Join us at the Grand Rapids Masonic Center and expe-rience this special event. A Ladies Activity is planned and already sold out.

Here is an opportunity to share some real fellowship at our Spring Ceremonial. Don’t miss our talented Ritual Team’s presentation of our 1st Section Work. During last fall’s ceremonial they put on an outstanding program. This will be the only full Ceremonial this year. Submit your Pe-titions for new candidates to Sara at the Shrine office.

Don’t miss the Spring Ceremonial!-Harry

When: Saturday, April 29thTime: 12:00 pm to 8:00 pm

Cost: FreeWhere: Grand Rapids Masonic Center

Candidates Report 12:00 pmMembers Lunch 12:00 pm

Ceremonial Session Meeting 1:30 pm Ladies Program 1:00 pm

First section 2:15 pmSecond section 3:30 pm

Social Hour and Fezzing – 5:00 pmDinner – 6:00 pm

Please RSVP for you and your lady to Sara at the Saladin Office. skopec@saladinshrine.com or 616-942-1570.

SALADIN NEWSIssue 2, 2017 - Spring Ceremonial Edition - Saladin Shriners - Grand Rapids, MI

Non-ProfitU.S. Postage

PAIDGrand Rapids, MI Permit

No. 638

Return Service Requested

16 - The Saladin News

One Last Photo...

Saladin ShrineP.O. Box 8637Kentwood, MI 49518

Several Saladin Shriners attended the 92nd Annual East-West Shrine Game January 21, 2017 at Tropicana Field in St. Petersberg, FL. Each year Shriners and football fans enjoy a great tailgate party just outside of the stadium before the game. Pictured from Left to Right at the tailgate: Rick Williams (Recorder and Trustee of Shriners Hospitals for Children), Hannah Reynolds (Rick’s lovely lady doing a nice photo bomb!), Jeff Gooder (Oriental Guide), Ill. Sir John Kustron (Past Potentate - 2006), Imperial Sir Chris Smith (2016-2017 Imperial Potentate - Wahabi Shriners), Harry Jones (Assistant Rabban), Ben Woolley (Chief Aide), Bob DeHaan (Kalamazoo Shrine Club), Neil Perry (Eaton County Shrine Club), John Carpen-ter (Battle Creek Shrine Club), and Jon Duley (Chief Rabban). The next East-West game will be held January 20, 2018 in St. Petersburg, FL. Contact the Saladin Office for more information. Please make plans to join us in St. Petersburg next year!

Spring Ceremonial in Grand Rapids April 29

Harry Jones is ready for all of the candidates at the Spring Ceremonial. Don’t miss this excellent event.

From your Assistant Rabban

Nobles,The Ceremonial is the first time

that new Nobles get to see us as a group. Noble Eric Russell is doing a great job as the First Section Direc-tor. Every Ceremonial that he has done has been better than the last one. Noble Roger Hekstra is doing an awesome job entertaining us with the Second Section.

Nobles please come out on these ceremonial days and support the new Nobles and these Directors

that put in hours of work getting ready.

The facilities that we have available now are allowing us to do things we simply could not do before.

If you think you would like to help on one of these teams please let us know.

We’ve started working to de-velop our class program to provide our incoming nobles with a richer experience.

At the same time our Divan has been thinking a great deal about how to make the day a more com-plete experience for Nobles new and old.

Ceremonials are important to your future!

Sincerely & FraternallyMark BaldwinCeremonial Day Director

From the Ceremonial Day Director

Greetings Nobles!It has been a great start to 2017. Thank you to those

Nobles and their Ladies that have given such a warm wel-come as I have visited with you through out Shrinedom. While it is impossible to attend every Shrine Club or Unit event, please know that Divan makes every effort “within the length of our cable tow” to attend Club events and support our membership.

Our next Temple event will be the March 25th Stated meeting. This year we are making an effort to make it worth your effort to attend our stated meetings. We will have a light lunch available at noon before the 1pm meet-ing – so plan on arriving a little early and catching up with fellow Nobles before the meeting. Once our business is complete, refreshment and fellowship will follow.

On the 29th of April, Saladin Shriners will hold a full Ceremonial for induction of all willing and worthy sons of the desert. This will be our only full Ceremonial for 2017 but it will be a great one. The Ritual cast has been practic-ing their lines to perfection and the Directors Staff have been combing the desert for inspiration as they prepare to help our initiates cross the sands. It will truly be an unfor-gettable experience for the candidates and site to behold for the audience. Make sure not to miss this one!

While there will only be one full Ceremonial this year, there will be multiple opportunities for candidates to be-come a Shriner. We have several mini ceremonials offered and would like the opportunity to bring one to your area. If you have candidates that are ready to become a Shriner but are not able to make our Ceremonial, please let the office know and we will make every effort to coordinate a mini ceremonial.

In the month of May we will have a stated meeting on the 13th. Lunch will be provided before the meeting and fellowship to follow.

It is truly an honor to serve as your Potentate for Saladin Shriners in 2017. Through life’s ups and downs, every time I put on my Fez, I am humbled and reminded that I am part of something much bigger than myself – I am part of a brotherhood that enjoys fellowship with one another, takes time to have fun and laugh with each other and is dedicated to making a positive impact in the world. May brotherly love unite us as we seek to provide relief through our great philanthropy – Shriners Hospitals for Children. Ill. Jonathan Clifford Potentate Saladin Shriners

From the Potentate...2 - The Saladin News - News for Shriners! Directors Staff - Saladin Shriners Unit of the Year - 15

The Saladin contingent had a great time at the East-West Shrine Game in January. Early in the week when the players first get to town, Shriners load them up onto busses and bring them over to our Tampa Shriners Hos-pital to spend a day with our patients and their families. We hope many of the players will come away from their patient experience with a good feeling about the Shriners fraternity and our life-changing philanthropy.

Its not just the players and coaches who show up that day. Shriners and their ladies, Shrine clowns, cosplayers (people who dress up as a character from a movie, book or video game), and hospital supporters all show up to make the day special. It reminds me of our Shrine Temple. There are many different ways to enjoy the experience of being a Shriner and make a difference. It started with you taking the first step and becoming a Shriner. The min-ute you took up the fez, you became a part of our Shrine Temple. From there we started a journey together to cre-ate a fulfilling fraternal experience for you. The Divan is focused on growing and improving several aspects of this experience. If you make it to one of our Temple meetings over the next couple of years, you will see many positive additions. We hope you can make it out to a shrine meet-ing or perhaps be involved in one of our parade units, geographic clubs or special interest units in the coming years. You don’t have to make every meeting and be in every group. Just find the thing you like in our Temple and enjoy yourself doing it.

From the Recorder...

With the “Beast” during the 2017 East-West Shrine Game players visit to the Tampa Shriners Hospital in January. Each year the East-West Game players are joined by clowns, cosplayers (like this fellow playing Beast from Marvel’s X-men), and other volunteers to spend a day visiting with patients and families at our Tampa Hospital. It is the ‘event-of-the-year’ for our Tampa patients and a great experience for our East-West players.

Temple Membership DashboardSource: Shrine Membership Development Specialist (MDS) System - This will appear in every newsletter

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949

927

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14

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35

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1119

881

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-21.27%

None

Watch an exellent video about the players visit.

Jonathan Clifford - Potentate 2017

2017 Calendar of Illustrious Sir Clifford

March 9th -12th – Grand Rapids CircusMarch 25th – Stated Meeting - 1 pm

April 29th – Spring Ceremonial - 1 pmMay 13th – Stated Meeting - 1 pm

July 9th – July 13th – Imperial Session – DaytonaSeptember 23rd – Stated Meeting - 1 pm

November 11th – Potentate’s BallDecember 2nd – Temple Elections - 1 pm

All Events Held at the Grand Rapids Masonic Temple.Lunch will be served at noon before each Stated Meeting. Fellowships with refreshments will follow every meeting.

Shriners - An organization of brothers - 314 - Saladin News - News for Shriners

Mark Berillo

Chairman of the Board of Governors, SHC - Chicago Shriners Hospitals for Children®

February 2017

Orthopaedics Plastic Surgery/Cleft Lip and Palate Rehabilitation/Spinal Cord Injury

When Marty and Rebekah Joyce learned they were expecting another daughter, they were excited that their girls would be so close in age – only 14 months apart. When Addison (Addi) was born, she had a number of medical issues that needed immediate attention, including torticollis – a condition in which a child’s neck pulls to one side, causing a flat head shape. “We weren’t sure where to turn for care,” said Rebekah, “but we heard that Shriners Hospitals has an entire plastics team that handles craniofacial and head issues.” The Joyces set up an initial appointment at the hospital’s head shape clinic when Addi was 5 months old. The hospital’s expert multidisciplinary team recommended that Addi be fitted for a custom-molded headband or helmet when she was 6 months old, and the hospital staff managed that process and Addi’s subsequent care. Clark Schierle, M.D., Ph.D., who specializes in pediatric head shape anomalies, led Addi’s course of treatment. The Shriners Hospital’s team uses advanced equipment to diagnose and treat head shape irregularities. The STARscanner™ uses laser technology to scan a baby’s head in less than two seconds and captures accurate 3-D head shape data.

This is much faster than the traditional method of taking a plaster cast of the baby’s head. A STARband® cranial remolding orthosis (a band or helmet) is then created with the data provided by the STARscanner. The STARband is custom-made with full correction, which means fewer follow-up visits are needed. One helmet will usually last throughout the entire treatment. Addison, who is now just a little more than 1 year old, wore her helmet, which the family had made in a light pink color for fun, for a total of about five months. Her 2-year-old sister called it “Addi’s hat.” The Joyces said that it was not difficult for Addi to wear her helmet and that she rarely complained. “After just a few months, a scan report from the STARscanner showed great improvement in the flat shape on one side of the back of Addi’s head,” said Rebekah. “We were so pleased.”

Head Shaping Clinic Offered at Chicago Shriners Hospital

Addi’s chart shows how her STARband (helmet) improved her head shape

Addi’s wears her STARband in the Shriners head shape clinic

I grew up in a household that af-forded me many great experiences, which I know isn’t always the norm. My dad died when I was 10 from a 2 ½ year vicious battle with can-cer, and while growing up without a father figure at home was tough, it did teach me a lot of great skills. Since my mom worked three jobs, my brother and I were home alone often, and more times than not, I was left to make dinner for us. Our mom always made sure there was plenty of food in the house, but it always had to be prepared (she knew what she was doing…) and thus began my love for cooking. I tell you this because we recently had our annual Saladin Valentine’s dinner, and a handful of people asked me if I ever considered going into the food industry. I always take that question as a compliment, but my answer is always the same. I cook because I love to. I’m afraid if I went into that field as a profession instead of a passion, my outlook on the process would change. I abso-lutely love being able to organize and execute a major event like ours, and I appreciate those who attended and those who helped make it happen.

