Volume Springfield, Massachusetts 3, Issue 6 September - October 2016

InSIdeMelha RIdeRS hOSpItal Run IS 10 yeaRS OldwIll tOp OVeR $200k thIS yeaR

p1, p14, p15

3Rd annual clOwnIng aROund fOR ShRIneRS hOSpItalBenefItS eOS MachIne

p1, p15

a ShRIneRS StaRtBy MaRgaRet MOORe

fORMeR Shc patIent

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pOtentate’S MeSSagep2

fROM the RecORdeR, ShRIne lIfe cycleS p3, p4

Melha unItS & cluBSp5 - p9

Melha ladIeS, RaInBOw & deMOlayp10

eVent calendaRBack page

3rd Annual Clowning Around Donation To New Hospital EOS Machineby Michael Robinson

Because of “Clowning Around for Shriners Hospi-tal” and other events like it, the Melha Clowns have become the mainstay of fun and help-ing children in Western Mass. Whenever there is a function to help kids you will always see a

Continued on page 15

Hospital Run Celebrates 10 Years of Helping Kids

By Michael RobinsonChair, Mike Santos looks

back on 10 years of his club’s successful Hospital Run event.

He reflected that he never thought it would get this big or that he would still be chair-ing the event.

This year, the Riders decided to start off the run at the Melha Shriners building which made organizing the event easier. Every year literally a handful of committee members, un-der Mike’s leadership, pull off this monumental task. I know because I sat in at a few of the meetings. The run is the visual masterpiece coming off San-

tos’s palette. What you don’t see is an the ad book sales, posters & flyers distribution, postcard mailers, the physical participation and commitment of all the unit members. The Riders take having fun and rid-ing motorcycles very seriously. Their slogan “We ride so kids can walk” is exemplified every time the bikes stream through the hospital’s parking lot.

The Riders just recently re-ceived an achievement award from the Hospital for rasing over $186,000, that was in 9 years. This years’ event saw well over 400 riders and from

Continued on page 14

Photos by Bert Krasner and Carla Wessels. Riders 10th Anniversary Hospital Run. Melha Shriners building staging area.

Photos by Bert Krasner

2 Melha Shriners

POTENTATE’S MESSAGE

the OffIcIal puBlIcatIOn Of Melha ShRIneRS,

ShRIneRS InteRnatIOnal

CAMELHAAvailable on the Web at

www.melhashriners.com

EDITORMichael RobinsonEmail: ..........editor@melhashriners.com860 748-8128(C) .... 413 567-2138(Hm)

SPECIAL NOTICEForward all unit EVENT information

to the editor for advance publication and public news releases. ‘NEWSPA-PER ENTERTAINMENT CALENDARS’ need info submitted 2 weeks prior to event.

All copy submitted for Camelha pub-lication must be submitted by e-mail and received before the 12th of the month preceding publication.

All Ads must be submitted by the 1st of the month.

The Editors reserve the right to edit all copy.

ShRIneRS hOSpItalS fOR chIldRen516 Carew Street - 413-787-2000Springfield, MA 01104Imp Ralph W. Semb P.P. ....Chair. Bd. of Trustees Emeritus.Melha Bd. Of gOVeRnOR MeMBeRSGeorge Sachs, Joseph Surprenant, Edward Geoffrion, Craig Kazin, Gary SurprenantJason Freeman, Associate MemberEmeritus Members: Robert W. Clarke, Raymond Kalita, Edward B. Briggs, Edward Shore Jr. P.P., James Spear Jr.Chairmen Emeritus: Allen Zippin, P.P, Charles Weaver, P.P., Philip E. Thomas P.P., David BursteinShRIneRS BuRnS hOSpItal-BOStOn51 Blossom StreetBoston, MA 02114-2699617-722-3000

Melha Bd. Of gOVeRnORS MeMBeRSDean WhalenRuss Mitchell, PPEmeritus Members: Saul Michaelson, Robert Spaulding P.P.

MELHA SHRINER CENTER133 Longhill Street Springfield, MA 01108Tel.: ............................... (413) 736-3647Fax ............................... (413) 731-9572e-mail: .... recorder@melhashriners.comPhilip E. Thomas, P.P. - RecorderOffice E-mail: recorder1@melhashriners.comDebra Collins .......................... Secretary

OFFICE HOURS8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

Monday through Friday

MELHA WEB SITEwww.melhashriners.com

PAY WITH CREDIT CARDMelha honors Visa, MasterCard and

Discover cards. Minimum amount charged must be $20.00. You may also pay online at our web site.

use it for: Dues, Melha Events, Fezzes, Melha

Trips, etc.

