ST. LOUIS, Mo. – Westfield Lodge 118 was recently honored at the Moose International Convention in St. Louis by receiving the Premier Lodge Award as well as the Heart of the Community Award.

The awards are earned by lodges that meet a number of criteria including timely reporting, receiving four Superior Community Service Awards, meeting financial goals, charitable contributions and an increase in membership. Westfield Lodge ranked first in New York state for the second consecutive year.

Gov. Richard Clawson also received the Governor’s Award of Excellence for the second consecutive year. Clawson also received the Fellowship Degree of Honor, the third degree of the Loyal Order of Moose, conferred by the Supreme Lodge on Moose members in recognition for their outstanding service to their Lodge and the fraternity. He was further honored by being appointed as Deputy Supreme Governor for the 2016-17 year.

The Loyal Order of Moose is a fraternal and service organization founded in 1888, with nearly 700,000 men in roughly 2,000 lodges, in all 50 U.S. states and four Canadian provinces as well as Bermuda; along with its female auxiliary, Women of the Moose, with more than 400,000 members in roughly 1,600 chapters in the same areas and the Loyal Order of Moose in Britain. These organizations make up the Moose International. It is headquartered in Mooseheart, Ill.

Moose International supports the operation of Mooseheart Child City & School, a 1,023-acre community for children and teens in need, located 40 miles west of Chicago; and Moosehaven, a 63-acre retirement community for its members near Jacksonville, Florida. Also, Moose lodges and chapters conduct approximately $75 million worth of community service, counting monetary donations and volunteer hours worked, annually.

Additionally, the Moose organization conducts numerous sports and recreational programs, in local lodge/chapter facilities called either Moose family centers, or activity centers, in the majority of 44 state and provincial associations and on a fraternitywide basis.