140 year of Shriners

140 year of Shriners

Monday, February 23, 2015

Thank you Fred and Barney

MOTHERLODE: Solving the mysteries of those bricklaying Masons

Hamilton Spectator
As I tried to stuff Christmas decorations back in the little cold room in the basement, I saw a small box that was familiar. Opening it, I discovered a trove of pins and a tiny book. I recognized it all; at some point, this had been stored in the top drawer of my father's dresser, and we weren't allowed to touch it.
He'd been a Freemason. Growing up, I found this endlessly confusing. My dad was a bricklayer by trade, which he also called a mason. And once a year or so, he'd get dressed up and go to some mysterious meeting, where I pictured a bunch of men building brick walls. My father did not usually go to meetings, and he sure didn't get dressed up unless someone was dead.
The problem with mysteries and little girls? We had to know. My mother tried her best to explain it, but telling us a bunch of sombre men would meet to talk and there were no women allowed and there was certainly no wall-building and it was all very mysterious just made us more inquisitive. We took what we did know and used it to understand what we didn't.
We decided my father was a Water Buffalo, like Fred Flintstone.
My dad didn't find this very funny, but his choice was to reveal secret codes and handshakes or endure us asking him if he was going to his Loyal Order of Water Buffalos meeting. We asked if they wore tall furry hats with horns. He ignored us. I asked what was in the box, and one time he actually showed me: several little pins and a small book. It looked like the little book I had for being a Brownie. I asked if that was the same thing. Dad said, no, but I too had a few little pins and a tiny rule book, so I decided that all of these groups were pretty much the same thing, except being a Brownie wasn't a secret.
It took a few more years for me to put together the connection between my dad's secret meetings and that other secret group, Shriners. The Shriners used to put on a circus, and we were told we were going. I didn't want to go, but some friend of my dad's was a Shriner, so we had to go. I asked what a Shriner was, and got an answer very similar to what a Mason was, and the confusion simply escalated. If both of these groups were No Girls Allowed, I didn't think that was fair and wasn't interested.
My dad caught me snooping once, holding one of those little pins in my hand. He barked and I dropped it, then he apologized and realized he'd have to give me more if he wanted to keep me out of his sock drawer. They do good deeds, he told me. They help people. I asked what Shriners were. He said they sort of like Masons, but they did other things, too. Like the circus? Like the circus.
We'd see Shriners in parades riding around on little motorcycles wearing small red hats. We knew one of them, but we weren't allowed to say he looked silly but I'm sure that was why my dad never became a Shriner: he liked to help people, but he didn't like to look silly.
In the ensuing years, I learned the creators of The Flintstones were absolutely basing their Water Buffalos on Freemasons and Shriners. A wedge between a man and his daughters unravelled by a cartoon.
Thank you, Fred and Barney.
www.lorraineonline.ca

Friday, February 13, 2015

Local man pays forward handmade wooden toys to Shriners

By Eric Turner
A local man in paying forward the kindness shown him by the Shriners and helping children, jut like his own son.
Ron Lee donates the use of his woodworking shop where he and fellow Shriners create handmade wooden toys for children facing challenges early in life. On Your Side's photojournalist Eric Turner brings you a story that's positively Idaho.
http://www.jrn.com/kivitv/news/Local-man-pays-forward-handmade-wooden-toys-to-Shriners-291704841.html

