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Membership Report
By Noble Jonathan Cortes, Chairman; and Nobles
David Lapp and Jonathan Tkachuk, Co-Chairmen
n January 17, we presented the annual Khartum
Shrine Membership kickoff. Among those present
Owere members of the Divan; past potentates; representatives
from several Shrine units and clubs; and the
Grand Master, Most Worshipful Brother David Love. We
were honored to have them participate in the presentation,
in which we summarized the results of 2009, told them about
our goals for 2010, and presented our recruiting, restoring,
and retaining plan. Our 2010 Khartum Shriners Membership
kickoff was a success as it opened the floor for everyone
to participate, resulting in many contributed ideas to incorporate
into our 2010 membership plan.
Arrangements are underway to organize our “Rush
Party,” slated for Friday, April 23, at the Khartum Shrine Centre.
For those of you unaware of the term, “Rush Parties” are
generally thrown by a fraternity to encourage members to
join their organization — a concentrated effort by the fraternity
to recruit new members. Our theme for the upcoming
“Rush Party” is our P.O.E.T.S. (P***
On Everything, Tomorrow’s
Saturday) Party. We expect to fill the activity room and
the lounge to capacity. We are now arranging for a live band
to play throughout the evening, for finger foods to be available,
and we are opening the floor for any unit to entertain.
To offset some of the costs, we will be
organizing a 50/50 draw and a silent
auction. That being said, we are
requesting gift basket donations from
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each unit and club for the silent auction.
We are also looking for units to participate
or help throughout that evening. We encourage all
nobles to attend with non-Shriner ”“buddies” who are willing
to merely come out and have a good time. The many
potential candidates that we hope attend our “Rush Party”
are incentive enough for the units and clubs to showcase
themselves in any shape or form.
We are focusing on all nobles initiated in 2009, and
those not belonging to any unit or club. These nobles are
inducted into our Sheikh’s Unit and are an asset in
recruiting potential candidates through a network of family,
friends, and colleagues. We will hold regular meetings
with the Sheikhs to tell them about our philanthropy
and what we expect of each member. We will explain the
Mentorship Program at these meetings to ensure that
new nobles maintain their lifelong Masonic journey;
experience brotherhood and fellowship through the
activities they choose, including those involving their
families; develop leadership skills to assume various
positions offered throughout Khartum Shrine; and follow
through on the expectations we have of them as
nobles of our fraternity.
Communicating is important in disseminating information,
in coordinating meetings and events, and in our
recruiting efforts. Our Facebook page is now online under
“Khartum Shriners.” Pictures of Fez Head Fred’s visit to
Job’s Daughters Bethel #9 officer installation reception
were among the first posted. The Facebook page has
grown to more than seventy fans in less than two months.
We have also created a Twitter account which can be followed
under @khartumshriners. Both Facebook and Twitter
accounts are fun ways to tell you about Khartum Shrine
events and to spark public interest about who we are. We
encourage you to become a fan of Khartum’s Facebook
page or to follow Khartum’s Tweets on Twitter. Please post
pictures and comments!
. . . continued on page 37
Best Wishes
6
SHIRLEY FINNBOGASON
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