12 Things to Take Note of in PR Job Candidates

12 Things to Take Note of in PR Job Candidates

Shriners Kids heading to 2014 games in Sochi

Five Shriners Hospitals for Children Alumni Reaching for Gold in Sochi

Adaptive Sports Clinics that Challenge Patients to Accept No Limits Are Part of the Kid-Centric Healing Process at Shriners Hospitals for Children

PR Newswire

TAMPA, Fla., Jan. 24, 2014  Shriners Hospitals for Children^® proudly celebrates the achievements of five current and former patients competing to qualify for the 2014 Paralympic Games in Sochi, Russia, March 7 - 16, 2014. These inspirational athletes are competing to join the U.S. Paralympic Team in the sports of sled hockey, downhill skiing and snowboarding.
Most of these Paralympic hopefuls were introduced to their sport and got their first taste for athletic competition through a Shriners Hospitals for Children adaptive sports clinic. These educational programs are designed to encourage patients to adopt a "no limits" philosophy and to introduce them to sports they might not otherwise have a chance to participate.  Shriners Hospitals for Children started one of the first U.S. sled hockey teams in Erie, Pa. and soon followed with six more teams in the Northeast. Additionally, Shriners Hospitals for Children hosts adaptive sports clinics and camps throughout the year at many of its 22 facilities in the U.S., Canada and Mexico.
For more than 90 years, Shriners Hospitals for Children has transformed the lives of children around the world through innovative pediatric specialty care, world-class research and outstanding medical education. Shriners Hospitals for Children provides all aspects of treatment, including surgery, rehabilitation and psychological support for children with orthopaedic conditions, spinal cord injuries, burns and cleft lip and palate. All care and services are provided regardless of the family's ability to pay.
"Everyday Shriners Hospitals for Children sends Love to the Rescue^® by encouraging patients to accept no limits throughout their healing process," said John Cinotto, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Shriners Hospitals for Children. "Our adaptive sports and camps across the country help maximize a patient's mobility, teach strength and endurance and renew a child's self-confidence. It's just another example of how we treat the whole child and believe the healing process extends beyond the four walls of our hospitals."
Meet the Shriners Hospitals for Children athletes:
Heidi Jo Duce, 23, snowboards with a prosthetic leg. Duce was born without a fibula and most of the bones in her right ankle and foot; she has been a patient at Shriners Hospitals for Children - Salt Lake City.  Duce learned to snowboard by attending Shriners Hospitals for Children - Salt Lake's Un-Limb-ited Amputee Camp at the age of 11. It was her physical therapist from Shriners Hospitals for Children who introduced her to the sport. Heidi's first competitive race was in January 2013. She is currently ranked in the top 3 in the country for the sport. This year will be the first time snowboarding will be a part of the Paralympic games.
Dan McCoy, 19, is a former Shriners Hospitals for Children - Erie patient who was introduced to sled hockey at the age of 5. Dan has been playing sled hockey for 14 years and has been a member of the US National Sled Hockey Team for 3 years. He helped Team USA win a gold medal in the 2012 International Paralympic Committee Ice Sledge World Championship in Hamar Norway as well as in the 2012 World Sledge Hockey Challenge in Calgary Alberta CAN.
Joe Dertinger, 18, the men's Junior National Champion, is competing to qualify in downhill skiing.  Dertinger is a patient at Shriners Hospitals for Children - Twin Cities and skis with an adaptive prosthetic leg. Dertinger has been named the Fastest Skier with a Disability in the U.S. under the age of 18. He started skiing at age five and has had thirty prostheses in his life all built by Shriners Hospitals for Children. 
Nicole Roundy, 27, also snowboards with a prosthetic leg and was a patient at Shriners Hospitals for Children - Salt Lake City. At age 8, Nicole was diagnosed with Osteogenic Sarcoma, a form of bone cancer. Later that year she lost her right leg above the knee. Nicole returned to the slopes in 2004 as an adaptive snowboarder. Her first team was with able-bodied athletes who pushed her to be the competitor she is today.
Andrew Haraghey, 18, a downhill skier with Cerebral Palsy began skiing at the age of 7. Due to his cerebral palsy, walking and running were challenging but skiing gave him freedom. During the 2012-13 ski season he began training during the summer with a trip to Mount Hood, OR to ski the glacier. Haraghey is treated at Shriners Hospitals for Children - Springfield.
To learn more about these inspiring athletes, please visit www.ShrinersHospitalsforChildren.org/athletes.  