Tuesday, February 10, 2015

SHC & EnjoyLife Foods Partner

TAMPA, Fla.Feb. 10, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Shriners Hospitals for Children® announces its newest Love to the rescue® partner, Enjoy Life Foods®. Through Walk for LOVE™, a series of community walks and family fun festivals held throughout the country, Enjoy Life Foods will help raise awareness and support for the hospitals' mission to provide advanced medical care to children with special health care needs.
Shriners Hospitals for Children provides specialty care for children with orthopaedic conditions, burns, spinal cord injuries and cleft lip and palate at its 22 locations in the United StatesCanada and Mexico. Shriners Hospitals manages all aspects of treatment, including surgery, rehabilitation and psychological support, regardless of the families' ability to pay.
"We are excited to welcome Enjoy Life Foods as a Walk for LOVE partner," commented Dale Stauss, chairman of the Board of Directors for Shriners Hospitals for Children. "Teaming up with Enjoy Life Foods is just another way Shriners Hospitals for Children sends its Love to the rescue."
Additionally, Enjoy Life Foods will make snacks available for patients and families who visit Shriners Hospitals for Children locations as their official allergy-friendly snack provider. All Enjoy Life Foods products are certified gluten-free and free from the top eight allergens: wheat, dairy, peanuts, tree nuts, egg, soy, fish or shellfish.
"It feels great to support Shriners Hospitals for Children's whole-child specialty care through the national Walk for LOVE series and beyond," said CEO and founder of Enjoy Life Foods, Scott Mandell. "Like Shriners Hospitals, we are committed to making a difference in the lives of children and their families."
Love to the rescue is a national awareness and fundraising campaign supporting Shriners Hospitals for Children. Learn more and send your Love to the rescue at Lovetotherescue.org.
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 locations in the United StatesCanada andMexico, provide advanced care for children with orthopaedic conditions, burns, spinal cord injuries and cleft lip and palate. Learn more at ShrinersHospitalsforChildren.org.
Shriners Hospitals for Children is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and relies on the generosity of donors. All donations are tax deductible to the fullest extent permitted by law.
About Enjoy Life Foods
Enjoy Life Foods is the leading brand in the Free From category. All products are gluten-free and free from the top 8 allergens (no:wheat)(no:dairy)(no:peanuts)(no:tree nuts)(no:egg)(no:soy)(no:fish and shellfish) making them safe for over 100 million individuals who live with food intolerances. In addition, all products are verified non-GMO. Enjoy Life Foods was founded by Scott Mandell 12 years ago with the mission to create great-tasting, allergy-friendly snacks. Today the product line has grown to 41 different foods across eight categories all of which are sold in natural food stores, conventional grocery stores, and mass retailers throughout the U.S. and Canada, as well as specialty online retailers. Enjoy Life's mission and company promise is to deliver safe, better-for-you products free from the top 8 allergens, but not free from taste!
Contact: Caitlin Tyler
Email: ctyler@1stdegree.com
Contact: Kasey Moss
Email: kmoss@enjoylifefoods.com
SOURCE Shriners Hospitals for Children; Enjoy Life Foods

Happy Birthday SHC-Salt Lake


Monday, February 9, 2015

Shriners prosthetics lab helps kids be kids


Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/news/business/article9573842.html#storylink=cpy