2016 DIVAN

Potentate ............Edward ‘Brian’ Connor413-636-4270Chief Rabban ............. Raymond Turrini413-297-8111Asst. Rabban ............... Robert Wogatske413-575-7788High Prst & Prophet ... Glenn Surprenant413-583-8991Oriental Guide ................... Daniel Smith413-531-3542Treasurer ................Ronald Gagnon P.P.413-568-4402Recorder ..............Philip E. Thomas P.P.413-736-36471st Cerem. Master .............. Leo Plourde413-348-3889Chief Director ....................Alan Stratton413-323-02682nd Cerem. Master ......Jeffrey Hastings413-896-7548Marshal ............................. Garth Parker413-265-9996Capt. of the Guard .........Randy Wessels508-344-4472

First, I want to thank every-one who went to the Imperial Session in Tampa. We had a great time. New legislation was voted on and I presented it to the Nobility at the August Stated Meeting. I also want to congratulate the Oriental Band for their First Place win at the ASOB competition held in Tampa.

The “Help Kayla Smile” event we had was a huge suc-cess and we are able to send this young lady to Dallas to receive her POTS treatment. Thank you to everyone who

helped make this night so much fun. We definitely achieved our goal of making her smile!

I also want to thank both the Daughters of the Nile and LOSNA for the recent Su-preme Queen and Grand High Priestess visitation. These both were on the same weekend and a job well done.

I want to thank Ill. Sir Tony Koss for the events and parade on August 6. And thank you to the Clown Unit for doing Clowning around for Shriners in Southwick. Thank you, Berkshire Shrine Club; I had a great time at the Potentate’s Reception at the Bass Water Grill.

The fall will be busy again with Hospital and Shrine events. Sign up now for the Annual Hospital Walkathon on September 10 and the radio-thon which was rescheduled for October 20 to 21.

Also, we have 2 parades in

October - Orange, MA on the 9th and Palmer, MA on the 15th. Please get your parade counts into Garth Parker to as-sure we are prepared.

We have several other events coming up that I hope you will come out and have a good time. Northeast Field Days in Fredericton New Brunswick, Canada and the Melha Fall Festival and Thrill Show in October. Don’t forget to make room for the Clambake - al-ways a huge feast! Look to the Camelha and the weekly news-letter for more information as it becomes available.

Don’t forget to check the cal-endar for parade information as well as special event details. Remember, the September Stated Meeting will be at the Hospital; get your dinner res-ervations to the office to assure your space. Dress is business casual with Fez.

Again, I just want to say thank you to everyone for a job

well done. It is an honor and privilege to serve you as Po-tentate this year.

3 Melha Shriners

FROM THE RECORDER

As we advance into Septem-ber and October we must look at the schedule and write down the events that you can support for some fun and enjoyment. I know our 1st Ceremonial Mas-ter Leo Plourde will be looking for help in the hospital paper crusade. We have a very infor-mative paper and the monies will be used for our transpor-tation of children.

The Stated Meeting on Sep-tember 28 will be at the hospi-tal. BBQ Chicken or NY Strip Steak with corn and all the fixings finishing with straw-berries shortcake. Call in your reservation into the office. All reservations need to be in by Monday BEFORE the event and NOT at the door. Check

PAST POTENTATES OF MELHA SHRINE

Name YearCharles Miller * ................................ 1897-1902William H. Titus * ............................. 1903-1904H. Leroy Woodward * ................................1905Charles L. Young * .......................... 1906-1907Robert P. Cunningham * ................. 1908-1909Fred R. Brown * ........................................1910Frank E. Ladd * ..............................1911 - 1912Albert E. Taylor * .......................................1913Hugh J. Buckley * ......................................1914Fred A. Eldred * .........................................1915Albert E. Lerche * ............................ 1916-1917Franklin A. Latimer * ........................ 1918-1919Walter H. Damon * .......................... 1920-1921Fred C. Smith * .........................................1922Harry H. Caswell * .....................................1923Charles F. Watson * ..................................1924Charles A. Frazer * ....................................1925John A. Webster * ........................... 1926-1927Walter S. Pease * ......................................1928George M. Hendee * .................................1929Harry A. Spaight * .....................................1930Carl P. Reilly * ...........................................1931Edward S. Chase * ....................................1932Arlan M. Spencer * ....................................1933Paul H. Hosmer * ......................................1934Henry K. Fruch * .......................................1935Walter E. Perry * ............................. 1936-1937John G. Rose * ..........................................1938Norman P. Dempsey * ...............................1939Alfred J. Bird * ...........................................1940George W. Streeter * .................................1941William L. McCleary * ................................1942George G. Carr * .......................................1943William E. Grobe * .....................................1944Earl C. Daniels * ........................................1945Dr. George W. Gray * ................................1946Donald H. Mudd * ......................................1947Wesley G. Stephens * ...............................1948Otto C. Kuhrt * ...........................................1949Theodore A. Wiel * ....................................1950Donald A Bartlett * .....................................1951James Matthew * ......................................1952Chester W. Haynes * .................................1953V. Frank Greis * .........................................1954Fred S. Conkey * .......................................1955Ralph F. Beaudry * ....................................1956Wayne H. Latham * ...................................1957Bennett W. Benson * .................................1958Norman R. Vestor * ...................................1959Jule Kaufman * ..........................................1960Robert E. Samble * ...................................1961Richard C. Zoller * .....................................1962Elliot Anderson * ........................................1963

John Baird * ..............................................1964Carl B. Martin Jr. * .....................................1965H. Edward Baker * ....................................1966Harold E. Kjoller * ......................................1967George Aronson * .....................................1968Maurice M. Chaffin * .................................1969Dr. Kenneth E. Nicholson * .......................1970Robert W. Nothacker * ..............................1971Jean R. LaCroix ........................................1972Phillip E. Taylor * .......................................1973John M. Samson * .....................................1974Maurice H. Baitler * ...................................1975William G. Kavaney * ................................1976Edward W. Bock * .....................................1977John R. Lundgren * ...................................1978Robert D. Davis * ......................................1979Kenneth E. Emery * ..................................1980Robert A. Meffen .......................................1981Jack A. Butterfield * ...................................1982Allen G. Zippin ..........................................1983John E. Bethel* .........................................1984Joseph A. Harrison* ..................................1985Donald J. Lohnes * ....................................1986Imp. Ralph W. Semb .................................1987Gordon J. Smith * ......................................1988Clyde O. Hooper Jr. * ................................1989David Skolnick * ........................................1990W. Douglas Spingler * ...............................1991Richard C. Bewsee ...................................1992Norman T. Maagero ..................................1993Arthur E. Hastings .....................................1994Edward W. Shore Jr. .................................1995Sheldon M. Titcomb ..................................1996Charles H. Weaver ....................................1997Philip E. Thomas .......................................1998Robert G. Spaulding Jr. .............................1999David J. Gates ..........................................2000Edgar W. Gelinas ......................................2001Edwin A. Os * ............................................2002Robert H. Marshall ....................................2003Anton E. Koss ...........................................2004James W. Marceau ...................................2005Tom D. Fielding .........................................2006Kirk E. Burkins ..........................................2007James H. Blevins ......................................2008Ronald R. Gagnon ....................................2009Jeffrey S. Goodless ...................................2010Russell D. Mitchell ....................................2012Edward F Griffin ........................................2013William Faust ............................................2014David F. Butterfield ...................................2015*deceased

MELHA SHRINEBeverage Manager ...........Dick MarceauBanquet Manager ............. Debra Collins

TRUSTEESAlan Couture(Chr.) .......... 413-537-1657Jack Greaves .................. 413-527-7355Michael Santos ................ 413-246-2804Richard MacGreggor ....... 413-896-5447John Scribner .................. 413-323-7729Anthony Langone ............ 413-205-9953

ADMINISTRATORSNick Creanza (Chr.) ......... 413-596-2577 Cary Miller ....................... 413-567-0514 Jeffrey Gopin ................ 1-774-452-2110Ron Gagnon .................... 413-568-4402Edward W. Shore III ........ 413-746-6442

STATED MEETING NOTICES

wednesday, September 28, 2016 at 7:30 pM for the purpose of conducting the business of Melha Shriners, as well as, balloting on individuals for initiation, obligating candidates, and for the dissemina-tion of information to the membership on matters relating to current Shrine events. All nobles invited to attend, current dues card is required. Units and Clubs leaders are required to attend. Proper attire is required and please wear your fez.

Edward B. Connor PotentateAttest, Philip E. Thomas, P.P.

Recorder**SEPTEMBER STATED WILL

BE AT SHRINERS HOSPITAL - SPRINGFIELD **

out the flyers or call the office.You will be receiving your

2017 dues in the latter part of September. Payment can be made on line, check, credit card, or cash. Pay early so you can forget about it.

