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Brother Nobles, I would like to share an e-mail with you that I received from our Imperial Potentate, Illustrious Sir Jack Jones. I would also like to wish you a Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukah and Happy Holidays, Frank W. Baker President of the Leslie County Shrine Club Dear Frank, It hardly seems possible that nearly six months have passed since you elected me to serve as your Imperial Potentate. I appreciate the trust you have placed with me, and have been working extremely hard to strengthen our relationships with fellow Masonic organizations which will lead to a stronger fraternity. It is a very busy time of year for all of us – and that is true for our temples, as well. In addition to holiday activities and events, it is especially important for temple leadership to take an informed look at their membership and work deliberately and diligently to recruit and retain members. Since taking office in July, I have traveled extensively to visit temples and attend a wide variety of events and activities, including ceremonials, Shrine Association meetings, Grand Lodge meetings, Shrine football games and the Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospitals for Children Open. I am very much looking forward to the 2010 East West Shrine Game in Orlando, Fla., on Jan 23, and hope to see many of you in the stands! If you cannot attend, please support the game by tuning in to ESPN2 at 3 p.m. I am pleased to say that all of these events have been well-planned and executed, successful and productive. I congratulate everyone on their efforts – all the hard work is evident. There are several new initiatives concerning our philanthropy – Shriners Hospitals for Children. Please refer to Imperial Sir Doug Maxwell’s recent e-mail for details. Also, a communication is being developed as part of the revenue cycle project. There will be scheduled communications updating staff and Nobility on the progress of the third party pay initiative and the revenue cycle project. The Revenue Cycle Committee is chaired by Imperial Sir Al Madsen. On the Fraternal side, there are several new programs and initiatives in the works that I want to share with you. For starters, there is a new appointment I have established – and am particularly proud of – the Imperial Ambassadors. For the first time, we can offer an official appointment to former patients who have become Shriners. Think of the potential and the impact. Who could be better to serve as our ambassadors? Who could be more able, with an intensely personal awareness and appreciation, to represent both our fraternity and philanthropy, and explain and underscore the connection between the two – making it crystal clear that by joining the Shriners, you are supporting Shriners Hospitals for Children? For those of you who attended the Imperial Council Session last July, I am sure you remember the intriguing, impressive displays and demonstrations surrounding our newest Web-based efforts for both current and future fraternity members – Shriners Village and beashrinernow.com. Shriners Village is the new Web community for Shriners only. Fraternity members can go to Shrinersvillage.com to read the latest news, features and events from Shriners International and Shriners Hospitals for Children, watch videos and download educational and temple-related business materials. Shriners Village is the place to visit to stay up to date on everything involving Shriners International and Shriners Hospitals for Children. As a Shriner, you can log-in anytime using your temple name, member number and last name. Shriners Village will be the primary way we communicate information to our members. In the past, we have used our public Web sites and e-mail to communicate with Shriners. We have really needed something dedicated solely to our membership for quite awhile, and now we have it. Shriners Village includes links to favorite fraternity sites, including Shrine Savers, Shriners Marketplace, the Materials Ordering System and Fez Head Fred rentals. beashrinernow.com is a new online marketing initiative designed to generate awareness and interest in Freemasonry and Shriners International. The site offers an introduction to both Freemasonry and Shriners International, answers frequently asked questions, includes an historical overview and trivia about both organizations and features several membership videos. The site also explains the connection between Shriners International and Shriners Hospitals for Children and includes a tour of one of our hospitals, patient success stories and hospital locations. The “Roadmap” section guides viewers on the paths to becoming a Freemason and/or Shriner, and explains each step in detail. After reviewing the process, they can choose to visit the “The Next Step” section and sign up to be contacted by a virtual mentor who will help them through membership processes. Virtual mentors are Shriners who are active in their temples and Blue Lodges and have volunteered to be paired with a candidate. For more information about the virtual mentor program, visit the Membership section in Shriners Village. We have also enhanced the Imperial Membership Committee by instituting Membership Development Specialists (MDS). The MDS program is an extremely important undertaking by your Imperial Membership Committee. We currently have 30 Specialists, each one working with five or six temples to help them reach the temple’s individual membership goals. The personal attention provided by the Specialists has been well-received and is having great success at the temple level. I want to emphasize to you that membership recruitment and retention is your responsibility. With everyone focused on achieving our goal to significantly increase our membership, we will secure the future of this great fraternity. I want to remind you that every top line signer on a Shrine membership petition, and every new Shriner, is entitled to receive one of the “Unity Wins” pins. I have seen a great effort to bring my slogan “Unity Wins” to life, and for that I am very grateful. There are many ways we need to be unified – within our own fraternity; within our Masonic family; with the work of our philanthropy, Shriners Hospitals for Children, and even within each individual temple. The very idea behind this fraternity is to bring a group of men and their families together for fun and fellowship and to help kids. We are a collection of individuals who have come together to pursue common goals. It is those goals which unify us, and which should always be the focus of our attention and actions. Truly, when it comes down to it, we are united by the commonalities we share. Please contact your temple recorder if you are entitled to and have not yet received your “Unity Wins” pin. It is very important to acknowledge success. One way we accomplish this is through the Membership Hall of Fame program which recognizes temples and their leadership that experience a net gain in regular membership during the calendar year of January 1 through December 31. As an additional incentive to encourage temples, we have established three award categories: Gold for a net gain in membership, Silver for an overall improvement over the previous year of more than 2 percent, and Bronze for an overall improvement of less than 2 percent. The ultimate goal is to reach Gold status and be inducted into the Membership Hall of Fame. Gold, Sliver and Bronze temples are recognized at the Imperial Council Session during the Membership Hall of Fame luncheon and also part of the Imperial Membership Committee Chairman's report to the representatives. Temple and Potentate’s names are added to the Hall of Fame plaque on display in the memorabilia room at Shriners International Headquarters for those temples (Gold) that show a net gain. For 2008, 17 temples earning Gold were inducted into the Membership Hall of Fame. Among these, Kem Shriners has had a net gain for 10 consecutive years, Tangier for seven, and El Riad and Omar Shriners have both had net gains for five consecutive years. In addition 31 temples were recognized for achieving Silver status and 43 for Bronze. Congratulations to all temples earning recognition through this program in 2008. I hope the numbers will increase in all categories in 2009. I want to take this opportunity to thank everyone for their support of First Lady Charlene’s program, Giving the Gift of Hope, Life and Dreams. The response has been tremendous, and we are, as always, grateful for your generosity. I also ask you to continue to have faith in the Shriners organization, its leaders and in one another. Though we may have different ideas about the best way to address the many issues facing our organizations, we must remain brothers, work together and keep our ultimate goals in mind. I hope you will carry my “Unity Wins,” theme with you wherever you go. If you are thinking positively about what lies ahead, you will set the tone for the future of our fraternity and health care system. Unity wins – together we will reach our goals. In closing, I wish you a Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukah and a Happy Holiday season leading into a happy, healthy and productive 2010. Thank you for all your efforts on behalf of Shriners International and Shriners Hospitals for Children. Fraternally yours,
Jack H. Jones
Imperial Potentate
Shriners International
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