Happy Thanksgiving…Normally I would have an article from the newsletter I put out for the Lee County Shrine Club. This month I opted to forgo the writing and simply put a series of pictures of our annual magic show. It was a busy day, but truthfully it was a lot of fun. I couldn’t walk the next day. My legs give out much easier now and my right ankle was really frozen and painful. So all I was really able to do Sunday work on the newsletter. I did include a public relations article on Shrine membership. I honestly try to keep this newsletter fresh for the readers. After almost ten years of producing a monthly newsletter that can be a challenge sometimes. I try to add various elements that will keep people interested in reading it. I find that more women read it quicker than the men. I get more feedback from the women.
The ladies involved in the Shriners are just as important and productive as the men. It’s a shame we (the men) haven’t found a way to “officially” add them as members. Freemasonry being the base for membership prohibits women from joining. Not that I am advocating changing one of the base landmarks in Freemasonry; but, after more than a hundred years plus the public aspect of Shriners International, we should have found a way to make the women’s role more official, at least on the club level.
We do have some movement in the Shriners big picture, a couple of new web sites, www.shrinersvillage.com and www.beashrinernow.com. The first is for Shriners and requires membership to enter and the second is a public promotional website. Being a Shriner is a position of service. http://shrinershq.org/
This year’s magic show included a child identification program; the MSCHIP program sponsored by the Grand Lodge of Mississippi. This is a good program and the odds are we are going be responsible for the recovery of a missing/abducted child.
Our magician was from Madison, MS, Dorian LaChance. He was very good, entertaining and energetic; both the kids and adults enjoyed his show. Our timing was off with the addition of the child ID program. Originally we didn’t need a break between shows, I guess we do now. I think our error was that our original magician didn’t put on as long or as good of a show. Next year we will adjust. The last show started an hour late, but it was because we had fifteen boys from the Tupelo Children’s Mansion show up for the noon show and it took awhile to process them all through the ID program. Only one lady got mad and we were able to serve the waiting audience food before the show instead of after.
The delay didn’t faze Dorian; he put on the third show with just as much energy and excitement as the previous two. He put on a show that made the crowd forget the waiting time. I enjoy dealing with someone with a good work ethic. Those boys from the children’s mansion stayed after the show and helped stack the chairs. It all worked out fine. One thing I noticed about this magician, he had the timing required to obtain the predictive response from the kids in the audience. This skill allowed all the kids in the audience to feel involved in the show and he did without being too unoriginal. I saw even the shy, introverted kids open up and get involved.
Even though my legs were hurting, I was able to go home in a good mood about the show, plus I got to see some cool magic tricks. www.magicbydorian.com
www.mansionkids.org
Today is a day for family and friends. Christy has to work part of the day, retail. Holidays used to be about the holiday and celebrating; now it is about increasing sales. Everything is on sale plus stores expect increased profits. Makes you wonder about the actual value of the product in the first place. What is the cliché? You can go broke saving money.
Have a happy holiday and drive safe.
I give up!
10 years ago