Grubstake Days Parade

APPLE VALLEY SHRINE CLUB MINI CARS WERE AGAIN THE HIGHLIGHT OF THE YUCCA VALLEY GRUBSTAKES PARADE MAY 24,2008.

THE CROWDS STOOD AND CHEERED THEM ON AS THEY WENT THROUGH THEIR MANUVERS.

WE HAD SEVERAL PEOPLE COME TO US AND TELL US STORIES OF HOW THE SHRINE HOSPITALS AFFECTED THEIRS LIVES FOR THE BETTER.

WE RECENTLY OBTAINED A 1941 WHITE FIRE TRUCK WHICH WE HOPE TO ADD TO OUR GROUP. THIS TRUCK ONCE BELONGED TO THE APPLE VALLEY SHRINE CLUB AND HAS NOW RETURNED HOME. IT WILL TAKE A LOT OF TENDER LOVING CARE TO GET IT IN PARADE CONDITION.

NEXT WEEKEND MAY 31 WE WILL BE JOINING OTHER NOBLES AT THE SANTA MARIA ELKS RODEO PARADE IN SANTA MARIA.

HOPE TO SEE YOU THERE AND REMEMBER ITS ALL FOR THE CHILDREN.

Shriners Hospitals for Children Burn Patient

Los Angeles, CA – May 23, 2008 – Maria came to Shriners Hospitals for Children in Los Angeles at the age of three. As a 19 month old toddler in Mexico, she had been burned on her arm, back and face when she fell onto a vaporizer that her mother had put near her bed because Maria had a bad cold.
She has spent most of her 14 years in and out of Shriners Hospitals where she has been under the care of our plastic reconstruction and psychosocial teams.
In addition to the physical healing, Maria also had to go through psychological counseling to move past the trauma of her childhood experiences. She has had to cope with the long-term separation from her father and sister who stayed behind in Mexico.

Maria has also had to deal with low self-esteem stemming from the taunts and teasing coming from her classmates at school. However, since starting twice a week therapy sessions at the hospital, she has changed her outlook on life. Holly Hamlett, LCSW, manager of the hospital’s care coordination department says, “Maria was the first patient that I saw when I started at Shriners Hospital and I’ve seen lot’s of personal growth in her life since we first met. She’s a really cool teen who inspires everyone around her. And just recently she’s achieved the honor roll at her high school and is taking college courses as well.”
Maria has come so far in her rehabilitation, that she now wants to give back to those that have given her so much. She has appeared in newspaper and television public service announcements for both the Alisa Ann Ruch Burn Foundation and Shriners Hospitals for Children.
She also regularly visits with teen groups at the Shriners Hospital to share the reality of being a burn survivor with other patients. She says, “I want to help prevent children from going through what I went through. It was pretty bad. I want to make parents become more careful when their children are around boiling water or are playing with matches. As for her goals in life, Maria says she wants to go to college to become a nurse, or maybe a doctor or a teacher. Or maybe all three.

Follow Up on Kofi-Marathon Surgery

www.abclocal.go.com/kabc/story?section=news/health&id=6162687
ABC has two video stories on Kofi this is the one after his marathon Surgery you might want to watch both and please let ABC and Ms Dador know what you think of the Story. Thank You.

Copy the above link to watch the video on Shriners Hospital for Children- Los Angeles
By Denise Dador

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Local doctors give a crippled child from Africa a chance to live a normal life -- It took nearly a day of marathon surgery.

Kofi mother said a child with a disability in Africa would have no future. Because of an insect bite, the little boy from Ghana had a serious infection that would have led to amputation. But missionaries from Los Angeles heard his story and brought him here for the limb-saving surgery.

Click in the Eyewitness News Story Window above to watch the accompanying video to this story.www.abclocal.go.com/kabc/story?section=news/health&id=6162687

The day after a 20-hour marathon surgery to repair his right leg, 5-year-old Kofi gets an okay from doctors. One good sign is that his blood flow is normal.

Woodland Hills Shrine club

Home of the Al Malakah Shrine Clowns

Gizeh Shriners

Gizeh Shriners in Chilliwack

Chilliwack Times

Published: Monday, May 26, 2008

Slideshow: Gizeh Shriners parade

Hundreds of Gizeh Shriners descended upon Chilliwack over the weekend for the Spring Ceremonial held at Heritage Park.

The theme of this year's event was "Hats off to Gizeh" and inlcuded a parade through the city's downtown core.

Bands, clowns and those famous funny cars and scooters amused and delighted those who lined the parade route Saturday.

Click on The Slideshow and be sure to thank the Chilliwack Times for the artical and slide show.

Win a Private Motocross Show & help Shriners

Developer, motocrosser team up to help Shriners

East Oak Estates subdivision in Redding and freestyle motocross rider Nick Dunne are teaming up to raise money for Shriners Hospital for Children.

Dunne is one of the contestants in radio station Q97 FM's "Live in it to win it" competition. He is raising money for Shriners.

To help raise money for Shriners, East Oak Estates is selling tickets for a chance to win a private freestyle motocross show and barbecue for 25 people. Tickets -- $5 each or five for $20 -- can be purchased from Dunne at the boat, which is outside the Mt. Shasta Mall, or at East Oak Estates. The subdivision is on Lofty Oak Drive, off Alrose Lane in south Redding.

Call 227-6778 or 223-2994 for more information.

