Upon first glance, the sign outside the Slatington Moose Lodge paints a rather bleak picture.

The sign, which reads, “Closed. Thank you Gov. Wolf,” was put up after the lodge was forced to shut down, according to George Kern, junior governor.

“We weren’t serving food; he made it that any kind of barroom must serve food,” Kern said. “We were opened for three days and then the governor came up with a new policy and that shut us down because we were not making food at the time.”

Since being shut down, Kern said the group has remodeled the interior of the building.

“That’s the only possible thing we could do during the shutdown,” he said. “We wanted to make the place look presentable; the inside looks beautiful now.”

While times have been lean, the Lodge doesn’t have any intentions of staying down for long, Kern said.

“We are in the process of remodeling everything in the barroom and the back room, and we are also gearing up to make food,” he said. “We have cooks, and we’ll be able to serve food to our patrons, probably within the next two weeks.”

Kern said the lodge serves people and has a big donation list that consists of fire companies, library, and so forth.

Additionally, he said they have programs like Youth Awareness, where they take kids from school and teach them how to stop, drop and roll during a fire, and how to be safe on the computer.

Kern said the whole Moose organization has a school near Chicago, and also has a senior home in Florida, adding that it funds them both.

“If one of our members or anybody has a child in need or needs help, they come to us, there’s a possibility they can come to be accepted into the school,” he said. “Any of our elderly members is eligible for our rest home in Florida.

Kern said the Slatington Moose Lodge has been in existence since the early 1930s.

“We do have a little bit of money left, but we’re going to try to hold on as long as we can,” he said. “We’re still there, and we’re planning on reopening.”

Kern said the lodge currently has over 300 members, with 210 men and 110 women.

“Anybody that wants to become a member, we’re accepting members all the time,” he said. “Men and women.”

Call 610-767-9960 for information.