Read more: http://www.digitaljournal.com/pr/1699547#ixzz2rLpbxCxp

Free Pancakes

Free Pancakes at IHOP® Restaurants on National Pancake Day, Tuesday, March 4

Ninth Annual Fundraiser Expands to Include Canada and Puerto Rico with Similar Effort in Mexico with Goal of Raising $3 Million for Children’s Hospitals and Other Local Charities

GLENDALE, Calif., Jan 23, 2014 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Get ready. Get Set. And … go to IHOP® restaurants on National Pancake Day, March 4, to enjoy a free short stack of buttermilk pancakes — and help raise money for charity!

IHOP restaurants, offering “everything you love about breakfastSM,” will again serve up free short stacks of its famous buttermilk pancakes on National Pancake Day, Shrove Tuesday, March 4, 2014, and after eight years of success, and over $13 million raised in the United States, the family-friendly restaurant chain will expand the program into Canada, Puerto Rico and offer a similar fundraising effort in Mexico for the first time. IHOP hopes to raise more than $3 million for Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals, Shriners Hospitals for Children and other local charities this year.

More than 1,500 IHOP restaurants in the United States, including, for the first time, Canada and Puerto Rico, will be participating in the 15 hours of pancake delight on National Pancake Day, when millions of free pancakes will be served from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. In exchange for the free short stacks, customers are encouraged to leave a voluntary donation in support of Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals, Shriners Hospitals for Children and other local charities. In Mexico, IHOP restaurants will offer a stack of two buttermilk pancakes for the radically reduced price of 29 pesos with that money being donated to Asociación Mexicana de Ayuda a Niños con Cáncer (AMANC) that provides accommodations and resources to children undergoing treatment for cancer and their families.

“Our guests, our franchisees, their team members, and all of us at IHOP look forward to National Pancake Day every year. Knowing that every free stack of buttermilk pancakes has the potential to improve the lives of the children in their own community makes serving them and eating them even more enjoyable than usual,” said Julia Stewart, Interim President, International House of Pancakes, LLC and CEO of the parent company, DineEquity, Inc. “I’m especially proud that what started as a grass roots effort in a few IHOP markets nine years ago has now grown into a significant and truly international event. This year, with the continued generosity of our guests across three countries, we will be able to support wonderful charities like Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals, Shriners Hospitals for Children and AMANC to save and improve the lives of many children in the communities we serve.”

Beginning February 1 through National Pancake Day on March 4, participating IHOP locations in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico Customers who purchase a $5 Miracle Balloon will receive a $5 off coupon that can be used during their next dining visit.

For more information on National Pancake Day  www.ihoppancakeday.com.

ABOUT CHILDREN’S MIRACLE NETWORK HOSPITALS

Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals® raises funds and awareness for 170 member hospitals that provide 32 million treatments each year to kids across the U.S. and Canada. Donations — including all those made on IHOP National Pancake Day — 

ABOUT SHRINERS HOSPITALS FOR CHILDREN

Shriners Hospitals for Children is changing lives every day through innovative pediatric specialty care, world-class research and outstanding medical education. Our 22 facilities, located in the United States, Canada and Mexico, provide advanced care for children with orthopedic conditions, burns, spinal cord injuries, and cleft lip and palate. Learn more at  www.shrinershospitalsforchildren.org .

