International Shriners Day!
Having just become a Shriner within the last few months, I’m proud to be celebrating my first Shrine Day. How does this work? Simple:
Nobles everywhere are to wear their red fez, a Shrine tee-shirt or a Shrine lapel pin-just to show their affiliation with the Shrine. If you’ve not seen a fez, take a look at that handsome devil in the pic…see that big thing on his head? No, not his nose! That red thing that looks like an inverted narrow bucket? That’s the traditional Shriner’s fez. Think wearing one of those to Wal-Mart may generate some awareness? If nothing else, it’ll definitely show some fashion sense!
Still, what is the Shrine? What do they do? What do they believe? Why do they wear funny hats?
Simply put, the Shrine is a Masonic fraternity body created to have fun with a purpose. The fun results from fraternization, parties, socials, parades, etc., and the purpose remains the same: to support the Shriners Hospitals of North America.
Shriners Hospitals are some of the best medical care one can get for burns and orthopedic issues that confront children. No patient at a Shriners Hospital is ever charged a single penny-this makes the Shrine Hospitals the greatest philanthropy in the world. With a daily operating budget in excess of $2 million, the fun we nobles have is only surpassed by the incredible help given to children in need of intense medical care.
Happy Shrine Day to my fellow nobles!
If you’d like to learn more about the Shrine and the philanthropic work we Shriners do, please view:
or my home Shrine’s web page at:
