THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, September 7, 1994 TAG: 9409030211
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 06 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Cover Story
SOURCE: BY TOM HOLDEN, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 244 lines
YOU GOTTA WONDER about these guys.
Each year they parade down Atlantic Avenue, tucked into tiny sports cars powered by zippy lawn mower engines and wearing costumes that seem straight from the pages of the ``Arabian Nights.''
Then a bunch of guys old enough to have grandkids come along in all their glad-handing glory, marching happily along in billowing yellow harem pants and bright red fezzes.
Harem pants! No one wears those, 'cept maybe that gal on ``I Dream of Jeannie.''
Look at the shine on those cars! It's better than new, it's as if they had a layer of water bonded right to the paint. The Harley's are beyond immaculate, more than spotless. Who shines these things? Look at the musical instruments, the smiles, the yellow and green flags snapping brightly in the September sun.
Just wait for the guy who comes to Virginia Beach every year. Everyone remembers him, his chest puffed out, his hair swept back, waving that giant plastic, golden scimitar.
This looks like a parade of pretty goofy guys, but don't let appearances tell the story. Lee Ann Larrew, of Virginia Beach, knows all too well just what the Shriners have done for her only daughter, Kandi Barrier, 9.
Born with cerebral palsy, Barrier could not walk properly because her leg bones did not fit properly in their hip sockets.
``You can imagine putting a football between your knees and trying to walk,'' Larrew said. ``That's how she walked.''
Although Larrew works and has health insurance for herself, it was not enough. She could not find a doctor who would make the diagnosis needed to get her child into a hospital for corrective surgery - until she met the Shriners.
Now, two operations later, all at no cost, Kandi Barrier can walk.
``She would not be walking right now without their help,'' said Larrew, 36, of Virginia Beach. ``She has had hip surgery twice. She used to walk with her knees knocking. Now, her legs are pretty much straight. Her right leg is completely straight.''
Each surgery cost at least $10,000, an amount Larrew could not afford on her own.
``That's just an estimate,'' she said. ``We've never seen a bill. I think the Shriners hospital is the best in the country.''
The Shriners act silly in public, but their private work is a businesslike $394 million-a-year enterprise. They operate three burn institutes - in Galveston, Texas; Cincinnati; and Boston - and 22 hospitals for crippled children up to age 18.
An estimated 660,000 Shriners worldwide belong to 191 Shrine Temples in North America. This weekend, more than 12,500 Shriners will hold their annual Mid-Atlantic Shrine Association Convention in Virginia Beach.
This year's host is the Khedive Temple of Virginia Beach. They'll hold court along the resort strip Thursday through Sunday.
``The cars, the motorcycles, it's all part of our fun and fellowship,'' said Richard E. Wright, the local temple's president. ``We enjoy bringing the group to Virginia Beach. There are not many places suitable for our convention. Our members like the resort atmosphere.''
Ask any Shriner why they bother with the silly costumes, tiny cars and elaborate drill-team exercises, ask about the legendary hotel parties, and they will smile, offer a quick answer but politely dismiss the question as one that misses the mark.
The issue is children in need.
``I'm active in the Methodist Church and an active chaplain for the Oyster Bowl,'' said Kenneth A. ``Toby'' Askew, a 70-year-old Kempsville resident and member of the Khedive Temple. ``I believe God is using me to minister to these children. So many of these families have no place to turn for a church or a pastor.
``It gives me a sense of satisfaction, particularly when you see a youngster come out of the hospital. I was in the Farm Fresh in Kemps River once when a lady whose son had been burned severely in an auto accident ran up to me and threw her arms around me.
`` `I just want to thank you for all you did for me and Mike. Mike just graduated from high school,' '' Askew reported the woman saying.
``This is a feeling that money just can't buy,'' he said.
All care for Shriners' patients is free to those selected for care.
When a family seeks care, they are given a form that their physician must fill out, detailing the child's medical condition, Wright said.
``We send that form to our hospital, and the medical staff there examines the form and notifies the family if they will receive care, and then they tell us what day the child needs to be in the hospital,'' Wright said.
Local orthopedic patients are taken either to a hospital in Philadelphia or South Carolina, Askew said. Local burn patients are taken to Cincinnati.
Askew, who is retired from Metropolitan Life Insurance, has been active with the Shriners since 1985.
Last year, he said, the Khedive Temple spent $60,000 transporting local children and their parents to out-of-state hospitals. The local temple also operates a small airplane for urgent cases. When the temple's plane is not available, the local gets a discount on tickets from Delta Airlines, Askew said.
Although they carry the trappings of ancient Middle Eastern culture, the Shriners actually arose in the United States.
The story of the Shriners began in 1872, when New York City had about 900,000 residents with several thousand Masons among them. Originally, the Masons were a male society of tradesmen whose most visible work is the continent's great cathedrals.
They called themselves Freemasons because they were free of the restraints commonly placed upon working men of Medieval Europe, according to L.C. Helms' booklet, ``A Modern Mason Examines His Craft.''
Guild or local masons paid taxes and were not allowed to travel freely without permission from local feudal barons, Helms' wrote. But freemasons were unrestricted.
The Masons who emerged in New York often gathered at a Manhattan restaurant called the Knickerbocker Cottage at 426 Sixth Ave. Over lunches, this group began discussing the idea of a new club founded on the old Masonic principles of brotherly love and truth.
The idea didn't go far until lunch crowd regulars, Dr. Walter M. Fleming and William J. Florence, an actor, took the idea seriously.
After a run on the New York stage, Florence traveled to London, Europe and the Middle East. While on tour in Marseille, France, Florence was invited to a party given by an Arabian diplomat.