St. Louis Shriners Hospital Moving to Washington University Campus

St. Louis Shriners Hospital Moving to Washington University Campus
In mid-April, the Joint Board of Directors and Trustees for Shriners Hospitals for Children approved building a new 247,000-square-foot hospital at the Washington University Medical Center campus in St. Louis.
The new location will further enhance clinical care for patients and research opportunities at both facilities. “This is truly a fantastic opportunity for Shriners Hospitals for Children, Washington University School of Medicine and, more importantly, the children we treat,” said Ralph Semb, Chairman of Shriners Hospitals for Children’s Board of Trustees.
Plans for the new hospital include 40 inpatient beds, four surgical suites and 30 clinic examination rooms. In addition, an entire floor of the new building will be dedicated to scientific research to maximize the hospital’s and the School of Medicine’s shared
interest in investigating musculoskeletal conditions.

“The closer our Shriners Hospital is to the resources of the Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis Children’s Hospital, as well as the other facilities of the BJC Healthcare
organization, the more effective we can be in providing care to our children and more fully collaborating in the research and education that is the hallmark of this worldrenowned
medical center and the Shriners Hospitals system,” said John O’Shaughnessy, administrator of the St. Louis hospital.
The St. Louis Shriners Hospital and Washington University School of Medicine have been partners for decades, according to Larry J. Shapiro, M.D., executive vice chancellor for medical affairs and dean of the School of Medicine.
A majority of St. Louis Shriners Hospital medical staff are faculty members at Washington University.
Shriners Hospitals bought the property, which includes a parking lot and a former Pepsi Bottling Co. facility, from Washington University.
Construction of the new hospital is expected to begin in spring 2009 and be completed in 2012. The architectural firm Gresham Smith & Partners will design the facility.
The current St. Louis Shriners Hospital, located at 2001 S. Lindbergh Blvd., will be sold once
construction of the new hospital is completed.

McNeil's confidence boosted by PGA Tour win in Vegas

Breakthrough victory gave 32-year-old exempt status through 2009

By STEVE CARP
REVIEW-JOURNAL

George McNeill seemed like just another guy hoping to make a big score in Las Vegas when he hit town in October.

He struck it rich, all right.

Except McNeill's success didn't come inside a casino. The 32-year-old won the Frys.com Open by four shots for his first PGA Tour victory and a $720,000 payday.

McNeill's win didn't just bolster his bank account. It gave him some unexpected celebrity while providing him job security for the next two years, giving him exempt status on the PGA Tour through 2009.

"I'm received a little better now," McNeill said. "Guys say hi in the locker room now. But what it comes down to is it's just a bunch of people out here trying to win a golf tournament."

McNeill will return to Las Vegas this fall as defending champion of what now is the Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospitals for Children Open.

The tournament, scheduled for Oct. 13 to 19, will be played only at TPC Summerlin instead of at two courses as in the past.

"It won't change the way I play," McNeill said. "Both the courses (TPC Summerlin and TPC Las Vegas) had a similar feel to them, and when you're playing well, it doesn't really matter what kind of golf course you're playing.

"I think the format will help with Justin Timberlake headlining the event, and I'm sure the Wednesday pro-am will be a little more rock star-esque. It will add some excitement to the event."

McNeill said there will be something different about him, too, when he returns this fall.

"It did a little bit to change my confidence," he said of winning in Las Vegas. "I proved to myself that I could win out here when I won at Q School (in 2006). But to win a regular tour event against these guys is everyone's goal, and I proved to myself that I could do that."

McNeill ranks No. 79 on the PGA Tour's 2008 money list with earnings of $592,428. In 14 events, his best finish has been a tie for second in March at the PODS Championship, where he finished two shots behind Sean O'Hair.

"Other than that, I don't think I'm playing all that well," McNeill said. "I've been making cuts, but I'm not quite where I want to be yet."

Contact reporter Steve Carp at scarp@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2913.

New Director for Timberlake-Shriners PGA Tour

Tourney director charges ahead

Gardner, 39, has big plans for Timberlake-Shriners PGA Tour event

By STEVE CARP
REVIEW-JOURNAL

Mark Gardner, new tournament director for the Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospital for Children Open, is shown Tuesday at TPC Summerlin.
Photo by Martin S. Fuentes/Review-Journal

Mark Gardner insists his eyes were wide open when he agreed in January to become tournament director of Las Vegas' PGA Tour stop. But if he had blinked a few times, it would be understandable.

Gardner, 39, has a sizable challenge on his hands. That is, to lure fans out to TPC Summerlin for four days in the middle of football season to watch some of the best golfers not named Tiger Woods or Phil Mickelson after the PGA Tour season has essentially ended.

Gardner's predecessors, Ian Knight and Charlie Baron, were unable to do it, but Gardner thinks he can succeed. With music superstar Justin Timberlake and 375,000 Shriners at his disposal, reasonable ticket prices ($15 daily badges) and savvy marketing, Gardner said he thinks he can get more than 10,000 people to show up for the Oct. 13 to 19 event.

"Justin is really committed to this. So are the Shriners,'' Gardner said. ''They are here for the long haul, and when people see that, I think they'll respond and support the event."

The Shriners signed a five-year deal last year to take over the tournament, which offers a $4.1 million purse. Timberlake came on board a few weeks later for what is now known as the Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospitals for Children Open. Gardner said both elements are critical to the tournament's future.

"Justin's going to reach out to a nontraditional golf demographic," Gardner said. "With his contacts and his hands-on involvement, it's going to create a lot of excitement that week.

"The Shriners are unbelievable. The work they do with kids, how can you not support that? And with hundreds of thousands of Shriners all over, what better place for them to come than Las Vegas?"

