DESERT DUST FEBRUARY 2015 PAGE 1 PAGE 2 FEBRUARY 2015 DESERT DUST tribution to this special evening. quarters the Center to emulate never visited the Greenville hos- Shrine the greatest. by Shrine Centers worldwide. pital, this will be a great time to We have attended several Club see this wonderful Hospital from We have assembled a great team and Unit Installations of their Of- Lady Mary and I are excited a viewpoint that very few people at our Headquarters, and each ficers, and it has been great to about the scheduled Greenville get. We will be able to talk with person there can help with any spend time with each and every Shriners Open House on March the medical staff and the admin- question you might have. My one of these Clubs and Units dur- 13 and 14. Each visit we make istrative staff to give us informa- door is always open. If you need obles and Ladies: What a to attend this event and this was ing their changing of the guard. to one of our Hospitals makes us tion about the new procedures me - call me. I am there for you. fabulous start to a great very appreciated. I want to thank I want to wish each one of you a proud to be part of the most pro- they have been able to use. If you Nyear! I would like to start everyone who helped with prepa- wonderful and successful year. fessional hospitals in the world. have visited Greenville in the past, In closing, I want to thank the this message by Congratulating Il- ration of this event, especially the The trip this year will include a you are welcome to travel with us Nobility for their obvious support lus. Sir David Sumpter and Lady Aides, Divan members, and the We hope that the officers of all tour of the hospital as well as again. I guarantee you there will of Lady Mary and myself, and Sandy on their fantastic job in special friends who helped Lady Clubs and Units will take advan- other activities that will not only be new and exciting things there also thank the Divan, Committee 2014. It was a privilege for me to Mary. You did a wonderful job of tage of the Committee leadership be educational, but rewarding. that you have never seen before. Chairmen and Desert Dust staff serve with him these past 9 years, making our Temple look incred- teams, to help their individual I hear my clubs and units men- Please join us. for their continued efforts to fulfill his insight and wisdom will be ible. In addition, I need to give a Clubs and Units. Just keep in tion all the time how they would the plans to build a better Shrine missed on the board. Through special thanks to the Oasis office mind that each Committee Chair- like to visit our Hospital! This is I look forward to the Club and Temple membership that will help the dedication and hard work of staff. They went over and above man, and their teams, are there that opportunity. All members of Unit events in the future, and es- us live up to our reputation as the our Oasis members and Lady’s we their normal duties to make sure to help you in any way they can. Oasis Shrine are invited to come pecially our Spring Ceremonial best Shrine Center in the world. were able to donate $1.25 million that our weekend’s events went Please take advantage of their with us to this event. You will in beautiful Maggie Valley. My to Shrine Children’s Hospitals in off without a hitch. abilities to help you make your find the announcement giving goal is to attend every function Yours in the Faith 2014! So the goals for 2015 have Club and Unit grow. the activities for this visit, and a possible to show my full support Todd been set high, but I know the same I know everyone in attendance registration form, in this edition for you and your hard work, dedication from our members of appreciated the hard work by the Some very exciting plans have of The Desert Dust. If you have the members who make Oasis Generations Marching for Kids! Oasis Shrine will help us success- Catawba County Shrine Club in been made for 2015. We plan fully meet or exceed those goals. preparing that wonderful meal. to build on the momentum that No catering company I know of has been established to increase As you will see through the pic- could have done a better job! The membership through the efforts INSTALLATION LOBBY DISPLAY TELLS A STORY tures in this edition, the Club/ food was absolutely great. The of a much improved Membership Unit Appreciation night, with hard working Hospitality team Committee. We hope to increase recognition given by Illustrious deserves a big pat on the back as attendance at our functions with Sir David Sumpter to all of those well. Not many of us think about better communication through Clubs, Units and members who all of the work they do behind the our web site and the Desert Dust have made a difference in the past scenes. We are so lucky to have newspaper. We plan to increase year, was a really huge success. such a great team, led by Allen fund raising through the sup- My thanks go to everybody who and Doris Leatherman, to help port of our Clubs and Units from attended and participated. with our Hospitality needs. Oasis Shrine Center. We want to complete the facelift of your I can’t tell you how much Lady Another item that made the In- headquarters, and through our Mary and I appreciated the turn stallation banquet special was rental support team, we hope to out for this year’s Installation of the magnificent beach display in generate more income, which Officers. A special thanks to the the foyer of our Shrine Center. ultimately will serve to continue Drum and Bugle for their partici- Lady Laurin Carter, wife of 1st to keep your yearly dues at a pation in the event. I was beam- Ceremonial Master Bill Carter, level that is not burdensome to ing with pride as they marched designed and built this display. anyone. With the efforts of our into the auditorium. It made for a With a limited amount of time District Representatives, we have very emotional moment for Lady to complete this artwork, she hopes of reducing our member- Mary and myself. To my Shrine worked hard to produce a scene ship losses for Non-Payment of clubs and units that we have had that was very special to Lady Dues. All of these functions will the privilege to serve these past 9 Mary and myself. I cannot thank help to rebuild our membership Few people were aware that the beautiful display in the Lobby of Oasis Shrine Temple years, you made a special effort her enough for her valuable con- rolls, and will make Oasis head- on the evening of Installation actually delivered a message that we can all understand and appreciate. I would like to take this opportunity to explain my pin and slogan for 2015. As you faced the tent, there was one big Temple displayed which depicted the Imperial Shrine. There were a lot of smaller Temples shown, reflecting the individual Temples The obvious part would be my last name Ham, therefore the Pigs. I have played the that belong to the Shriners International. As you moved toward the rear of the dis- snare Drum with the Drum and Bugle Corps for the past 32 years. My dad Joe the sec- play, you could see Illustrious Sir Todd’s name to the left, and Lady Mary’s name to the ond in line who plays the bugle and has right. Beside each name sat small white lanterns that represented the purity of God’s since 1968. He is now at the age of 80 and love; his white light for each of you to guide you and protect you with his white light of still continues to march. The third Pig is my knowledge. Behind both names was inscribed “Potentate - 2015”. On each side of the youngest brother Brad who also plays the inscription were two sand piles with small sea shells surrounding them representing all snare drum. The fourth pig is my oldest son of our children in the hospitals we work so hard for. In the middle were two big conch shells with a sprig of Acacia on top, representing the life of Noble Richard Rozzell, a Joey who plays the Base drum, and always Noble of Oasis Shrine and a member of Catawba County Shrine Club in Hickory and wears his sunglasses. Bringing up the rear the Gator Patrol who was killed in an accident on the previous Wednesday. The sprig is my youngest son Jeffrey who plays the of Acacia was given to a Gator Lady after the Installation to be delivered to Noble Rich- snare drum as well. ard’s wife, Donna. Generations marching for kids This seems to be a great deal of information, but it tells a very heartfelt story, that brought forth lots of emotion from those familiar with what the display represented. I’m asked all the time if I will finally ride in a Now you, also, can enjoy this wonderful message, displayed for Illustrious Sir Todd and car now that I am Potentate, but as long as for Lady Mary, through the artistic hands of Lady Laurin Carter.