Projects and Special Committees |
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ADDRESS UPDATES
This one-person committee strives to keep an updated record of the members and their addresses. Please inform the Chairman of any new members, changes of address, demits or death. Sheryl McGuire, P.O. Box 515, White Sulphur Springs, MT 59645. AMERICANISM Today more than ever, we should demonstrate our deep appreciation for the freedoms we enjoy. And on a daily basis recognize our responsibility for maintaining those freedoms and pay tribute to our military men and women whenever possible. Every Chapter is encouraged to have an Americanism Program and ask the community to participate. The program can include youth organizations, i.e. Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts, Rainbow Girls, Job's Daughters and DeMolay. APPEALS LETTER The Appeals Letter will be sent to all members to derive funds for our various charities. The Appeals letter, with heart-felt testimonials is a fund raiser for our charities, and will be mailed to ALL members who may designate to which, or all of our OES charities: ESTARL, Electa's Cup, Masonic Home/Cinderella Shop, Cancer, and Heart. CANCER FUND Cancer has touched many people in our Order and it would be nice to see that someday we have a cure for the disease. HEART FUND This committee during the year raises money through Chapter projects, donations, and the help of the Appeals Letter. We have supported the heart fund for many years. Many people have been helped with the aid of this project. CANCELED STAMPS FOR CANCER This project has been an ongoing project of Grand Chapter for many years. Money raised for this goes to Cancer Research or the Cancer Society. Proceeds from the sale of CANCELED STAMPS that are collected also go into this Fund. Please cut the stamps from the envelopes and get them to Chairman Carma Sinerius, PO Box 98, Virginia City, MT 59755. They aren't taking the Flag stamps, but everything else is good. They trim them to 1/4" at the Chapter and have no whole cancellation marks. They can pick them up at Grand Chapter to help with the cost of sending them. We will also gather at OV visits so give to the Worthy Grand Matron or Worthy Grand Patron. CENTRAL SERVICE This one-person committee will keep track of the movement of our members from town to town, and jurisdiction to jurisdiction. The Chapter Secretary is asked to notify the Chairman when a member relocates to another community with an Eastern Star Chapter in the community or nearby. The Chairman will then inform that particular Chapter of the member relocating to the area. The Chapter should contact the member with a phone call or visit and encourage/invite her/him to attend Chapter meetings. We want to keep all of our members in the loop! COURTESY COMMITTEE This Committee is active during the year extending courtesy/help to our members and/or people in need in our communities. This may be visiting shut-ins, providing transportation, remembering members during holidays, offering rides to Chapter meetings - the list goes on. The list of needs vary and are endless. Report the "good deeds of your companions" to your Unit Chairman. ELECTA'S CUP ENDOWMENT This committee reviews applications for aid and determines how much money the applicants will receive. It does NOT collect any funds. Electa’s Cup Endowment was begun by PGM Betty Tindall during her term in 1986-87. It was named after Electa based on that Star Point’s position of love and hospitality. It is unique to Montana Grand Chapter. This Fund was established to provide aid to subordinate Chapter members of Montana Grand Chapter, who are in need. Only interest from the Endowment Fund can be disbursed by the committee. Accumulated funds are invested by the Grand Secretary at the direction of the Finance Committee. The Chapter member in need makes their request through the Chapter Secretary and Worthy Matron. An Application Form (Word or PDF) is completed by the member, signed by the Secretary and Worthy Matron and sent to the Electa’s Cup Committee for their review and approval. The request for assistance and the money to the applicant are all processed through the Chapter Secretary. This is NOT a loan. The member does NOT have to repay the money received. The money to the member is a donation to that person. The applicant's name is kept confidential. ELECTA'S CUP FUND This is the fund raising committee. Money from the Appeals Letter, as well as donations, assists this fund. ESTARL FUND This is the fund raising committee. Each year, all money raised and donated by Chapters and members for ESTARL will be allocated for ESTARL Scholarships, ONLY. Donations and memorials from the Chapters plus this year, money from the Appeals Letter that will be sent to each