Haunting plaster impressions of children’s faces hang on a wall of the orthotics and prosthetics lab at Shriners Hospitals for Children Northern California in Sacramento. Each is a mold for a clear plastic mask that reduces scarring on the face of a badly burned child.
Daniel Buchanan stood nearby on a recent day smoothing the rough edges from plaster molds of small legs and feet as another technician, Juana Renteria, wrapped them in heat-softened plastic to make leg braces. At his work station, Rey Eugenio adjusted a ratcheting brace to help correct a nerve condition called brachial plexus that locks a child’s arm at a sharp angle.
The Shriners lab makes about 3,600 devices a year that help kids and teens walk, play sports – and even go to prom on an artificial foot with a high heel. It occupies a sunny wing of the hospital’s tower on Stockton Boulevard. Shriners treats children from Mexico, Canada and the western United States for burns, cleft lips, spinal cord injuries and other conditions, regardless of ability to pay.
The orthotics and prosthetics lab is adopting cutting-edge techniques as the field makes great strides, thanks to advances in computer technology and methods learned from the treatment of veterans coming home from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
“We’ve always had significant leaps and bounds and changes with war,” said lab manager Dan Munoz. Tiny computers that control prostheses or exoskeletons, and even limbs wired directly to patients’ brains, are among the changes, though they likely will take time to become small and sturdy enough to be used by children, Munoz said.
The lab soon will begin using 3-D cameras to map patients’ faces and bodies to make molds for artificial limbs and braces, he said. The technology will replace the current method of pouring a liquid molding gel over a body part or face, which children often find frightening.
A pilot program at Shriners implants magnets into children’s chests and into close-fitting body braces to slowly pull out sunken breast bones.
“We’re opening up a bunch of new doors,” Munoz said.
The technicians at the lab, who sometimes refer to themselves as “mad scientists,” are constantly being called on to invent solutions to children’s needs, including fabricating hands that can hold baseball bats or ski poles, and feet that are angled to fit comfortably in horse stirrups.
“Oftentimes we come up with stuff on the fly,” Munoz said. “That’s the fun part about the job.”
Working with children keeps the job fresh and meaningful, he said.
The lab’s young patients often pick favorite patterns – such as cartoon dinosaurs, brightly colored peace signs or pink camouflage – to decorate the surface of a leg brace or limb sockets.
“It gives them a choice, a sense of control,” said lab technician Marc Coulombe, as he shaped the mold for a leg socket at a workbench by a tall window. “A lot of times they don’t have choice in any of this since birth.”
Bradley Duquette, a 20-year-old UC Davis junior, counts himself among that group. He was born with spina bifida, a defect in the spinal cord that left him with a lack of feeling in his lower body and a variety of related ailments.
He grew up in the Butte County foothill town of Paradise and has been a patient at Shriners since he was 6. He wore a leg brace for years, and he endured five surgeries at Shriners and others at the UC Davis Medical Center next door.
In May, he chose to have his right leg amputated below the knee. An open foot sore that wouldn’t heal was forcing him to use crutches and severely undermining his quality of life. Duquette, a slight young man with dark hair and intelligent eyes, said he had met other spina bifida patients who had also opted for amputation and were better off.
“I was done dealing with it,” he said. “I thought I would be more mobile.”
Now, Duquette sports a sleek carbon-fiber blade for a foot, and a green leg socket with a geometric pattern and a small picture of a cartoon cat – an inside joke between him and his Shriners prosthetist, Rick Wilcox.
On a recent visit, Wilcox checked the fit on a temporary socket Duquette was trying out in preparation for making a final version. Duquette has had several sockets in the nine months since his surgery; new ones must be fashioned as the leg stump heals and swelling subsides.
“The whole time my leg has been changing,” Duquette said in an exam room last week. “It’s like hitting a moving target.”
During his appointment, Duquette wore a UC Davis rowing team jacket and sweatpants with an insignia of crossed oars. He is a coxswain on the university’s crew team, getting up well before dawn most weekdays to practice at the port of West Sacramento. The coxswain, generally a lightweight person, steers the boat and relays information to the rowers.
Duquette is studying neurobiology and physiology at UC Davis, and intends to go to medical school and become a general practitioner – the area of medicine where he feels there’s the most need.
“I’m going to be a doctor,” he said.
Photo:Technicians Matt Amlin, left, and Marc Coulombe work in the orthotics and prosthetics lab at Shriners Hospitals for Children Northern California in Sacramento, making artificial limbs for patients from plaster molds of arm and leg stumps. LEZLIE STERLING LSTERLING@SACBEE.COM

For full story and Pictures see the Sacramento Bee Feb 9th 
http://www.sacbee.com/news/business/article9573842.html


Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/news/business/article9573842.html#storylink=cpyCall The Bee’s Hudson Sangree, (916) 321-1191.

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/news/business/article9573842.html#storylink=cpy

