BRADENTON BEACH – Moose International Board of Directors Chairman Paul Curtis visited Anna Maria Island Moose Lodge #2188 Thursday afternoon and evening.
Accompanied by his wife Bonnie, Curtis stopped by the lodge as part of the couple’s tour of Florida Moose Lodges. The couple lives in Camas-Washougal, Washington and their March 3 visit was their first to Anna Maria Island.
During the visit, Curtis accepted a $5,000 donation from the AMI Moose Lodge and he presented Bradenton Beach Police Chief John Cosby with a box of Tommy Moose stuffed animals to share with youngsters. The couple joined local Moose officers and members for a ribeye steak and shrimp skewer dinner prepared by head chef Zack Machleit and his kitchen crew.
Curtis currently serves in the highest member-elected position within the Moose fraternity.
“As chairman of the board, we’re the goodwill ambassadors for this fraternity. This is a one-year commitment. During the course of our year, my wife and I spend our time traveling throughout the United States visiting different associations and lodges. We tell them how much we appreciate who they are and what they do, and we thank them for being great Moose members,” Curtis told The Sun.
“We visited four lodges in Florida. This is the last one on the list. This is really fantastic,” Curtis said of the AMI lodge located along the Gulf of Mexico shoreline.
“This lodge has the largest membership in the United States and Canada; and the Florida association is the biggest association we have in the Moose fraternity. There are somewhere around 121 Moose Lodges in Florida. I’m from Washington and we have 23 lodges,” Curtis said.
Bonnie Curtis is a Women of the Moose member and last year she received her senior regent’s honor. In that role, she leads meetings and helps organize lodge events, dinners, memorial services and more back in Washington.
“We won the award of achievement for our state. We help take care of the sick and disabled. We take them to doctor’s appointments and things like that. We’re a big family,” she said.
When asked about their first visit to the lodge and the Island, she said, “I love this lodge. The people are great and they’re so much fun.”
Lodge administrator Byron Dalton said, “It’s an honor to have a man of Paul’s stature at our lodge and for Paul and Bonnie to join us for dinner. It’s great that our members get to meet one of the guys in charge of the fraternity. It’s like a fireside chat for our members and they realize the people at the top of the organization do care about the membership.”
Mooseheart Child City
Curtis received from the AMI Moose Lodge a $5,000 check made out to Moose Charities in his honor. The money will be used for the new Mooseheart Activity Center (MAC) being built in Mooseheart, Illinois.
Having its own zip code, Mooseheart Child City is a residential childcare facility located on a 1,000-plus-acre campus about 40 miles west of Chicago. Dedicated in 1913, Mooseheart provides housing and care for infants through high-schoolers whose families are unable to care for them.
Regarding the activity center, Curtis said, “It’s the athletic center for the kids on the Mooseheart campus, especially the high school kids. We’re going to tear down the old athletic center and we’ve already started building the new one. It’s going to have bowling alleys, game rooms, workout rooms, a weight center and other stuff kids want to do. On behalf of our kids on the Mooseheart campus and others, we thank this Moose Lodge from the bottom or our hearts. We’re very appreciative.
“We’re also grateful for the 1.2 million Moose members we have throughout the United States and Canada. Without their membership, support and financial donations, we wouldn’t be able to do what we do for our kids on the Mooseheart campus and our seniors on the Moosehaven campus,” he added.
Moosehaven is a private membership retirement community in Orange Park, just outside of Jacksonville.
Tommy Moose to the rescue
During Thursday’s visit, Curtis and lodge President Steve Boniberger presented Police Chief Cosby with a box of Tommy Moose plush toys.
“These stuffed animals are presented to first responders throughout the United States and Canada. In the performance of their duty, they run into situations where they have to separate the children from the parents. These Tommy Moose stuffed animals don’t solve the problem, but it helps relieve some of the trauma and tension the child may be going through,” Curtis told the members.
“The Tommy Moose program was started about 18 years ago by the supreme governor at that time, Tommy Hatcher, so it’s been known as Tommy Moose ever since. We’re very proud to present these to our first responders everywhere. From coast to coast, Moose members everywhere respect you, admire you, stand by you and will always have your back.”
Cosby told The Sun his officers give the stuffed animals to children whose parents are involved in traffic accidents and other police interactions.
“It’s something nice to give to the kids and it provides them a little comfort,” Cosby said.
Friday morning, the Curtis’ headed to Fort Myers before traveling to Jacksonville for the annual Moose Charities and Moosehaven board meetings.