Again Nobles, membership is our priority. Talk to your friends. Just say “Would you be interested in becoming a Shriner”, I would be happy to show you our shrine cen-ter. That all, it’s that easy. If you need help let me know or any of the Divan members. We need to exert ourselves to move forward.

There is no greater way to honor and acknowledge the contributions of a family member who is a dedicated Shriner than by “paying it forward” through the Legacy Program. Contact me for in-formation. Well, I hope to see you along the trail or on the golf course. Again, I thank you for your support.

LIFE CYCLES

$100 MILLION CLUBIn Memory of noble

Robert Miccoly from the Melha Shrine Clowns

BLACk CAMELRobert A. Larson Feb 12

Richard L. Pomeroy Jun 02Ernst V. Salvatore Jun 10Jack L. Du Mond Jun 19

Samuel B. Horowitz Jun 19Sarkis R. Michaelian Jun 19

Leon J. Pelletier Jun 21Kimball W. Howes Jun 28Robert P. Miccoly Jul 04John R. Savoia Jul 19

Charles E. Garnder Sr. Jul 20Samuel Horowitz Aug 04

STATED MEETING NOTICES

wednesday, October 26, 2016 at 7:30 pM for the purpose of conduct-ing the business of Melha Shriners, as well as, balloting on individuals for initiation, obligating candidates, and for the dissemination of information to the membership on matters relating to current Shrine events. All nobles invited to attend, current dues card is required. Units and Clubs leaders are required to attend. Proper attire is required and please wear your fez.

Edward B. Connor PotentateAttest, Philip E. Thomas, P.P.

Recorder

MELHA SHRINE

4 Melha Shriners

September birthdayS 9/1 Armand Richards9/1 Irving Pulsifer9/1 Gordon Gourley9/1 John Pappas9/2 Richard Rusiecki9/2 Brad Dimiero9/3 Michael Szady9/3 Brian Breveleri9/4 Albert Newman9/4 Robert Loewenthal9/5 Selwyn Smith9/5 Richard Munsell9/5 Charles Coleman9/6 Myron Swain9/6 George Tichy9/6 Gerard Cyr9/7 George George9/7 Donald Wolford9/7 Alfred Surprenant9/7 William Meara Jr9/7 Edwin Thompson9/7 Michael Martone9/7 Robert Lajoie9/7 Travys Rivers9/8 D.Alden Johnson9/8 Richard Wyckstrom9/8 John Greaves Jr9/8 William Pierson9/9 Peter Vogian9/9 Robert Zimmerman9/10 Gordon MacDonald9/10 Robert Hartmann9/10 George Barnet Jr9/11 Jeffrey Edmiston9/12 Howard Adams9/12 Ralph Stenta Jr9/12 Charles Renaud Jr9/12 William Wynne9/12 Jason Eisenbeiser9/13 Edward Phillips9/13 Richard Monighetti9/13 Leonard Roberts9/14 Michael Robinson9/14 Allen Lecours9/16 Michael Avery9/16 James Dotiwalla9/17 Frank Obremski Jr9/17 Robert Holbrook9/17 William Tardy9/17 Michael Winn9/18 Frank Mastalerz9/18 Robert Warren9/18 David Boisselle9/18 Jason eeman9/19 George Milne9/19 Ernest Brunault Jr9/19 Edward Batchelder9/19 Howard Shapiro9/20 Joseph Surprenant9/20 Jeffrey Brown9/20 Robert Cote9/21 James Adams9/21 Ramon Lapointe9/22 Gary Betters9/23 Donald Scott9/23 Russell Mitchell9/23 Keith Verge9/24 Lee Ryel9/24 Jeffrey Goodless9/24 Peter Appleby9/25 Robert La Flamme9/25 Benjamin Rubin9/25 Gregory Dauplaise Sr9/26 Morton Morrison9/26 Willis Altman9/26 Ralph Semb9/26 Donald George9/26 Charles Tighe9/26 Michael Phaneuf9/26 Douglas Morrill Jr9/26 Nicolas Cremonti9/27 Robert Daniels9/27 Ernest Champagne9/27 Carey Miller Jr9/27 Brian Scott9/29 Ernest Bates9/29 Leonard Hickey9/29 Justin Dansereau9/30 James Lavallee9/30 Richard LaMotte9/30 Craig Struck

