Verhovayak Lapja, 1944 (27. évfolyam, 1-52. szám)
1944 / Verhovay Journal
Page 8 Verhovay Journal November 29, 1944 CALLING THE ANNUAL MEETING Annual meetings and elections are the order of the day in the branches of the Verhovay Fraternal Insurance Association. Daily an increasing number of branch-managers and presidents issue the call for the annual meeting^ with more or less hope that the call will be heeded by the membership. Complaints are numerous on part of the branch-officers that the members show no inclination to attend the meetings. In some branches the officers succeed by much coaxing and imploring in having but a mere handful of electors present. In some others only the officers appear: the president, the manager and the comptroller. (Really, the sickvisitors at least should attend such meetings, if for no other reason, just to sympathize with the officers who are sickened by the indifference of the membership.) Obviously, they have difficulties in conducting the election. They can’t do anything but elect themselves, and credit should be given to them for not forsaking the bridge in disgust. However, there are numerous branches that show no sign of indifference. Members attend the meetings in great numbers because they are interested in the matters pertaining to the branch and they want assurance that the activities of the branch are conducted by able men and women. A great deal of campaigning is going on in these branches. The present officers are criticized, more or less vehemently, by candidates who premise more efficient service. And as campaigns go, they are ;not always dignified and in many instances lack the fraternal spirit, too. That, however, shouldn’t worry anyone. Where there is a campaign, there is life, and life is what we desire to see in every branch. A brancb-memfcfrship that is willing to participate in a campaign of this kind, is also willing to participate in otheractivities for it is an interested membership. Too much dignity deadens the soul and a little quarrel has never hurt the brotherly relationship of fraternaists... After all, there is no family on earth that leads the tedious existence of permanent peace, and if brothers and sisters in a family can endulge in a little quarrel on occasion without endangering the relationship that binds them together, then we should net expect the members of a fraternal order to live in the uninterrupted bliss of mutual admiration. Obviously, fraternalism, and the branch life on which it depends, is not dead, for the numerous branches in which election campaigns are conducted, prove that interest is still alive in the hearts and minds of the membership. So let us turn our attention first to those branches where interest is either dead or in the process of dying. Is it possible to get members to attend the meeting? You may shake your head as much as you like, Mr. President and Mr. Manager, we insist that it is possible. It all depends on how ycu .approach the membership of your branch. If the members will not attend the meeting in order to hear the annual report and to participate in the elections, other subject matter should be presented to them that appeals to them. And before or after discussing the matter that appeals to them, ycu can also make your annual report and conduct the elections. Of course, don’t expect a '‘big crowd if you merely announce that “other important matters” are to be discussed '“also”. The members have been fooled tco many times on that count. Once or twice in the past they did believe that really important matters are going to be brought up, and came only to be disappointed upon learning that the “other important matters” have disintegrated by the time the meeting was called to order, and they were expected to get excited over the routine affairs of the branch. Let us once and for all face the fact that a great number of members are simply not interested in matters that seem important to the officers of the branch and no persuasion will make them change their views. Think of a subject that appeals to your particular group of members and announce it together with the annual meeting and the election of the officers. The question is: what subject may appeal to an indifferent membership? Causes that revive branches. Verhovayans went all out supporting the war effort of our nation on the Home Front. The Red Cross, the United War Fund and similar causes set wheels into motion that have been become rusty through many years of inactivity. Soldiers’ fathers, mothers and wives wanted to know what they could do to support their fighting ones, and when the Verhovay Branch gave them an opportunity, they gladly accepted the leadership of the officers and took active part in all the activities conducted by the branch in the support of the war effort, and thus, unconsciously, became interested in the activities of the branch and the Association too, and before they realized what happened, they became active fraternalists. Scores of 6ur branches came to new life by organizing local War Bond Committees. The members may not have been interested in monthly reports and in elections but they certainly were interested in their soldiers and in the war eifert. And when such activities became part of the branch program, they accepted the routine branch activities for the sake of the Cause to which the branch dedicated its services. Now another challenge came up, a new cause, which faces our own particular group, the American citizens of Hungarian origin. 98% of American citizens of Hungarian descent cannot help but be interested in the EMERGENCY RELIEF MOVEMENT OF THE PEOPLE OF HUNGARY. Of course, the readers of our Journal are mostly second generation descendants of Hungarian immigrants, but they are bound to be interested in, and sympathetic with the fate of the brothers, sisters and relatives of their fathers and mothers. Even though the readers of the Journal may never have met them, they still are our relatives who suffer the tortures of hell through the occupation by the Nazis and the war which turned Hungary into a battlefield on which the guns and planes of both, the Nazis and the Allies, bomb their homes and destroy their properties if h not their lives. We reported on the first page of the last issue of the Journal that American Hungarian organizations had united for the setting up of a Hungarian Emergency Relief Committee which will handle all the funds contributed by Americans and American citizens of Hungarian origin. The relief itself, however, will not come from the Committee but from the membership of all the participating bodies. The annual meeting will offer a perfect opportunity for the organizing of local Relief Committees. Members who had never shown any interest in the affairs of the branch, will attend the meeting which is called for the purpose to aid the afflicted people of Hungary because this Cause will appeal to them. We have proof that several branches, where for years it was impossible to hold a decent meeting or to organize any social affair, succeeded in arousing the interest of HUNDREDS of members by the presentation of this cause; and by organizing a local committee the branch suddenly developed a new life. We may say, that by extending a helping hand towards