William Penn Life, 2004 (39. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
2004-05-01 / 5. szám
"Let me state it firmly here: The William Penn Association remains fully committed to promoting, supporting and advancing the Hungarian traditions." Serving our members and our Hungarian heritage by Steve Varga, Chairman of the Board The Board of Directors held their first meeting of the year on April 5,6 and 7. On the April agenda were several important items, including a topic which has drawn criticism from some members over the past several months. The criticism has to do with the Board's decision last September to suspend the Hungarian Language Camp for 2004. As stated in a previous article, the motion approved by the Board was based on the lack of interest from our membership. The language camp requires a significant amount of financial and personnel resources, and the Board decided that time was needed to re-examine the idea of a camp. The language camp is scheduled to be discussed by the Board later this year. A rumor has been circulating around the Association that the William Penn has turned away from its Hungarian heritage. Let me state it firmly here: The William Penn Association remains fully committed to promoting, supporting and advancing the Hungarian traditions. But, we must remember that we are a fraternal organization and, as such, must remain inclusive of our members that are not Hungarian. I would like to put this rumor to rest and reassure our members that the Association will not forget its Hungarian roots. As a sign of our continued interest in furthering our Hungarian traditions, the Board was honored to welcome as a guest to its meeting Dr. August J. Molnár, president of the American Hungarian Foundation of New Brunswick, N.J. Dr. Molnár is a man of integrity that has dedicated his life to advancing Hungarian culture and traditions. Dr. Molnár spoke about the upcoming 50th Anniversary of the American Hungarian Foundation in 2005. Dr. Molnár requested help from the Association to ensure that the commemoration of the Foundation's golden anniversary will be a success. He also announced that the Foundation will be honoring Hungarian families that have deep generational Hungarian roots within their communities. These families will be honored by the Foundation for exceptional dedication to ensuring that traditions remain alive in their Hungarian community. Over the next several months, the Association will help in identifying those families and will forward their names onto the Foundation. Each April, the Board hears from the Association's actuary, Robert Bruce. Mr. Bruce indicated in this year's report that the Association remains in a strong financial condition to provide maximum protection to our members. While 2003 was less favorable than 2002, the Association's financial condition ran counter to general trends and was more favorable than the insurance industry's experience as a whole. Some highlights for 2003 included:- the Association's surplus increased to a new record high of $24.5 million;- assets increased by a record $16.8 million (the most significant statistic for 2003);- insurance in force reached a new high of $233,147,000, and- a record premium volume of $20,745,000 was received. The Association's solvency ratio stands at 117.54 percent, well above the average among fraternal benefit societies. Mr. Bruce congratulated the Association on another exceptionally fine financial and productive year. Also on April's agenda was a request for financial support for this year's International Children's Games, which will be held in Ohio. There are plans for a children's delegation from Hungary to attend, and financial support is needed to help defray housing costs. If you are interesting in helping, you may telephone the Home Office for additional information. In closing, I would like to congratulate the Board of Directors, the National Officers and our Home Office staff for another fine year. It is important for the membership to know that everyone associated with the WPA is dedicated to keeping the organization on solid financial ground. Our thanks go to National Vice President-Treasurer Diane Torma. Her hard work and dedication ensures that the members get the greatest value out of the Association's investments. Thanks, Diane. IffflJ Williu Pen Life, May 2004 3
