Mocha February 2011.indd - Mocha Shriners

Recorder’s Corner
by Jeff Brown
Well hopefully everyone made it through
the Christmas Season safely and managed
to have a very festive holiday. It’s always
fun to get together with family and friends
and celebrate the Season while remembering
the “Reason for the Season” as well.
The weatherman knocked out our regular
meeting in December with snow and cold weather, so all our elections
and Installation ceremonies had to be conducted on January
7th 2011 at our Annual Meeting. It turned out to be a very busy
evening and because of the combined activities, our ladies and
guests had to leave the room after dinner for the election process
then re-enter once that was completed to enjoy the open Installation
ceremonies conducted by Illustrious Sir Gail MacKay P.P. (2008).
Congratulations to Illustrious Sir Jack Cumming on his elevation to
Potentate for Mocha Shriners for 2011 and his Lady Helen. Illustrious
Sir Jack tells me Dobbinton will never be the same after this year! We
still have one contentious issue left unresolved from the elections at
the time of writing this column but we trust we will hear from
Imperial Headquarters soon with their decision.
Our financial contributions to the Canadian Unit of Shriners
Hospitals for Children took a huge step upwards in 2010, partially
due to a bequest for $170,000 received through the Tillsonburg
Shrine Club. In all, we contributed $395,194.41, an increase of
$223,014.70 over 2009, WOW! Good work, Nobles. This is the
kind of dedication and support for our hospitals we need to display
regularly, not just once in a while. Over the last five years we
have averaged $278,947.32 in donations to the Canadian Unit. In
the last four years, (while MSPOTS fundraising was being done)
we averaged $281,495.40 which is over 45% better than our
nearest sister Temple (excluding Rameses).
Chaplain’s Chat
Dear Nobles,
As I write this the days are growing
longer and getting colder. I am feeling
sorry for those old folk who miss the
wonders of winter by heading south
every winter. Unless one has lived in
the “snow belt”, one cannot truly
appreciate the benefits of hibernation;
i.e. the joy of being snowed in for several
days at a time with family and
friends. Such winter “delights” as shovelling snow together,
sitting around a warm fire (preferably wood), sharing stories,
hot drinks and the knowledge that one is safe and sheltered are
something that the “snowbird” will surely miss. Of course I am
being facetious, but the truth be told, when one goes away for
any length time, work remains to be done. Often those who go
away are the hard workers whose work is left undone until they
return. We live in an age when seniors play an increasingly
important role in volunteer organizations. Unfortunately,
younger people are often not encouraged to fill in when the
We also need to recognize our own building is in need of further
work. It is unfair to expect every member to contribute to financing
our Shrine Centre especially those who live remote from
London as to make it impractical to come here on a regular basis.
In contrast however, is the principle that the Shrine Centre is “our
home” and perhaps it is fair for every member to support it regardless
of the number of times you get to visit? It is a tough sell.
Wouldn’t it be nice to see the Centre become a self-supporting
business that required little, if any support from our members?
We can make it viable if we are willing to invest in a 35+ year old
building and bring it up to date with such things as fresh paint,
wallpaper, lighting and sound system in our upper banquet hall.
Some redecoration of the front veranda to bring it into the current
era and redecoration and upgrading of the lower banquet hall to
make it a more fashionable venue for smaller activities. Bookings
for these venues within our building are being stifled by the dated
atmosphere and appearance. People love to come here for their
parties but we are not attracting the numbers of events that we
could if we invest in some updating and upgrading. If we attract
additional business on a profitable basis, then we can stop the
bleeding of our own financial resources and look to outside customers
to support the ongoing maintenance and repair work. We
need to develop a “business first” attitude and make it happen!
We can no longer support the idea of this being just “Our
Clubhouse”, it just doesn’t make sense anymore and it certainly
doesn’t pay the bills.
Some ideas will be coming forth in the next few months for some
upgrading ideas and I encourage you to come to the Stated
Meetings to find out what can be done and offer your constructive
opinions for potential beneficial changes.
Remember, "UNITY WINS"
and the Potentate’s Slogan;
"LET’S ALL PULL TOGETHER"
older members leave for short periods of time. In the scriptures,
you may have noticed, that the Almighty never calls his
prophets or others to “go it alone”. I believe and have always
taught that it is important to have an “understudy” or an
apprentice to cover for one when one goes away or if one
becomes ill. There have been too many times when an organization
has fallen into darkness or at least “deep shadow”,
because no one wanted to accept the responsibility of learning
a particular job. Too often the one doing the job was too protective
of the position to work with someone else anyway. As
Nobles of the Illustrious Shrine and members of faith communities
we need to demonstrate that we are willing to work together
and ready to step in when someone goes away for awhile.
We seniors need to welcome and support the junior members
who are demonstrating a willingness to accept responsibility
and to share their ideas and suggestions with us.. It is important
for us to shovel that snow together, to listen to stories and
ideas together, and above all to share fellowship together.
“ ...And he sent them on ahead of him, two by two…”Luke
10:v1 RSV.
Blessings and Peace, Gordon Simmons
MOCHA NEWS February 2011 Page 3