ABOUT AMANC (Mexican Association to Help Children with Cancer)

Since 1982, AMANC complements the medical care hospitals provide to children and adolescents diagnosed with cancer and their families. This support helps them adhere to their treatment. The AMANC-Mexico City Center provides private lodging, nutritious meals, transportation, drug bank, prosthesis, psychological assistance, school programs, special support during the recuperation period of bone-marrow transplants, all kinds of recreational activities, and development workshops, so that patients and families don’t give up on their treatment due to long distances and other economic, psychological or other outside factors, allowing these children and their families to recover physically and emotionally while being away from their home during treatment days, and also helping them acquire the necessary skills for a better life once hospital days are over. There are 25 Chapters in 23 Mexican states, all aiming to offer the same services to children and their families suffering from cancer.

ABOUT INTERNATIONAL HOUSE OF PANCAKES, LLC

For over 55 years, International House of Pancakes, LLC has been a leader and expert in all things breakfast and a leader in family dining. The chain is highly competitive in its menu offering, serving 65 different signature, made-to-order breakfast options as well as a range of meals under 600 calories.  As of September 2013, there were 1,602 IHOP restaurants in 50 states and the District of Columbia, as well as in Canada, Guatemala, Mexico, Puerto Rico, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, the Philippines and the U.S. Virgin Islands. www.IHOP.com . Follow IHOP on Facebook and Twitter.

NOTE TO EDITORS: Pancake Day is a tradition that dates back several centuries to when the English prepared for fasting during Lent. Strict rules prohibited the eating of all dairy products during Lent, so pancakes were made to use up the supply of eggs, milk, butter and other dairy products … hence the name Pancake Tuesday, or Shrove Tuesday.

SOURCE: International House of Pancakes, LLC 310-376-6600Terry Wills, twills@willscom.com Angela Ibarra,aibarra@willscom.com orIHOPCraig Hoffman, 818-637-3603Craig.Hoffman@dineequity.com

1876 Gold Rush Masonic Lodge Fire Dec.8'13

Etna Evening Star masons plan to rebuild lodge


By David Smith  dsmith@siskiyoudaily.com 
Posted Jan. 21, 2014 @ 9:25 am  Etna’s Evening Star

 No. 186 lodge succumbed to fire in December, but there is now a plan to rebuild the historic piece of the town’s identity.

On Dec. 8, a fire almost completely destroyed the lodge, leaving smoldering beams and little else. Etna Fire Department Chief Alan Kramer said Monday that an investigation eliminated a number of possibilities, leaving the most probable culprit old wiring under sufficient stress.

Kramer said that the use of the lodge’s heating system to keep the bathroom water lines from freezing likely overloaded the wiring, leading to the fire.

According to Evening Star member Demetri Iannios, the group is expecting to set up a donation page through the Order of the Eastern Star grand lodge’s website that will ask Masons nationwide to support the rebuilding effort.

There is no estimate on how long it will take to rebuild the lodge, according to Iannios, who said Monday that the lodge was not insured at the time of the fire. He explained that the time frame for rebuilding depends on how quickly funds can be raised.

The loss of the building was accompanied by the loss of over a century of history, according to Iannios, who said that numerous important documents and artifacts were also destroyed in the blaze. “We lost a lot of history there,” he said. 

That history reaches as far back as 1876, when the lodge was built. Iannios explained that before the fire, the building was one of only four original Gold Rush-era lodges; now only three retain that distinction.

Iannios said that the book of names of all lodge members dating back to 1876 was destroyed, along with a plaque listing all of the past lodge masters.

Iannios said that in addition to the physical reconstruction there is also a historical rebuilding underway, with the lodge asking the public for information about family members who were Evening Star members, and for photos of lodge events.

Iannios said that in the future, copies of information and memorabilia will be kept in an alternate location to prevent another total loss. “We’ve learned a lot from this experience,” he said.

