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PENNSYLVANIA 157TH STATE SESSION The 157th Annual State Session of the State Council of PA met on September 14th, 15th, and 16th, 2017 at the Woodlands Inn & Resort in Wilkes-Barre, Pa. It was hosted by Dunmore Council # 1022 of the Middle District, home council of Past National Councilor, Edward H. Kiefer, and our current National Vice-Councilor, Richard A. Beppler, who also serves as the Pa. state secretary. Registration was held on Thursday afternoon on the 14th in the hotel lobby with a full display of about 18 baskets for a basket raffle held at the State Banquet which were made and donated by Dunmore Council members. Also on display were some very nice prizes for a major raffle at the banquet including a 50” LCD TV (won by the State Vice-Councilor), a gigantic basket of cheer (won by the State Secretary) and an adorable handmade porcelain angel donated by the State Councilor’s sister in California (which was surprisingly won by the State Councilor’s son, Ramon). Of course there were suspicions of a fix but when you buy dozens and dozens of raffle tickets the chances of winning are muchly increased. A State Board meeting was held at 4:00 p.m. Thursday to appoint replacements for any State Council officers unable to attend. The necessary officers were newly appointed and all other business was finalized to prepare for a smooth session. The opening meeting was held at 7:15 p.m. in the banquet hall on Thursday night as all of the officers and visiting dignitaries were introduced. We were very happy to welcome back for a second year in a row our Jr. Past National Councilor, Dennis Everett, as the National Council representative, along with his lovely wife Joyce. After being welcomed by an owner of the resort and hearing introductions of officers and dignitaries, the attendees were treated to a theatrical presentation of songs from Fiddler on the Roof and other Broadway numbers presented by the cast of a local theater ensemble of high school age members of K.I.S.S. Theater Group (Kids Innovative Stage & Song). These very talented young actors and singers were enjoyed immensely by all present. After a social hour with snacks and punch, the 69th Annual Hendler Club meeting took place at 9:01 p.m. The Hendler Club is a fun club which meets at every annual state session and raises funds for charities through an auction held at a Hendler breakfast the last day of the session. The chosen charity to receive this year’s donations was the Red Cross Hurricane Relief Fund to help the many people affected by so many hurricanes this year. This year the Hendler Club had to wish a sad farewell to their secretary/treasurer, PNC Edward H. Kiefer, who resigned after serving for the past 17 years as what they endearingly call their Grand Conniver. Friday morning, after a great breakfast buffet in the hotel restaurant, the State Councilor, MaryAnn Beppler, called to order the First Business Session at 9:30 a.m. During the morning session the Jr. Past National Councilor, Dennis Everett, was asked to share and produced copies of the completed West Virginia “Hello Neighbor” brochure demonstrating how West Virginia State Council as well as his local council had produced inserts for the brochure outlining the rich history of the Order in West Virginia and local history as well. This was a shining example of how to polish up the “Hello Neighbor” brochure, which Brother Dennis had so diligently upgraded during his term as National Councilor. Brother Dennis also discussed the success of the updated Jr.O.U.A.M. website and stressed the importance of utilizing it to share news and pictures throughout our Order. He also suggested we begin to utilize the various social media outlets now so prevalent in society today such as FaceBook, Twitter, etc. to further reach out to members and potential members to turn around the decline of our membership and bring us further into the 21st century. During the morning session a number of resolutions and proposals were read by title and turned over to the Good of the Order committee, as well as the Law Committee, for their review and recommendations. This was followed by nominations of officers for the 2018 term. Those nominated are listed at the end of this report as the newly elected officers for 2018. One nomination