Friday, February 6, 2015

Teenage amputees learn balance, gain confidence at ski camp




PARK CITY,Ut —By Deseret News
 Nicole Davis had no control over how she was born, and doctors said she almost didn't make it.
But Thursday morning, the 18-year-old continued to defy the odds as she came swooshing down the slopes atPark City Mountain Resort.
"There have been times in my life when I need to take a break before everyone else does, but usually I don't let it slow me down," she said.
Davis was born with amniotic band syndrome, meaning her mother's uterus had insufficient amniotic fluid, leaving her limbs constricted with fibrous strands that are left in utero from the ruptured sack. Davis' right leg, toes on both feet and fingers on both hands were tightly wrapped upon birth, and she also had a club foot.
Doctors didn't believe she would survive her first night, let alone learn to walk or live a normal life.
"I got very lucky," Davis said.
Since her birth, however, thanks to close to two dozen surgeries at Shriners Hospitals for Children, the bright-eyed teenager has done anything and everything anyone else her age can do.
"I've run several 5Ks, played soccer in the third grade and was on the school basketball team my freshman year," Davis said.
And now that she knows how to ski, she hopes to continue to do that as well.
Davis, of Provo, is one of 17 teens with limb deficiencies or limb loss from across the United States and beyond who took part in Shriners' annual Un-limb-ited Camp, which gives the patients an opportunity to enjoy different forms of outdoor recreation without having to think about their physical disability.
"Teens face a lot of challenging issues anyway. … They shouldn't have to worry about how their bodies might hold them back from doing something they see others do," said Matthew Lowell, co-director of the camp. "In every sense, they are unlimited. They just have to figure out how to do it.
"It's challenging, just like it is for everyone to learn something new. They just have to learn a different way to make it happen," Lowell said.
The program, which covers the cost of instruction, equipment, food, lodging and activities for participants, has assisted some now-famous paralympic athletes in finding and pursuing their dreams. It also gives teens a chance to mingle and befriend other amputees their age.
Elizabeth Sweeten, of Logan, said she had never met another person with an amputation, but she has already made lasting friendships with other kids participating in the five-day amputee camp.
Sweeten said it has opened her eyes to the negativity that some kids face being different, as she doesn't feel like anyone has ever treated her any differently for her condition.
"I've never been teased," she said. "It's strange to hear the stories about what people have faced, but it teaches me about the ways they learn to respond to that negativity."
Sweeten, 15, was born missing a part of her left leg, requiring a prosthetic before she started walking.
"It's super natural for me," she said. "It's just a part of me. I don't think of it any differently."
Sweeten's prosthetic leg was tethered to her belt so it wouldn't fall off or loosen when she hopped on and rode the ski lift. Other kids had removed their prosthetic limbs — arms and/or legs — to learn to ski without them.
Jesse Brown, who came to Utah from the Tri-Cities area of Washington state, lost his leg to bone cancer at age 10. He said his dad has worked as a ski patroller and "wouldn't believe how good I am if he couldn't see it for himself."
"I've been told this week that with a bit of practice, I could go pro," the 17-year-old amputee said.
Brown's amputation has become so normal for him that he often jokes with kids who ask about it that he's "a transformer."
Brown didn't wear his prosthetic leg while he skied and hardly used the outriggers — an adaptation of a forearm crutch and a shortened ski — to balance. He prefered unrestricted motion and speed when coming down the snow-covered mountains.
"I remember they told me I'd never rock-climb again, and I did that like a month after I got my leg amputated," Brown said.
He's attended three of Shriners' Un-limb-ited camps and aspires to work as a pediatric anesthesiologist so he can inspire other kids to accomplish their dreams.
"I want them to look at me and see what I've been through and know that they can get through whatever they have to, even if it is worse than me," Brown said.
Un-limb-ited participants are selected through an application process that includes an essay where kids must write about their experience being an amputee. The program started 11 years ago with 10 kids, all Shriners patients, and has grown to include more each year.
Lowell said he hates for kids to miss out on the opportunity, which is supported by various partnerships, including with the National Ability Centerthat is located at the Park City resort.
"We all have different abilities. Theirs just happens to be that they are missing an arm or a leg," said Gail Loveland, executive director at the center. "We want them to have a way to help build their self-esteem, their self-confidence and develop lifetime skills."
The facility provides expert training for various sports to people of varying abilities, including people with mental or physical deficiencies, as well as those who are aging.
Recreation, much like most communities, Loveland said, has adapted through the years to welcome all kinds of differences.
"We love to see this as a jumping off point to where they're going to take their lives," she said. "This is a new normal for them, especially those who are recent amputees. We tell them, 'You're normal. It's just a little new.'"

Athena’s miracle began in the Shriners gait lab.

