OVERTURE Off on a Fast Beat With Eight Workshops Scheduled

The downbeat for the Grand Lodge OVERTURE training for membership development and retention has occurred and the program is off on a fast beat. District Membership Chairmen statewide completed OVERTURE leadership sessions during January. The OVERTURE workshops for Junior and Senior Wardens and a membership-oriented lodge leader will be held in eight locations across the state between Feb. 28 and May 2.

G. Kent Hackney, Deputy Chief of Staff and the Director of the OVERTURE Program, listed the following schedule for the eight workshops:

February 28
Philadelphia for Districts A, B, C, D, E, 5, 6, 36, and 40

March 7
State College for Districts 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 33, 34, 41, 46, and 52

March 14
Oil City for Districts 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 33, 39, 52,53, and 56

March 21
Bethlehem for Districts 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 40, 45, 50, 58 and 60

April 4
Wilkes-Barre for Districts 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 35, 45, 46, 50, 58, and 59

April 18
Harrisburg for Districts 1, 2, 3, 19, 34, 42, and 60

April 25
Pittsburgh for Districts 29, 30, 31, 38, 39, 47, 49, 54, 55, and 57

May 2
Pittsburgh for Districts 26, 27, 29, 30, 31, 37, 38, 39, 41, 47, 54, and 55

OVERTURE It is a two-part program for every lodge. First, there will be these eight high-impact workshops for the leaders of every lodge stressing the importance of their leadership in building their membership development and retention programs. A second series of workshops will begin in the fall and end next January to develop practical skills of lodge management. There will be a strong emphasis on preparing for the 21st Century. Then there will be a second round of advanced training in both of the series through 1999.

There will be no cost to the lodges. Every lodge that has at least two of the same Brothers attend the sessions of both series will receive a $500 grant from Grand Lodge. That money can be used by the lodge, or it can be donated to a community charity of the lodge's choice.