
DATE: Sunday, September 7, 1997             TAG: 9709070146

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B3   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY MICHAEL CLARK, STAFF WRITER 

                                            LENGTH:   91 lines

OCEANFRONT TIPS ITS FEZ TO DEPARTING SHRINERS

Saturday's parade of Shriners on Atlantic Avenue in Virginia Beach was more than the average fez-tival. Part of the Mid-Atlantic Shrine Association's annual convention, the parade was a highlight of the sort of gathering the city seeks.

A crowd of thousands - Shriners, their relatives and the public - lined both sides of Atlantic Avenue from 17th Street to 31st Street to see the potentates on parade.

Members of shrines bearing the mystical names of Osiris, Jaffa, and Ali Ghan marched, rode scooters, and played in bands to the delight of the crowd.

There were antique fire trucks, clowns and the groups' trademark miniature cars in the parade, too, as the organization dedicated to helping burned and handicapped children collectively blew its own horn.

A combination of pomp and camp, the event might have been the public highlight of the convention that began Wednesday, but the group's mere presence in the resort city enthralled oceanfront merchants and city officials.

The gathering benefits the entire hospitality industry in Virginia Beach, said Dick Kinsley, convention sales manager for the city's Department of Conventions and Visitor Development.

``These are fairly affluent, up-scale people,'' Kinsley said.

He said the Shriners are the largest group the city is hosting this year. The group brought about 12,000 members and another 7,000 relatives to town. They also booked more than 3,000 hotel rooms in the first weekend of the offseason.

The convention's economic impact has been pegged at approximately $10 million, said Jim Epperson, director general of the convention.

A small sign in the window of the Holiday Department Store on Atlantic Avenue welcomed the Shriners.

``Everybody loves the Shiners,'' said store manager Dusty Nielsen. ``They're basically the only people that have been in here.''

Nielsen said the store is usually empty after Labor Day.

Matina Patiniotis, hostess at Stingray Seafood Steak & Pasta Grill on Atlantic Avenue, agreed.

Labor Day weekend business was great, she said, but if the Shriners ``were not here (this weekend), business would not be good.''

Holding the convention in Virginia Beach is good business for the Shriners, too.

This year marks the 22nd time since 1940 they have gathered here. Epperson said the group's gatherings in Virginia Beach generate greater attendance than those at other sites. The group is already scheduled to return here for the next three years.

``You can't beat it down here,'' said Donald F. Taylor.

The future potentate of the Nur Temple, Wilmington, Del., Taylor was ready to march in the parade - decked out in white pants and green shirt, he cradled his fez under his arm.

Taylor said he'd already had a wonderful weekend - much better than at the association's convention last year in Wildwood, N.J.

``It was a disaster,'' he said. ``The attitude of the people was terrible. The attitude down here is different. You come down here, the hotel people are nice, the restaurant people are nice.''

The Shriners are known to be nice, too.

``We expect the Shriners to stay within the law,'' Kinsley said.

That should appeal to members of the Resort Leadership Council, an umbrella organization representing oceanfront businesses.

At the group's meeting last Wednesday, Oceanfront restaurateur John Perros said ``things have gotten out of hand'' on Oceanfront streets. ``Law and order must prevail,'' he said.

That's fine with the Shriners.

``In addition to the good works that we do, we like to have fun - good, clean fun,'' Epperson said last week.

Marcia Wilson and Linda Anthony traveled 10 hours from northwest Pennsylvania to have fun. They waited for their husbands to ride by on three-wheel motorbikes for the Zem Zem Shrine Club.

This year was Wilson's first convention in Virginia Beach. Anthony has been to the city too many times to remember. Both said they were enjoying the weekend.

Anthony said last year's convention in Wildwood was ``OK, but nothing like this. This is home, basically.'' MEMO: Staff writers Bill Reed and Mark Young contributed to this report. ILLUSTRATION: MOTOYA NAKAMURA photos/The Virginian-Pilot

Members of the Khedive Temple Shrine of Norfolk motor down Virginia

Beach's Atlantic Avenue in their mini Model T's on Saturday. The

parade capped the Mid-Atlantic Shrine Association's annual

convention. Merchants praised the visiting Shriners, who plan to

return for the next three years.

As their husbands parade by, Legion Ladies from Reading, Pa., cheer

and snap photos. The Shriners brought about 12,000 members and

another 7,000 relatives to town for the first weekend of the

off-season. At left, the Irem Chanters from Irem Temple,

Wilkes-Barre, Pa., give their megaphones a workout.