Read more: http://www.siskiyoudaily.com/article/20140121/NEWS/140129962/1001/NEWS#ixzz2r9L46Irh

How to Become a Freemason - The Truth

Undefeated Brian Ortega at Shriners Hospital for Children-LA

BRIAN “T City” ORTEGA, UNDEFEATED MMA ATHLETE, DEDICATES HIS
RESURRECTION FIGHTING ALLIANCE (RFA) FEATHERWEIGHT TITLE FIGHT TO
THE CHILDREN AT SHRINERS HOSPITALS DURING VISIT ON JANUARY 21^ST

Ortega will be honored by Shriners Hospitals for Children Southern California
by naming him a LOVE to the rescue LOVE Ambassador for his continued
support and commitment to the mission of the organization

WHAT:   Shriners Hospitals for Children^® Southern California will host Brian “T City” Ortega as he visits with children, hospital staff and Shriners volunteers to learn more about the life changing treatment provided at the 22 Shriners Hospitals for Children locations across the United States, Mexico and Canada. Brian Ortega’s fight dedication is a testament to his support of Shriners Hospitals for Children and their mission to transform the lives of children through innovative pediatric specialty care, world-class research and outstanding medical education.

Ortega, a hometown favorite and undefeated mixed martial artist (7-0), will headline the Resurrection Fighting Alliance (RFA) 12 on Friday, January 24, 2014 at the historic Shrine Auditorium competing for the featherweight title.  Shriners Hospitals for Children Southern California is pleased to honor him as a local 2014 LOVE to the Rescue® LOVE Ambassador™ as a athlete who will be helping the organization raise awareness of the treatment available at the hospital for children, regardless of their families ability to pay.

Ortega was introduced to Shriners Hospitals by the Mauli Ola Foundation. The Mauli Ola Foundation provides sports related therapies for children with genetic disorders such as cystic fibrosis.  Visitwww.mauliola.org for more information.

WHERE:   Shriners Hospitals for Children Southern California
3160 Geneva Street
Los Angeles, CA 90020-1199

WHEN:      Tuesday, January 21, 2014
10am - 12pm

INTERVIEW OPPORTUNITIES: Brian Ortega, patients and doctors from Shriners Hospitals for Children Southern California and representatives from Mauli Ola Foundation.

EDITIORS NOTE: Brian Ortega will be conducting interviews in both English and Spanish. Many of the children being treated at Shriners Hospitals for Children Southern California are Spanish speaking. Having a well-respected athlete such as Brian, communicating with them in their native language provides a truly meaningful experience.

MEDIA CONTACTS:

Shriners Hospitals for Children Southern California
Carla Valenzuela – 213-368-3394 / cvalenzuela@shrinenet.org

Eat Chili with the Masons

Stockton Masonic Lodge No. 283 will have a chili feed from 4-7 p.m. Friday, Jan. 17, at the lodge at RB Road and Mo. 39. Cost is a donation.

Eel River Empire Masonic Lodge #147

Masons retire six military banners in Fortuna

Humboldt Beacon

  01/17/2014 08:23:36 AM PST

By Mary Bullwinkel, Beacon Correspondent

Six Eel River Valley veterans who have been discharged from the military were honored last weekend by the Eel River Empire Masonic Lodge # 147. The veterans and their families were treated to dinner, hosted by the Masons, and in a special ceremony, were presented with banners that had been displayed on light poles in the city of Fortuna.

The banners are a personalized tribute to each military service member and are removed from public display and presented to each person upon discharge from active service.

Banners were presented to Christopher Lee Bierniek, James Caleb Bierniek, and Ian R. Fletcher Flores, who served in the Marine Corps,; Stephanie Demson Hopkins, who served in the Navy; and Houston Town and Tyler J. Fraser, who served in the Army.

Since the Honor Street banner program began in 2011, this was the first presentation to the veterans leaving active military service.

”The banners serve as a reminder to the community of the men and women who serve, and allows the lodge to recognize and show its pride for members of the military,” Masonic Lodge member Phil Grunert said.

