What is a Shrine Club?

To begin, Moslem Shriners comprise a territorial jursidiction of 11 counties. If you roughly take a pen and begin at the Blue Water Bridge in Port Huron and draw a somwhat diaganol line Southwest to the western edge of Branch County (i.e. Coldwater) and the border of Indiana, everything to the East is our area. As you can imagine, having our main Shrine Center in Southfield does provide somewhat a central area, however to encourage increased support from around the realm, we have established geographic Shrine Clubs all around the area.

Anywhere from Blue Water Shrine Club in Port Huron, to Downriver Shrine Club in Trenton, North Oakland Shrine Club in White Lake, to Jackson Shrine Club and Branch County Shrine Club, among others.

These clubs usually gather monthly with some type of activity, involving their ladies, to increase the groups bonds. Several holiday party throughout the year also take place. But more importantly, these clubs serve as the extenstion of the entire Shrine in their respective communities. By reaching out to the civic groups, chamber of commerce, local schools and other services, and participating in their events, the message of the Shriners are presented to those that may be unaware of our missions.

The Shrine Clubs serve a vital role in our Child Care program, whereby they raise monies for the Shriners Hospitals for Children, through many efforts such as setting up donation tables at local business during our Hospital Fund Drive, to participating in local sport events with civic organizations. The Shrine Clubs serve an important role in sponsoring new children to be cared for by our hospitals, by hosting Outreach Clinics, whereby a Shrine-affiliated physician donates his/her time to examine children to see whether they have a condition that our hospitals can treate.

In general, the annual dues to these Shrine Clubs are the least expensive from any other group you may belong, and allow you to not drive far to still participate.

Of course, there exists multiple other Shrine Clubs that are not geographic extenstions, but rather for more specific social interactions. The Shrine Golf League, which plays on the East side in Sterling Heights, consists of over 40 members. The Shrine Yacht Club, is a member of the Anchor Bay Yacht Club Association of over 50 yacht clubs with reciprocal priviledges. The Roll-N-Relix is a club for anyone owning a classic car. They will get together at various car shows, or just enjoy a night out on the town in fellowship and fun.

Some of the Shrine Clubs will also have their own special parade themes. Two of the clubs (North Oakland and Taylor) drive mini-Model-T's (referred to as Tin Lizzies), while Jackson SC has a group of members driving mini-motor bikes in local parades.

There are Shrine Clubs all over and every member should be able to find one near his home.

Hope this information provides you with some new information, which of course, any mistakes/ommissions are obviously my fault and in no way reflects the opinion of the Shrine.

Thanks for taking this opportunity to travel with me.