Country star Gretchen Wilson-Al Kader Fundraiser

The Molalla Buckeroo, Battle of the Bands, La Fortuna Mexican Festivals and junior rodeos have made Molalla’s rodeo grounds a happening place on recent summer weekends and this Friday and Saturday, July 23 and 24, will be no different.

Country music star Gretchen Wilson is coming to town to perform along with the Piedmont Boys as part of the Al Kader Shriners rodeo fundraiser.

“This is the first year that we’ve ever done it,” said Greg Jenkins of Al Kader Shriners, a fraternal club that supports Shriners Hospitals for Children. “We’re looking at this as a new fundraiser to have. If this works, we look to have one every year.”

While the Al Kader Shriners do a lot of work to support their 22 children’s hospitals located throughout North America, this particular event will raise funds for the club’s operating costs, rather than going directly to the hospitals.

“We have to raise funds so we can keep going, so we can do other things to raise money for the Shriners Hospitals,” Jenkins said. “We’re hoping that it will get people to know more about the Shrine and who the Shriners are and what we do. We’re trying very hard to get more Shriners.”

The Shriners contacted Molalla event planning company Like That Productions, which coordinates the annual Ross Coleman Invitational among other events, to organize the concerts and rodeo.

The two-day event starts on Friday night with an exhibition rodeo, silent auction and cowboy dance, with live music provided by the Piedmont Boys, a country, bluegrass and southern rock band that has made numerous appearances in Molalla.

Gretchen Wilson, whose hits include the Grammy Award-winning song “Redneck Woman,” will perform Saturday night following the bull riding and barrel racing competitions.

The gates at the Buckeroo rodeo grounds (815 Shirley Street, Molalla) will open at 6 p.m. for both the Friday and Saturday events, with rodeo performances starting at 7 p.m.

Admission for Friday’s show is $10 and general admission for Saturday’s show is $25. Arena floor tickets for the Gretchen Wilson concert on Saturday night are $75.

Tickets may be purchased at Wilco Farm Stores, Cutter’s Hi-School Pharmacy, Union Mills Feed Store or from Like That Productions.

For more information, visit www.alkadershriners.org or www.likethatproductions.com or call 503-759-5372.

Shrine Game attendance higher than previously thought

To Play Video go to http://www.kxlf.com/news/shrine-game-attendance-higher-than-previously-thought/

By Melanie Yuill
More people attended the weekend's East-West Shrine Game than originally thought.

The attendance number announced at the game was 4,954; however, Ryan Jonart of the Shrine Game Board says the attendance number announced at the game of 4,954 is incorrect. He says the official attendance number is actually much higher, coming in at 5,562, a big increase from what they originally thought attended.

Jonart also said the event raised close to $70,000. But expenditures have not been factored in yet, so there is no word yet on how much of that will go to the Shriners Hospital in Spokane.

Final numbers will be released later this week.

Shrine Football descends on Eureka

Jul 20, 2010 @ 05:22 PM
Players from across the state gather for workouts for the 36th annual Shrine All Star Football Game Tuesday at Eureka College.




FRED ZWICKY/JOURNAL STAR
Shriner Wally Crouch, far right, lets the guys know they are missing the action as players from across the state gather for workouts for the 36th annual Shrine All Star Football Game Tuesday at Eureka College. The Shriners had gathered to take a group shot with the players.

Chief of Staff Earns Teaching Honors

July 20, 2010

Perry L. Schoenecker, M.D., chief of staff at Shriners Hospitals for Children® – St. Louis, has earned two awards this year in recognition of his work as a professor of orthopaedics at Washington University School of Medicine.

Earlier this year, the residents at Washington University School of Medicine voted to award Dr. Schoenecker with the Palma Chironis Award for excellence in teaching. This is the third time Washington University residents have honored him with this award, previously in 1995 and 1998.

The 2010 graduating orthopaedic residents from the University of Kansas, Wichita, School of Medicine voted him the “Outstanding Teacher of the Year for 2010”.

Dr. Schoenecker has served as chief of staff for Shriners Hospitals for Children® – St. Louis for 33 years. In addition to serving as professor of orthopaedics at Washington University School of Medicine, he is also acting chairman of the department of orthopaedics at St. Louis Children’s Hospital.