So far, more than 40 banners have been produced, and eight more are in production, according to Lodge representatives, recognizing military service members from Loleta to Garberville. The banners are produced by Fortuna businesses Precision Intermedia and Gorilla Graphics and are paid for by the Masonic Lodge.

If you know of someone who is active in military service and would like them to be honored, contact Grunert at 725-3637.

Photo by Heather Nyberg-Schlotzhauer/Beacon

Pictured, left to right are banners presented to six veterans and their families during a ceremony at the Eel River Empire Masonic Lodge # 147 on Jan. 11: banners for Christopher Lee Bierniek, Stephanie Demson Hopkins, James Caleb Bierniek, Houston Town, Ian R. Fletcher Flores, and Tyler J. Fraser.

Sacramento Ballet at Shriners Hospital for Children

Dancers from the Sacramento Ballet brought their art to Shriners Hospitals for Children Northern California in Sacramento on Tuesday as they performed for young burn patients and children suffering severe orthopedic injuries.

Lizbeth Medina, 6, above center, and Sergio Gutierrez, 10, right, watch pairs of dancers as they perform a lift. After the presentation, Sergio, below, shows the dancers some moves of his own while Maggie Rupp, left, of the ballet follows along.

The ballet aims to both inform and entertain the audience at these performances, which it presents four or five times each year for children, their families and the resident nurses at the Shriners facility

Besides explaining aspects of dance, this visit, featuring a half-dozen dancers, focused on the theme of “Men in Ballet.”

Read more here: http://www.modbee.com/2014/01/14/3135175/an-uplifting-show.html#storylink=cpy

Kern County Shrine Club

GEYF's version of Shrine Potato Bowl has been a winner for all involved

1. 
   1 of 1

   L-R: Kern County Shrine Club president Don Pudiwitr, Golden Empire Youth Tackle Football executive director Ron White, and Kern County Shriner David Stevenson. The youth football league donated proceeds from its recent bowl-game event to the Shriners.

BY ESTEBAN RAMIREZ Special to The Californian

Over a half-century, the Shrine Potato Bowl provided countless memories for football players and fans in Bakersfield and a sizeable financial boost for the Shriners Hospital for Children in Los Angeles.

When the annual community college game ended several years ago, Golden Empire Youth Tackle Football executive director Ron White decided to try to revive it, in a different format, to continue to support the Shriners Hospital, and provide a stage for youth football as well.

"In early 2010, I just happened to be driving by the Kern County Shrine Club and noticed the old Potato Bowl float in the parking lot," said White. "It was pretty decrepit, beat-up, and ... I realized how sad it was that the community lost that event."

It got White to thinking.

"Myself and a few other people approached the Shriners about the idea of bringing it back, and they were in agreement," he said.

"We wanted to make sure that the Shriner's Hospital for Children would continue to receive funding from the Bakersfield community like it had always."

The Shrine Potato Bowl started in 1948 as the first junior college football bowl game. It was consistently a big draw, including a crowd of 20,963 in 1990. In 2002, the Shriners Club chose to withdraw its sponsorship of the event because of increased fees by the state Commission on Athletics.

The name of the event was changed to the Golden Empire Youth Shrine Potato Bowl when it was brought back in 2010 and has been going ever since. The event consists of four to five games between youth teams from Bakersfield and Santa Clarita, including a final game between all-area youth teams from both cities. It has been held at Garces and Independence high schools. Since 2010, the bowl has raised nearly $25,000, including $8,000 this past year to the Shriners Hospital for Children.

"It's very personal to me because as a young man I attended those games, I took my son to those games and you never want to see a staple of the community go away like that, so on a personal level it has meant the world to me," White said of helping the Shriners Hospital.

David Stevenson, chairman for the Kern County Shriners Club Youth Potato Bowl Committee, felt it was a good union from the start "because it does nothing but help kids all around. Whether it's the kids getting to learn the skills in football or the kids in the hospital that are benefitting from the donations.

