Message from the Grand Madam President

Pat Durham, the 2008-2009 Grand Madam President, joined the Olympia Auxiliary in 1975. She has served a number of offices on the local, state, regional and international level including Grand Madam Chaplain, Grand Madam Trustee, Washington State Charity Chairman and Membership Chairman, Washington State Zone President, among others. Pat’s other Eagle interests include Ritual Team and Protocol Committee.

The Hutch School at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center

As I continue my year as Grand Madam President, I plan to write this letter each month by focusing on a single word and providing my thoughts about how the word applies to our organization. To launch this series, the first word is Progress, which means moving forward.

Progress is especially important for our Order to ensure our future success. I ran across a quote I feel is especially appropriate. “Keeping things the same as they’ve always been is the kind of Progress many people like to see.”

This quote relates to comfort. We all get so comfortable and familiar with certain aspects of our lives and our organization that we are reluctant to make changes, to move forward and Progress.

As we review the past few years, I think you will agree that our Progress has been limited. We have been content with the status quo and have not done much to Progress.

I encourage you to banish this mentality from our auxiliaries and to think of ways we can Progress and become as much of a household word as organizations such as the Elks and Moose. We need to make our auxiliaries places where people will want to come and invest their time. We want to create an atmosphere of harmony and cooperation where we can Progress toward our goals together.

Like many organizations, we have some strong personalities in our organization, which sometimes results in petty bickering. This bickering can block our Progress; it can cause hard feelings and drive people away from our organization.

As we move forward, I ask you to push all bickering aside and vow to work together for the good of our organization and those we serve. If you look back through history, you will see that all Progress resulted from individuals who were not satisfied to let well enough alone. They pledged to move forward and improve their situation.

Because of the great leadership we have in place at all levels, the Fraternal Order of Eagles is moving forward with programs such as our membership campaign for law enforcement and firefighters, our government relations and lobbying efforts, Operation Eagle and our local and national charities. But we can Progress even further and faster by pooling our talents and fostering a spirit of cooperation.

I challenge you to make Progress a priority during the coming year. This will require a commitment to leave your comfort zone and to listen to and adopt others’ suggestions and ideas. The Progress your auxiliary achieves can be tremendous and rewarding!

Yours in sisterhood,
Pat Durham

Grand Madam President Charity T-Shirts

To order a t-shirt benefiting Grand Madam President Pat Durham’s charity, with all money raised benefiting the Hutch School, send order, quantity, and check or money order to:

Make the check out to: Karen L. Hildebrand

Please including your

• Name
• Address
• Zip
• Phone number
• Email Address - you will be sent a confirmation when the shirt has been mailed.
• Size
• Quantity of shirts requested
• Total dollar amount

Size S, L, XL = $11 each SM=36", L= 42", XL=46" Shirt is denim blue poly/cotton blend with white emblem.

If your order can not be filled, you will be called and informed of this problem and your check or money order will be returned by mail to you.