Thank you for giving me the opportu-nity to serve you.

As a recap to the event if you weren’t there, tickets sold out around February 1st. We fed 75 people a 7 course wine-paired Italian meal fea-turing Italian restaurants and flavors from around the Grand Rapids area. Michael Smith, one of Grand Rapids’ only certified sommeliers, joined us to present each wine with each course. Contributing restaurants and organizations were Osteria Rossa, Carvers, Apertivo, Notos, Trattoria Amore, G.B. Russo’s, and Simply Gooder Catering. A huge “thank you!” goes out to our very own Sara Kopec for all of her prep work, Noble Jason Fongers for being on dish duty all night, Noble Jeff Gooder and his team for the baby cannolis and lamb chop lollipops, Bethany Dykstra for tending bar, Nenad Stojcic and Michael Butler for their service in the kitchen and in the dining room, Kings Violas for the musical enter-tainment, and Noble Roger Hekstra for taking pictures.

Most importantly that night, the Saladin Trust donated $10,000 to the Lexington Shriners Hospital for

Children! This donation was a great way to cap off an incredible evening of fun, fellowship, and Italian Valen-tine’s love. Please consider joining us next year as we continue our tradition of celebrating life and love together as a Saladin family.

Jon DuleyChief RabbanSaladin Shriners

Chief Rabban Gave Amazing Italian Valentine to Saladin

Jonathan Duley, Chief Rabban 2017

OSOCT16TSLP

The Shriners’ Legacy Program: Strengthening Our Fraternal BondsAs Shriners, we are part of an international organization that strengthens us individually, enhances our families and makes us part of a history of brotherhood and camaraderie. And, as Shriners, we also have the opportunity to be legacies. The Legacy Program helps strengthen our fraternal bonds with those closest to us, and allows members to honor the many men before us who laid the foundation of our great fraternity.

Promoting both membership and the Legacy Program will help ensure the future strength of this great organization that has enriched our lives. Shriners International invites each of you to be part of the Legacy Program, and to encourage your family members to participate, as well.

Each February, which is now designated as Legacy Month, temples are encouraged to host Legacy Nights to promote membership and honor the members who have taken part in this program. Shriners International will also share stories of Legacy families in our various publications and on our websites in recognition of their dedication to the Shriners fraternity.

Start Your Family’s Legacy Today: Register on Shriners Village All family members, including: sons, sons-in-law, brothers, uncles, grandfathers, etc., are eligible to become part of the Legacy Program. To make the registration process easy, the membership development office only requires one member of the family’s legacy to register on Shriners Village. When logging in to your account on Shriners Village (shrinersvillage.com), from the “Resources” menu at the top of the web page, select “Membership.” From this page, select “Legacy Program” in the “Membership programs” section. If you have any questions about registration, please contact the membership development office at membership@shrinenet.org or 813-281-0300.

To commemorate taking part in this exciting program, each Legacy can download a certificate signed by the Imperial Potentate and Imperial Recorder. Shriners and their registered relatives can also order online a special gold Legacy pin that represents the pride they have in their Shriner heritage.

For many men, being a Shriner is a family tradition that stretches across generations. The Legacy Program is a way to honor this special bond.

Families who are Leaving a Legacy: Meet the MaxwellsFor the Maxwell family, being a Shriner is a way of life. Mark Maxwell is the administrator of Ainad Shriners in East St. Louis, Ill. He and his four brothers, John, Bob, Mike and Glenn, are also members of Ainad. Mark, his four brothers, his sister, and his son and daughter all worked at the temple as teenagers or young adults. Mark’s father, Russell Maxwell, who started the family legacy, joined the fraternity after returning home from World War II.

Russell was the very first administrator of Ainad Shriners. He was an active member of many of Ainad’s clubs and units, served as temple photographer and editor of the Ainad Bulletin, and played a major part in the temple’s public relations efforts. He also spent several years serving on the Shriners Hospitals for Children — St. Louis® Board of Governors. With a reputation as a hardworking and dedicated Shriner, Russell was widely admired and respected throughout Illinois. According to Mark, Russell helped build the foundation for Ainad’s position today as the seventh largest temple worldwide. Mark said, “My father was the greatest Shriner I’ve ever known.”

Mark and his father have both been noted as being effective spokespersons for the fraternity. Of becoming administrator of Ainad Shriners, Mark said, “it was a natural progression.” Mark has served his temple as administrator for 17 years now. “I truly enjoy being administrator of Ainad; I love every day of it.”

The Maxwell brothers were among the first to formally join the Legacy Program. To them, the program honors the fraternal bond that is so tightly wound around them. “We are very proud to have a family with such a rich history in Shriners International and Ainad,” said Mark.

We encourage all of our legacy families to join the

Russell Maxwell (center) surrounded by his five sons, Mark, John, Bob, Mike and Glenn (fro left to right)n

Become a Legacy Shriner Today!

Saladin Shriners congratulates its newest Legacy Shriner, J. Thomas Brinker of Grand Rapids. Noble Tom’s father was Noble George M. Brinker of Aladdin Temple of Grove City, OH. Noble Tom was presented with a distinc-tive certificate and lapel pin.

All family members, including: sons, sons-in-law, brothers, uncles, grand-fathers, etc., are eligible to become part of the Legacy Program. To make the registration process easy, the membership development office only requires one member of the family’s legacy to register on Shriners Village. Please contact the Saladin Recorder to register your Shrine legacy. This is an excellent program to open a conversation with your son or son-in-law about becoming a Saladin Shriner.

Congratulations Billy King - Shriner of the Year - 134 - Saladin News - News for Shriners

Saladin Transpo: 1,003 hours and $17K since Dec. 1

Babbitt, JamesBathe, KerryBoughner, RobertCulp, DouglasDeHaan, RobertDorn, RogerFenrich, ArnoldFerguson, JoeFlannery, RaymondFrost, MertGeorge, ThomasGrandy, KeithHartmann, RichardHively, StanleyHutch, GeorgeIkerd, David

1111112115231413

385268700268346341825305403

171019991811

341118815951021

9.7514.0019.0014.0010.2510.0023.5010.5012.5055.5099.0057.5010.0037.7540.5029.50

ScarabCassKalamazooCassKalamazooAllegan/OttawaBattle CreekNilesMuskegonKalamazooMuskegonLakeland/Paul BunyanAllegan/OttawaNilesMuskegonKalamazoo

Keyser, JohnKeifer, JamesMeyer, AugustNostrant, GaryPerry, LanaPerry, NeilRavich, RonReith, DeannRooze, MichaelRuble, DavidRussell, RodneySchultz, ThomasWaterman, MarkWilliams, JamesWalker, William

352423224211211

7751552

426287513712038

563560

1552846665404749

11301130

27.0042.7517.0080.5060.5073.2518.0019.0044.7523.5012.7512.0023.0048.0048.00

BerrienScarabBerrienLakeland/Paul BunyanEatonEatonBerrienNilesCaravanBattle CreekEatonMuskegonBattle CreekLakeland/Paul BunyanLakeland/Paul Bunyan

December 1st to February 28th - Driver’s Trip SummaryDriver No. of Trips Mileage Hours Club Driver No. of Trips Mileage Hours Club

Totals# of Trips: 64

Total Miles: 30,142Total Hours: 1,003.25

Driver Supported TripsFuel: $ 1,605.01Tolls: $ 300.00Lodging: $ 642.65Cab Fare: $ 25.00Food: $ 1,594.42Total: $ 4,167.08

Self Drive TripsFuel: $1,954.18Tolls: $ 270.00Food: $1,200.00Lodging: $ 135.00Total: $3,559.18

Saladin Childcare ReportFrom the Saladin Shriners Children’s Trust

Jonathan Clifford, PresidentJonathan Duley, Vice-President

Ryan Powers, TreasurerRick Williams, Secretary

Harry Jones, TrusteeDale Kramer, TrusteeJeff Gooder, Trustee

Gerry Kerbis, Childcare Chairman

Additional ExpensesVehicle Maint: $ 251.70Van Rentals: $ 304.69Mileage-Club Van$ 728.00 Driver Recog $3,544.72Van Insurance: $3,697.74Total: $9,307.49

Drivers completed trips to Chicago and St. LouisSelf Drives to Chicago, Philadelphia, St. Louis, and Salt Lake City

Saladin Children’s Trust Gives $10,000 to Shriners HospitalsThe Trustees of Saladin Shriners

Children’s Trust announced a $10,000 gift to the attendees of the 2017 Sala-din Shriners Valentines party held at the Grand Rapids Masonic Temple on February 11th. The gift is part of an ongoing commitment Saladin Shriners has to our patron charity Shriners Hospitals for Children. The gift, when combined with gifts made in the closing months of 2016, totals more than $120,000 provided by Sala-din Shriners to our hospital system over the last six months.

The gift will go to support the op-erations of our Lexington, KY Hospi-tal. In April 2017, Shriners Hospitals

for Children — Lexington will return to its downtown roots and open as Shriners Hospitals for Children Medi-cal Center. The complex will be locat-ed on South Limestone across from the University of Kentucky Albert B. Chandler Hospital. The new facility will be a state-of-the-art ambulatory care center, owned and operated by Shriners Hospitals for Children and designed to better meet the orthopae-dic needs of children and their fami-lies well into the future. The Hospital will begin seeing patients at the new facility on April 17, 2017. The dedica-tion ceremony will be held on May 21, 2017, at 1 p.m.

Shriners Hospitals for Children provides specialty care for children up to age 18 with or-thopaedic conditions, burns, spinal cord injuries, and cleft lip and palate, regardless of the

families’ ability to pay. All care and services are delivered in a family-centered environment.

For more information about our mission, or to refer a patient, visit shrinershospitalsforchildren.org to locate a hospital near you. Or call 800-237-5055 in the U.S., or 800-361-7256 in Canada.

Ill. Sir Jonathan Clifford announces the $10,000 gift during the 2017 Saladin Shriners Valentines Party held at the Grand Rapids Masonic Temple on February 11, 2017

Shriners Hospitals for Children will dedicate its new Southern California Medical Center in June 2017

The new medical center is part of Shriners Hospitals for Children, the world-renowned 22-location health care system, which specializes in pediatric specialty care, in-novative research and outstanding teaching programs for medical professionals.

The new medical center is located at 909 S. Fair Oaks Avenue in Pasadena, California, between Alessandro Street and Hurlburt Avenue, adjacent to Huntington Hospital. The location will enhance the new collaboration between Shriners for Children Medical Center and Hun-tington Hospital.

