The Potentate’s Message
Another great couple of months have passed. In addition to attending many Club & Unit meetings and lodge meetings, Lady Barb and I attended the Kena Shrine Pote’s Ball in Manassas, VA, the Ladies 3G Bingo & the Pote’s Trip to Dollywood.
The Dollywood trip was quite special. A busload of Shriners and friends toured the Virginia and Tennessee countryside… just beautiful scenery everywhere! Fraternity & Fun were definitely the theme. Please consider joining us on our trip to the North Pole (July) or Salem (October). We have added whiskey glasses to our Pote’s Prize drawings. If you are lucky when attending a meeting or event, you may very well leave with one of these special keepsakes. A special thanks goes to the Ladies for creating a kids’ play area at the Shrine in the back corner of the social hall.
The Ladies 3G Bingo was another successful event, raising much needed funds for the sign project. As always, the Ladies did a wonderful job! We were amazed at how many new people were at our shrine. According to one Past Potentate, a substantial number of attendees were not Shriners. We see this as yet another opportunity to get the public involved & perhaps make new members. Many attendees said they purchased tickets because they saw the banner along Route 73. Now, imagine what we can do with a real sign that can be programmed and changes to advertise public events. With proceeds from the Casino night, the Ladies 3G Bingo, the Chanters, and Noble Riders, we are well on track in fund raising for the project. But additional contributions are needed to reach our goal. Having pitched the sign project to the Board in January, it was time to get support from the membership. At the April stated meeting the membership voted overwhelmingly to proceed with the sign project. Thank you all. This is what I call teamwork!
In terms of membership, we welcomed 5 new Shriners at the last stated meeting. Please remember that we have a standing offer to conduct a mini ceremonial at any lodge that submits 6 petitions & a joint initiative with the Tall Cedars at the Degree in the Woods on Saturday, July 8th. At this event, we will conduct a mini ceremonial for Shrine and initiate new Tall Cedars on the same day. If you are interested, please contact me at snowboy@ptd.net as soon as possible. Our team is committed to making Rajah Shrine the best it can be and help promote and increase membership so we can continue supporting our hospitals for the next 100 years.
The Pote’s Golf Outing, the Pote’s Ball, Shrine Night at the Reading Phillies, the Pote’s Picnic & MASA are all fast approaching. We hope to see you at one or more of these very special upcoming events. We hope you agree that Shriner’s ARE the Bare Necessities!
Fraternally Yours,
Duane A. Dellecker