Chairman of Moose International to tour Lenoir Lodge

Aug. 4—LENOIR — The Lenoir Moose Lodge is excited to lead a tour of the Lodge for Chairman of the Board of Moose International Bruce Masopust on Saturday, Aug. 6 at 2 p.m.

The Loyal Order of Moose Lodges #385 is located at 1100 Moose Lodge Road in Lenoir. Members and member-guests will be served a light brunch.

"[Masopust] is a very busy man," said Scott Brawley, president of the Lenoir Moose Lodge. "For him to travel all the way down here to come to our lodge is a pretty big thing for me and the lodge. He felt like we'd put in the community work to get this acknowledgement. Makes me feel like we're doing what we're supposed to be doing."

Brawley became a member of the Lenoir Lodge in 2011. He is currently serving his second term as Lodge president.

"It took a lot of effort and hard work to make everything happen," said Brawley. "We're just really appreciative."

Last year, the Lenoir Moose Lodge was declared a Prestigious Lodge for the first time since its inception in 1970.

"It's a big honor," said Richard Gardner, former Lodge president. "It provides us with a sense of pride in what we've been doing."

Moose International is dedicated to supporting and uplifting local communities through charity and outreach. Mooseheart Child City and School, a 1,000-acre campus located 40 miles west of Chicago, cares for children and teens in need from infancy through high school. Moreover, Moosehaven is a 70-acre retirement community located on the St. Johns River in northeast Florida that cares for senior citizens. These organizations are funded in part through dues paid by Moose Lodge members.

The Moose Lodge also donates to local charities in the community. In the past, the Lenoir Moose Lodge has donated to the women's shelter, the Helping Hands Clinic, and other local organizations. This Saturday, Lenoir Moose Lodge will present a check to Shellie Bowlin, executive director of the Robin's Nest Children's Advocacy Center.

Additionally, the Lenoir Lodge has been maintaining the Star and Cross lights on top of Hibriten Mountain since 1951. Gardner himself has been keeper of the Star and Cross for the last 45 years.

Loyal Order of Moose is a nonprofit, fraternal organization dedicated to supporting children and seniors. Local Lodges also support the communities in which they are located by supporting the needs of children and less fortunate individuals and other nonprofit organizations involved with similar goals in mind. For more information, call the local Lodge at 828-758-4817.

With a combined membership of over 1 million members in over 1,500 communities across all 50 states, as well as Canada and Great Britain, the Loyal Order of Moose and Women of the Moose contributes between $75 to $100 million worth of community service (counting monetary donations, volunteer hours worked and miles driven) annually.

"It's always an honor to have the Chairman of the Board in your lodge, considering there's over 2,000 lodges in the country," said Bob Wilson, Lenoir Moose Lodge member, former governor, and former state president for the North Carolina Moose Association. "I'm looking forward to meeting him."