VESTNIK March 9:Layout 1
3/4/11
Volume 99 Number 10
ˇ ´ VESTNIK
11:31 AM
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S P J S T Benevolence
H E R A L D
Humanity
ISSN —07458800
Brotherhood
March 9, 2011
Appreciation Supreme Lodge President Vanicek Celebration reflects on 2010 achievements Lodge 48, Beyersville President and 1968 SPJST State King Robert Leshikar assists Margie Faltesek with games at the lodge’s annual appreciation celebration held Saturday, February 26 at the lodge hall. The evening’s purpose was to celebrate with members and friends who have supported the lodge faithfully through its years of progress. The event included Texas trivia in honor of Texas Independence Day on March 2, beverages, dinner with salad and dessert bars, and door prizes. More photos on page 10.
Practicing Parliamentary Procedure
A total of 74 youth club members and adults attended the Youth Development Workshop held Saturday, February 26 at SPJST ENC at Cooper Farm in Waldeck. The workshop covered SPJST history and community service, parliamentary procedure, and presentations. The next workshop will be Saturday, April 2 at SPJST Lodge 183, Arlington. More photos on pages 20 and 21.
Interest Rates.......................................3 Important Dates ...................................3 District News........................................5 Lodge Section......................................7 Reunions ............................................13 SPJST Financial University ..............14
Dear Brothers and Sisters, Ever since the 2010 SPJST Awards Banquet on January 29, I have revisited my love of fraternalism on an almost daily basis. A sincere thank you to the nearly 300 members who joined in the celebration held at the Frank W. Mayborn Convention Center in Temple. The experience left me with a settling feeling of joy and comfort knowing that the seeds of fraternalism that we are sowing will bear fruit for generations to come. I’ve had that feeling before — but never quite so strong or so long-lasting. It was a great event, and I was happy to report that day on some of the many positives SPJST possesses going forward. Among them: Based on the 2010 annual statement just completed by Interim Financial Secretary Debbie Dohnalik, SPJST posted a net gain from operations for 2010 of more than $416,000. This compares favorably to a net loss from operations of $492,000 in 2009. Correspondingly, surplus increased from $13.8 million at year-end 2009 to approximately $16.2 million as of yearend 2010, representing an increase of approximately $2.4 million. On a related note, Secretary-Treasurer Leonard Mikeska reported in January that almost all of the non-performing assets have been worked out of the SPJST investment portfolio. At year-end 2010, the market value of the SPJST’s approximately
Inside This Week’s Vestnik
In Memoriam ......................................14 Youth Section ....................................18 Camp Tee-Shirt Order Form .............26 Czech Culture ...................................27 Advertisements ............................28-29 Lodge Calendar .................................30
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Lodge 66 Waco Fraternalist of the Year honored
$183 million investment portfolio exceeded its book value by approximately $4 million. Good job! Correspondingly, the Home Office provided some nice incentives for lodges for the 2010 year. Incentive awards presented to adult lodges, youth clubs, and sales agents on January 29 totaled more than $57,000. One week later, premium refunds to lodges totaling more than $167,000 were mailed to the lodges from the Home Office. My sincere hope is that lodges are able to direct a significant portion of these proceeds towards charitable deeds as well as activities that celebrate the worth of the men, women, boys, and girls who comprise our fraternal order. Even as sales of new life insurance certificates declined in 2010 from the preceding year, Vice President Gene McBride reported in the January Supreme Lodge meeting that sales persistency improved significantly over the same period. Persistency is defined as the percentage of SPJST’s already written life insurance certificates remaining in force, without lapsing or being replaced by policies of other insurers. While new production remains an important element in the growth of SPJST, sales persistency remains a critical factor in our success and one which the SPJST Supreme Lodge has addressed vigorously over the past three
Continued on Page 4.
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Lodge 148 El Maton member celebrates 93rd birthday
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Lodge 17 New Tabor youth earns caring award