The medical center occupies 74,800 square feet on two acres and will have two ambulatory surgery rooms and six PACU suites, 20 outpatient clinic examination rooms, three fitting rooms for prosthetics and orthotics, as well as onsite radiology, child life, pharmacy and care coordina-tion departments.

The most notable difference between the current hos-pital and the new medical center is the absence of onsite inpatient surgical services and the enhancement of reha-bilitation and pre and post-operative services. The collab-oration with Huntington Hospital will allow Shriners for Children Medical Center surgeons to operate on patients using the operating rooms of Pasadena’s premier health care institution.

The new center has been created to meet the rigorous demands of the rapidly changing health care industry and the need for our specialized services in the San Gabriel Valley, the greater Los Angeles metropolitan area, South-ern California, Arizona, New Mexico, Southern Nevada and the provinces of Northern Mexico.

DPR Construction is managing the construction and the firm’s SRG Partnership, Inc. and CO Architects were in charge of the architectural design.

New Shriners Medical Center in Pasadena California

Scan the QR code on the right with your smartphone or tablet to watch a great video update about the new hospital in Pasadena, CA. The Medical Center will be dedicated in June 2017.

Scott J. Luhmann, M.D., is now the chief of staff of Shriners Hospitals for Children — St. Louis.

Dr. Luhmann has been the chief of spinal surgery since 2010. He is a professor in the Washington University School of Medicine Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, and has been in the department since 2000. His areas of clinical interest are pediatric spinal deformity and pediat-ric sports medicine.

As a native of Minnesota, Dr. Luhmann, 52, attended the University of Minnesota School of Medicine and re-ceived his Doctor of Medicine in 1991. Caring for patients with various spinal deformities and abnormalities such as scoliosis is Dr. Luhmann’s specialty. He is devoted to pedi-atric spinal surgery with an emphasis on complex recon-structive treatments and the growing spine in children.

His research interests include treatment of spinal defor-mities (idiopathic adolescent scoliosis, congenital scoliosis and spondylolisthesis); traumatic spinal pathology of the

cervical, thoracic and lumbar spine; neuromuscular sco-liosis; and the growing spine. He is board certified by the American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery.

“My work with Shriners Hospital has been some of the most rewarding aspects of my career,” he said. “I look for-ward to helping guide the St. Louis [Shriners] Hospital in its mission of caring for kids in a family-centered environ-ment, regardless of the families’ ability to pay.”

“Dr. Luhmann’s selection recognizes his outstanding leadership abilities and contributions to orthopaedics,” said Regis O’Keefe, the Reynolds professor of orthopae-dic surgery and chair of the department of orthopaedic surgery at Washington University School of Medicine. “It is also a great acknowledgement of Washington University Orthopedics as a national leader in patient care, educa-tion, and research.”

Dr. Luhmann and his wife, Jan Luhmann, M.D., reside in St. Louis County. They have two children.

Dr. Scott Luhmann named SHC-St. Louis Chief of Staff

12 - Saladin News - News for Shriners Congratulations Paul Bunyan Shrine Club - Saladin Shriners Club of the Year - 5

Thursday School Circus Show cancelled at Promoter’s request

Many Nobles have heard the Thursday morning school show at the Grand Rapids Circus was cancelled this year. The circus promoter for our circus, Noble Jody Jordan, made this request of the Temple in order to be able to tighten the window of time his production company would be in Grand Rapids. While it was a difficult decision, the Divan felt it was better to work with Jody in accommodat-ing his request in order to maintain our business relationship. The Divan apologizes for any difficult situations this issue may have created.

2017 Junior Past Masters invited to join SaladinThe Divan has once again voted to extend an invitation to all of the im-mediate Past Masters in our jurisdic-tion to join Saladin Shriners at our upcoming Spring Ceremonial. The same offer was made last year and the Temple received a very favorable response.

Great Lakes Shrine As-sociation to be hosted by Saladin Shriners in 2018Planning for the 2018 Great Lakes Shrine Association meeting in Grand Rapids is already well underway. Chief Rabban Jon Duley is in regu-lar communication with Ill. Sir Tom Wells, Saladin Past Potentate and

incoming GLSA president. A number of Saladin nobles will be needed to help staff various efforts at the ses-sion. The session will be held Sep-tember 19-22, 2018. Please contact Tom Russell (616) 262-8748 or Jon Duley (616) 893-1071 for more infor-mation.

Jim Kiefer appointed Associate member of Chicago Board.

Noble Jim Kiefer has been appoint-ed to serve as an Associate member of the board of Shriners Hospitals for Children - Chicago. Jim, a past Grand High Priest of Royal Arch Masons in Michigan, was selected to serve with Jerry Kerbis who was reappointed as an associate member. Congratulations Jim!

Shriners International was founded in

New York City in 1872. It is best known for

its colorful parades, the distinctive red hat

– called a fez – and its official philanthropy,

Shriners Hospitals for Children®. Members

come from all walks of life, including politics,

entertainment and professional sports.

Shriners are men who enjoy life, are family-

oriented and are looking for fun, fellowship

and relaxation. Shriners are also committed

to helping children and families in need.

Shriners believe in

tradition.Becoming a Shriner is easier than you may think.

To find out more about how to get started visit

beashrinernow.com. Here you’ll find tips and

resources that will help you understand the

legacy, mission and goals of Shriners International,

as well as the rewards of membership.

• Learn about the steps to become a Master Mason

which qualifies you to be a Shriner.

• Learn how to become a Shriner.

• Connect with your own Virtual Mentor who

will walk you through the membership process

step-by-step.

• Sign up to receive ongoing communication

about community events and opportunities to

interact with local Shriners.

a Shriner?How do I become

To find out more, contact your local Shriners:or call 800-537-4746

Learn more with your smart phone.

ShrinerJoin Us ...

Be a

Greetings Nobles,

I would like to thank you for your continued confidence for electing me to High Priest and Prophet.

It was an honor to do my first installation of club officers back in December for the Muskegon Shrine Club. MSC has a great year planned with a circus and an ambitious parade schedule.

It was a lot of fun working with Nobles to raise money by selling tickets and working the Sportsman Winter Raffle, which is sponsored by Moslem Shrine. Moslem will have another raffle this summer and I encourage all to help raise money for their clubs and the temple. If you have time go down to the event our friends at Moslem Shrine welcome

visiting Nobles. An upcoming event sponsored by

the Scarab’s will be the 3rd annual Meat Fest scheduled for September 23rd after our stated meeting. The Scarabs are hoping that Nobles can plan on attending since they will be in Grand Rapids. It’s sure to be a good time and of course lots of MEAT. To Eat!

I would like to thank the Berrien County Shrine Club for inviting Lady Carol and I to their sweetheart dinner at Skip’s restaurant. It was a good time and great food, I hope BCSC continues to have great events like that. I am also looking forward to visiting other clubs this year.

See you at the stated meeting!

Dale

High Priest Elect Sends Greetings to All Saladin Nobles

Our High Priest and Prophet, Noble Dale Kramer, and his lady Carol

SaladinShrinersLegion ofHonor

We are Shriners who have served or are still serving in our nation’s Armed Forces. We meet monthly and enjoy great fellowship while promoting patriotism and our wonderful Shriners Hospitals for Children Charity.

Shriner Veterans - We want you!Harry Jones, Commander

harryjones@grar.com(616) 293-2588

We are a unit of Shriners dedicated to homebrewing and enjoying brewery tours.

Join Us!Ben Wright

wrightbd@gmail.com(616)540-9505

Visit us on Facebook through this QR code.

Temple News from Page 12

6 - Saladin News - News for Shriners “I’ve never been in a hospital where I felt so much love” - Shriners Patient - 11

NOBLES!! The Legion of Honor invites all Nobles who are Veterans to join our Club. If you are active duty military, in the reserves, a Veteran, Coast Guard or a member of forces that served along with the U.S. Military join us. Our Mission is to sup-port our Veterans and those currently serving in the military, to be available to present colors when needed and to have a good time getting acquainted.

We have added programs to our meet-ings with interesting speakers from the VA, the Michigan Veterans Home and the Department of Military and Veterans Affairs. It is our intent to have speakers who are involved in military activities.

Join our March Meeting, bring a friend and hear our speaker:

James Robert Redford, Director of the Michigan’s Veterans

Affairs Agency When: Wednesday, March 8thSocial Hour: 5:30 p.m.Dinner: 6:30 p.m.Location: Rezervoir Lounge, 1418

Plainfield NE, GR We encourage you to join us to hear

this distinguished Veteran who is a member of the Walter Durkee American Legion Post 311 in Grand Rapids. He is a former Kent County Circuit Court judge and served as Governor Snyder’s chief legal counsel before accepting his new position with the Michigan Veterans Affairs Agency

Call for Reservations ~Jim Kiefer at 616-662-0288 John Cromartie at 616-516-4678 Or Harry Jones at 616-293-2588 We are looking forward to hearing from you.

Harry Jones, Assistant RabbanCommander, Legion of Honor

Assist. Rabban Working Hard With Legion Of HonorThe Saladin Legion of Honor is Still Looking for a “Few Good Men”

Some Services Include...

Low Back Decompression for sciatica

Massage Therapy

Cold Laser Treatments

Posture Medic™ Brace

“Our goal is not only to alleviate pain, but more importantly inspire and

educate our patients to become Active participants in their own well being.”

SALADIN NEWSGrand Rapids, MI

4 ISSUES A YEAR PUBLISHED IN THE INTEREST OF SALADIN SHRINERS

233 East Fulton St, Suite 102Grand Rapids, MI 49503

PH:(616) 942-1570 FAX:(616) 942-6374Hours: 9:30 am to 4:00 pm, Mon-Friday

www.saladinshrine.com

For Information concerning Shriners Hospitals for Children, call

1-800-237-5055or

(616) 942-1570 (ask for Judy)All articles or comments should be directed to the Editor - Recorder@saladinshrine.com

If you would like to provide a photo for our “Around the Temple” section, please contact the Editor for desired photo specifications.

Jonathan Clifford, PotentateCell (616) 929-0115jonathan.d.clifford@gmail.com

Jonathan Duley, Chief RabbanCell (616) 893-1071jlduley@yahoo.com

Harry Jones, Asst RabbanCell (616) 293-2588harryjones@grar.com

Dale Kramer, High PriestCell (616) 293-2441kramerdale@yahoo.com

Jeff Gooder, Oriental Guide Cell (616) 450-6690jeffgooder@gmail.com

Ryan Powers, TreasurerCell (616) 822-7616ryanjackpowers@yahoo.com

Rick Williams, RecorderCell (616) 719-9146recorder@saladinshrine.comSara Kopec, Administrativeskopec@saladinshrine.comJudy Williams, Childcarejudy.williams@saladinshrine.com

The Saladin Fishing Unit...