became a problem as next place of meeting was brought to the floor. The next scheduled place of meeting is supposed to be hosted by the Eastern District, but the representative from New Tripoli Council # 204, the only feasible council of the Eastern District, stated that no decision has been made yet to host the 2018 State Session. After discussion it was motioned and passed that the State Board of Officers would make the final decision on next place of meeting, after being informed of New Tripoli Council’s intent to host or not. If not the State Board will assign the next place of meeting and have the State Secretary inform all member councils of their choice within a reasonable time. Just before noon the State Councilor called for a recess for lunch until 1:30 p.m. A fun Hendler Club luncheon was held in the Woodland’s nightclub and enjoyed by all, with the Grand Enforcer of the Hendler Club, Gale Franceschelli, collecting quarters for charity from all present for the silliest reasons. The members all came back to the Marco Polo / Empire breakout rooms for the Second Business Session commencing at 1:30 p.m. The postponed order of business from the morning session, the obligation of new members, was taken up as a new state representative, Patricia Berkery, from Dunmore Council # 1022, who hadn’t been able to attend that morning because she had been undergoing dialysis, was accepted as a new delegate to the State Session. Next the resolutions and proposals were returned from committees and acted upon. Motions to accept were voted upon and all of the resolutions and proposals were passed. After acting on the resolutions and proposals the State Secretary went on to explain to all delegates about the necessity of the National Council to raise the National per-capita tax from $1.20 per year to $6.00 per year at the National Session held in June at the Cacopon State Park in West Virginia. A recess of all business was called for by the State Councilor, MaryAnn Beppler, at 3:00 p.m. so that everyone could prepare for the annual State Session banquet. The 157th Annual PA. State Banquet began at 5:30 p.m. with a greet & meet of the State Board of Officers, who were by tradition formally dressed in white dinner jacket and black tie, even the State Councilor, Maryann Beppler, who substituted a stunning black scarf for the bow-tie. MaryAnn felt foolish in a white dinner jacket but actually looked quite attractive. A wonderful buffet dinner with a choice of chicken marsala, roast beef and lobster encrusted tilapia with veggies and potatoes as well as a tossed dinner salad was enjoyed by all. The icing on the cake was the 15 item dessert bar which became very crowded after the meal. The banquet meal was followed by a program of introductions and presentations with Past National Chaplain, Lester Dolton, as the master of ceremonies. A gift of a handmade wreath made by the State Councilor was presented to the representative from the National Council, PNC Dennis Everett and his wife, Joyce. State Secretary, Richard Beppler, then presented PNC Edward Kiefer with a plaque with an inscription recognizing him for his 17 years as the Grand Conniver of the Hendler’s Club. After the program a few of the many baskets made by members of the hosting Dunmore Council # 1022 were raffled off. Then with a bit of fanfare the night’s entertainer made his spectacular entrance as the crowd welcomed ELVIS. The Elvis impersonator thrilled everyone as he sang such hits as “Be My Teddy Bear” and distributed many of the ladies with little teddy bears, and also letters with his pictures as he sang “Mr. Postman”. Throughout the night’s entertainment there were breaks for more basket raffles and eventually at the end of the night the main raffle prizes were raffled off to the winners listed previously. A surprise additional prize to the final raffle was a donation from the entertainer of a night out with ELVIS that was won by our newest state representative Patricia Berkery. Saturday morning everyone attended the traditional Hendler Club breakfast buffet in Crescenzo’s Restaurant after which a charity auction was held with Lester Dolton as the auctioneer. The group tried to entice our visiting rep from National, Brother Dennis Everett, to be the auctioneer since that is his profession, but he wasn’t having any of