Shriners Summer Solstice Fun Run

- Saturday, June 20
Join us for the Shriners Summer Solstice 8k & 5k.
What used to be known as the Shriners Fun Run will now be a celebration of Summer with on-course performers and a Solstice Festival.

The Shriners and Fleet Feet Sports invite you to join us for the Shriners Summer Solstice 8k & 5k. What used to be known as the Shriners Fun Run will now be a celebration of Summer with on-course performers and a post-race Solstice Festival.

New 2009 Highlights:

* Free Kids Runs
* Brooks Technical Fiber Shirts
* On-course Solstice Performers
* Post-race Solstice Festival

Beneficiary
Entry fees do not benefit the Shriners Hospital for Children and are not tax deductible.This race benefits the Ben Ali Shrine Center of Sacramento,

The Shrine and its 22 hospitals across North America, while maintaining separate legal and financial identities, are linked by the Shrine’s continuing support of Shriners Hospitals.
Ben Ali is one of 191 Shrine Centers across North America supported by more than 400,000 Shriners. The Center, their units, and affiliated Shrine Clubs embody the true spirit of fraternalism.

For information about the Ben Ali Shrine Center, call (916) 920-4107 or visit www.ben-ali-shriners.org. For information about the Shriners Hospitals for Children Northern California, call (916) 453-2000.

Thank you for your support of the “World’s Greatest Fraternity.”

Will the Governor agree with the Congressman on the Shriners Hospital for Children?

Congressman John Fleming sent a letter to Governor Bobby Jindal and leadership in the Louisiana legislature, urging consideration for state funding for LSU Health Sciences Center to allow Shriners Hospital in Shreveport to continue to provide free pediatric care to children in Northwest Louisiana.

The Colorado Corporation of Shriners International will be charged with closing six Shriners Hospitals, including the hospital in Shreveport, Louisiana, in July of this year.

The Hospital focuses on pediatric services such as orthopedic care, burn care, spinal cord rehabilitation, and cleft lip and palate care.

Sneak Preview in Sacramento

• Shriners Hospital Concours d'Elegance. The Shriners Concours will be from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. May 17 at Mather Field, Rancho Cordova,
A sneak preview from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. this Saturday at Town & Country Village, Fulton and Marconi avenues. Extraordinary and vintage automobiles, wooden boats, motorcycles and bicycles will be displayed. Visit www.shrinersconcours.com.

Tickets to JT/Shrine Open

Win tickets for the 2010 JT Shriners Hospitals Tournament

Nationwide is offering a chance to win a trip for 2 to the 2010 Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospitals for Children Open in Las Vegas.
Check out www.justintimberlake.com for mote information

Ken Gillespie a finalist for international Shrine clown competition

Ken Gillespie, best known as Dizzy the Clown, has been a clown for many years.

He’s a volunteer clown for the Shriners and also a contract clown, or a clown who gets paid for his work.The Minot man now is a finalist in the competition for International Shrine Clown Association’s Clown of the Year for 2008.This in itself is a great tribute to your dedication to Shrine Clowning and the ISCA Sneaker Fund, said Larry Foooey Stringer of Arnold, Mo., chairman of the Clown of the Year Committee.The Sneaker Fund is a fundraising activity for Shriners Hospitals for children’s burn research.The ISCA Clown of the Year will be announced at the ISCA Mid-Winter Award Banquet in Atlanta Feb.

The nominees for the ISCA Clown of the Year are nominated by their peers.The ISCA Clown of the Year will also be featured on the cover of a future issue of Clown Alley, Stringer said.At the event in Atlanta next month, Gillespie said he will also compete in the Clown Extraordinaire Division, a top division.

When Gillespie, his wife and their children returned to Minot in 1980 he continued his clown work.

Claudia Gillespie also is a clown.Ken Gillespie ran Kiddy Land in Minot’s Roosevelt Park for a time and then managed Bump & Tilt, also in Minot.He said he was surprised that he was nominated for the ISCA Clown of the Year award.

The temple is in Grand Forks.In Minot, he said there are about 200 Shriners and about 15 Shriners clowns.The Shriners’ clowns do extensive charity work, including working the Shrine Circus, which visits Minot each year.Gillespie was nominated for the ISCA Clown of the Year award by Orren Buttons Anderson, Minot, and all the members of the Minot Merrymen unit of the Minot Shrine Club of Kem Temple.Ken is not a wealthy man but has traveled to Shriners Regional and National conventions more than he can afford.

Ken lives to compete at all levels at every chance he can and has won numerous regional and national clown awards, the nomination letter said.It goes on to say that Gillespie is a great recruiter, motivator, teacher and mentor of new Shrine Clowns and is a leader in the North Dakota Clown Association.

He has been the president of the World Clown Association and has brought their national convention to Minot.

Clown Association.Gillespie also is a regularly published writer of articles in the Shrine Temple publication Burning Sands and in the ISCA magazine Clown Alley.I do not believe you could find a more deserving person to receive this award or one who would represent ISCA as well.

Ken is truly a Shrine Clown who is a credit to his unit, his Shrine Club, Kem Temple, his community, his state and to the International Shrine Clowns Association, the nomination letter also said.

Oroville girl is a Shriner success

Kalyn plays at Playtown Park Thursday. She was born with several bone abnormalities

By MARY WESTON - Staff Writer Enterprise Record-ChicoER.com

OROVILLE -- The little girl with the big smile who rode in the Feather Fiesta Day Parade with the Shriners two years ago, is still smiling even though she's scheduled for a second orthopedic surgery next month.

After the surgery, she will be in a body cast for six weeks.

Kalyn was born with several bone abnormalities of the hip and leg that in many children lead to amputation.

"I was told that she would never walk, and now she is running and jumping, and I can't keep up with her," said her mother Heather.

Peterson thanks the Shriners for medical care that will allow Kalyn to lead a full, active life.

"Shriners don't just drive little cars in parades," Peterson said. "The Shriners do so much to help children and families, and they get very little recognition."

Kalyn was born on March 1, 2006. After 10 days in intensive care, the doctors didn't know what was wrong with her.

"We were then referred to what we now hold so dear to our hearts, Shriners Hospitals for Children in Sacramento," Peterson said.

Shriners hospitals treat children up to 18 with serious conditions including orthopedic problems, spinal cord injuries and burns at no cost, regardless of financial situations.

During the first hospital visit, Heather was diagnosed with a hip and pelvic defect called Proximal Focal Femoral Deficiency, Fibular Hemimelia that caused shortened leg bones, and Knock Kneed Syndrome.

Kalyn had a surgery in May 2008 to lengthen her left leg

Are you getting ready for the 2009 J Timberlake Shriners Hospital for Children PGA Tournament

The time is getting close for you to get your tickets or to sign up to work the JT Shriners Hospital for Children PGA Golf tournament in Las Vegas this October 12th to 18th, 2009, at TPC Summerlin.

Besides the tournament featuring some of the best golf pros, celebrities and amateur players, Timberlake will also host a concert show in Las Vegas to benefit Shriners Hospitals for Children. Last year's concert held at the Planet Hollywood Hotel and Casino on the Las Vegas Strip, presented musical guests Leona Lewis, Jonas Brothers, Rascal Flatts, 50 Cent and Lionel Ritchie and raised more than $1 million for this noble cause.

Last year's event was won by Marc Turnesa, who earned his first PGA victory and secured his PGA Tour card for the next two years. For more information about the Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospitals for Children Open.

Please visit jtshrinersopen.com. or For more information on the volunteer program, please contact Mike Zampini at mzampini@jtshrinersopen.com or call (702) 589-4946.