Montana member for the purpose of raising money for the ESTARL scholarships. ESTARL SCHOLARSHIP (Eastern Star Training Awards for Religious Leadership) This committee awards the ESTARL Scholarship. It does NOT collect money. The purpose of these scholarships is to give assistance through scholarships to young men and women who desire to enter various fields of religious service; namely, ministerial, missions, directorships of church music, religious education, youth leadership; and by giving support to departments of Religion in accredited colleges. At the July 2023 Grand Chapter Session 2 Scholarships of $2000.00 each were awarded to deserving recipients. GRAND CHAPTER HISTORIAN Our Historian summarizes the Grand Chapter Session for updating our history book. GRAND CHAPTER LIBRARIAN The Grand Chapter Librarian is a committee of one (1). The Grand Chapter Library consists of many programs for the use of Chapters and members. GRAND MUSIC LIBRARIAN The Grand Chapter has formed this newest position due to Maripat Hagen's passing, which left an enormous library of sheet music to our Montana OES members. So we have created this library in Billings to hold the huge library of sheet music so that when we need to find a song, or have access to the music, we will contact the music librarian. MASONIC HOME COMMITTEE: This committee consists of A) Masonic Home Program Committee; B) Masonic Home Fund Committee; C) Grounds Beautification Committee; and D) Representative to the Masonic Home Board of Trustees.
PRESS
Each Chapter will receive a photo of the WGM and WGP along with a sample article about OES. Both are to be used for the local newspaper, if possible, and printed before your Chapter's Official Visit of the WGM. The Chapters are to send a copy of the newspaper article to their Unit chairman. Some newspapers are not willing to print an article without monetary compensation. Do NOT pay to have an article/photo printed. Montana Freemason: We are assured by Grand Secretary Daniel J. Gardner's office that Chapters submitting articles and photos by each deadline will be reviewed and printed at the discretion of the Grand Lodge Office. All photos and articles about 50-Year members are most welcomed. Eastern Star Journal: It would be great to have articles and photos published in the Eastern Star Journal which is now on-line. The Journal has contact info for submitting articles. To read the Journal go to the General Grand Chapter web site. SERVICE DOGS Coordinate with the General Grand Chairman to promote sales of service dog merchandise and fundraisers. Promote service dog programs in Chapters via Montana Stars and Eastern Star Friends of Montana. TELLERS There is a Chairman and Co-Chairman of this committee. The Committee functions on Saturday morning of the Grand Chapter session for balloting/election of officers. Members will receive instructions from the Chairman and Co-Chairman and then proceed to collect and count all ballots cast. The ballot results are reported to the delegation by the Chairman. VENDORS The vendors committee arranges for vendors to bring their wares to Grand Chapter. Electa's Cup, ESTARL, Masonic Home/Cinderella Shop are recipients of a percentage of the vendor's sales. VOLUNTARY PREPAID LIFE MEMBERSHIP (VPLM) This program of Grand Chapter is explained in the Statutes, Article XXXIII Section 2A on pages 94-96 of the Blue Book. (Word or PDF) Encourage your members to purchase a VPLM. This will help support their Chapter financially long after they move to that "city not made with hands". |
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SPECIAL PROJECTS: |
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Basket Raffle for our Youth Organizations -
Rainbow,
DeMolay, Jobs Daughters during our Grand Chapter
Session. Two Projects for this year: The first is a Beef Raffle. The proceeds benefit the Montana Grand Chapter Service Dog Program. The money raised will go into the Service Dog fund. Our hope is that we will raise enough money to be able to buy and train a service dog. There will be 4 prizes: each 1/4 of Black Angus Beef - 1 ticket for $1.00 - 6 tickets for $5.00 The second is a Quilt raffle. The proceeds benefit the Montana Grand Chapter General Fund - 1 ticket for $1.00 - 6 tickets for $5.00 You may obtain tickets from the Chairmen of the respective Raffles or from the Grand Officers. Tickets were also included in the Chapter packets. You may sell tickets to your friends, family, neighbors and co-workers. Drawing for both raffles will be held Saturday afternoon at Grand Chapter, June 20, 2026. Need not be present to win. We thank you for your support for these projects. |
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Date Last Updated: |
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