it. Instead Brother Dennis and his wife Joyce helped spice up the auction by bidding vigorously against everyone else on a variety of member donated odds and ends which raised quite a sum of money to donate to the Red Cross Hurricane Relief fund. The breakfast and auction was followed by the annual Memorial Service of State Council members who had passed away since the last State Session. The memorial service, presided over by State Chaplain Gale Franceschelli, was especially emotional to myself, the State Secretary, as we bid farewell to a few members including my dad, Burson Beppler, who had held the position of State Secretary for 22 years before myself taking over. Another sad loss was our past National Chaplain’s son, Brian Dolton, who recently died from an ATV accident, too young to ascend to the Supreme Council. Then at 10:00 a.m. Saturday morning, September 16th, after a short meeting of the Past State Councilors, the Final Business Session was called to order by Sister MaryAnn Beppler. The final order of business was the election of officers. Since there were no more than one nomination for any officer, a motion was passed to have the Clerk of Elections cast one unanimous ballot for all nominees and all were duly elected. The installation of officers for the 2018 term was then presided over by the representative from National Council, PNC Dennis Everett. After the installations a dual pinning was witnessed as State Secretary, Richard Beppler, pinned the Past State Councilor jewel on his wife, PSC MaryAnn Beppler; and then Sister MaryAnn turned around and pinned another one on her husband, PSC Rich Beppler, who had never received his PSC jewel when he was conferred as Past State Councilor after 10 years as State Secretary a couple of years ago. Finally the 157th Pennsylvania State Session was convened by the new State Councilor, Archie Parker, until the following year, to be held wherever the State Board appoints it in a few months to be held. The Officers for the State Council of Pennsylvania for the 2018 term are: State Councilor............................................. Archie Parker State Vice-Councilor.................................... Gale Franceschelli State Secretary............................................. Richard Beppler State Treasurer............................................. Robert Buraczewski Jr. Past State Councilor............................... MaryAnn Beppler State Warden................................................ John Pietrafase State Conductor........................................... Harry Laudenslager State Inside Sentinel.................................... Patricia Berkery State Outside Sentinel................................. Lester Dolton State Chaplain.............................................. Joseph Pietrafase National Representative............................... John Pietrafase National Representative............................... MaryAnn Beppler 3rd National Representative......................... To be elected at the next State Session  PA Officers, L-R : John Pietrafase-State Warden, Patricia Berkerey-State Inside Sentinel, Archie Parker-State Councilor, Mary Ann Beppler-Jr. Past State Councilor, Joseph Pietrafase - State Chaplain, Gale Franceschelli-State Vice Councilor and Rich Beppler - State Secretary
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 Pictured at right, L - R: Emma Hastings, Megan Handley, John Morris, Madelyn Ebersole and Abby Hastings.  Pictured at right, L - R; Madelyn Ebersole, Megan Handley, Emma Hastings, Abby Hastings and Zuzu Kester. This group of talented young people, performed last night, Thursday, September 14th, for those attending the Opening of the 2017 State Session of Pennsylvania. They call themselves K.I.S.S. (Kids Innovative Stage & Song). Everyone very much enjoyed their presentation. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -  Hendler Club Luncheon - around the table starting far left: Tim Wagner, Lester Dolton, Robert Buraczewski, Archie Parker, Rich Schroeder and his wife, Ginny Schroeder.  Hendler Club Luncheon - L - R: Joyce Everett of West Virginia, Pat Kiefer, Edward Kiefer, Joseph Pietrafase and John Pietrafase. Above are a couple of pictures from the Hendler Club Lunch, held today, Friday, September 15th, at the 2017 State Session of Pennsylvania.