the sorely tried Hungarian nation, we also help ourselves, for the cause will enliven the membership of the branch and arouse new interest in its activities. The next great cause will be that of the adjustment of our returning soldiers to civilian life. This is as much a fraternal problem as a social one. The Association has 6,000 members serving in the armed forces. To assist them when they start out again in civilian life... to create a pleasant and encouraging social atmosphere around them... to help them melt into the life of the community, will be a task that will keep a branch occupied with serious and well rewarded work for years to come. And that again is a cause which will appeal to every member of the branch ... for there are none who have no loved ones serving in the armed forces, and naturally, fraternal activities aimed at their readjustment will be welcomed by them, and they will learn a new understanding of the value of fratérnalism from what the branch intends to do for their heroes. A branch the activities of which are exhausted by the conducting of the insurance business, cannot interest the majority of the members and cannot appeal to their hearts. Do something for the members or their loved ones, and you will have immediate response and, as a result, crowded meetings and an active branch! Why elect officers? Once you succeeded in getting a large number of ycur members to attend the meeting, use the opportunity to educate them as to the value and necessity of elections. There are many members who feel that the Home Office should appoint someone to conduct the business of the branch and be done with it, since the Home Office knows better what the qualifications for office are. But are we not Americans who ave been brought up in the habit of electing our own leaders? Is it not the greatest of all American traditions that the people are the highest authority? The Home Office is not the ruler hut the servant of the membership. The “government of the people, by the people, for the people” is not a meaningless phrase when applied to the organization. And it is only right that the branch-members should elect their leaders, because the Home Office may know what the qualifications for office are, but the branch-members know better who the man and the woman is who has those qualities. Just think of it! The officers of a small branch, consisting of a mere 100 members, are entrusted with the handling of an insurance estate that amounts to 100,000 dollars or more. Is there anyone who would not be concerned about who handles, and how, that great fortune in which he too has a stake? At the same time, the officers deal not only with money but are the leaders of the branch in its social activities ... they represent the members before other organizations and in the community. Is there anyone who doesn’t care by whom he will'be represented, and how, before others? How about explaining these things at the meeting, before proceeding with the election and help make the members conscious of the importance of these offices and their responsibility in filling them with the proper persons? Whom shall we elect? Obviously one who has shown an understanding of proper business-procedure as well as of the social aspects of fraternal life. One who can be entrusted with the handling of an insurance estate that in some branches amounts to a 100,000 dollars and in others exceeds a million. One who can be entrusted with the representation of the membership before other organizations as well as before various authorities. These are obvious statements. The real question is: how can we induce the proper person to accept the office to which he is to be elected? For, in many instances, it is the unqualified member who runs for office, and the qualified member who refuses to accept an assignment. Well, let us face tíie issue honestly. Why is it so difficult to persuade qualified members to accept a branch-office? There is a reason for their reluctance, and the reason has its roots in some not-so-admirable traits of our national character. Hungarians, and people of Hungarian descent, display an attitude towards their leaders which, with few exceptions, is characteristic of Hungarians. They criticize too much and they appreciate too little. You should see them sometimes taking a breath for a tenminutes’ enraged speech, when they start criticizing! But no other nationality is more tightlipped when it comes to praising its leaders and recognizing their efforts. No nationality gives more grudgingly appreciation to real ability. In Hungarian social life, ability and ambition often act as a handicap .. . perhaps because Hungarians are a proud people who will seldom admit that someone lias grown above their own level. While this is not exactly a desirable characteristic, it tends to produce real leaders who come up in spite of this handicap. Nevertheless, we should learn from other nationalities what it means to appreciate our leaders. If we assume the right to criticize we should also accept the obligation to praise where praise is due. Furthermore, the officers of the branch should be given full cooperation by the members of the branch. Courtesy is demanded even in a grocery store where you pay for the goods you buy. And the officers receive no pay at all for their most valuable contributions to fraternal life, for their efforts exerted in the service of the members, the organization, the community, and the country. The membership should solemnly resolve and promise to the officers-to-be, that they will pay their dues to them and assist them in the fraternal efforts of the branch. Appreciation and cooperation assured, the best members, «the outstanding personalities of our branches will accept the office to which they are elected. A closing word to the branchofficers and candidates. In the same measure your branch and ycur Association grows, your reward and the honor pertaining to your office will grow also. If you accept the office and persistently fulfill its duties, then you will remain at the head of your branch at that future time, when it will be really worthwhile to be an officer in the Verhovay Fraternal Insurance Association. SMILES EXPLANATION JUDGE: Your statement doesn’t quite agree with that of the previous witness; WITNESS: That’s right. He’s a bigger liar than I am. IN THE STORE YOUNGMAN: I wish to buy an appropriate gift for a bride. Something timely and striking. SALESMAN: How about a clock? IN THE OFFICE BOSS: /I’m sorry to say that we’re losing one of our most valuable employees. CLERK: How come? BOSS: You’re fired. THE SUITOR ELIZ: What did father say when you told him you wanted to marry me? JOHN: He didn’t object, but he did impose one serious condition. ELIZ: What was that? JOHN: He said he’d see me hanged first. A young fellow had stayed with his girl too late in her home. He was hankering for his usual free midnight lunch, and she was getting tired, mostly of him. “How would you like a big piece of juicy apple pie topped off with a nice big gob of ice cream?” she kidded. “Ah,” he beamed, “I could go for it!” WAITER—You seem excited. Is something wrong? CUSTOMER—I dropped a piece of taffy. WAITER—But why bother over a piece of taffy? CUSTOMER—My false teeth are in it.