The other motivation to boost the field is the change in format. There is no more Pro-Am for the first two rounds, and for the pros who prefer to do their work without dealing with an amateur, Las Vegas suddenly might be a more attractive event. The tournament also is being played exclusively at TPC Summerlin.

Gardner most recently served as assistant tournament director for the PGA Tour stop in Hartford, Conn. He got his start in golf as an intern under Baron from 1999 to 2001 while attending graduate school at UNLV. He saw first-hand the challenges that come with putting on a PGA Tour event in Las Vegas.

"There's so much competition from the casinos for that entertainment dollar," Gardner said. "It's a tough, tough market. I think we can do a better job of reaching out to the community and getting the word out."

Gardner has weekly meetings with the PGA Tour marketing and business departments as well as with representatives of Timberlake. Gardner said he hopes the ideas produced in those Friday brainstorming sessions will eventually result in the Tour moving the event from its Fall Series to the regular season, preferably in the spring.

The Shriners and Timberlake are committed long term to Las Vegas, Gardner said, and so is he.

"I was in Hartford for seven years, and it was hard for me to leave," he said. "But this is an amazing opportunity, and I truly believe it can work here. This is the best model for a golf tournament in Las Vegas."

Contact reporter Steve Carp at scarp@ reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2913.

Memorial Day Weekend

Memorial Day Weekend Events is your club or unit going to a parade or Service?
Don't know where one is? Check out www.Vetfriends.com the list events all over the country
You just Google parades or memorial day in your area.
Check with your recorder he should have a list of where other clubs or units are going.
If you have a event you want listed on the calendar you see on this page just let me know make a comment and we will check it out and list it for everyone.

The Clowns and Hillbilly's from Woodland Hills SC are going to the Canoga Park, Ca. Memorial Day Parade on the 26th.
The Awesome "A" SC FEZ and Little cars are going to the La Canada, Ca. Parade also on the 26th

Luckily for ShrinersHospital for Children

By Gene Park
gpark@starbulletin.com

Luckily for the Shriners Hospital for Children, Gail Miyashiro just bought a new car.

Miyashiro called in and won the KSSK/Paradise Yellow Pages Lucky Number contest earlier this year.

The prize: a 2007 Hyundai Elantra.

"Nobody in my family needed a car," Miyashiro said.

After Miyashiro won the contest, she shared her thoughts with a car salesman at a Saturn dealership, where she had purchased a new car.

He mentioned that the Shriners Hospital was raising money to improve its facilities.

It seemed like a worthwhile cause to Miyashiro, and yesterday, during the "Perry and Price Show," Miyashiro collected a $12,000 check instead of the car and promptly donated it to Shriners.

"I think the most I ever donated before was the University of Hawaii Foundation. It was like $50 or $100," Miyashiro said.

Her friends thought Miyashiro was crazy. Why didn't she just sell the car? But the 59-year-old Salt Lake resident and secretary for the city's Division of Facilities and Maintenance said she just didn't need the car or the money.

Radio host Michael Perry called the donation one of the most generous things he's ever witnessed. Stan Berry, the administrator of the Shriners Hospital for Children, also praised Miyashiro.

"I see a lot of miracles happen every day," he said. "This is one of them."

Miyashiro's donation will be part of a local fundraising campaign to upgrade the hospital on Punahou Street. The Shriners are trying to raise $14 million locally, of the total $73 million building cost.

The hospital upgrade is expected to be completed in 2009. The expanded facility will have 24 beds and a second story. Future upgrades will include 10 apartments where families of patients can stay during treatment, a rehabilitation center with a pool and research offices.

The last time the Shriners Hospital for Children in Honolulu was remodeled was in the 1960s, Berry said.

He said the hospital has raised about $9 million so far.

"We're getting very close," Berry said. "This is a very generous gift for anybody who has a job in this day and age of rising health-care costs and gas. With $12,000, how many years of gas would that have bought?"

Photo-DENNIS ODA / DODA@STARBULLETIN.COM
Stan Berry, administrator for Shriners Hospital, left; Masumi Masamitsu, wife of Tony Group president Stan Masamitsu; and Gail Miyashiro were interviewed yesterday during the "Perry and Price Show" at John Dominis Restaurant.

LA Times May 18,2008

STYLE PROFILE

Freemasons in midst of popularity, membership boom

The secretive society gains a higher, hipper profile as younger men seek out a place for fraternal bonding.

By Adam Tschorn, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
May 18, 2008

IN LOS FELIZ, across from a 7-Eleven on North Vermont Avenue, a few dozen men in their early 20s to late 80s share a dinner behind closed doors. Some wear full tuxedos with bow ties and jeweled cuff links, some have shoulder-length hair, and others wear open-collared shirts that reveal the slightest filigree of tattoo arching across their chests.

Over Italian food, retired lawyers and judges sit elbow-to-elbow with owners of scrap metal yards and vintage clothing boutiques. They hold forth on philosophy, the weather; they rib each other and joke about saving room for cannoli. As they reach for seconds, they reveal skull-cracking rings emblazoned with a compass and a square.

• 
  Photos: Meet the millennial Masons
• 
  Photos: Stylish Masons through history

Meet the millennial Masons. As secret societies go, it is one of the oldest and most famous. Its enrollment roster includes Louis Armstrong and Gerald Ford, and it has been depicted in movies such as "The Da Vinci Code" and "National Treasure." Once more than 4 million strong (back in the 1950s), it has been in something of a popularity free-fall ever since. Viewed with suspicion as a bastion of antiquated values and forced camaraderie, the Masons have seen membership rolls plummet more than 60% to just 1.5 million in 2006.