...is coming back!

Contact the Recorder for more informationrecorder@saladinshrine.com

NEWS from page 2

News From Around the Temple...Nobility Approves Three Year Plan at Annual Meeting of Saladin

During the Annual meeting of Saladin Shriners on January 7th, the Nobility approved the Divan’s recom-mendation to remain at the Grand Rapids Masonic Center for the next three years. The Divan will continue to develop a long term plan for the temple’s structure and location. A three year lease was executed with the Grand Rapids Masonic Temple As-sociation immediately following the annual meeting.

Two Masonic Lodges lost from jurisdictionRising Sun Lodge #119 from Law-rence, MI has consolidated with Paw-

Paw Lawton Lodge #25 in Paw-Paw, MI. The Masonic Center in Lawrence has been sold. Also, Western Star Lodge #39 in Berrien Springs has surrendered its charter. With the loss of both of these lodges, Saladin now has 90 lodges in its jurisdiction with about 6400 Masons among them.

Fall Ceremonial cancelledA facilities scheduling issue neces-

sitated the cancellation of our Fall Ceremonial. The Divan has invested a great deal of time into multi-year planning of the Temple calendar to avoid future conflicts. A conflict with the Valley of Grand Rapids Fall Reunion had been on the radar for sometime. After reviewing sev-eral options the potentate made the decision to cancel the ceremonial. It wasn’t the Temple’s desire to com-

pete with the Scottish Rite event. In looking at other weekends in the Fall schedule, there were two many other date conflicts to make changing the date feasible. The Potentate is consid-ering an off-site mini-ceremonial for the fall.

Oriental Guide headed to OG Seminar in Tampa

Each year Saladin sends its Ori-ental Guide to participate in Shri-ners International’s Oriental Guide Seminar in Tampa. This informative seminar covers a variety of Shrine topics and is an excellent opportunity for our new Divan officer to meet a majority of his peers from throughout the country.

See Temple News Page 12

Shriners Hospitals for Children - Love to the Rescue - 7Petition for Initiation and Membership

Saladin Shriners

To The Potentate, Officers and Nobles of Saladin Shriners, Situated in the City of Grand Rapids, State of Michigan. I, the undersigned, hereby declare that I am a Master Mason in ________________________________ Lodge

No. ________ Located at _________________________________________________(city) _______________ (state)which meets the recognition standards of the Conference of Grand Masters in North America, Interamerican Masonic Confederation or the World Conference of Grand Lodges. Furthermore, I have resided at my current address for not less than 6 months, as required by the Bylaws of Shriners International. I hereby make application to become a Noble of the Order and a member of your temple. If granted membership, I promise to conform to the Articles of Incorporation and Bylaws of Shriners International and the Bylaws and Ceremonies of your temple.

Have you previously applied for admission to any temple of the Order? q Yes q No

If yes, what temple?_______________________________________________ When?_____________________________________________

Were you ever a DeMolay? q Yes q No

If yes, what Chapter? (name and location) ________________________________________________________________________________

Profession / Occupation ______________________________________________________________________________________________

Employer______________________________________________________ Phone ______________________________________________

Birthplace______________________________________________________ Date of Birth ________________________________________

Residence _________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Phone _______________________________________________ Email________________________________________________________

Business __________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Phone _______________________________________________ Email________________________________________________________

Mailing address - Please use qResidence qBusiness

Name of Spouse / Lady _______________________________________________________________________________________________

Date _________________, 20______ Signature ___________________________________________________________________________

Print Full Name __________________________________________________________________________________________________

Recommended By:

Noble________________________________________________________ Member No. ________________________________________

Noble________________________________________________________ Member No. ________________________________________

Fez Size_________________________ Method of payment__________________________________________________________________

Creation Fee With Fez - $265 / Creation Fee with Candidate or Club providing Fez - $125

Number and Street County City State Zip

233 East Fulton St, Suite 102, Grand Rapids, MI 49503www.saladinshrine.com - (616) 942-1570

Number and Street County City State Zip

Jonathan CliffordPotentate 2017

Former Chicago Patient Surprised with Hospital Tour

Shawn Skau enjoys his job as a postal carrier. He completes deliveries and gets the mail where it needs to go, even if it means spending hours each day walking from place to place. It might surprise you how much walk-ing is involved. Skau said one time he tracked his steps and recorded 35 miles in just one workday.

Skau says he has trouble with his feet from time to time. But he doesn’t let his feet get him down or stop him from doing what he wants. For him, it is all in the perspective. When he was a baby, Skau’s parents were told he might never walk, or at least not with a normal gait.

Skau, of Genoa, Illinois, was born with clubfoot, a condition where a baby’s feet are twisted out of shape. It affected both of his tiny legs. A physi-cian recommended taking the baby to Shriners Hospitals for Children — Chicago for our pediatric orthopaedic expertise. “My first visit to Shriners Hospital was when I was 18 months old. As a child I had several surgeries

at the Chicago Shriners Hospital to correct (my club feet),” Skau recalls. As he grew, Skau went on to have more than 10 surgeries at the hospi-tal.

You might think Skau would be glad to move on from a place that required so much from a young man facing surgery after surgery. But the former patient has fond memories and a love for Shriners Hospital. He quickly recalls the fun activities he played while a patient at the hospital, such as wheelchair basketball and bumper pool. And he loved getting to know other boys dealing with ortho-paedic medical conditions. “When I was home, in school, I was the boy who walked funny and couldn’t run very well. When I was at Shriners Hospital, with those boys I was just one of the guys,” he said.

He spoke about Shriners Hospital often enough to make a big impact on his wife Shelly. Recently, Shelly sur-prised her husband by bringing him back to the Chicago Shriners Hospi-tal for a special tour. “I spent many months in that hospital (in your previous building) as a child. Just recently I celebrated my 50th birthday by touring the new hospital which is 34 years old.” After the visit Skau was

invited to give a talk about his experi-ence to the Chicago Shriners Hospi-tal’s Board of Governors.

“I never let my feet keep me from doing what I want(ed). For the last 22 years I have been working as a letter carrier for the United States Postal Service, some days walking for six to seven hours…not too bad for some-one who was told they would prob-ably never walk.”

Cleft Lip and Palate Services expanded in ChicagoShriners Hospitals for Children

Chicago has welcomed Julia Corco-ran, M.D. MHPE, and Lee Alkureishi, M.D., to its expanded plastic surgery team serving children in Chicago and around the Midwest. The Chicago Shri-ners Hospital specializes in cleft lip and palate services, and craniofacial plastic surgery for children in areas such as the jaw, ears and face.

Dr. Corcoran previously served on staff at the Cincinnati Shriners Hos-

pital burn team and most recently at Lurie Children’s Hospital in Chicago, where she was an attending surgeon and director of pediatric plastic surgery education. The hospital is utilizing her expertise in cleft lip and palate, and reconstructive plastic surgery.

Dr. Alkureishi joined the Chicago team after completing a plastic surgery fellowship at Shriners Hospital. He adds to the hospital’s team in microsur-gery, cleft and jaw.

“The cleft lip and palate and cra-niofacial service at Shriners Hospital in Chicago has doubled its efforts to care for children by adding key phy-sicians and other clinical staff,” said Mark Niederpruem, Shriners Hospital administrator. “Leading this expan-sion are plastic surgeons Drs. Alkureshi and Corcoran. Both physicians bring an expertise that will complement the services and Shriners Hospitals’ ability to reach more children.”

Former Patient with Club Foot, now a letter carrier, was once told he would never walk. Shriners Hospitals for Children - Chicago changed all of that.

Former Patient Shawn Skau during his visit to Shriners Hospitals for Children Chicago last Fall.

8 - Saladin News - News for Shriners No man stands so tall as when he stoops to help a child - 9

Dear Fellow Nobles,

In January of each year, the leadership of the hospitals, corporate executives and the members of the joint boards gather for the Leadership Conference. Over the course of a few days, we discuss the previous year’s efforts and accomplishments in depth, and make plans for the future. I’m happy to report that this year’s Conference, held in St. Petersburg, Florida, was a very positive time of discussions and decision-making. Our conversations were positive, hopeful and optimistic.

It’s always good to take a step back and take a fresh look at the past; it can help give us a new perspective, and renew our confidence in the future.

We’ve come a long way since the financial downturn of 2008 that literally affected the entire country. We’ve moved forward with third-party pay, increased donations, focused on operating our health care system more effectively and efficiently, and worked hard to develop a consistent focus and plan. Even more than that, we seem to be working much more as a single unit, focused on a single goal – doing everything we can to strengthen our health care system in order to be able to improve the lives of children and families.

When the market crashed in 2008, Shriners Hospitals for Children saw some difficult times. Our previously strong endowment of $8.9 billion shrunk to approximately $5 billion. During this time, we saw our spend rate spike to over nine percent and our operational deficit climb to $280 million annually.

In response, we made some strategic changes that would ensure our ability to continue our mission of caring for children for many years to come. We have implemented changes to the way we budget, approve new initiatives, monitor ongoing operations and strive to be efficient.

Since 2008, we have been able to strengthen our health care system by investing in several areas, including new (re-placement) facilities, technology (such as advanced radiology systems and telehealth), new salary and benefit programs, a strong marketing campaign ( including participation in iconic television programs), and education programs for staff

and board members.We have done all of this and more, while returning our endowment fund to ap-

proximately $8 billion, lowering our spend rate to less than 5 percent and reducing our annual budget deficit to less than $130 million.

In 2016 specifically, we made tremendous progress, including reducing the draw on the endowment fund by $15.6 million, compared to 2015.

The four hospitals with the most improvements in 2016 in various areas of financial measurements, such as rate of cost to charge and net patient revenue, were Chicago, Philadelphia, Northern California and Shreveport. The hospitals with the greatest reduction in their draw on the endowment fund were Erie, Springfield, St. Louis and Philadelphia. We applaud these hospitals for their hard work and successful efforts and look forward to more such successes in the future. We will continue to work to strengthen all our hospitals and give them the tools and support needed to serve the patients and families in their areas most effectively.

