Monday October 18, 2010

I know that it has been almost a week since my last blog. I took a little time away from the Shrine to travel to Los Angeles and attend my cousin's wedding over the weekend. Carrie did not travel with me, but she did go to the Oktoberfest party and stated what a great time she had, and all the people. Once again it is proven that affordable, casual social functions will bring our membership together, and only strengthen our bonds. It puts a smile most of the faces of the Board to see this occurr.

It was not a totally shrine-free weekend. I did get a tour of the Al Malikah Shriner Auditorium in downtown Los Angeles, This is the famous auditorium that used to host the Academy Awards. It seats over 6000 people and is beautiful. The temple also a has an entire floor dedicated to a historical museum, that is partitioned into about 15 time periods, exhibiting incredible memorable, uniforms and other prized possessions.

I also had the honor of having breakfast on Sunday morning with 7 members of the Awesome "A" Shrine Club of Al Malikah. This club is the largest club of the Los Angeles area and is comprised of Nobles of middle eastern background. The Illustrious Potentate from Minneapolis, MN, who I met during our travels is also of middle eastern heritage, and told them about my heritage. They contacted me about a month ago and we were able to set up a little get together. It was a very nice gathering, and I had some incredible discussion about Masonry, Shriners and all things fraternal. It is is great to see the fraternity thriving in other areas.

I finally got home about 1:30 A.M. this morning, slept a little and am going over to the Shrine Center this afternoon to hop on the Shrine Coach and attend the Annual Branch County Amish Dinner in Coldwater, MI (perhaps I will get some rest on the coach).

This week is another travel week. I am attending the annual convention of SCAFRA (the Shrine Circus and Fundraising Association). Many Noble have asked what I am planning on doing in the future. I think that some of my talents may lie in the fundraising portion of the fraternity, in order to increase revenues and publicity within the public and decreasing the financial burden on our membership. I hope that I will find some ways to improve our fundraising at this conference.

If you do not hear from me, do not fear, I will be living it up in beautiful, upper 50's and partially sunny Fargo, North Dakota.

MJD