Sesostris Shrine

Greetings from your Potentate,

It seems like I just finished writing my last message to you! Time is going by quickly and it is

time once again to write another message. You’ve heard time flies when you are having fun.

Well, we must be having a lot of fun because this year is flying by. 2019 will be halfway over by

the time you get this issue of the FEZtivities. The best half of the year is yet to come!

Every day brings new tasks and challenges. While most are rewarding, there are some that are

challenging. But we work through them and make the best of everything. Some of our success’s

so far are:

• The Easter Egg Hunt - We had great turn out for the first year. We had about 90 children and

200 adults in attendance. My thanks to all that attended and the committee that helped put this

event together. All in all, a great family event, that will hopefully continue in future years.

• Norfolk Circus - This year, the circus was held as an outdoor circus at the Pierce County

Fairgrounds in Pierce, Nebraska. Even though we had many issues to get through, the circus

went on. The weather had moments of being windy and cold, but luckily for us, no significant

rain. My hats off to the Northeast Shrine Club for working hard to make this circus happen

after its absence last year. Thank you to everyone who helped with all our various circuses in

Columbus, Lincoln and Norfolk.

• Shrine Bowl - What a fantastic event, with many activities during the week; starting with

Beyond the Field, where the players got to meet and interact with many of the patients and learn

what this game is truly about. That was followed by many practices that led up to the parade and

the 61st Nebraska Shrine Bowl Game. The game was well-played and even though the North

Team ended the game with more points, the true winners are the children we helped by putting

on this event! All of the events during the week were well-attended by the Sesostris Nobility and

their ladies. A great job to all that made this a truly great and rewarding event.

• Onions - This is a fundraiser that the Shrine has done for a number of years and usually

works very smoothly. This year didn’t work out that way for various reasons. Yes, they were

supposed to be early but, wound up being late. Thanks to the committee for working through

all the issues. Thank you to everyone that sold onions and for being patient until they were

delivered, even though it was over Memorial Day weekend. Great job everyone!

• Give to Lincoln Day - This was a new event/fundraiser for Sesostris Shrine. We had 16

donors that gave a total of $1,132.00 to the Sesostris Shrine Transportation Fund. For this being

our first year, it was very successful. Our main reason for getting involved was to get more

people aware of Sesostris Shrine and our philanthropy.

With every success we have, every once in a while, we've had a disappointment or two. Due

to a lack of candidates, we had to cancel the Spring Ceremonial. We worked with some of the

candidates that were interested in joining this spring, and we were able to short-form in two new

Shriners at the May Stated Meeting.

I don’t understand, with a membership of 1,000 plus Nobles, why we can’t recruit enough

members to have two ceremonials during the year. If every club and unit would bring in one

new Shriner we would have 38 candidates. That one candidate will help your club and unit and

the Shrine with all the fundraisers, selling tickets, etc., that we have throughout the year. That

one candidate might even be a future leader/officer of your club and unit and who knows, maybe

even a future Potentate. So, I challenge every Noble to please keep trying to find candidates so

that we will have a great Fall Ceremonial!

Parade season has begun and I look forward to seeing many of you at the parades or along

the parade routes. Additional upcoming events include CSSA, August 22-24 in Sioux City, IA.

More information is available in this issue of the FEZtivities. The Sportsman’s Raffle will be

kicking off soon. Plan on attending the dinner on July 26 to pick up your

tickets and learn about this year's raffle.

Thank you to all of you and your families for being a part of Sesostris

Shrine!