Only now the trend seems to be reversing itself, and nowhere more noticeably than in Southern California. The reasons seem clear. In another Masonic Hall, this one on La Cienega, a Sri Lankan-born banker, a sunglasses-wearing Russian immigrant and a continent-hopping Frenchman break bread, poke at their salads and chat about their health.

"For a time it looked as if Masonry was going into a sharp decline, if not the death throes," said UCLA history professor Margaret C. Jacob, who has written extensively about the fraternal order. "But it looks like it may be making a comeback."

That's because the Freemasons, whose tenets forbid soliciting or recruiting members, have enthusiastically embraced the Internet as a way to leverage curiosity about an organization with its roots in Europe's medieval stonemasons guilds. Freemasonry today sees itself as a thinking man's salon, a learned society with a philanthropic bent.

"We had a record number of new members last year," said Allan Casalou, grand secretary of the Grand Lodge of California. "We added 2,000 men, which is the most since 1998 and our seventh straight year of membership increases."

And, to paraphrase that Oldsmobile campaign, these definitely aren't your father's Freemasons. They are bar owners, male models and olive-oil brokers. They are men like Zulu, an L.A. tattoo artist with a swirling Maori-inspired design inked across his face and a panoply of metal piercing his ears, nose and face. They are men like Jonathan Kanarek, who runs a men's vintage clothing store on Hollywood Boulevard and whose retro chic wardrobe of polka-dot ascots, glen-plaid jackets and smartly pressed pocket squares earned him a spot on Esquire magazine's 2007 list of best-dressed real men in America. And they are men like Daemon Hillin, whose surfer-dude looks and blinding white smile can be found on Japanese TV, where he plays sidekick and comic foil to the Japanese version of the Hilton sisters.

They are also all men who want to be part of an all-for-one and one-for-all brotherhood built on shared ideals, philosophical pursuits and a penchant for rings, aprons and funny hats. As Zulu bluntly put it: "I joined because I was looking for people to hang with that were like-minded but also hip and cool, and a lot of tattoo artists tend to be drunks and druggies."

Hillin, who originally joined the Masons in Temecula, moved to L.A. and is interested in the Santa Monica-Palisades Lodge No. 307, one of the youngest and most diverse congregations in the state (the average age of active brothers is just 33). The lodge's senior deacon, Jim Warren, calls it " 'Star Trek' without the chicks." "We have every possible national origin, ethnicity and religious denomination you could imagine," he said.

Warren credits the Internet. "We were one the first lodges in the state to have a website up," he said. "That led to a huge spike in membership."

Other lodges followed suit, putting up their own sites and drawing a crowd. That's how prospective Mason Johnny Royal ended up at the door of Elysian Lodge No. 418 last month. Intrigued by the distinctive Masonic architecture that graces most halls, the 31-year-old publicist with sideburns to his chin and hair to his shoulders and a Renaissance lute player tattoo on his right forearm hit the Web.

What he read about the Masonic ideals -- wisdom, strength, beauty and the pursuit of knowledge -- made him decide to pursue membership. "My generation wants to be part of something beyond itself," Royal said. "I want to learn; I want to participate."

The Web generation

THE INTERNET hasn't only made it easier to learn about the Freemasons, Casalou says, it's changed the type of men coming forward. "There is so much information on the Internet that by the time someone comes to a lodge to seek membership, they already know a lot about Masonry," he said. "Which is a big departure from previous generations. And it means they are more likely to be active participants."

Zulu became curious about Freemasonry after tattooing Masonic symbology on several clients. He joined five years ago at age 39 and now serves as webmaster and senior warden of North Hollywood Lodge No. 542. He has also gone on to become both a Scottish Rite Mason and Shriner (Masonic membership is a prerequisite for both), and next year he will become the leader of his lodge. "I'll be the first black worshipful master in the lodge's history," he said, using the proper term of respect.

But he probably won't be the last. Because California's contingent of Freemasons is expected to grow, the average age of its members, once 71 and now 65, is expected to drop. By 2018, as Casalou predicts, the state will be awash in 55-year-old pre-retirement Masons giving each other secret handshakes, wearing ritual aprons and invoking the Grand Architect of the Universe.

The Internet continues to help. Zulu said that he gets at least four e-mails a week from prospective Masons around the globe who see his tattooed and pierced visage at the lodge website and want to be reassured such an alternative look isn't a barrier to membership.

"Yeah, I think it's going to become hip and chic to be a Mason," Zulu said. "And that could be a dangerous thing."

adam.tschorn@latimes.com

Link to photogallery:

http://www.latimes.com/features/lifestyle/la-ig-0518-mason-pg,0,5072901.photogallery?1

Link to Famous Masons:

http://www.latimes.com/features/lifestyle/la-ig-0518-masonside-pg,0,4326838.photogallery

Reading and Riding in Washington

Apollo students reap reading's benefits in many ways

Students reap many rewards from reading: creativity, concentration, better memory, improved vocabulary, the ability to connect information…

For students at Apollo Elementary, the chance to win a brand new bicycle is like the cherry on top.

Myrtle Masonic Lodge #108 sponsored Apollo's Read at Home program this school year by donating two bikes in December 2006 and two bikes in May 2007 to encourage students to read. Each student who participates in the program and writes a short essay to demonstrate reading comprehension is entered into the drawing.

