, however, in a convention, a
THE POWER OF WORDS A careless word may kindle strife, A cruel word may wreck a life; A bitter word may hate instill, A brutal word may smite and kill; A gracious word may smooth the way, A joyous word may light the day; A timely word may lessen stress, A loving word may heal and bless.
delegate's mind must be alert because ideas appear out of nowhere and only an alert mind can keep up with the process and, therefore, a person must be 'on top of things' and not let the mind wander. There are some proposals recommended to the by-laws that are somewhat local lodge issues and, frankly, should be settled there; there are others whic% could prove not too readily appropriate and that, of course, will be the duty of the convention to give serious consideration to. This convention is going to consider the course and decide it which our SPJST Society will take for the years 1981, 1982, 1983 and 1984! Your editor, very probably, more than any other individual in our Society has traveled this state and the lodges, districts, etc. in the last 30 years and, especially, since being elected editor 12 years ago
and the one thing that seems to be lacking among some of us is the understanding and fraternalism which is the foundation of our origin! Ask yourself this question: Would we sacrifice anywhere near to what our founders and forefathers did to bring this SPJST Society to the status it holds today? Think about it! A suggestion to all delegates: This convention is for the good of our entire Society, and not for the benefit of any one particular individual or group. It takes an objective person to look the good for all and not an individual seeking only personal gain; if we did that, then we would falter in our duty and responsibility.
In this portion of this editorial, I'm sure, our membership and readers will allow me to be somewhat personal in my editorial remarks just long enough to relate that my wife and I took two hours on our busiest day of the week (a Friday, May 16th) to go to the commencement exercises at Baylor University at 10 a.m. to see our son, Terry Craig receive his BBA (Bachelor of Business Administration) Degree__ which he had worked so diligently to achieve. Needless to say, we were and are proud for him; many of our members throughout the State of Texas know him and we think he is a fine young mall.