Santa Monica, CA — On March 5th, 2005 a double homicide left two men dead on the dining-hall floor in Moose Lodge #702, Santa Monica Chapter at 1600 Ocean Park Blvd. The murders sent a shockwave through the community and in the following months membership at Lodge #702 dropped from a commendable 1,700 down to 65.
Any moose from any lodge can tell you that you can’t run a successful, charitable lodge with only 65 members.
The Loyal Order of Moose (LOOM) and the Women of the Moose are two separate fraternal family organizations that share a roof to work toward a common goal: Community, charity and good times. LOOM generally attracts more members; it’s the men’s branch. The Women of the Moose generally have less membership but elicit more participation than their men counterparts.
There are roughly 2,000 lodges in the US and Canada with more than 1,400,000 members.
At 6pm on the evening of October 23rd, Lodge #702 was abustle with moose. The walls were draped with sparkling holiday lights and a green and red banner across the wall read: Merry Christmas!
One my postulate whether a lazy group of moose neglected to remove last year’s Christmas decorations? But that’s not the case. The Lodge’s Moose King, a handsome older gentleman named Richard with a swinging silver moustache, put the decorations up by himself on Wednesday night.
It’s Christmas in October, the Lodge’s biggest event of the year hosted by the Women of the Moose.
Around the same time as the murders, a scandal arose involving the incumbent Administrator and a personal loan financed with lodge property. The board refers to it as “mismanagement”. The board of directors fell to shambles and Moose International threatened to revoke their charter if the lodge could not fill the necessary positions.
It was then, in the most brittle moment in the organization’s history, that Melvin Syposs stepped up to become Administrator. “A thankless position,” he admits.
Syposs arrives at the lodge in the afternoon after long days working for Southern California Gas as a Field Manager. He takes inventory at the bar; he manages the community service helpers; he pays the bills; he’s got an office filled with files, calculators and a wall calendar that nobody would want as their own.
Not to mention his family. He’s got one of those, too.
Syposs has seen them come and go. Governors, regents, chaplains, recorders—nobody stays. It’s too much work and the feeble membership hurts everyone’s spirits.
But there’s a wind of change at the Santa Monica Moose Lodge. You can smell it in the air on Saturday night; it smells like the four roast turkeys and four honey hams that Governor Tony Delia is pulling out of the oven. Delia dons a broad smile, an honest laugh and a carving knife as he prepares the main coarse for more than 50 members.
Photo:Delia pulls out the holiday birds
Technically, he’s not governor yet, he’s still Acting Governor. He was sworn in last month after the previous governor took a new job that didn’t allow enough time for the lodge. Tony, like many of the board members at the lodge, is a lifelong resident of Santa Monica and a new member of The Moose. He’d only been a member for a year when he became governor. But everyone is excited about his presence, especially the Women of the Moose because they have somebody whose willing to cook the birds for their Christmas in October. Tony’s work in the kitchen is reminiscent of the President throwing the first pitch at a ball game. It may be publicity, but it’s part of inauguration. He’s a man of the people and Christmas in October is his first real event as governor.
DJ Ron Miller spins Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer in the dining hall while the Tito Ortiz fight airs on the big screen in the bar, or The Club, or The Social Quarters—it depends on who you ask. The cue ball cracks the #1 ball for a strong break on the corner pool table and the bartender, a young moose named Ashley, serves up a cranberry, rum and orange juice cocktail. Brittle old women with poodle hair and glistening white suits with red bowties encircle their tables, picking just the right spot for the feast. The entire hall is warm with holiday scents when the music falls to a whisper as Gabrielle Bourget takes the stage.
The crowd seems unaccustomed to being formally addressed. At first, they ignore her. But Gabrielle moves the microphone closer to her mouth, the volume doubles and she gets their attention. “Welcome everybody to the Moose Lodge’s Christmas in October!”
Gabrielle is a charismatic single mother who joined the Women of the Moose last year when she was first invited for a high school reunion. Many of her old classmates were moose, and since she’d been a born and raised in Santa Monica and enjoys giving back to the community, she joined. Less than six months later Rebecca Rojas—2-year veteran Senior Regent—stepped down from her chair in May and left a dangerous vacancy on the board of the Women of the Moose. Senior Regent is the most demanding position—equivalent to Governor of LOOM—on the board and if they didn’t get it filled, Moose International would step in and remove the charter. Rojas took the position two years earlier when she saw how badly the lodge was struggling. She commuted all the way to Santa Monica from Torrance to run the lodge, even though Torrance has its own Moose lodge.
Photo: Bourget delivers a celebratory speech
But Rojas burnt out and rookie moose Gabrielle Bourget stepped in, guns ablaze.
Bouget begins by giving thanks. She thanks “Her Girls”; she thanks the Governor, Tony and his wife, Jerry for helping in the kitchen; she thanks Debbie, Tillie and Melvin; she thanks the bartenders Ashley and Dennis; she thanks the women’s board, Rebecca, Carol, Merrium and Roxie; and finally she thanks Brenda, whose been an active moose in Santa Monica for 64 years.
“I’m 89 next month!” Brenda announces to the applauding crowd.
“Everybody Enjoy!” Bourget concludes.
The moose begin their feast.
The Women of the Moose go on to do a choreographed Electric Slide on the dancefloor. The lights dim, desert is served and the bartenders keep the cocktails coming. The old and young mingle enthusiastically while the big band holiday tunes loosen them up.
Photo: The Women of the Moose (WOTM)
Membership rose from 65 up to 300 in the recent years. Governor Tony Delia promises a bright future of remodeling, redecorating, increased membership and funds leftover to support the two Moose International charitable organizations: Mooseheart and Moosehaven.
Mooseheart Child City and School is a 1000-acre town in Illinios that helps children and teens in need. Moosehaven is a 65-acre retirement community in Florida established to help moose with poorly planned retirements. Both are entirely supported by lodge fundraising.
Christmas in October sold out this year. Plates sold for $12.00 a piece and the only thing left at the end of the night was a few squares of cornbread.
The lodge has one week to take down their Christmas decorations and put up the Halloween decorations for the upcoming Halloween Fundraiser Dance scheduled to take place on Saturday, October 30th. Then, after Halloween, the task will fall on Richard, the Moose King, to come back in with his box of Christmas décor and get back to work.
Photo: Old-school gossip
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