"So how can it not be a win-win situation all around?
"

Masonic Installation a grand tradition

Newly installed Master of Rim of the World Masonic Lodge #711 (on right in kilt) presents a golden membership card to retiring Master Chester Olsen at last Saturday’s Installation of officers. (Photo by Rhea-Frances Tetley)

Rhea-Frances TetleyStaff Writer

 

The 64th annual Installation of Officers for Rim of the World Lodge # 711 of Free and Accepted Masons was held in Twin Peaks on Friday, December 27, 2013. That date was also the 200th anniversary of the merging of the two Grand Lodges in England in 1813, creating the Masonic Order as it is now known and practiced in America.

Prior to the installation, the lodge presented a Hiriam Award to Dr. Kenneth Witte, a Past Master, who is now very active with Rim of the World Lodge (Rim) since he moved to the mountains a few years ago. He joined the world of Masonry in 1995 and has been active in two previous lodges during his moves in life. Chester Olson, Rim’s Worshipful Master, described Witte as “a Mason’s Mason, that man to whom you can say something needs to be done and it is done.” Witte told The Alpenhorn News, “I am humbled and honored to receive this high award and hope to be able to continue to deserve the respect my fellow brothers have bestowed upon me.”
The formal Installation of officers began with a presentation of the American Flag by three members of the newly established Order of DeMolay chapter in Twin Peaks, Steven Lewis, Garret Marshall and Ethan Absher. Installing officers for the evening were retiring Master Chester Olson; Master of Ceremonies, Lynn Parker and Installing Chaplain Ed Davies. Roger Smith played the organ during the evening’s ceremonies.
Appointed officers installed for the ensuing term were Otis Davies as Tiler; Dr. Wes Kotz as Junior Steward and James Medis as Senior Steward; Scott Rishel as Senior Deacon; Ed Davies as Marshall and Raymond Cenceros, PM as Chaplain.
Elected officers for Rim Lodge were Dr. Charles Thompson as Treasurer, Joseph Grubb as Junior Warden in the North, and Dr. Kenneth Witte, PM as Senior Warden in the West. With great pomp and ceremony, Gran Lecturer Frank Lee installed Aaron Creighton, who was wearing a formal kilt for the ceremony, as Worshipful Master of Rim of the World Lodge #711 for the ensuing year. Before he could be installed to this highest office, Creighton had to prove he was proficient by memorizing the 35,000 words of the Masonic ritual and to understand the ancient traditions that the Masonic order represents. Creighton was “piped-into” office by the Praying Bagpiper Steve Moeller.
December 27 is also date of the Feast of Saint John the Evangelist. According to Masonic tradition, St John the Evangelist was a hot-tempered, intolerant young radical, a cousin of Jesus, who transformed over his lifetime to a man of peace who worked with others sharing his theology of a better way of life. He was the only Disciple who supported Jesus through his trial and attended his crucifixion. As his disposition mellowed, St John became the example of “Brotherly Love,” one of the first lessons taught in Masonry.
To celebrate the Feast of St John, the lodge put on a splendid free feast for all 70 attendees before the installation. The feast included both delicious spiral-cut ham and tender and moist turkey and with all the fixings of potatoes, veggies, breads and tasty apple and pumpkin pies for dessert. This was all made possible by the diligent work of Rose Wiegand, who spent the day in the kitchen; Kathy Creighton and Cheryl Lennox and members of the Order of DeMolay, who served the meals and helped with the clean up.
Rim of the World Lodge #711 meets at the Twin Peaks Masonic Center on Highway 189, behind the restored, antique logging wagon. They sponsor the annual Deep Pit Community Barbeque and other programs on the mountain. They invite all Masons to attend their dinners and meetings. For more information on meeting dates and times, contact Master Aaron Creighton at (909) 589-6281.