Beechview's Gaetano Earns Excellence With Moose Lodge

               Being involved in the Beechview Moose was simply a family affair for Mark Gaetano. The lifelong Beechview resident had the Fraternal Order of Moose engrained by his late father Joseph. “He missed Sunday dinners because of the Moose,” said Gaetano with his trademark smile at the Beechview Lodge 609 at 1607 Broadway Avenue. “For my 21st birthday he bought me a membership to the club.”

               Gaetano was recently awarded with the “Governors Award of Excellence” and the entire lodge received the “Premier Lodge Award.” Both awards recently arrived in Beechview and adorn a wall near the bar.

               “There are a list of qualifications and [new District 12 President] Ron Babbie got his last year. He was an inspiration for me to go after it this year.” Babbie, of Hays Lodge 1436 received the award for the second straight year. All told, 34 Lodges received the award statewide. Four of the 10 District 12 lodges picked up the award.

Rarer still is the Governors’ Award. Only 15 Lodge Governors (three in the Pittsburgh area—Hays 1436 and Richard Noel, Sr. of Verona 250) received the award from across the Commonwealth. According to Gaetano, only 44 Governors received the award throughout the entire country. Pennsylvania, Florida and Ohio are among the most active states for Moose International.

“Our board of officers really worked hard,” said Gaetano. Local CPA Mario Frediani worked overtime to get some last-minute banking details sent to Mooseheart, Illinois, the home of Moose, Intl. “He’s old school. He took a day off to get it sent out.” The entire Moose organization is meticulous with his procedure for the awards.

Moose Lodges are not only Community outreach hubs for their home neighborhood, they provide endowment scholarship money to Mooseheart Child City and school near Chicago and Moosehaven, a retirement community near Jacksonville, Florida.

In Beechview, Lodge 609 is involved in a variety of activities. Most notably, a small group of Moose members and related Legionnaires—led by Gary Lindner—traverse Broadway Avenue and place American Flags on telephone poles several times a year, including Memorial Day, July 4, and Labor Day. The members then take the flags down after dusk.

In an era of theme bars and restaurants, as well as dwindling community involvement, Beechview Lodge 609 is bucking the trend. “We are growing in membership,” says Gaetano. “We’ve added 74 new members” over the past few years. The club has approximately 245 members.

Gaetano’s two one-year terms as Governor have concluded (Joseph Gaetano, who passed away in 2010 was Governor for at least 15 years, including the year Mark received membership. Internet records only date back to 1986). Fraternal laws prohibit running a third consecutive time in most cases. He’s changing over to a Treasurer’s hat this year. Current Governor Tony Imburgia (now in his third term overall) says Gaetano “did a commendable job. He brought membership up considerably. He brought retention up. He deserved that award. There’s no two ways about it.”

Gaetano worked his way up all of the officers’ chairs, including Prelate and Treasurer. He welcomes the return to watching the club’s books. It fits well with his day job as Fiscal Auditor in City Controller Michael Lamb’s department. Gaetano has worked in various city offices over 22 years and enjoys his current post. He has two daughters—Shaye is 17 and a student at CAPA, and Shawnee is 16 and attends Brashear.

As for the Lodge, “A lot of people see it as a ‘Members Only Club’ that no one understands,” he continues. “They don’t know the significance of where (the charity) goes.”

Beechview Lodge 609 is gearing up to take part in the Beechview Area Concerned Citizens “Big Flea” market on September 21 from 9:00 a.m. until 3:00 p.m. The Moose Lodge will serve hot sausage sandwiches to patrons. They are also looking at a number of activities, including promotions for Halloween and Christmas.

“The goal is to get more members, more participation,” he says. At one time the bar was in the basement of the brick building. There’s some consideration to move business back downstairs where capacity is larger, or relocate altogether. “We like to cater to the neighborhood. Things are changing around here and we want to keep up with the times.”

Then there’s 2014, when Beechview Lodge 609 turns 100. Plans to celebrate the occasion are underway.

Gaetano says he may return to the Presidency in the future. “I’ve got time,” he concludes. Joseph Gaetano would be proud.