Moose to celebrate anniversary

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MOUNT MORRIS – The Mount Morris Moose will be celebrating a major milestone on March 24, as they look forward to their 70th year of being a Moose organization.

The publication “Mt Morris Past and Present” mentions that one of the prominent elements in the make-up of man is his desire for association with his fellow creatures.

Through the years, many organizations formed in Mount Morris with The Samuel H Davis Lodge “Masons,” organized in town some time before 1850, they were chartered in 1851. The next group to organize was the Knights of the Globe which started with a membership of 15 in 1891. These were followed by Eastern Star, Odd Fellows, Rebekahs and the Loyal Order of Moose.

The Mount Morris Moose began in 1948. The lodge started with a group of 85 that increased to 175. Then the lodge suffered a loss of more than half its membership. Throughout the years though, the Mount Morris Moose continues to strive with their sights on celebrating life together, serving those in need within the local community, supporting children at Mooseheart and standing by the senior members at Moosehaven. The organization’s motto is: “A burden heavy to one is borne lightly by many.”

The Mount Morris Moose is inviting young and old, current members and past to come and celebrate and by doing that the doors will open to the community to enjoy a catered meal provided by Lyle Beck from Polo. Beer Can Chicken will be the main entre’ so if you have never had this, you need to. The meal will cost $10 and your RSVP must be made for the dinner by March 16 by either calling the Lodge at 815-734-4161 or emailing the lodge at lodge1551@mooseunits.org.

The entertainment for the event will be Lyle Grobe and the Rhythm Ramblers. This band is very popular during the Mt Morris Friday Night concerts and has been performing since the 1950s when it was only a three piece band with Lyle and two brothers from Dixon, Dick and Harry Hackbarth. People in the community may remember the local hot spot in Dixon called the Skyline which Lyle owned. Since then the group, which practices weekly in Lyle’s garage in Polo, have played many venues in Ogle and Lee counties. Lyle’s band now includes Lyle of course, Marvin Kunde on bass guitar, Dennis Milby on drums, Bob Frederick on steel guitar and Jim Miller on keyboards. Their female singer is Lisa Grobe, and they are always showcasing other singers during their performances. This band plays a wide variety of classical country music and love line dancers.

The event will start at 4 p.m. on the 24th of March with the meal at 5:30 pm. Entertainment will start at 7 p.m. This is the time to come out and support an organization that has helped the community in so many ways and continues to do their best in helping Mooseheart children and Moosehaven seniors.