Shrine Fest Benefit to Feature Texas Music Artists - August 22, 2009

by Brad Brite, Special to Texas Republic News

A few Texas artists are teaming up for a benefit concert in Wichita Falls, Texas held by the Maskat Shrine Temple. The 4th Annual Shrine Fest, as it is known, will be held on August 22, 2009.

Most of us music buffs know the Shriners from a song that Ray Stevens sang years ago. As funny as that song was, this is serious business. The Shriners are involved in a number of fundraisers and activities including the Shrine Circus, the Shrine Hospital Golf Tournament, annual Easter egg hunts, etc., all benefiting good causes.

This event however is something any good Texan or fan of Texas music can get behind, and yours truly will be helping any way I can.

Let’s check out the line up, how about Charla Corn and Josh Abbott. If that’s not enough lets throw in my friend Casey Donahew. Still not happy? Well get ready: Closing the show will be none other than The Randy Rogers Band.

What more could you ask for? Well guess what there’s more if you buy tickets on line you will be entered in to a drawing for a 52” TV, you get better parking, the first 500 at the gate with online tickets will get a free koozie, and you get into the event an hour early to pick out a good spot to sit. The only stipulation is you have to buy the online tickets before August 18, 2009.

With everything the Shriners are doing I just can’t see this being anything but a great music festival and fundraiser. Instead of reading about this after the fact why not go and witness it first hand, you’ll have a great time and be supporting a worthy cause.

All proceeds from Shrine Fest will benefit the Maskat Shrine Temple activities. To learn more about the Maskat Shrine Temple go to www.maskatshrine.com, and to purchase tickets and/or learn more about Shrine Fest go to www.shrinefest.com. I encourage everyone to come out and help make this event the best one yet, the average attendance is about 5K lets try and double it this year. I hope to see you there.

Remember to close your eyes and open your mind to truly hear the music in life.

Thank you, Brad Brite - for questions or comments. bbkcbrite@juno.com Click on the ShrineFest Logo on the right for more Information

Century-old Port Townsend Masonic hall gets face-lift; members hope to spruce up organization's image,

Masons Bob Ryan, Fred Johnson and Drew Coleman stand outside the Masonic Lodge in Port Townsend. -- Photo by Charlie Bermant/Peninsula Daily News


By Charlie Bermant, Peninsula Daily News

PORT TOWNSEND,Wa-- The worse-for-wear Port Townsend Masonic Center No. 6 is getting a face-lift, but the changes are more than just brick deep.

"When we are finished, this will be the best looking brick building in Port Townsend," lodge Secretary Drew Coleman said.

"It's symbolic of our rebirth, where we are becoming more involved with the community."

The lodge is commemorating its 151st anniversary this year in a building that was built in 1901, burned in 1934 and rebuilt shortly afterward.

In recent years, the brick facade at the corner of Jefferson and Van Buren streets has deteriorated, with members hoping to rehabilitate the exterior.

It came to a head last year when one of the entrance bricks fell out.

Coleman pushed it back into place, but the project took on a sense of urgency.

The deadline to buff up all 4,500 bricks is Sept. 11, at which time the lodge will hold a celebration for members and widows.

The event begins at 3 p.m. and will be preceded by an open house from 9 a.m. until noon that will welcome the public into the renovated building.

Now in its third week, the project included a powerful water blast, followed by drilling out the mortar between each brick by about an inch.

This is enough to allow the application of a new layer of mortar, but not so much that the building will tumble down.

The project is planned to be completed well before the rainy season.

It will cost about $45,000 and is being completed by a local contractor.

"The Masons is a volunteer organization," Coleman said, "but you can't get any of these old guys up a scaffold."

The lodge now has 50 members with an average age of 70.

Recognizing this, the local lodges are making an effort to get younger people involved.

Coleman said Masons have never talk about their accomplishments, preferring to perform good deeds under the radar.

In the past 50 years, they have been talking even less, which has built the group's reputation as a "secret" society.

The high age average is attributable to this trend, as those who are Masons today were recruited at a time when the lodges were more forthcoming.