Third-grader Allison and fifth-grader Kasper were the lucky winners in December. They received their bicycles during an assembly. More than 100 kids now say they will read and write an essay for May's drawing.

"Principal Marla Erath and her staff are to be commended for working with their students to enhance the already active reading program," said Bill Werner from Myrtle Masonic Lodge #108.

Shriners Golf coures for Public Use!

Published: Thursday, May 15, 2008

Nile heads over the hill
/www.heraldnet.com/article/20080515/SPORTS/511364856/1004

The Shriners-owned golf course, which became a public course in 1996, is trying to bolster its profile as a family friendly, fun course as it turns the age of 40 this year.

By Rich Myhre, Herald Writer

MOUNTLAKE TERRACE -- Forty years ago, a group of Shriners decided to fulfill a longstanding dream of building a golf course on a large piece of Shrine property between Lake Ballinger and the new I-5 freeway in south Snohomish County.

The Shriners could have engaged in a lavish construction project, although that would have been at odds with their fraternal organization's altruistic spirit. Preferring to direct their excess monies to more charitable endeavors -- specifically, supporting the hospitals that provide free medical care for children -- the Shriners set about doing much of the construction work themselves.

Work parties cleared the land of rocks and brush, and the result was a nine-hole private golf course that has since evolved into a much-used 18-hole public layout that is celebrating its 40th birthday this year.

"As more people learn about this golf course, it's becoming more and more popular with the public," said Richard Kovac of Kenmore, the 2008 board president (potentate) at the Nile Shrine Center. "We're getting more and more public play out here."

One obstacle, though, is the continuing perception that Nile is a private golf course, as it was until 1996. Part of that probably has to do with the name -- officially, it is Nile Golf and Country Club -- but these days Shriners make up only about 15 percent of the play at Nile.

Shriners still receive certain privileges, among them discounts on green fees and the right to buy annual passes unavailable to the public, but otherwise the course is pretty much like any other daily-fee venue.

"There are still a few dinosaurs here who want to convert it back to a member-only course," Kovac said, "but for the most part (Shriners) realize the value of having it open to the public." Proceeds, he added, "generate revenues to run the course and the center here."

Nile is not a long course, measuring 5,001 yards and playing to a par 67, so big hitters "will probably not like to play here," said head pro Randy Puetz. "But it's a great course for the intermediate players, like seniors, juniors and women. And we get a lot of couples.

"It's an enjoyable place to be," he went on. "It's not a typical public course. The layout is interesting. It's not back and forth, back and forth. Every hole is different. There are some really good holes and some really easy holes, so it allows people to play and score. But it's a challenge also."

Nile did about 40,000 rounds in 2007, "and that's been pretty consistent over the last five or six years," Puetz said.

Most of the play comes from south Snohomish and north King counties, and includes a lot of the people who also frequent nearby Lynnwood Golf Course, Everett's Walter Hall and Seattle's Jackson Park.

Nile's location, in fact, is an obvious asset. Situated near the southwestern boundary of Mountlake Terrace, but in close proximity to Edmonds, Lynnwood, Shoreline and Lake Forest Park, "we're right in the middle of everything," Puetz said.

The goal, he said, is to boost the rounds to 55,000-60,000 rounds in the next few years. One strategy is to continue offering coupons and other incentives -- one popular promotion allows kids to play for free with parents after 3 p.m. on Sundays -- while also advertising aggressively. The Shrine Center expects to put up an electronic message board along 244th St. SW, sometime next month to help attract new golfers.

And by bringing in new customers, there is also the opportunity to spread the word about the good work of the Shriners, Kovac said.

The golf course "is probably our most valued asset and one of our most cherished assets. It is also very much a public relations asset, and we'd like to make it more so. I think it could lead to increased membership prospects," he said.

Shriners Mobil Unit

By Beth Hillyer,
HONOLULU (KHNL)--Shriners hospital is building a new hosptial. But administrators weren't about to cancel operations during the two-year construction project.

They brought in a new mobile surgical unit. it's an an innovative way to still serve island keiki and build a new hospital at the same time. In order to continue surgical proceedures they brought in what looks like a double wide trailer.
Micah Salazar is recovering from surgery, ready to go home to Kauai. His family is grateful that Shriners was able to schedule surgeries even during construction.
The hosptial is being completely re-built and administrators didn't want to cancel surgeries.

They invested a million dollars in this mobile surgical unit.
"We do one surgery at a time, we do 50 procedures a month," said Surgery Services Manager Richard Dibucci.
It's a modern MASH unit. "If this were set up in a war zone it would have 1-2-3 tables where you would take of trauma cases, get them stabilized and get them out," said Dibucci.

The surgical unit is made out of aluminum and stainless steel. It has all the modern equipment of any operation room. There is also a recovery room.
This mobile surgical unit has been in operation here at Shriner's Hospital for the past year. In just one day they perform up to six operations on Keiki from both Hawaii and the pacific.
"The process is going very well. The families like it the staff like it we increased our same day surgery use by three times what we were doing."
"When they told us this was a mobile unit it came on a barge through the Panama Canal, brand new took pictures of it growing up remember watching MASH this is a MASH unit state of the art," said Maika's Grandfather, Raymond

The hospital renovation and the million dollar surgical unit are all funded by donations.
"The doctors, the level of care, the professionalism they showed it was awesome," said Raymond.
Please copy the following link for more Information and Video story from KHNL Ch.8 "Shriners Hospital Shows Off Mobile Surgical Unit" www.khnl.com/Global/story.asp?S=8308314

Screening Clinic/Oregon East West Football

By Azenith Smith of KCBY.com 11

http://www.kcby.com/news/local/18850139.html

COOS BAY - Area youngsters, who may be suffering from orthopaedic problems, may be a step closer to getting treatment, thanks to the local Shrine Club.

