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"Joining Hands To Touch Lives— Fraternalism for the Family and Our Nation"
Official Publication of The Slavonic Benevolent Order of the State of Texas, Founded 1897
BENEVOLENCE
HUMAMITY
VOLUME 87 NUMBER 18
BROTHERHOOD
Postmaster: Please Send Form 3579 to: SPJST Home Office, P. 0. Box 100, Temple, Texas 76503 ISSN-07458800
May 5, 1999
1998 Annual Reports Issue PRESIDENT
Prezident .resents Summary of Activities Dear Members: and invited guests, please call the As we visit the lodges and watch Home Office to set a date for your the members participate in various lodge to host this event. We think that lodge activities, we are constantly you will thoroughly enjoy and at the reminded of the many hours of work same time be enlightened by their done by our members in both planning excellent presentation. Also, two new and implementing the programs that categories in the lodge incentive promake this a great gram have been fraternal benefit approved by the society. The offiboard to help crecers of our many ate additional lodges, their mem incentives for bers, their hardlodges to obtain working sales repnew members. resentatives and Furthermore, youth leaders, if you want to have along with the disa good time, meet trict youth counsome nice people, selors, district and make new directors, our state friends, then come field people and out to the state your officers and tournaments sponHome Office staff sored by the Home all work together to Office. Barbara make this society Rosenkranz, the grow and prosper. State FAC, and the Supreme Lodge President Whether you have hosting lodge Howard Leshikar held one of the jobs members will above or perhaps many within our make you feel right at home. society, we thank you for your involveWant to watch good wholesome ment in and love of the SPJST. entertainment at no charge? Then visit Member involvement was highlight- your district Youth Achievement Day ed at the Lodge Workshop and Lodge this summer, where your encourageIncentive Awards Banquet held in ment of the participants will help bring Little River - Academy at Lodge 177. out their best. The first place winners in Forty-seven lodges, officers and sales each category whether in craft or talent representatives were given awards for will participate in the State Youth achieving 1998 incentive goals. We Achievement event held in Temple in want to thank the members and officers the first weekend of August. All of the of lodge 177 for hosting this extremely above could not happen without the important state event. hard work of the parents, of the lodge As you are aware, our membership youth leaders, the district youth counhas been slowly declining over the past selors, and the state youth director, who years. The Supreme Lodge Board has bring our children a positive experience. recognized this fa'ct and has impleKeep up the good work! mented a number of programs to Want to see one of Temple's outreverse this trend. State Field Manager standing displays? Then come and visit Gene McBride, State Fraternal the SPJST Museum at the Home Office. Activities Coordinator Barbara Curator Dorothy Pechal and Assistant Rosenkranz and State Youth Director Curator Sandra Dubcak will guide you Melanie Zavodny have teamed togeth- on an outstanding tour of the Czech coner to help lodges revitalize their pro- tributions to this state and this country. grams, create new programs, and Last year, we mentioned that the renew their members' enthusiasm in state insurance commission was workobtaining new members. If your lodge ing on a proposal to require our partis interested in having the benefits of time sales representatives to have a SPJST membership shown to members license to sell insurance. After many
meetings with other Texas domiciled fraternals, with the legal advisor of the National Fraternal Congress and the state insurance personnel, we feel that an acceptable solution has been found. The proposal has passed the state senate and is awaiting passage in the state house. Also the constitutional amendment to remove ad valorem property taxes from our lodge buildings is bottled up in the Senate Finance Committee. The Senate Finance. Committee Chairman has refused to let the other committee members vote on the bill even though we have been told that over two-thirds of the committee favors the proposal. Many hours of work with the other fraternals, the Knights of Columbus, the Masons, the Sons of Herman, KJT, KJZT, and
Catholic Life has produced a very good bill. We will work hard to push this proposal through the committee. Barbara Kovacevich, secretary to the president, and Mary Sauceda, secretary to the State FAC have done a superb job of taking care of the many details to better serve the memberships throughout the state. In addition, to my fellow officers, and editor, district directors and Home Office staff, our thanks for stressing the positive. Finally, my family and I want to wish each and every member the best. We thank you for your support and hospitality. Fraternally, Howard Leshikar Supreme Lodge President
SPJST-
VICE PRESIDENT
Vice President Reports on 1998 Insurance Sales Efforts I think that from a historical per- Strategy For Growth spective, the past two years will be Several years ago, we came to the viewed as building years. The special realization that we needed to develop a emphasis on recruiting new sales rep- strategy for growth. There is general resentatives begun in 1997 was contin- agreement that we need to focus on the ued through 1998. The special focus following: on training and the FIC program was also continued • Grow our memthrough the past bership; year. We recruited • Increase our pre39 new sales repremium income; sentatives during 1998 and many • Maintain comhave begun to propetitive products; duce. The Society continued to oper• Secure new sales ate on a highly representatives; profitable basis. A • Keep our fraterrecord 17 of our nal programs sales representahealthy and tives were $1 milgrowing; lion dollar producers in 1998 and • Seek to assist three of those struggling lodges; wrote over S2 million dollars each. • Organize new Supreme Lodge Vice President The income lodges; and Leonard Mikes ka statement by line of • Service members business recently completed by our actuwho have no assigned sales representaary indicates the following net gains: tive. Universal Life Other Life Annuities, Flex and Deferred Total
$ 434,505 745,145 287,444 $1,467,094
We will continue to focus our energy on these areas to build a strong foundation for future growth. (Continued on page 3.)