OCtOber birthdayS10/1 Eugene Vaillancourt10/1 John Davison10/1 Steve Marangoudakis10/1 David Warner10/2 Theron Floran10/2 James Kocot Jr10/2 Bruce Hochberg10/2 Scott Mitchell10/3 Donald Fogg10/3 John Biggerstaff10/3 William Moore10/3 Donald Matthews Jr10/3 Stephan Jodoin10/4 George Vokey10/4 Warren LaRoche10/4 Richard Thomas10/4 Samuel Carabetta10/4 Dean Stevens10/5 Thomas Walz10/6 Richard Stake10/6 Travis Sawyer10/6 Michael Gebo10/7 Robert Waltermire10/7 Kenneth Kimball10/7 John Scribner10/8 Paul Contois10/8 Stephan Koseian10/8 John Fiske10/8 Dennis Pike10/9 Merritt Rowley10/9 Paul Bishopric10/9 Robert Schmidt Jr10/9 Robert Wilson10/9 David Bond10/10 Paul Gois10/11 Gerald Lazarus10/12 Maurice Nelson10/12 Robert Mackay10/12 Richard Verbeke Jr10/12 Paul Traska10/12 Alexander Samia10/12 Gregg Patten10/13 Richard Scott10/13 John Cook Jr10/13 Richard Michaelian10/14 Matthew Metzler10/14 Gilbert Hunter10/14 Peter Magagnoli10/14 L J Berliner10/14 Norman Jones10/14 Carl Sweeney10/15 Norman Cloutier10/15 Anthony Richards10/15 Robert Hertz10/15 Douglas Adams10/15 Gerard Kiely10/15 Timothy Dubay10/15 Michael Cupoli III10/16 Kurt Pressey10/17 Lee Lamoureux10/18 Peter Taylor10/19 Robert Frechette10/19 W Palmer10/19 Ray Jackson10/19 Curtis Bosworth10/19 Arnold Horowitz10/20 George Sarkis10/20 Donald Facey10/21 William Stanton10/21 David Stebbins10/21 Paul Miele10/21 Antonios Rizos10/22 Brian Duncan10/22 David Murphy10/22 Christopher Cowan10/23 Scott Sanderson10/23 Peter Ellis10/24 Richard McDonald10/24 Arnold Sears Jr10/24 David Schmidt10/24 Paul Chivas10/26 Brian Pellicano10/27 Dean Whalen10/27 Scott Coleman10/27 Patrick Caron10/28 Michael Johnson10/28 Sidney Weiner10/29 Ronald Wolf10/29 Robert Spaulding Jr10/29 Richard McCarthy Jr10/29 Robert Aubin10/30 Lewis Prentiss10/31 Richard Veighey Sr

A Shriners Start By Margaret Moore

The world took my breath away—literally. I was born as a full-term baby whose umbil-ical cord prolapsed at the last second. Five critical minutes passed without a single inhale, five minutes of doctors scram-bling for respirator equipment, five minutes that very nearly cost me my life. The doctors continued to work on me, but I had no expected chance of sur-vival, not even the smallest of chances. When the sun rose on February 17, 1997, the hospital staff was baffled upon seeing me. Not only had I survived, I was breathing independently. There is no medical explana-tion for how I made it through the night or how I started to breathe on my own—the only explanation was that I had made a “miraculous recovery” and, although I would have some physical impairments, I would get to live my life.

At six months, I was diag-nosed with Cerebral Palsy. C. P. is a disability caused by prolapsed cord injuries, lack of oxygen at birth, and other complications. It affects the muscles in the body by caus-ing them to be weak. It also affects speech, the ability to walk, stand, sit independently, and much more. Embedded in the Cerebral Palsy diagnosis are zillions of smaller diag-nosis’ which are each specific to certain muscle groups and their weaknesses. For my di-agnosis, it was determined that I had Athetoid Cerebral Palsy with dystonia and cho-

rea, which have to do with my movements and their fluency. As a result of the dystonia and chorea, I would later be diag-nosed with pretty severe dis-arthria and dysphasia, which describes the weakness of the muscles in my mouth and the reason why my speech would be significantly unintelligible when it came time to verbal-ize my very first words. Some cases are very severe, some are moderate, and some are hardly noticeable at all.

Although it couldn’t be de-termined how severe my case would be (my parents were clued in that the C. P. did not affect my cognitive state when I began to attempt to roll over, to go through all of the typi-cal baby stages, though), it was certain that I would need to use a wheelchair, a walker, continue with physical and oc-cupational therapy. It would be determined later that Speech Therapy and a speech device would be necessary as well. I would also need to wear An-kle Foot Orthotics (“AFOs”), also referred to as braces. The main reason I needed to wear braces for weight baring ac-tivities was because one of my feet turned inward and the oth-er turned outward when I tried to weight bare. I would need assistance with feeding, dress-ing, bathing, and transferring to and from my equipment and furniture. Yet, through all of this, my family stayed posi-tive, believing that I had great potential to succeed in life just like everybody else. Years ear-lier, when my father was di-agnosed with stomach cancer,

they had adopted a belief that one must never give up regard-less of obstacles present, and that anything is possible.