A handful of kids participated in a free screening clinic at Bay Area Hospital on Saturday.

Hosted by the Coos County Shrine Club, it helps spread the word about Shriners Hospitals and what they can do for kids suffering from back or spinal injuries, among others, regardless of insurance status.

"These hospitals provide care for kids whenever they get identified up until they become 18," says Tom Shine of the Coos County Shrine Club. "In a lot of cases that means multiple surgeries for kids that are growing with orthopaedic problems, burn injuries. It takes a lot of repetitive visits. It's all free."

Former patient Elizabeth of Coquille had only good things to say about her experience, after she was treated in Portland for scoliosis in 2005.

"The staff is just wonderful," says Elizabeth. "You can't have a better staff. They show that they care for the kids and you look forward to going back."

Elizabeth is currently serving as the West Queen for the Oregon Shriners East West football game, a fundraising event that will be held in Baker City on Aug. 2. She even has plans to be a nurse at the Shriners Hospital that helped her.

To learn more about these hospitals, call (541) 297-0086. Currently, there are 22 Shriners Hospitals for Children in North America.

Justin Timberlake Open Volunteer Opportunities

Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospitals For Children Open Volunteer Opportunities

LAS VEGAS – The PGA TOUR’s 26th annual Las Vegas event, the Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospitals for Children Open is taking place October 13th – 19th, 2008 at TPC Summerlin. Once again, the tournament is looking for quality volunteers to donate their time and talents to make the 2008 event a success. There is a $40 volunteer uniform fee that covers the cost of the volunteer’s official Tournament hat, golf shirt and jacket. Each volunteer will also receive complimentary lunch on the days they work, a week-long Tournament badge and two tickets to the volunteer kickoff party.

For more information on how to become a 2008 volunteer, please contact Mike Zampini, Volunteer Coordinator, at (702) 873-1010 or visit www.jtshrinersopen.com

Western Sacramento Shrine Club At Glenn Medical Ctr.

Shriners to hold screening clinic
Thursday, May 8 2008, 6:35 pm
By Susan Meeker/Staff Writer

Few people know it but each year the members of the Western Sacramento Valley Shrine Club of the Ben Ali Shrine Center opens their hearts to babies, children and teens needing medical help.

For 85 years the Shriners organization has provided free medical care for 835,000 children worldwide, according to its Web site. It gets its money through donations, membership dues and fundraisers.

It’s unknown how many children have been helped in the Mid-Valley region, from Colusa to Corning, but local Shriners have dealt with some serious cases they’ve identified at screening clinics held each year in Willows.

“We’ve had children come in with bone disorders, scoliosis and problems associated with healed burns,” said Glenn County resident Gary Hansen, Screening Clinic Chairman. “We are extremely fortunate to have our flagship hospital in Ben Ali Shrine jurisdiction. It is the only one of our 22 hospitals to specialize in all four Shriner’s medical disciplines – orthopedic, spinal cord injuries, burns and research.”

No insurance? No problem. Treatment is free.

This year’s screening clinic will be held Saturday, May 17, at Glenn Medical Center between 9 a.m. and 1 p.m.

The process starts with paperwork so Hansen urges parents with their children come at 9 a.m. Children from Colusa, Glenn and Tehama County are eligible for screening.

“Both of my grandfather were Masons,” Hansen said. “But I owe my becoming a Shriner to my dad. He’s frail now, but he was an outstanding and dedicated member for many years.”

The charitable arm of the organization is the Shriner’s Hospitals for Children, a network of twenty-two hospitals in the United States, Mexico and Canada. It was originally formed to treat young victims of polio, but as that disease was controlled, the Shriners broadened their scope. They now deal with all pediatric cases, most especially with orthopedic injuries and disease and burns. The Shrine has pioneered new treatments for these conditions.

There is never any charge for treatment at a Shriners Hospital, Hansen said. The organization will take insurance information in the event a child treated at Shriner’s Hospital in Sacramento requires additional services from UC Davis.

And there is no requirement for religion, race, or relationship to a Freemason. Patients must be under the age of 18.

For additional information about the upcoming screening clinic or the Shrine organization, contact Hansen at 934-4734.

Timmy Kelly on CBS

Tim Kelly To Sing on the CBS Early Show

Tuesday May 13th

Good news. Tim Kelly, Timmy Kelly’s dad (the Philadelphia SHC patient and former subject of one of our patient success stories) called me today to let me know the exact date of the airing of a segment on Timmy that we had been hearing was going to be on the CBS Early Show. Timmy’s dad told me the segment will air on Tuesday, May 13.

A crew went to their home a few weeks ago and did some taping and Timmy is due to sing “live” on the show next Tuesday. Tim said he thinks the segment will be on sometime between 7 and 9:00A.M. and Timmy will probably sing in the 8-9:00 segment, but you know how things are subject to change in the broadcast world. If we hear of any changes we will pass them on to you, but for now the segment is scheduled to air as above. We thought you would want to know and might like to watch!

Michael C. Andrews

Executive Vice President

The Shriners of North America

Shriners International Headquarters

Ride so Kids can Walk

"Ride so Kids can Walk"

A motorcycle ride
open to the public
to benefit:
Shriners Hospitals for Children
Sunday June 29, 2008
Register for the 2008 Ride click here

Location:
Leanor K. Sullivan Boulevard on top of the Mississippi River levee at the foot of the Gateway Arch, downtown St. Louis.