In addition to financial efforts, we are always seeking ways to better serve children in

Jerry G. GanttChairman, Board of Trustees

Shriners Hospitals for Children

need of medical care, and our communities. Along those lines, under the direction of the department of medical affairs, we are streamlining and coordinating our efforts to have Rapid Response teams available to assist during emergencies locally, nationally or internationally, such as the recent fireworks factory explosion in Mexico. In this instance, we were able to provide assistance by sending physicians to help with triage and to facilitate providing care, as well as by arrang-ing for appropriate patients to come to our Galveston location for treatment. We are also seeking to better coordinate and collaborate our staff ’s generous volunteer efforts involving international clinics in order to serve these patients more effectively.2016 was also a successful year for our donor development efforts, which met, and surpassed, the year’s goals in several areas. Among the achievements were the securing of major gifts at the Northern California, Boston, Salt Lake City and Cincinnati hospitals.

Overall hospital fundraising exceeded the goals set for 2016 by $12 million.In addition, online giving increased by more than $10 million, and direct mail and white mail (donations not tied to

a specific area or campaign) each raised close to $25 million.Our donor development team is doing an outstanding job, and we congratulate them.We will celebrate the dedication of the new Shriners for Children Medical Center in Pasadena, California, on April

13. The new 75,000-square-foot, three-story, state-of-the-art medical center will offer treatment for a full range of pe-

diatric orthopaedic conditions, cleft lip and palate, and reconstructive and plastic surgeries. The new facility will also provide orthotics and prosthetics services, ambulatory surgery, rehabilitation and primary care, with inpatient care per-formed at nearby Huntington Memorial Hospital. The two hospitals will work together in a shared services partnership, which will greatly benefit the children in this region. We thank Imperial Sir Chris Smith for his leadership, dedication and effort in planning and coordinating the construction of this wonderful new facility.

And finally, plan to celebrate the dedica-tion of the new Shriners Hospitals for Chil-dren Medical Center in Lexington, Kentucky, on May 21. The new facility will be located on the University of Kentucky HealthCare campus, and will be a state-of-the-art am-bulatory care center, designed to better meet the orthopaedic needs of children and their families well into the future. The new Lex-ington Shriners Hospital facility will include a motion analysis center (one of only three in the state), 20 patient exam rooms, two surgical suites, a rehabilitation gymnasium and therapy rooms, and interactive artwork. Imperial Sir Jeff Sowder did an amazing job overseeing this project, and we thank him for his hard work and effort.

Clearly, we have plenty to be proud of. We also have a lot of work to do. We need to continue to reduce the budget deficit, contain costs, increase efficiency, strengthen donor programs and improve our third-party pay processes.

I am confident that if we continue to work together, we can achieve all of these things.Remember that Shriners International and Shriners Hospitals for Children- are your fraternity and philanthropy,

and that, since that first Shriners Hospital opened in 1922, our unique health care system has become respected and revered worldwide for its generous and compassionate approach to caring for children.

Every one of us should be proud of what our philanthropy has become.Thank you for all you do for Shriners International and Shriners Hospitals for Children.

Jerry G. Gantt Chairman, Board of Trustees Shriners Hospitals for Children

Shriners Hospitals for Children - Love to the Rescue - 7Petition for Initiation and Membership

Saladin Shriners

To The Potentate, Officers and Nobles of Saladin Shriners, Situated in the City of Grand Rapids, State of Michigan. I, the undersigned, hereby declare that I am a Master Mason in ________________________________ Lodge

No. ________ Located at _________________________________________________(city) _______________ (state)which meets the recognition standards of the Conference of Grand Masters in North America, Interamerican Masonic Confederation or the World Conference of Grand Lodges. Furthermore, I have resided at my current address for not less than 6 months, as required by the Bylaws of Shriners International. I hereby make application to become a Noble of the Order and a member of your temple. If granted membership, I promise to conform to the Articles of Incorporation and Bylaws of Shriners International and the Bylaws and Ceremonies of your temple.

Have you previously applied for admission to any temple of the Order? q Yes q No

If yes, what temple?_______________________________________________ When?_____________________________________________

Were you ever a DeMolay? q Yes q No

If yes, what Chapter? (name and location) ________________________________________________________________________________

Profession / Occupation ______________________________________________________________________________________________

Employer______________________________________________________ Phone ______________________________________________

Birthplace______________________________________________________ Date of Birth ________________________________________

Residence _________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Phone _______________________________________________ Email________________________________________________________

Business __________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Phone _______________________________________________ Email________________________________________________________

Mailing address - Please use qResidence qBusiness

Name of Spouse / Lady _______________________________________________________________________________________________

Date _________________, 20______ Signature ___________________________________________________________________________

Print Full Name __________________________________________________________________________________________________

Recommended By:

Noble________________________________________________________ Member No. ________________________________________

Noble________________________________________________________ Member No. ________________________________________

Fez Size_________________________ Method of payment__________________________________________________________________

Creation Fee With Fez - $265 / Creation Fee with Candidate or Club providing Fez - $125

Number and Street County City State Zip

233 East Fulton St, Suite 102, Grand Rapids, MI 49503www.saladinshrine.com - (616) 942-1570

Number and Street County City State Zip

Jonathan CliffordPotentate 2017

Former Chicago Patient Surprised with Hospital Tour

Shawn Skau enjoys his job as a postal carrier. He completes deliveries and gets the mail where it needs to go, even if it means spending hours each day walking from place to place. It might surprise you how much walk-ing is involved. Skau said one time he tracked his steps and recorded 35 miles in just one workday.

Skau says he has trouble with his feet from time to time. But he doesn’t let his feet get him down or stop him from doing what he wants. For him, it is all in the perspective. When he was a baby, Skau’s parents were told he might never walk, or at least not with a normal gait.

Skau, of Genoa, Illinois, was born with clubfoot, a condition where a baby’s feet are twisted out of shape. It affected both of his tiny legs. A physi-cian recommended taking the baby to Shriners Hospitals for Children — Chicago for our pediatric orthopaedic expertise. “My first visit to Shriners Hospital was when I was 18 months old. As a child I had several surgeries

at the Chicago Shriners Hospital to correct (my club feet),” Skau recalls. As he grew, Skau went on to have more than 10 surgeries at the hospi-tal.

You might think Skau would be glad to move on from a place that required so much from a young man facing surgery after surgery. But the former patient has fond memories and a love for Shriners Hospital. He quickly recalls the fun activities he played while a patient at the hospital, such as wheelchair basketball and bumper pool. And he loved getting to know other boys dealing with ortho-paedic medical conditions. “When I was home, in school, I was the boy who walked funny and couldn’t run very well. When I was at Shriners Hospital, with those boys I was just one of the guys,” he said.

He spoke about Shriners Hospital often enough to make a big impact on his wife Shelly. Recently, Shelly sur-prised her husband by bringing him back to the Chicago Shriners Hospi-tal for a special tour. “I spent many months in that hospital (in your previous building) as a child. Just recently I celebrated my 50th birthday by touring the new hospital which is 34 years old.” After the visit Skau was

invited to give a talk about his experi-ence to the Chicago Shriners Hospi-tal’s Board of Governors.

“I never let my feet keep me from doing what I want(ed). For the last 22 years I have been working as a letter carrier for the United States Postal Service, some days walking for six to seven hours…not too bad for some-one who was told they would prob-ably never walk.”

Cleft Lip and Palate Services expanded in ChicagoShriners Hospitals for Children

Chicago has welcomed Julia Corco-ran, M.D. MHPE, and Lee Alkureishi, M.D., to its expanded plastic surgery team serving children in Chicago and around the Midwest. The Chicago Shri-ners Hospital specializes in cleft lip and palate services, and craniofacial plastic surgery for children in areas such as the jaw, ears and face.

Dr. Corcoran previously served on staff at the Cincinnati Shriners Hos-

pital burn team and most recently at Lurie Children’s Hospital in Chicago, where she was an attending surgeon and director of pediatric plastic surgery education. The hospital is utilizing her expertise in cleft lip and palate, and reconstructive plastic surgery.

Dr. Alkureishi joined the Chicago team after completing a plastic surgery fellowship at Shriners Hospital. He adds to the hospital’s team in microsur-gery, cleft and jaw.

“The cleft lip and palate and cra-niofacial service at Shriners Hospital in Chicago has doubled its efforts to care for children by adding key phy-sicians and other clinical staff,” said Mark Niederpruem, Shriners Hospital administrator. “Leading this expan-sion are plastic surgeons Drs. Alkureshi and Corcoran. Both physicians bring an expertise that will complement the services and Shriners Hospitals’ ability to reach more children.”

Former Patient with Club Foot, now a letter carrier, was once told he would never walk. Shriners Hospitals for Children - Chicago changed all of that.

Former Patient Shawn Skau during his visit to Shriners Hospitals for Children Chicago last Fall.

6 - Saladin News - News for Shriners “I’ve never been in a hospital where I felt so much love” - Shriners Patient - 11

NOBLES!! The Legion of Honor invites all Nobles who are Veterans to join our Club. If you are active duty military, in the reserves, a Veteran, Coast Guard or a member of forces that served along with the U.S. Military join us. Our Mission is to sup-port our Veterans and those currently serving in the military, to be available to present colors when needed and to have a good time getting acquainted.

We have added programs to our meet-ings with interesting speakers from the VA, the Michigan Veterans Home and the Department of Military and Veterans Affairs. It is our intent to have speakers who are involved in military activities.

Join our March Meeting, bring a friend and hear our speaker:

James Robert Redford, Director of the Michigan’s Veterans

Affairs Agency When: Wednesday, March 8thSocial Hour: 5:30 p.m.Dinner: 6:30 p.m.Location: Rezervoir Lounge, 1418

Plainfield NE, GR We encourage you to join us to hear

this distinguished Veteran who is a member of the Walter Durkee American Legion Post 311 in Grand Rapids. He is a former Kent County Circuit Court judge and served as Governor Snyder’s chief legal counsel before accepting his new position with the Michigan Veterans Affairs Agency

Call for Reservations ~Jim Kiefer at 616-662-0288 John Cromartie at 616-516-4678 Or Harry Jones at 616-293-2588 We are looking forward to hearing from you.

Harry Jones, Assistant RabbanCommander, Legion of Honor

Assist. Rabban Working Hard With Legion Of HonorThe Saladin Legion of Honor is Still Looking for a “Few Good Men”

Some Services Include...

Low Back Decompression for sciatica

Massage Therapy

Cold Laser Treatments

Posture Medic™ Brace

“Our goal is not only to alleviate pain, but more importantly inspire and

educate our patients to become Active participants in their own well being.”