A year after my traumatic birth, my parents brought me to a place where everybody shared in this belief. My par-ents took me to Shriners Hos-pitals for Children- Springfield to get an opinion from their amazing medical staff. Prior to going to Shriners, my par-ents had listened to opinions from various professionals, most of whom were very neg-ative. From the moment I was born, they had heard every-thing from “she won’t make it through the night” to “she will be in a body cast from neck to toe” (these two opin-ions along with many others would never become reality). When we visited Shriners, the opinions of the staff were very different than everyone else’s. In fact, the words they spoke to my parents were incredibly positive! Giving them hope, Shriners reported that they thought I was very intelligent and had the potential to walk independently someday! This strengthened our faith as they registered me as a patient for any future needs and returned home.

That would be my father’s only trip to Shriners, as he passed away a few months lat-er, but my mother would find herself driving my brothers, a friend of theirs, and me back to the hospital six years later, desperately hoping that the incredible staff would be able to help me to get back on my feet…

MELHA SHRINE UNITS & CLUBS

5 Melha Shriners

DIRECTORSBy Charlie Gervickas, 1st VP

Greeting Nobles, it has been a long, hot, dry summer. July and August are behind us but we have a great deal to do in September and October. The vacation is over! On Thursday, Sept. 8 is the Franklin County Fair Opening Parade as well as our dinner/meeting. Baked chicken with all the fixings are on the menu. You won’t leave hungry that’s for sure. On Sep-tember 10 is the hospital walk-a-thon and September 24 is the Belchertown Parade. October 2 is the Fall Foliage Parade and October 15 is the Palmer Anniversary Parade. Yes - pa-rade season is back so make sure you get your spot reserved early. Last is the radiothon on October 20th and 21st followed by our dance on Saturday, Oc-tober 22nd. It will be a busy week but we will be looking for great turn outs for each event and our dinner/meeting. See all of you soon and thanks to all who participated in events dur-ing July and August.

DRUM CORPSby Jim Marceau,PP

They say that confession is good for the soul. If that is the case, I am going to do mine a lot of good right now. First of all, we have a president, Ron, who is a self-admitted slob. This being the case, he never wants us to wear our nice Guayaberra shirts around food, because he always stains his. Well recently, Digger and I went to a spaghetti fund-raiser that Ron was not able to attend. We agreed to wear the shirts

(naturally, they are yellow like all our Drum Corps apparel) and, at the end of the evening congratulated one another on keeping them clean. Then I no-ticed a tiny sauce mark almost under my right armpit. How it got there I have no clue, but Digger thought it was pretty funny, at least before he tried to eat his second piece of choco-late cake! I’ll bet you can see where this is going, huh? Sure as shooting he ends up with a nice big chocolate smudge on his pocket. Now one might conclude that Ron was right...but we never will.

As if this weren’t bad enough, at a recent parade in Enfield, I dropped my drum-stick not once, but twice, the second time rolling right off the trailer! A spectator had to pick it up and hand it to me. How embarrassing! Now I could talk about getting it stuck in the cowbell or other reasons, but they would all be explana-tions, not excuses. There are no excuses. Mea culpa.

Bumper Stickers Seen Lately: 1) When you do a good deed, get a receipt, in case heaven is like the IRS 2) Very funny, Scotty. Now beam down my clothes 3) What hap-pens if you get scared half to death twice?

In case you haven’t noticed, there is not a lot of news this month, so I needed a bunch of filler. I will even use a Digger groaner. He says marriage is like Algebra. You look at your X and wonder Y.

(Oh so sad) What you do want to remember is to check the schedule for the fall pa-

rades and to come to rehearsal to learn the new ensemble piece. In the meantime, Rock the Fez!

FLYERSBy Lance & Katherine Whitcomb

As fall rapidly approaches, the leaves will be turning soon and our thoughts will wander towards pumpkins, mulled ci-der, back-to-school and ‘Where did I put those sweaters?’ Re-member to turn your thoughts to your Blue Lodges, as they will be coming out of darkness and preparing to install the of-ficers for the upcoming year so stop by and visit. (A visit is also a great opportunity to pay those dues…) As the Melha Temple plans for the future, keep in mind that our Masonic brethren will be that future, so reach out and meet them!