PENNSYLVANIA 156TH STATE SESSION
The 156th Annual State Session of the State Council of PA met on September 14th, 15th, and 16th, 2016 in Ligonier, Pa, in the Western District at the Historic Ramada Inn. It was the first time Pennsylvania had tried holding their State Session biennially instead of annually, the last State Session being held in 2014. It seemed all in attendance had dearly missed seeing their brothers and sisters from opposite ends of the state for two years and one of the proposals for amendment to the by-laws to revert back to annual state sessions was placed on the agenda and passed vigorously. The Pennsylvania State Session will once again be an annual affair. Registration was held on Wednesday afternoon on the 14th with a State Board meeting held at 4:00 p.m. to appoint replacements for any State Council officers unable to attend. One such replacement was sadly made necessary by the passing in June of our late Jr. Past State Councilor, Fred Franceschelli, who will forever truly be missed. The State Secretary, Rich Beppler, also informed the State Board that proposals to amend the by-laws from the 2014 session to combine the State offices of State Warden and State Conductor into one officer – a State Warden/Conductor, as well as the offices of State Inside Sentinel and State Outside Sentinel into one officer – State Sentinel; had been ruled unapproved by the National Law Committee because State officers must coincide with National officers. The necessary chairs were newly appointed and all other business was finalized to run a smooth session. The opening meeting was held at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday as all officers and visiting dignitaries were introduced. We were very happy to welcome our National Councilor, Dennis Everett, as the National Council representative, along with his lovely wife Joyce. After a social hour with snacks, the 68th Annual Hendler Club meeting took place at 10:01 p.m. The Hendler Club is a fun club which meets at every annual session and raises funds for charities through an auction held at a Hendler breakfast the last day of the session. Thursday morning after breakfast the State Councilor, John Pietrafase, called to order the First Business Session at 10:00 a.m. During the morning session the National Councilor, Dennis Everett, was asked to share and gave a very enlightening synopsis of the progress of the new and dramatically improved National website, stressing and explaining how Pennsylvania can now easily share with all other states in developing their own individual state blog page which is part of the National web site. After a break at noon for the Hendler luncheon, the members came back for the Second Business Session, until an adjournment of all business was called at 4:00 p.m. to prepare for the annual State Session banquet. The 156th Annual State Banquet began at 5:30 p.m. with a greet & meet of the State Board of Officers, who were all traditionally formally dressed in white dinner jacket and black tie, even the State Vice-Councilor, Maryann Beppler, who felt out of place in a white dinner jacket but actually looked quite attractive. A sit down dinner of a choice of chicken or beef was enjoyed by all and followed by an extremely appropriate patriotic musical skit portraying our nation’s history from revolutionary times till the present which was joined by those present in singing many old time favorites and much flag waving. Raffles were held at the end and the main 50-50 raffle was won by Joyce Everett, wife of National Councilor, Dennis Everett. Joyce made a generous donation to the Hendler Club charities of her entire winnings, and was almost immediately rewarded from the Grand Councilor in Heaven by also winning first place in the door prize drawing a few moments later. Friday morning everyone attended the traditional Hendler Club breakfast and charity auction where there was stiff bidding on a variety of member donated odds and ends which raised money enough to donate to two worthwhile charities. First was the Flight 93 National Memorial site in Shanksville, PA. The second charity was the Meredith Volunteer Hose Company in Childs, PA. in memory of our recently deceased Jr. Past State Councilor, Frederick Franceschelli, who was a past president and longtime member of the hose company. This was followed by the annual Memorial Service of State Council members who passed away since the last State Session. The memorial service was presided over by Fred Franceschelli’s widow, State Chaplain Gale Franceschelli, who bravely and emotionally honored her late husband as well as two other members, including the first woman State Councilor in Pa., Arjanna Frank. Then at 10:00 a.m. Friday morning, September 16th, after a meeting of the Past State Councilors, the Final Business Session was called to order. The final order of business was election and installation of officers, after which the 156th Pennsylvania State Session was convened till the following year to be held in Dunmore, Pa. The Officers for the State Council of Pennsylvania for the coming term are: State Councilor............................................. Maryann Beppler State Vice-Councilor.................................... Archie Parker State Secretary............................................. Rich Beppler State Treasurer............................................. Robert Buraczewski Jr. Past State Councilor............................... John Pietrafase State Warden................................................ Tim Wagner State Conductor........................................... Fred Wagner State Inside Sentinel.................................... Joseph Pietrafase State Outside Sentinel................................. Burson Beppler State Chaplain.............................................. Harry Laudenslager National Representative............................... Harry Laudenslager National Representative............................... John Pietrafase National Representative............................... Gale Franceschelli |
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