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) —For Video Report go to http://sacramento.cbslocal.com/2015/02/05/botox-helps-children-with-cerebral-palsy-get-back-on-their-feet/
 A treatment commonly used to knock out wrinkles is helping children cope with cerebral palsy, even helping some walk when the disorder attacks their legs.
When you combine botox and computer animation in the same sentence, you might think of a big Hollywood production. You might not guess that the combination of these two are getting children who might never walk back on their feet.
Hearing a neurologist say your child may not be able to walk is frightening. The Johnson’s twins Athena and E.J. were just 9 months old when both were diagnosed with cerebral palsy, a condition not uncommon in premature babies.
Born 10 weeks early, Athena had physical challenges showing up in her legs.
Dr. John Davids is a pediatric orthopedic surgeon who treats children with cerebral palsy. He says the earliest treatments include physical therapy, braces and casting the legs.
Then at age 5, doctors turn to a treatment more commonly associated with supermodels instead of cerebral palsy patients—botox.
“It was a little bit weird, you think of Botox as being more cosmetic type of a thing,” said Athena’s father, George Johnson.
Her parents say the idea of botox to help her walk didn’t quite make sense, since it paralyzes the muscles normally, but would relax the muscles on her.
Doctors have used botox injections to help managed muscles in kids with CP since about 1991, because it helps doctors shut off certain activity.
“In children with CP, there is an imbalance between muscle groups and some of the muscle groups are overactive and those are the groups we target with the Botox to tone down or turn down the activity level,” Davids said.
Surgeons say botox is a bridge therapy to surgery. But before surgery, it’s lights, camera, action, literally. Doctors make videos from every angle and then measure body movements while the child walks. It’s high-tech many children have already encountered.
“It’s the same technology that’s used to make animations in movies and video games things like ‘Avatar’ and ‘Planet of the Apes’ and all of those things,” Davids said. “They’re using the sametechnologies that we are.”
Athena’s miracle began in the Shriners gait lab.
“I thought it was pretty fun that they could actually so that here because I thought that was only in Hollywood and stuff,” she said.
By studying a child’s gait patterns, doctors are able to figure out the best plan for surgery.
“The tracking of the markers with the computer is called kinematics and that’s very precise and so through the kinematics we can understand how the child is moving,” Davids said.
The doctors determine, with the aid of botox, which muscle groups to target with its temporary paralysis. Then, through surgery, an improved walk pattern is made permanent.
Thanks to botox, computer management, and all the medical advances, as well as the experience of the Shriners medical team, Athena is a very active 12-year-old, Whether it’s ziplining with her brother, playing with her dog Zeus, walking, running or riding her bike, she wants to do it all, and now she can.
Cerebral palsy is not a progressive disease, so Athena won’t get worse, but as she grows, she will have to get occasional checkups and tweaks from the doctors at Shriners.

Wednesday, February 4, 2015

Oregon Shrine East/West Football


Taft 7-12 High School senior Pete Lahti has been selected to play in the Oregon East West Shriner All Star Football Game Aug. 1st.
"It's a huge honor," Taft 7-12 High School Athletic Director Shelley Moore said.

Roger Hood, chairman of the Oregon East-West All Star Football Game Association, said high school coaches nominate their players and the state high school football coaches select 30 players for the West team, 30 players for the East team and 30 alternative players for the annual game.
"Pete's selection is a very top honor for him and for Taft," Hood said.
The full player rooster is expected to be online at the Associations website by Feb. 20. Hood said proceeds from the game support the Shriners Hospital for Children in Portland.

Tuesday, February 3, 2015

Burn Awareness Week Feb. 1-7 Lets make this year Burn Free

Dear Shriners and Ladies,
The kitchen is a wonderful place to spend time with your kids — preparing and cooking meals together can be so much fun!

But scalds and burns cause by outlets, stoves, and ovens can happen in an instant, so the kitchen is also one of the most important places to “Be Burn Aware.”

During Burn Awareness Week (February 1-7), please be sure to review and share these tips to help keep kids burn-free!
Practice Electrical Safety
In the U.S., electrical burns and injuries from lightning result in approximately 3,000 admissions to hospital burn units annually, and result in about 1,000 fatalities. Be electrical fire safe:
Place covers on all electrical outlets.
Unplug all electrical devices within a child’s reach.
Come indoors and stay there during an electrical storm.

Prevent Scalding
Every day, hundreds of young children with burn injuries are taken to emergency rooms — children who were never even near a flame. They are victims of scalds … and these types of burns can be prevented. Here are some ways how:
Lower the temperature settings on water heaters to 120° F (49° C) or less.
When filling the bathtub, turn on cold water first, and then mix in warmer water carefully.
Keep pot handles turned inward.

Stay Fire SafeApproximately 85 percent of fire-related deaths occur in homes. And every year, more than 400 children under the age of 10 die in home fires. Many could be prevented by following some prevention tips and precautions:
Never leave food that is cooking unattended; supervise children’s use of the stove, oven, or microwave.
Keep matches and lighters locked up and away from children.
Do not place electrical cords or wires under rugs, over nails, or in high traffic areas.
As a leader in burn care, research, and education since the 1960s, Shriners Hospitals for Children® has many resources available to keep your home fire-safe and your kids burn-free.
Be Burn Aware: Safety begins with you.
Sincerely,
Dale Stauss
Dale Stauss,Chairman of the Board of Directors, Shriners Hospitals for Children®