Our parade season is also winding down, though I am looking forward to the Big E parade. Keep an eye on the cal-endar on Melha’s web site so you know what’s happening.

The big news in our fam-ily is that by the time this ar-ticle is published we will have welcomed our latest addition – little Franklin Albert is due the beginning of September. As my younger daughter will then have 2 under the age of 2, my wife and I are on call for grandparent duty (not that we are complaining a bit!).

If you are looking for some-thing to do the first weekend in October, Conway is hosting its annual Festival of the Hills on Sunday, October 2, with food, crafts, music, a parade and

Continued on page 6

MELHA SHRINE UNITS & CLUBS

6 Melha Shriners

unItS and cluBSContinued from page 5other activities including the famous Skillet Toss contest!

I hope everyone enjoys the rest of their summer and watch out for those little ghosts, gob-lins and superheroes!

HADjIBy Donald F Sacco Sr

Happy Summer everyone!!! We have a couple very busy months coming up as there are many things going on in Sep-tember and October. We have the Belchertown parade on the 24th of Sept. I’ll get back to you with times.

The Melha clambake is the week before on the 18th, that is always a great time so call the office for reservations for that.

On October 2nd we have the Fall Foliage Parade in North Adams, also always a very good parade. And a parade in Palmer on the 15th. Again, I’ll get back to you with exact times.

Our Hadji dinner/meetings are on the 2nd Thursday of the month, as usual. It would be nice to see more people com-ing out for the dinners. Get in touch with Rob Pierce or my-self to reserve a spot for those. Also thank you to all the Hadji members and their families who came out for our two Bar-B- Que meetings in June and July. It was nice to see good turnouts for those.

Also, as I have stated be-fore, my telephone number in the calendar book is wrong so if you need to contact me my real phone number is (413) 302-5612. Also, Rob Pierce, our Tillerman’s phone number is

(617) 470-9375. You can call him to make reservations for our monthly dinners before our Hadji meeting. They will be on Sept 8th and Oct 13th. As I stated before, the dinners are fantastic now, so come out and enjoy the fellowship of your Brother Nobles. For $15.00 you can’t find a better value.

On December 11th, Hadji is again sponsoring the Melha kids Christmas Party. That is always great and the kids love it. Get your reservations in ear-ly to Don Sacco Jr at 413-883-2305 for that.

If any of you still have not paid your Hadji Dues for 2016 please get in touch with Ed Lyons at 413-783-2759 or 413-426-3675.

This issue of The Camelha is for September and October so just remember that things could change.

Please come out and attend our events and let’s have great attendances at the parades this month. Let’s continue to make this year the best year ever for Hadji. Thanks for everything you do guys.

LEGION OF HONORBy Richard Marceau

Legion of Honor Washing-ton DC Trip

Nov. 3 - Sun, Nov. 6 Legion of Honor Washington DC Trip

Every year the Legion of Honor sponsors a Melha trip to Washington DC to partici-pate in the National Legion of Honor’s ‘Arlington Cemetery Wreath Ceremony.’ All Shri-ners are welcomed on this fun, interesting yet solemn event.

Our group will be staying

at the Holiday Inn. Rosslyn, Key Bridge. 1900 North Fort Myer Drive. Arlington VA 22209 703-807-2000. Rooms are either a king or a double for $625 per person double oc-cupancy or $730 single. A de-posit of $200.00 per person is due ASAP with final payment due by September 30, 2016.

The price includes hotel room, transportation, tours and entertainment and some food. Make your checks out to Rich-ard Marceau at 275 Munsing Street. Ludlow, MA 01056. Put LEGION TRIP in the memo. Any questions call Dick or Di-anne at 413-583-4487 or cell 413-330-6743

TRIP ITINERARY - Bus leaves Melha on Thursday Nov 3 at 8 AM. Leaves Sphinx Temple at 8:30 AM. You are on your own for lunch either bring your own or buy at rest stop. Dinner is at The Vantage Point. On Fri. Nov 4 we leave the Ho-tel at 9AM for the Police Muse-um and African Museum (new) at Smithsonian Institute Lunch again is on your own. Dinner is at the Vantage Point then we’re off to enjoy the political satire “Capitol Steps Show”.

On Sat Nov 5 we leave for Arlington Nation Cemetery at 11:30am at 2:30pm is the Legion Commanders Turkey Dinner. After we visit a few more memorials then a pizza party at 7PM in our Hospital-ity Room. On Sun Nov 6 we depart hotel at 9:30 AM with lunch at Mastoris Restaurant.

When you get your final bill you can then make your menu

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unItS and cluBSContinued from page 6choices for the Thur. dinner at Vantage Point. All other meals are off their menus.