SALADIN NEWSGrand Rapids, MI

4 ISSUES A YEAR PUBLISHED IN THE INTEREST OF SALADIN SHRINERS

233 East Fulton St, Suite 102Grand Rapids, MI 49503

PH:(616) 942-1570 FAX:(616) 942-6374Hours: 9:30 am to 4:00 pm, Mon-Friday

www.saladinshrine.com

For Information concerning Shriners Hospitals for Children, call

1-800-237-5055or

(616) 942-1570 (ask for Judy)All articles or comments should be directed to the Editor - Recorder@saladinshrine.com

If you would like to provide a photo for our “Around the Temple” section, please contact the Editor for desired photo specifications.

Jonathan Clifford, PotentateCell (616) 929-0115jonathan.d.clifford@gmail.com

Jonathan Duley, Chief RabbanCell (616) 893-1071jlduley@yahoo.com

Harry Jones, Asst RabbanCell (616) 293-2588harryjones@grar.com

Dale Kramer, High PriestCell (616) 293-2441kramerdale@yahoo.com

Jeff Gooder, Oriental Guide Cell (616) 450-6690jeffgooder@gmail.com

Ryan Powers, TreasurerCell (616) 822-7616ryanjackpowers@yahoo.com

Rick Williams, RecorderCell (616) 719-9146recorder@saladinshrine.comSara Kopec, Administrativeskopec@saladinshrine.comJudy Williams, Childcarejudy.williams@saladinshrine.com

The Saladin Fishing Unit...

...is coming back!

Contact the Recorder for more informationrecorder@saladinshrine.com

NEWS from page 2

News From Around the Temple...Nobility Approves Three Year Plan at Annual Meeting of Saladin

During the Annual meeting of Saladin Shriners on January 7th, the Nobility approved the Divan’s recom-mendation to remain at the Grand Rapids Masonic Center for the next three years. The Divan will continue to develop a long term plan for the temple’s structure and location. A three year lease was executed with the Grand Rapids Masonic Temple As-sociation immediately following the annual meeting.

Two Masonic Lodges lost from jurisdictionRising Sun Lodge #119 from Law-rence, MI has consolidated with Paw-

Paw Lawton Lodge #25 in Paw-Paw, MI. The Masonic Center in Lawrence has been sold. Also, Western Star Lodge #39 in Berrien Springs has surrendered its charter. With the loss of both of these lodges, Saladin now has 90 lodges in its jurisdiction with about 6400 Masons among them.

Fall Ceremonial cancelledA facilities scheduling issue neces-

sitated the cancellation of our Fall Ceremonial. The Divan has invested a great deal of time into multi-year planning of the Temple calendar to avoid future conflicts. A conflict with the Valley of Grand Rapids Fall Reunion had been on the radar for sometime. After reviewing sev-eral options the potentate made the decision to cancel the ceremonial. It wasn’t the Temple’s desire to com-

pete with the Scottish Rite event. In looking at other weekends in the Fall schedule, there were two many other date conflicts to make changing the date feasible. The Potentate is consid-ering an off-site mini-ceremonial for the fall.

Oriental Guide headed to OG Seminar in Tampa

Each year Saladin sends its Ori-ental Guide to participate in Shri-ners International’s Oriental Guide Seminar in Tampa. This informative seminar covers a variety of Shrine topics and is an excellent opportunity for our new Divan officer to meet a majority of his peers from throughout the country.

See Temple News Page 12

12 - Saladin News - News for Shriners Congratulations Paul Bunyan Shrine Club - Saladin Shriners Club of the Year - 5

Thursday School Circus Show cancelled at Promoter’s request

Many Nobles have heard the Thursday morning school show at the Grand Rapids Circus was cancelled this year. The circus promoter for our circus, Noble Jody Jordan, made this request of the Temple in order to be able to tighten the window of time his production company would be in Grand Rapids. While it was a difficult decision, the Divan felt it was better to work with Jody in accommodat-ing his request in order to maintain our business relationship. The Divan apologizes for any difficult situations this issue may have created.

2017 Junior Past Masters invited to join SaladinThe Divan has once again voted to extend an invitation to all of the im-mediate Past Masters in our jurisdic-tion to join Saladin Shriners at our upcoming Spring Ceremonial. The same offer was made last year and the Temple received a very favorable response.

Great Lakes Shrine As-sociation to be hosted by Saladin Shriners in 2018Planning for the 2018 Great Lakes Shrine Association meeting in Grand Rapids is already well underway. Chief Rabban Jon Duley is in regu-lar communication with Ill. Sir Tom Russell, Saladin Past Potentate and

incoming GLSA president. A number of Saladin nobles will be needed to help staff various efforts at the ses-sion. The session will be held Sep-tember 19-22, 2018. Please contact Tom Russell (616) 262-8748 or Jon Duley (616) 893-1071 for more infor-mation.

Jim Kiefer appointed Associate member of Chicago Board.

Noble Jim Kiefer has been appoint-ed to serve as an Associate member of the board of Shriners Hospitals for Children - Chicago. Jim, a past Grand High Priest of Royal Arch Masons in Michigan, was selected to serve with Jerry Kerbis who was reappointed as an associate member. Congratulations Jim!

Shriners International was founded in

New York City in 1872. It is best known for

its colorful parades, the distinctive red hat

– called a fez – and its official philanthropy,

Shriners Hospitals for Children®. Members

come from all walks of life, including politics,

entertainment and professional sports.

Shriners are men who enjoy life, are family-

oriented and are looking for fun, fellowship

and relaxation. Shriners are also committed

to helping children and families in need.

Shriners believe in

tradition.Becoming a Shriner is easier than you may think.

To find out more about how to get started visit

beashrinernow.com. Here you’ll find tips and

resources that will help you understand the

legacy, mission and goals of Shriners International,

as well as the rewards of membership.

• Learn about the steps to become a Master Mason

which qualifies you to be a Shriner.

• Learn how to become a Shriner.

• Connect with your own Virtual Mentor who

will walk you through the membership process

step-by-step.

• Sign up to receive ongoing communication

about community events and opportunities to

interact with local Shriners.

a Shriner?How do I become

To find out more, contact your local Shriners:or call 800-537-4746

Learn more with your smart phone.

ShrinerJoin Us ...

Be a

Greetings Nobles,

I would like to thank you for your continued confidence for electing me to High Priest and Prophet.

It was an honor to do my first installation of club officers back in December for the Muskegon Shrine Club. MSC has a great year planned with a circus and an ambitious parade schedule.

It was a lot of fun working with Nobles to raise money by selling tickets and working the Sportsman Winter Raffle, which is sponsored by Moslem Shrine. Moslem will have another raffle this summer and I encourage all to help raise money for their clubs and the temple. If you have time go down to the event our friends at Moslem Shrine welcome

visiting Nobles. An upcoming event sponsored by

the Scarab’s will be the 3rd annual Meat Fest scheduled for September 23rd after our stated meeting. The Scarabs are hoping that Nobles can plan on attending since they will be in Grand Rapids. It’s sure to be a good time and of course lots of MEAT. To Eat!

I would like to thank the Berrien County Shrine Club for inviting Lady Carol and I to their sweetheart dinner at Skip’s restaurant. It was a good time and great food, I hope BCSC continues to have great events like that. I am also looking forward to visiting other clubs this year.

See you at the stated meeting!

Dale

High Priest Elect Sends Greetings to All Saladin Nobles

Our High Priest and Prophet, Noble Dale Kramer, and his lady Carol

SaladinShrinersLegion ofHonor

We are Shriners who have served or are still serving in our nation’s Armed Forces. We meet monthly and enjoy great fellowship while promoting patriotism and our wonderful Shriners Hospitals for Children Charity.

Shriner Veterans - We want you!Harry Jones, Commander

harryjones@grar.com(616) 293-2588

We are a unit of Shriners dedicated to homebrewing and enjoying brewery tours.

Join Us!Ben Wright

wrightbd@gmail.com(616)540-9505

Visit us on Facebook through this QR code.

Temple News from Page 12

Congratulations Billy King - Shriner of the Year - 134 - Saladin News - News for Shriners

Saladin Transpo: 1,003 hours and $17K since Dec. 1

Babbitt, JamesBathe, KerryBoughner, RobertCulp, DouglasDeHaan, RobertDorn, RogerFenrich, ArnoldFerguson, JoeFlannery, RaymondFrost, MertGeorge, ThomasGrandy, KeithHartmann, RichardHively, StanleyHutch, GeorgeIkerd, David

1111112115231413

385268700268346341825305403

171019991811

341118815951021

9.7514.0019.0014.0010.2510.0023.5010.5012.5055.5099.0057.5010.0037.7540.5029.50

ScarabCassKalamazooCassKalamazooAllegan/OttawaBattle CreekNilesMuskegonKalamazooMuskegonLakeland/Paul BunyanAllegan/OttawaNilesMuskegonKalamazoo

Keyser, JohnKeifer, JamesMeyer, AugustNostrant, GaryPerry, LanaPerry, NeilRavich, RonReith, DeannRooze, MichaelRuble, DavidRussell, RodneySchultz, ThomasWaterman, MarkWilliams, JamesWalker, William

352423224211211

7751552

426287513712038

563560

1552846665404749

11301130

27.0042.7517.0080.5060.5073.2518.0019.0044.7523.5012.7512.0023.0048.0048.00

BerrienScarabBerrienLakeland/Paul BunyanEatonEatonBerrienNilesCaravanBattle CreekEatonMuskegonBattle CreekLakeland/Paul BunyanLakeland/Paul Bunyan

December 1st to February 28th - Driver’s Trip SummaryDriver No. of Trips Mileage Hours Club Driver No. of Trips Mileage Hours Club

Totals# of Trips: 64

Total Miles: 30,142Total Hours: 1,003.25

Driver Supported TripsFuel: $ 1,605.01Tolls: $ 300.00Lodging: $ 642.65Cab Fare: $ 25.00Food: $ 1,594.42Total: $ 4,167.08

Self Drive TripsFuel: $1,954.18Tolls: $ 270.00Food: $1,200.00Lodging: $ 135.00Total: $3,559.18

Saladin Childcare ReportFrom the Saladin Shriners Children’s Trust

Jonathan Clifford, PresidentJonathan Duley, Vice-President

Ryan Powers, TreasurerRick Williams, Secretary

Harry Jones, TrusteeDale Kramer, TrusteeJeff Gooder, Trustee

Gerry Kerbis, Childcare Chairman

Additional ExpensesVehicle Maint: $ 251.70Van Rentals: $ 304.69Mileage-Club Van$ 728.00 Driver Recog $3,544.72Van Insurance: $3,697.74Total: $9,307.49

Drivers completed trips to Chicago and St. LouisSelf Drives to Chicago, Philadelphia, St. Louis, and Salt Lake City

Saladin Children’s Trust Gives $10,000 to Shriners HospitalsThe Trustees of Saladin Shriners

Children’s Trust announced a $10,000 gift to the attendees of the 2017 Sala-din Shriners Valentines party held at the Grand Rapids Masonic Temple on February 11th. The gift is part of an ongoing commitment Saladin Shriners has to our patron charity Shriners Hospitals for Children. The gift, when combined with gifts made in the closing months of 2016, totals more than $120,000 provided by Sala-din Shriners to our hospital system over the last six months.