The entertainment that evening, according to the history, was an elaborate musical comedy. At its conclusion, the guests became members of a secret society. Florence was intrigued.
He reportedly took many notes and made drawings of the ceremony. Back in New York, Florence told his colleagues what he had seen and realized it might be the basis for a new fraternity.
The group eventually adopted the requirement that only a 32nd degree Scottish Rite Mason or Knights Templar York Rite Mason can petition to become a Nobel of the Mystic Shrine.
Fleming, who was a surgeon in the Civil War with the 13th New York Infantry Brigade of the National Guard, was devoted to fraternalism. He took the ideas supplied by Florence and created the Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine.
The Temple would become the basic organizational structure of the Shrine. It is governed by an elected board called the Divan. The Divan is headed by the Potentate, who is the presiding officer of the Temple. And all Temples report to the Imperial Council, which meets annually. This year it met in Denver and next year it will meet in Indianapolis. In 1996 they're headed for New Orleans.
The council is composed of representatives elected by each Temple, all past and present Imperial officers and emeritus officers.
``The top four offices on our Divan are representatives to the Imperial Council,'' said Wright. ``When a member serves 15 years he becomes an emeritus member and then he is a permanent representative.''
The Imperial Divan, the Shrine's governing board, is headed by the Imperial Potentate, the Shrine's highest officer, and consists of 13 elected officers. A new officer is elected to the Imperial Divan each year and advances up one rung in succeeding years. Only the Imperial Treasurer and Imperial Recorder do not move up, but are generally re-elected to their current posts.
Shriners from Virginia, the District of Columbia, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Connecticut, New York, West Virginia and New Jersey comprise the Mid-Atlantic Shrine Association, which again will bring its annual convention to Virginia Beach this weekend.
Before Saturday's parade along Atlantic Avenue, the gleaming motorcycles, the spit-shined boots and immaculate uniforms will be judged in competitions to see which temple in the Mid-Atlantic region is best.
``It's going to be part business, part fun and fellowship and competition,'' said Wright, a Chesapeake resident and native of the area. ``It's a full three days. I really enjoy it.'' MEMO: SHRINER TRIVIA
A few things you probably don't know about the Shriners:
The Emblem:
The Crescent was adopted as the Jewel of the Order. Though any
materials can be used in forming the Crescent, the most valuable are the
claws of the Royal Bengal Tiger, united at their base in a gold setting.
In the center is the head of a sphinx and on the back are a pyramid, an
urn and a star.
The jewel bears the Arabic motto ``Kuwat wa Ghadab,'' which means
``Strength and fury.'' Today the Shrine emblem includes a scimitar from
which the crescent hangs, and a five-pointed star beneath the head of a
sphinx.
The Salutation:
The Shriner greeting, commonly heard during parades and conventions,
is ``Es Selamu Aleikum,'' which means ``Peace be with you.'' In return,
a Shriner might say, ``Aleikum Es Selamu,'' which means ``With you be
peace.''
The Fez:
The red fez with the black tassel, the Shrine's official headgear,
has been handed down through the ages. It derives its name from the
place where it was first made, the holy city of Fez, Morocco.
Some historians claim it dates back to about 980 A.D. but the name of
the Fez, or tarboosh, does not appear in Arabic literature until around
the 14th century. One of the earliest references to them is made in
``Arabian Nights.''
Famous members:
Warren G. Harding, 29th president; Franklin D. Roosevelt, 32nd
president; Harry S Truman, 33rd president; Gerald R. Ford, 38th
president.
The Oyster Bowl:
A major fund-raiser for the Shrine, this year's competition takes
place at 3:30 p.m. Nov. 12 at Foreman Field on the campus of Old
Dominion University. The game features Virginia Military Institute
against The Citadel.
To donate:
Contact the Shrine General Offices, 2900 Rocky Point Drive, Tampa,
Fla., 33607-1460.
Source: A Short History of the Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic
Shrine.
ILLUSTRATION: [Cover]
BEHIND THE FEZ
A REGIONAL GRAND PARADE ON SATURDAY
Staff file photo by DAVID B. HOLLINGSWORTH
The public is invited to line Atlantic Avenue on Saturday for the
Mid-Atlantic Shriners' grand parade, which begins at 10 a.m. at 17th
Street and travels north to 31st Street. The parade features
everything from clowns and motor corps to string bands and drum and
bugle corps.
1989 file photo by PETER D. SUNDBERG
Everyone remembers the guy with his chest puffed out, his hair swept
back, waving that giant plastic, golden scimitar.
``The cars, the motorcycles, it's all part of our fun and
fellowship,'' said Richard E. Wright, the local temple's president.
Photo by PETER D. SUNDBERG
Lee Ann Larrew and her 9-year-old daughter, Kandi Barrier, were the
recipients of free hospital care for Kandi, who needed two expensive
operations to correct conditions caused by cerebral palsy.
PARADING THROUGH OLD TIMES
File photo courtesy of Norfolk Public Library
Even before Saturday's Mid-Atlantic grand parade, the Shriners
made a parade down Atlantic Avenue part of their tradition. ABOVE:
The Shriners' drum and bugle corps, preceded by one of their classic
clown bikes, attracts a crowd in 1954.
Staff file photo by MORT FRYMAN
RIGHT: Another of the Shriners' stable of zany bikes entertains a
crowd in 1976.
Staff file photo by BILL TIERNAN
BELOW: One the Shriners' many collections of tiny cars parades in
formation in 1991.
Before Saturday's parade, the gleaming motorcycles, the
spit-shined boots and immaculate uniforms will be judged in
competitions to see which temple in the Mid-Atlantic region is best.
by CNB