Participants:
Open to the Public - The FIRST “Imperial Session Hospital Ride”
All Shrine Motorcycle Units/Clubs coming to the Imperial Session,
All Non-Shrine Motorcycle Clubs,
All Individual Motorcycle riders,
all are invited to JOIN the "Ride so Kids can Walk"

Route:
Leaving Leanor K. Sullivan West through downtown St. Louis through St. Louis County ending at Moolah Shrine Center 12545 Fee Fee Road where you will find food, vendors of motorcycle merchandise, a band and a great party! Total of about 90 miles...

Registration:
Opens 7:30 AM. Ride departs at 10AM.
Registration fee $20 per rider.
your donation to the Hospital
All riders receive a Shriners Hospitals Ride patch.

Starting “down on the levee”

Be a part of something “really big”
have fun and HELP KIDS all at the same time!

Race to Mather Field for the Shriners

Volunteer Profile: Race to Mather Field for the Shriners

By Gloria Glyer -

PDT Thursday, May 8, 2008

Story appeared in SCENE section, Page E3

Elizabeth Baccelli created a poster to promote the Shriners Hospitals for Children Concours d'Elegance. Erhardt Krause / ekrause@sacbee.com

What: The annual Concours d'Elegance, benefiting Shriners Hospitals for Children.

When and where: May 18 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Mather Field, Rancho Cordova; $10 in advance, $15 at the gate; www.shrinersconcours.com.

Featured marques: Jaguar, Corvette, Alfa Romeo and Model T.

The Race of the Century from 5 to 10:30 p.m. May 16 at the Cal Expo racetrack; tour d'elegance from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. May 17; grand marshal's reception from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. May 17 at Shriners hospital; visit the Web site for details.

In the spotlight: Karine Lyon as grand marshal, with vintage bikes, motorcycles and boats on display along with classic cars.

Purpose: To raise funds for the Shriners Hospitals for Children to help with the mission of providing specialized pediatric care at no charge, conducting innovative research and providing world-class teaching programs for physicians and other health care professionals. Call (916) 453-2000.

Featured volunteer: Elizabeth Baccelli has a passion for photography. Combine that with time she spent at the Shriners hospital after back surgery, and she became a natural to create the poster promoting the Concours d'Elegance.

The Rio Americano High School junior participated in sports until the surgery. "That put the kibosh on sports because they did not want me to get hurt," Baccelli said. "I started to take pictures and took the photo class at Rio. I really like to take pictures of sports, but I will take anything anyone asks me to."

Her poster photo features a Jaguar and a Corvette, two of the Concours marques this year. "I like cars, old cars," said Baccelli, whose wish list for her personal car is headed by Lotus.

Featured in the May Car and Driver

Click on Pix to Enlarge

International Shrine Day

Get Your Tickets Now

Shriners Hospitals for Children in Los Angeles announced a stellar line-up of legendary jazz artists to headline The “Rhythm on the Vine” wine and music festival to be held on June 14th at the South Coast Winery in Temecula, California.
The all day festival will feature:
Herbie Hancock: 2008 Grammy Award Winner for Best Album of the Year,
Jim Brickman: Kirk Whalum: Sheila E. & The Escovedo Family

The “Rhythm on the Vine” festival will be the premier entertainment event of the summer of 2008. 100% of all proceeds raised at the event will go directly to help support the Shriners Hospitals for Children in Los Angeles.

Additional details are available at www.rhythmonthevine.org.

Unicycling for Organs

The UFO’s landed at Shriners Hospital today, and no we don’t mean flying space ships. The team is called the “Unicycling for Organs.” The group performed a half hour show for children being treated at the Hospital.

The purpose of the UFO’s is to help raise awareness of the need for organ donation, with an emphasis on living kidney donations.

“The idea we're trying to get across is everybody can live with one kidney just fine. You can get around on one wheel just fine. And so we thought up the idea of the Unicyclists for Organs...something kind of catchy and unique,” said Alex McDonald with Intermountain Donor Services.

If you haven’t already signed up to be an organ and tissue donor, you can log on to http://www.yesutah.org to register and learn how easy it is to help others.

Katie & JT Film PSA for Tournament

May 3, 3008--Now that Justin Timberlake has joined the likes of Arnold Palmer, Bob Hope and Byron Nelson as a host of a PGA Tour event, he appears to be quickly getting down to business. This year--and for at least the next five years--the Las Vegas PGA Tour event will be known as the Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospitals for Children Open (now affectionately dubbed by some as the 'JT Open', just as the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic is dubbed 'The Hope'). Timberlake is well-known for being one of the world's biggest stars, but not so much for his love of the links. He's a single-digit handicap, and is said to be thrilled with his new role. And so far he has been very 'hands on' in the planning for the Las Vegas golf tournament that will be held October 13-19 at the private TPC Summerlin, one of two Las Vegas TPC golf courses (the resort and public TPC Las Vegas is the other). Recently, Timberlake teed it up with Tournament Chairman Gary Davis and Shriners patient Katie Walker, took a 4-hour lesson in Las Vegas with fellow event committee member Butch Harmon, and played golf at the TPC Summerlin with his father, Paul, in addition to being involved in other tournament affairs.