The gift will go to support the op-erations of our Lexington, KY Hospi-tal. In April 2017, Shriners Hospitals

for Children — Lexington will return to its downtown roots and open as Shriners Hospitals for Children Medi-cal Center. The complex will be locat-ed on South Limestone across from the University of Kentucky Albert B. Chandler Hospital. The new facility will be a state-of-the-art ambulatory care center, owned and operated by Shriners Hospitals for Children and designed to better meet the orthopae-dic needs of children and their fami-lies well into the future. The Hospital will begin seeing patients at the new facility on April 17, 2017. The dedica-tion ceremony will be held on May 21, 2017, at 1 p.m.

Shriners Hospitals for Children provides specialty care for children up to age 18 with or-thopaedic conditions, burns, spinal cord injuries, and cleft lip and palate, regardless of the

families’ ability to pay. All care and services are delivered in a family-centered environment.

For more information about our mission, or to refer a patient, visit shrinershospitalsforchildren.org to locate a hospital near you. Or call 800-237-5055 in the U.S., or 800-361-7256 in Canada.

Ill. Sir Jonathan Clifford announces the $10,000 gift during the 2017 Saladin Shriners Valentines Party held at the Grand Rapids Masonic Temple on February 11, 2017

Shriners Hospitals for Children will dedicate its new Southern California Medical Center in June 2017

The new medical center is part of Shriners Hospitals for Children, the world-renowned 22-location health care system, which specializes in pediatric specialty care, in-novative research and outstanding teaching programs for medical professionals.

The new medical center is located at 909 S. Fair Oaks Avenue in Pasadena, California, between Alessandro Street and Hurlburt Avenue, adjacent to Huntington Hospital. The location will enhance the new collaboration between Shriners for Children Medical Center and Hun-tington Hospital.

The medical center occupies 74,800 square feet on two acres and will have two ambulatory surgery rooms and six PACU suites, 20 outpatient clinic examination rooms, three fitting rooms for prosthetics and orthotics, as well as onsite radiology, child life, pharmacy and care coordina-tion departments.

The most notable difference between the current hos-pital and the new medical center is the absence of onsite inpatient surgical services and the enhancement of reha-bilitation and pre and post-operative services. The collab-oration with Huntington Hospital will allow Shriners for Children Medical Center surgeons to operate on patients using the operating rooms of Pasadena’s premier health care institution.

The new center has been created to meet the rigorous demands of the rapidly changing health care industry and the need for our specialized services in the San Gabriel Valley, the greater Los Angeles metropolitan area, South-ern California, Arizona, New Mexico, Southern Nevada and the provinces of Northern Mexico.

DPR Construction is managing the construction and the firm’s SRG Partnership, Inc. and CO Architects were in charge of the architectural design.

New Shriners Medical Center in Pasadena California

Scan the QR code on the right with your smartphone or tablet to watch a great video update about the new hospital in Pasadena, CA. The Medical Center will be dedicated in June 2017.

Scott J. Luhmann, M.D., is now the chief of staff of Shriners Hospitals for Children — St. Louis.

Dr. Luhmann has been the chief of spinal surgery since 2010. He is a professor in the Washington University School of Medicine Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, and has been in the department since 2000. His areas of clinical interest are pediatric spinal deformity and pediat-ric sports medicine.

As a native of Minnesota, Dr. Luhmann, 52, attended the University of Minnesota School of Medicine and re-ceived his Doctor of Medicine in 1991. Caring for patients with various spinal deformities and abnormalities such as scoliosis is Dr. Luhmann’s specialty. He is devoted to pedi-atric spinal surgery with an emphasis on complex recon-structive treatments and the growing spine in children.

His research interests include treatment of spinal defor-mities (idiopathic adolescent scoliosis, congenital scoliosis and spondylolisthesis); traumatic spinal pathology of the

cervical, thoracic and lumbar spine; neuromuscular sco-liosis; and the growing spine. He is board certified by the American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery.

“My work with Shriners Hospital has been some of the most rewarding aspects of my career,” he said. “I look for-ward to helping guide the St. Louis [Shriners] Hospital in its mission of caring for kids in a family-centered environ-ment, regardless of the families’ ability to pay.”

“Dr. Luhmann’s selection recognizes his outstanding leadership abilities and contributions to orthopaedics,” said Regis O’Keefe, the Reynolds professor of orthopae-dic surgery and chair of the department of orthopaedic surgery at Washington University School of Medicine. “It is also a great acknowledgement of Washington University Orthopedics as a national leader in patient care, educa-tion, and research.”

Dr. Luhmann and his wife, Jan Luhmann, M.D., reside in St. Louis County. They have two children.

Dr. Scott Luhmann named SHC-St. Louis Chief of Staff

Shriners - An organization of brothers - 314 - Saladin News - News for Shriners

Mark Berillo

Chairman of the Board of Governors, SHC - Chicago Shriners Hospitals for Children®

February 2017

Orthopaedics Plastic Surgery/Cleft Lip and Palate Rehabilitation/Spinal Cord Injury

When Marty and Rebekah Joyce learned they were expecting another daughter, they were excited that their girls would be so close in age – only 14 months apart. When Addison (Addi) was born, she had a number of medical issues that needed immediate attention, including torticollis – a condition in which a child’s neck pulls to one side, causing a flat head shape. “We weren’t sure where to turn for care,” said Rebekah, “but we heard that Shriners Hospitals has an entire plastics team that handles craniofacial and head issues.” The Joyces set up an initial appointment at the hospital’s head shape clinic when Addi was 5 months old. The hospital’s expert multidisciplinary team recommended that Addi be fitted for a custom-molded headband or helmet when she was 6 months old, and the hospital staff managed that process and Addi’s subsequent care. Clark Schierle, M.D., Ph.D., who specializes in pediatric head shape anomalies, led Addi’s course of treatment. The Shriners Hospital’s team uses advanced equipment to diagnose and treat head shape irregularities. The STARscanner™ uses laser technology to scan a baby’s head in less than two seconds and captures accurate 3-D head shape data.

This is much faster than the traditional method of taking a plaster cast of the baby’s head. A STARband® cranial remolding orthosis (a band or helmet) is then created with the data provided by the STARscanner. The STARband is custom-made with full correction, which means fewer follow-up visits are needed. One helmet will usually last throughout the entire treatment. Addison, who is now just a little more than 1 year old, wore her helmet, which the family had made in a light pink color for fun, for a total of about five months. Her 2-year-old sister called it “Addi’s hat.” The Joyces said that it was not difficult for Addi to wear her helmet and that she rarely complained. “After just a few months, a scan report from the STARscanner showed great improvement in the flat shape on one side of the back of Addi’s head,” said Rebekah. “We were so pleased.”

Head Shaping Clinic Offered at Chicago Shriners Hospital

Addi’s chart shows how her STARband (helmet) improved her head shape

Addi’s wears her STARband in the Shriners head shape clinic

I grew up in a household that af-forded me many great experiences, which I know isn’t always the norm. My dad died when I was 10 from a 2 ½ year vicious battle with can-cer, and while growing up without a father figure at home was tough, it did teach me a lot of great skills. Since my mom worked three jobs, my brother and I were home alone often, and more times than not, I was left to make dinner for us. Our mom always made sure there was plenty of food in the house, but it always had to be prepared (she knew what she was doing…) and thus began my love for cooking. I tell you this because we recently had our annual Saladin Valentine’s dinner, and a handful of people asked me if I ever considered going into the food industry. I always take that question as a compliment, but my answer is always the same. I cook because I love to. I’m afraid if I went into that field as a profession instead of a passion, my outlook on the process would change. I abso-lutely love being able to organize and execute a major event like ours, and I appreciate those who attended and those who helped make it happen.

Thank you for giving me the opportu-nity to serve you.

As a recap to the event if you weren’t there, tickets sold out around February 1st. We fed 75 people a 7 course wine-paired Italian meal fea-turing Italian restaurants and flavors from around the Grand Rapids area. Michael Smith, one of Grand Rapids’ only certified sommeliers, joined us to present each wine with each course. Contributing restaurants and organizations were Osteria Rossa, Carvers, Apertivo, Notos, Trattoria Amore, G.B. Russo’s, and Simply Gooder Catering. A huge “thank you!” goes out to our very own Sara Kopec for all of her prep work, Noble Jason Fongers for being on dish duty all night, Noble Jeff Gooder and his team for the baby cannolis and lamb chop lollipops, Bethany Dykstra for tending bar, Nenad Stojcic and Michael Butler for their service in the kitchen and in the dining room, Kings Violas for the musical enter-tainment, and Noble Roger Hekstra for taking pictures.

Most importantly that night, the Saladin Trust donated $10,000 to the Lexington Shriners Hospital for

Children! This donation was a great way to cap off an incredible evening of fun, fellowship, and Italian Valen-tine’s love. Please consider joining us next year as we continue our tradition of celebrating life and love together as a Saladin family.

Jon DuleyChief RabbanSaladin Shriners

Chief Rabban Gave Amazing Italian Valentine to Saladin

Jonathan Duley, Chief Rabban 2017

OSOCT16TSLP

The Shriners’ Legacy Program: Strengthening Our Fraternal BondsAs Shriners, we are part of an international organization that strengthens us individually, enhances our families and makes us part of a history of brotherhood and camaraderie. And, as Shriners, we also have the opportunity to be legacies. The Legacy Program helps strengthen our fraternal bonds with those closest to us, and allows members to honor the many men before us who laid the foundation of our great fraternity.

Promoting both membership and the Legacy Program will help ensure the future strength of this great organization that has enriched our lives. Shriners International invites each of you to be part of the Legacy Program, and to encourage your family members to participate, as well.

Each February, which is now designated as Legacy Month, temples are encouraged to host Legacy Nights to promote membership and honor the members who have taken part in this program. Shriners International will also share stories of Legacy families in our various publications and on our websites in recognition of their dedication to the Shriners fraternity.

Start Your Family’s Legacy Today: Register on Shriners Village All family members, including: sons, sons-in-law, brothers, uncles, grandfathers, etc., are eligible to become part of the Legacy Program. To make the registration process easy, the membership development office only requires one member of the family’s legacy to register on Shriners Village. When logging in to your account on Shriners Village (shrinersvillage.com), from the “Resources” menu at the top of the web page, select “Membership.” From this page, select “Legacy Program” in the “Membership programs” section. If you have any questions about registration, please contact the membership development office at membership@shrinenet.org or 813-281-0300.

