Trustees' Annual Report

Dear Sisters and Brothers,

As we draw to the end of our 2006-2007 year how pleased we are to share some of the wonderful strides we have made, not only in our Senior Living Community but also in our Professional Plaza and with the Board of Trustees as well.
The Board of Trustees began the year with a wonderful Strategic Planning seminar, which we were able to share with the Finance Committee and Grand Line, along with several other members interested in the advancement of, not only our Senior Living Community but also our Order. Many ideas came from that seminar which we are beginning to implement including our Town Hall Meetings, one held in June in the South and another held in August in the North. The membership was invited to come meet the Board of Trustees, ask questions and give ideas, as they felt comfortable. Due to some of the issues spoken about, the Board feels they have been better able to understand the concerns of the membership and are working on implementing some of the ideas shared during those events.

We had a very successful, one day Fiesta this year followed by a wonderful barbecue and entertainment in the evening. The Fiesta was aimed at not only serving our membership and raising money for our residents but also we hoped to bring in more of the community. We brought in an “In and Out” burger truck for lunch and expanded our Fun Zone, along with offering tours of our facility. We believe this was successful on both counts. The barbecue was fantastic thanks to the wonderful cooking abilities of our staff and you can’t ask for better entertainment than our Grand Organist, Don, and his friends.

In an attempt to surround our residents with Eastern Star activities as well as their other wonderful activities, we have arranged to transport them to the Yorba Linda Chapter meetings (many of our residents have become members there and at least one is an officer this year). We have also taken them to Official Visits and Grand Officer and Deputy Grand Matron Receptions during this passed year.

The Grand Line came in May and performed our beautiful Memorial Service for the residents and the staff that chose to attend. In June our Worthy Grand Patron did the Obligation with our residents during a very impressive ceremony given to us by Palo Alto Chapter.

We have also had many of the Youth groups come to the SLC to do their ceremonies and meetings for our residents.
In September we had a mixer with the Yorba Linda Chamber of Commerce, as we did with the Fiesta this year, we are attempting to get the name of Eastern Star into the community.

The Board of Trustees commends the wonderful staff we have at this time at our Senior Living Community. Under the direction of our Executive Director, Clair Meske, our managers have continued to uphold the high standards we have set for the care of our aging members but have also been able to find the ways to cut our budget by seeking new vendors for our Pharmacy and Dietary. Our ESPP is fully leased and well maintained. We have also been able to serve many of our members with our Outreach and Star Care programs and are working with the Masonic Homes in sharing many of the Outreach cases, along with finding other avenues of assistance such as VA assistance and others.
I thank the Board for their continued support of our facility and it’s staff and residents.

Fraternally,

Linda Bernhard, President