POTENTATE’S MESSAGE APRIL 2025
``Sharing the Magic``
Follow the Caravan to Belleville
Illustrious Sir
April 2025
Hello all. It’s the beginning of March and I have to say that the first two months of the year have flown by very quickly. It has been a great honour for First Lady Peggy and I to travel throughout the jurisdiction to conduct as many Club installation ceremonies as we could get to. We have had the pleasure to meet with so many of you and share in the magic of being Shriners and helping our children lead healthier and more productive lives. We recognize that not all is well in the world, but we still gather to share fun, fellowship, and raise funds to care for kids with orthopaedic health challenges. Those of us that have learned to manage our egos and control our emotions are the leaders of our Shrine and community. We cannot let the influence of one world leader spoil our Shrine Fraternity. Let’s keep focused on our goal, that being “Shriners Hospitals for Children”.
We are moving forward on several initiatives at Rameses. Our new Strategic Planning Committee is busy recruiting additional members to address our needs. The committee will investigate our existing and future membership base, consider what we should look like, and where is the best location to center our Headquarters. Please be patient with this team as I expect it will take some time to deliver the best solution for our future. The second major thrust is that our Membership Committee has been reorganized and will be also taking on a marketing roll. Part of this plan is to redevelop the Rameses website. Our goal is to build a new site that will be of interest to everyone (not just Shrine members), and be a tool to attract and expand our membership. I expect that by the time you read this, the project will be well underway.
A reminder to you that the annual Special Ladies Luncheon will take place at the Rameses Shrine Center on May 24th. All Special Ladies have been invited by Rameses, and it is the local Club responsibility to provide these Ladies transportation to the event.
Nobles, please don’t forget to “Join the Caravan to Belleville” for our Spring Ceremonial starting on June 12th. The members of the Belleville and District Shrine Club under the leadership of the Director General, Noble Ralph Bullock, are very busy putting a great weekend together for you to enjoy. All major activities will be held at the Quinte Sports and Wellness Centre on Cannifton Road. This location should be familiar to most members as past Spring Ceremonials were held at this location in 1994, 2001, 2006, & 2015. Thursday starts with the Flag Raising Ceremony in the afternoon and the Stated Meeting that evening. Friday morning is golf time, and Friday evening we will enjoy a buffet dinner and dance with music by “The Reasons”. What a great way to spend the evening reconnecting acquaintances and making new friends. The Saturday morning Ladies Program gets underway with great food, entertainment, and jelly beans at the Sports Center at the same time as the Ceremony of Ritual will be held in the high school across the parking lot. All of this is followed by our Shrine parade in the early afternoon. The Shrine Oasis will be open both Friday and Saturday afternoons. The Saturday evening Feast will feature a guest speaker from Montreal. Ms. Natalie Cinman is a former patient of our Canadian Shrine Hospital, and one of the first patients to be treated for Osteogenesis Imperfecta (Brittle Bone Disease). She is a dynamic speaker and a wonderful ambassador for our philanthropy. Natalie and her husband, Noble Denis Toupin will be spending the entire weekend with us and I encourage you to get to know them. Sunday follows with a farewell brunch at the Shrine Club and an outdoor Drumhead Worship Service at the Cenotaph on Station Street. Please join us for an eventful weekend of fun and fellowship. We prefer to have candidate applications in as early as possible in order to be properly prepared, but we will accept applications right up until Thursday June 12th.
As always, First Lady Peggy and I wish you well, and hope to see you at an event in the near future.