Walker, now in college, was treated at the Shriners Hospital in Los Angeles when she was just a year old. Her leg was amputated and she received her first of many prostheses, and physical therapists at Shriners Hospitals taught her to walk. Shriners Hospitals for Children is a network of facilities in North America that provides superior medical care at no charge to children under the age of 18.

Walker, Davis and Timberlake teed it up at Riviera Country Club in California. Before playing golf Katie and Justin filmed a public service announcement for the tournament.

www.justintimberlake.com/

Shriners Hospitals for Children Facts ans Figures

2007 Facts and Figures for Shriners Hospitals for Children

Over the past 86 years, Shriners Hospitals for Children has provided
the best, most advanced medical care at absolutely no charge to more than 865,000 children with orthopaedic conditions, burns, spinal cord injuries, and cleft lip and palate. Founded by Shriners of North America, this unique health care system has grown from a single hospital in Shreveport, La., to 22 sophisticated pediatric specialty hospitals located across the U.S., and in Canada and Mexico.

Providing Pediatric Specialty Care

The Shriners Hospitals specializing in orthopaedic conditions are committed to providing specialized medical and rehabilitative services to children with congenital deformities and
conditions, orthopaedic injuries, and diseases of the neuromusculoskeletal system. Some of the most commonly
treated disorders include clubfoot, limb deficiencies and discrepancies, scoliosis (curvature of the spine), osteogenesis imperfecta (brittle bone disease), juvenile rheumatoid arthritis,
and orthopaedic problems related to spina bifida, cerebral palsy and muscular dystrophy. The orthopaedic hospitals in Chicago, Philadelphia and Sacramento, Calif., also provide spinal cord injury rehabilitation.

The Shriners Hospitals that specialize in treating burns, located in
Boston; Cincinnati; Galveston, Texas; and Sacramento, Calif., are known worldwide as leaders in burn research and treatment. These hospitals provide a full range of care, including physical rehabilitation and psychological support services for patients
with burn injuries and related


2007 Patient Care Statistics

In 2007, Shriners Hospitals for Children approved 39,454 new patient applications
and cared for 125,125 patients, providing the following services:

• 302,614 outpatient, outreach and telemedicine clinic visits
• 226,455 radiology procedures
• 72,159 orthotic and prosthetic devices
• 25,028 operations
• 422,325 physical therapy treatments
• 200,810 occupational therapy treatments complications, including scarring and smoke inhalation.

In 2005, cleft lip and palate was added to Shriners Hospitals’ official
care disciplines. This comprehensive program involves lip and palate repair, nasal reconstruction, jaw surgery, dental procedures and audiological, speech and psychological services. The Chicago Shriners Hospital’s program is the model for a national program currently in development.

The 2008 Budget

Shriners Hospitals for Children’s total budget for 2008 is $826 million, of which $722 million is designated for operating expenses, including $44 million for research. The budget also includes $104 million for buildings and equipment, which includes funds for building renovations, new construction, and improving and
upgrading medical technologies, such as digital radiology and electronic medical records.

A new category – corporate fundraising – was added to the budget this year, reflecting the growing importance of a concerted effort in that area, especially given the changes in the economy and in the health care industry.

Shriners Hospitals for Children is determined to remain financially
strong in order to continue to provide the best possible care to children far into the future.

For more information, please visit
www.shrinershospitals.org.

Clowns at Jessie Baker School

Fun and games for Jessie Baker students

By Linda Le Park - Citizen Staff Writer ( for complete Story go to www.egcitizen.com/articles/2008/04/30/news/doc481769734dff2858897659.txt)or buy a copy of the Elk Grove Citizen paper.

Published: Tuesday, April 29, 2008

With their faces beaming as they stepped up to the platform, students at Jessie Baker School all received first place medals at the school’s annual games ceremony on April 25.

Jessie Baker, California’s first school for students with severe disabilities, hosts the games annually for its students ages 3 to 22. The Jessie Baker Games have been a tradition at the school for more than 30 years.

“We don’t emphasize the competition but rather that they are doing their very best,” Jessie Baker principal Kathy Dona said. “The games are about the students feeling good about themselves and participating in healthy activities.”

The Elk Grove Lions Club, Ben Ali Shrine, Elk Grove High School students and their Drill Team, a third grade class from Holy Spirit School in Sacramento, the Cosumnes Community Services District Fire Department and Elk Grove Unified School District board members and administrators all contributed to the success of the games.


Students at the school participated in the 50 and 100 yard dash, a softball throw, the standing long jump, relays and hurdles.

“The kids start training two months in advance, and at that same time the staff begins working on all of the organization,” Dona said. “The events and the preparation for the events really increase their cardiovascular fitness and their self esteem.”
They used the motto, “At Jessie Baker, everyone is a winner.”

The Lions Club of Elk Grove prepared lunch for two days for 300 people, all of the students, volunteers and staff members. The club provided chips, buns, hamburgers, hot dogs and a side dish. The school district contributed the rest, side dishes and beverages.

The Shriners and Shriner Clowns volunteered with the children. Shriners Mike Breita, Don Mattson and Ray Mosteller all presented the medals to the students.

“It’s my first time here and it’s a very heartwarming experience,” Mosteller said. “I never expected to have this much fun with the kids.”

The Elk Grove High School Drill Team performed at the games’ opening ceremony.

“I talked to another staff member who said that it’s her favorite time of the year, even though it’s exhausting,” Dona said. “Everyone has a blast. The kids have a blast, the staff, the community, the parents and family members.”

Staff members at the school have been told by parents and community members that they think that the Jessie Baker Games is a fabulous event.