To commemorate taking part in this exciting program, each Legacy can download a certificate signed by the Imperial Potentate and Imperial Recorder. Shriners and their registered relatives can also order online a special gold Legacy pin that represents the pride they have in their Shriner heritage.

For many men, being a Shriner is a family tradition that stretches across generations. The Legacy Program is a way to honor this special bond.

Families who are Leaving a Legacy: Meet the MaxwellsFor the Maxwell family, being a Shriner is a way of life. Mark Maxwell is the administrator of Ainad Shriners in East St. Louis, Ill. He and his four brothers, John, Bob, Mike and Glenn, are also members of Ainad. Mark, his four brothers, his sister, and his son and daughter all worked at the temple as teenagers or young adults. Mark’s father, Russell Maxwell, who started the family legacy, joined the fraternity after returning home from World War II.

Russell was the very first administrator of Ainad Shriners. He was an active member of many of Ainad’s clubs and units, served as temple photographer and editor of the Ainad Bulletin, and played a major part in the temple’s public relations efforts. He also spent several years serving on the Shriners Hospitals for Children — St. Louis® Board of Governors. With a reputation as a hardworking and dedicated Shriner, Russell was widely admired and respected throughout Illinois. According to Mark, Russell helped build the foundation for Ainad’s position today as the seventh largest temple worldwide. Mark said, “My father was the greatest Shriner I’ve ever known.”

Mark and his father have both been noted as being effective spokespersons for the fraternity. Of becoming administrator of Ainad Shriners, Mark said, “it was a natural progression.” Mark has served his temple as administrator for 17 years now. “I truly enjoy being administrator of Ainad; I love every day of it.”

The Maxwell brothers were among the first to formally join the Legacy Program. To them, the program honors the fraternal bond that is so tightly wound around them. “We are very proud to have a family with such a rich history in Shriners International and Ainad,” said Mark.

We encourage all of our legacy families to join the

Russell Maxwell (center) surrounded by his five sons, Mark, John, Bob, Mike and Glenn (fro left to right)n

Become a Legacy Shriner Today!

Saladin Shriners congratulates its newest Legacy Shriner, J. Thomas Brinker of Grand Rapids. Noble Tom’s father was Noble George M. Brinker of Aladdin Temple of Grove City, OH. Noble Tom was presented with a distinc-tive certificate and lapel pin.

All family members, including: sons, sons-in-law, brothers, uncles, grand-fathers, etc., are eligible to become part of the Legacy Program. To make the registration process easy, the membership development office only requires one member of the family’s legacy to register on Shriners Village. Please contact the Saladin Recorder to register your Shrine legacy. This is an excellent program to open a conversation with your son or son-in-law about becoming a Saladin Shriner.

Greetings Nobles!It has been a great start to 2017. Thank you to those

Nobles and their Ladies that have given such a warm wel-come as I have visited with you through out Shrinedom. While it is impossible to attend every Shrine Club or Unit event, please know that Divan makes every effort “within the length of our cable tow” to attend Club events and support our membership.

Our next Temple event will be the March 25th Stated meeting. This year we are making an effort to make it worth your effort to attend our stated meetings. We will have a light lunch available at noon before the 1pm meet-ing – so plan on arriving a little early and catching up with fellow Nobles before the meeting. Once our business is complete, refreshment and fellowship will follow.

On the 29th of April, Saladin Shriners will hold a full Ceremonial for induction of all willing and worthy sons of the desert. This will be our only full Ceremonial for 2017 but it will be a great one. The Ritual cast has been practic-ing their lines to perfection and the Directors Staff have been combing the desert for inspiration as they prepare to help our initiates cross the sands. It will truly be an unfor-gettable experience for the candidates and site to behold for the audience. Make sure not to miss this one!

While there will only be one full Ceremonial this year, there will be multiple opportunities for candidates to be-come a Shriner. We have several mini ceremonials offered and would like the opportunity to bring one to your area. If you have candidates that are ready to become a Shriner but are not able to make our Ceremonial, please let the office know and we will make every effort to coordinate a mini ceremonial.

In the month of May we will have a stated meeting on the 13th. Lunch will be provided before the meeting and fellowship to follow.

It is truly an honor to serve as your Potentate for Saladin Shriners in 2017. Through life’s ups and downs, every time I put on my Fez, I am humbled and reminded that I am part of something much bigger than myself – I am part of a brotherhood that enjoys fellowship with one another, takes time to have fun and laugh with each other and is dedicated to making a positive impact in the world. May brotherly love unite us as we seek to provide relief through our great philanthropy – Shriners Hospitals for Children. Ill. Jonathan Clifford Potentate Saladin Shriners

From the Potentate...2 - The Saladin News - News for Shriners! Directors Staff - Saladin Shriners Unit of the Year - 15

The Saladin contingent had a great time at the East-West Shrine Game in January. Early in the week when the players first get to town, Shriners load them up onto busses and bring them over to our Tampa Shriners Hos-pital to spend a day with our patients and their families. We hope many of the players will come away from their patient experience with a good feeling about the Shriners fraternity and our life-changing philanthropy.

Its not just the players and coaches who show up that day. Shriners and their ladies, Shrine clowns, cosplayers (people who dress up as a character from a movie, book or video game), and hospital supporters all show up to make the day special. It reminds me of our Shrine Temple. There are many different ways to enjoy the experience of being a Shriner and make a difference. It started with you taking the first step and becoming a Shriner. The min-ute you took up the fez, you became a part of our Shrine Temple. From there we started a journey together to cre-ate a fulfilling fraternal experience for you. The Divan is focused on growing and improving several aspects of this experience. If you make it to one of our Temple meetings over the next couple of years, you will see many positive additions. We hope you can make it out to a shrine meet-ing or perhaps be involved in one of our parade units, geographic clubs or special interest units in the coming years. You don’t have to make every meeting and be in every group. Just find the thing you like in our Temple and enjoy yourself doing it.

From the Recorder...

With the “Beast” during the 2017 East-West Shrine Game players visit to the Tampa Shriners Hospital in January. Each year the East-West Game players are joined by clowns, cosplayers (like this fellow playing Beast from Marvel’s X-men), and other volunteers to spend a day visiting with patients and families at our Tampa Hospital. It is the ‘event-of-the-year’ for our Tampa patients and a great experience for our East-West players.

Temple Membership DashboardSource: Shrine Membership Development Specialist (MDS) System - This will appear in every newsletter

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Watch an exellent video about the players visit.

Jonathan Clifford - Potentate 2017

2017 Calendar of Illustrious Sir Clifford

March 9th -12th – Grand Rapids CircusMarch 25th – Stated Meeting - 1 pm

April 29th – Spring Ceremonial - 1 pmMay 13th – Stated Meeting - 1 pm

July 9th – July 13th – Imperial Session – DaytonaSeptember 23rd – Stated Meeting - 1 pm

November 11th – Potentate’s BallDecember 2nd – Temple Elections - 1 pm

All Events Held at the Grand Rapids Masonic Temple.Lunch will be served at noon before each Stated Meeting. Fellowships with refreshments will follow every meeting.

Join us at the Grand Rapids Masonic Center and expe-rience this special event. A Ladies Activity is planned and already sold out.

Here is an opportunity to share some real fellowship at our Spring Ceremonial. Don’t miss our talented Ritual Team’s presentation of our 1st Section Work. During last fall’s ceremonial they put on an outstanding program. This will be the only full Ceremonial this year. Submit your Pe-titions for new candidates to Sara at the Shrine office.

Don’t miss the Spring Ceremonial! -Harry

When: Saturday, April 29thTime: 12:00 pm to 8:00 pm

Cost: FreeWhere: Grand Rapids Masonic Center

Candidates Report 12:00 pmMembers Lunch 12:00 pm

Ceremonial Session Meeting 1:30 pm Ladies Program 1:00 pm

First section 2:15 pmSecond section 3:30 pm

Social Hour and Fezzing – 5:00 pmDinner – 6:00 pm

Please RSVP for you and your lady to Sara at the Saladin Office. skopec@saladinshrine.com or 616-942-1570.

SALADIN NEWSIssue 2, 2017 - Spring Ceremonial Edition - Saladin Shriners - Grand Rapids, MI

Non-ProfitU.S. Postage

PAIDGrand Rapids, MI Permit

No. 638

Return Service Requested

16 - The Saladin News

One Last Photo...

Saladin ShrineP.O. Box 8637Kentwood, MI 49518

Several Saladin Shriners attended the 92nd Annual East-West Shrine Game January 21, 2017 at Tropicana Field in St. Petersberg, FL. Each year Shriners and football fans enjoy a great tailgate party just outside of the stadium before the game. Pictured from Left to Right at the tailgate: Rick Williams (Recorder and Trustee of Shriners Hospitals for Children), Hannah Reynolds (Rick’s lovely lady doing a nice photo bomb!), Jeff Gooder (Oriental Guide), Ill. Sir John Kustron (Past Potentate - 2006), Imperial Sir Chris Smith (2016-2017 Imperial Potentate - Wahabi Shriners), Harry Jones (Assistant Rabban), Ben Woolley (Chief Aide), Bob DeHaan (Kalamazoo Shrine Club), Neil Perry (Eaton County Shrine Club), John Carpen-ter (Battle Creek Shrine Club), and Jon Duley (Chief Rabban). The next East-West game will be held January 20, 2018 in St. Petersburg, FL. Contact the Saladin Office for more information. Please make plans to join us in St. Petersburg next year!

Spring Ceremonial in Grand Rapids April 29

Harry Jones is ready for all of the candidates at the Spring Ceremonial. Don’t miss this excellent event.

From your Assistant Rabban

Nobles,The Ceremonial is the first time

that new Nobles get to see us as a group. Noble Eric Russell is doing a great job as the First Section Direc-tor. Every Ceremonial that he has done has been better than the last one. Noble Roger Hekstra is doing an awesome job entertaining us with the Second Section.

Nobles please come out on these ceremonial days and support the new Nobles and these Directors

that put in hours of work getting ready.

The facilities that we have available now are allowing us to do things we simply could not do before.

If you think you would like to help on one of these teams please let us know.

We’ve started working to de-velop our class program to provide our incoming nobles with a richer experience.

At the same time our Divan has been thinking a great deal about how to make the day a more com-plete experience for Nobles new and old.

Ceremonials are important to your future!

Sincerely & FraternallyMark BaldwinCeremonial Day Director

From the Ceremonial Day Director