Today, a trend toward openness along with publicity on cable TV and the Internet have helped to spread the word.

The depiction of the Masons in popular novels by author Dan Brown has also helped.

"Dan Brown's books were obviously fiction, but they helped to tell people what we were all about," Coleman said.

In simplest terms, the Masons are a fraternal -- that is, all male -- organization that strives to help the community.

Members need to be 18 or older, of good character and have never committed a felony -- or if they have, they must have made restitution or served the time.

They also must believe in a supreme being.

"We don't accept atheists," Coleman said. "You have to believe in God to be a Mason, but it doesn't matter which one."

The Masons aren't secret because all of the teachings are in books available online, according to District Deputy James Hansen.

In addition to their low visibility, they do not proselytize, and new members have to ask to join.

Once a petition for membership is received, the applicant is vetted and begins three levels of training, which usually takes from three to six months,

New recruits are assigned a mentor and taken through the three levels.

Those recruits who become masters become mentors for new members.

Masons are worldwide and recognize each other by a tie, ring or lapel pin.

"Whenever I travel and meet other Masons they treat me very well," said Fred Johnson.

"We are getting the word out," Coleman said.

"We are becoming more a part of what is going on in the city."

Audie Murphy/Pamela Murphy

I don't know how I missed this story about the wife of one of our great Heros. Some of Audie Murphy's item's are in the Libary at the North Hollywood masonic lodge.

Story By Dennis McCarthy, Los Angeles Times on April 15, 2010
Pamela Murphy, widow of WWII hero and actor, Audie Murphy, died peacefully at her home on April 8, 2010. She was the widow of the most decorated WWII hero and actor, Audie Murphy, and established her own distinctive 35 year career working as a patient liaison at the Sepulveda Veterans Administration hospital, treating every veteran who visited the facility as if they were a VIP.

Any soldier or Marine who came into the hospital got the same special treatment from her. She would walk the hallways with her clipboard in hand making sure her boys got to see the specialist they needed.

If they didn't, watch out. Her boys weren't Medal of Honor recipients or movie stars like Audie, but that didn't matter to Pam. They had served their country. That was good enough for her. She never called a veteran by his first name. It was always "Mister." Respect came with the job.

"Nobody could cut through VA red tape faster than Mrs. Murphy," said veteran Stephen Sherman, speaking for thousands of veterans she befriended over the years. "Many times I watched her march a veteran who had been waiting more than an hour right into the doctor's office. She was even reprimanded a few times, but it didn't matter to Mrs. Murphy. "Only her boys mattered. She was our angel."


She went from a comfortable ranch-style home in Van Nuys where she raised two sons to a small apartment - taking a clerk's job at the nearby VA to support herself. At first, no one knew who she was. Soon, though, word spread through the VA that the nice woman with the clipboard was Audie Murphy's widow. It was like saying General Patton had just walked in the front door. Men with tears in their eyes walked up to her and gave her a hug.
"Thank you," they said, over and over.

The first couple of years, I think the hugs were more for Audie's memory as a war hero. The last 30 years, they were for Pam.
One year I asked her to be the focus of a Veteran's Day column for all the work she had done. Pam just shook her head no. "Honor them, not me," she said, pointing to a group of veterans down the hallway. "They're the ones who deserve it."
The vets disagreed. Mrs. Murphy deserved the accolades, they said. Incredibly, in 2002, Pam's job was going to be eliminated in budget cuts. She was considered "excess staff." "I don't think helping cut down on veterans' complaints and showing them the respect they deserve, should be considered excess staff," she told me. Neither did the veterans. They went ballistic, holding a rally for her outside the VA gates. Pretty soon, word came down from the top of the VA. Pam Murphy was no longer considered "excess staff."

She remained working full time at the VA until 2007 when she was 87.
"The last time she was here was a couple of years ago for the conference we had for homeless veterans," said Becky James, coordinator of the VA's Veterans History Project. Pam wanted to see if there was anything she could do to help some more of her boys. Pam Murphy was 90 when she died. What a lady.
Dennis McCarthy, Los Angeles Times on April 15, 2010