Choices will be: Prime Rib, Maryland Crab Cake, Shrimp Scampi, Salmon or Roasted Chicken.

Our Hospitality Room will be open for as much as we can along with the International room on the second floor,

which will also serve break-fast in the mornings. Snacks and drinks are offered every day in the Hospitality Room. There will be our famous Bloody Mary’s on the bus trip along with bottled water, soda, beer, and some liquor. Thank You, your hosts: Dick and Di-anne Marceau @ ddgolf28@yahoo.com

MARINERSBy Raymond Huber

Now September is upon us and that means the Mariners will be holding their annual Fall Kick-off Cook-out. Again this year, Commodore Bob Hager and his Lady, Carol, have in-vited us to enjoy the evening on the banks of the Connecti-cut River at the Pioneer Valley Yacht Club in Longmeadow. The date is Thursday, Septem-ber 8. At 5 p.m. we’ll socialize (BYOB & mixer), while the grills get ready and at 6 p.m. we’ll enjoy hamburgers and hot dogs prepared by our own chef, John Lanucha. Everyone is asked to bring an appetizer (only if you’re coming early, please), or a large side dish to share. Cheese, lettuce, tomato slices, onion, condiments and dessert will be provided. The

cost is $8 per person and res-ervations are required by Sept. 5. We will also have a basket to raffle off as a fund-raiser, so please bring a few extra “pen-nies”.

This event is open to all members and their Ladies. Guests are welcome as well. So, if you’ve been wondering if you’d like to join the Mari-ners, this is a great opportunity to give us a try. Please, every-one, contact Commodore Bob (Home: 413-786-7243; Cell: 413-478-9415; e-mail: bob-hager4@netzero.net), to make your reservation and tell him what you’ll be bringing to share. If you don’t know how to get there, Bob will give you directions. Remember, reser-vations must be honored.

In October we’ll resume our regular monthly 7 p.m. meet-ing at Melha on the 2nd Thurs-day of the month. On October 13, for those who can make it, the meeting will be preceded by dinner at 5:30 p.m. at the Buccaneer Lounge & Restau-rant (individual checks), at 86 Maple Street in Agawam. They have a very varied menu and very reasonable prices. There are no reservations necessary; just show up and enjoy a good meal and good company.

We had a very successful “Paper Drive” event last Spring and again in August. Commo-dore Bob wants to thank those who supported these projects. Watch for news of when we’ll do one again.

There are still a few mem-bers that have not paid their 2016 dues . . . please check to be sure you have a current dues

card. If not, send your check to me at 315 No. Main St., East Longmeadow, MA 01028, or, better yet, bring it to the next meeting. Any questions, call me at 413-525-6142.

ORIENTAL BANDBy Andy L. Parker

Hello fellows, sure hope ev-eryone is enjoying the summer in New England. I did hear it was a bit warm in FL. Imagine that! This time of year? (Global warming, perhaps?) Again, kudos to the “kid” (I mean our Pres.) for an outstanding job at the Imperial Shrine Conven-tion. I also just happened to overhear that the O.B. hospital-ity room was the usual (Best!) And the new awards look great, no dust, yet!

The benefit for Kalya Fon-taine went great, very heart warming. It reminds me of what we truly are about. By the way, Dave Butterfield owes Terry five bucks, he knows why! Heard a few Nobles had to stay late to take care of a little drain problem, kudos to them also. Working together, we can always make the toilets flush at Melha!

By the way, fellow band members, I brought a big pizza for Friday practice so I figure I’m good for four months (you cheap ?!@$##!) Walter, I did think about keeping your keys just to drive you nuts but I couldn’t bring myself to do it. Lucky you!

Since my last article, I’ve had some great feedback. I’m only putting out my own opin-ion that I hope brings about meaningful discussions, from

everyone; with the goal of im-provement. I know times do change and you can’t go back to the past but you learn from the past and bring that knowl-edge to the present and future. I’ve heard that some good things are in the works and have had some of the best con-versations with fellow nobles I haven’t had in years. What I write are only my thoughts on improving Melha so it will be here for a long, long time. This is a great fellowship when we are working together. All I’m saying is, if we help each other we’ll be so much stron-ger. I personally should be a lot more active than I am (I’m getting old? NOT) We all have busy lives, but we came this

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unItS and cluBSContinued from page 7far; we’ve become Nobles and we can go farther and better and stronger and help so many kids like Kayla Fontaine

Anyway, not sure about fall O.B. Foxwoods, will let you know. (If I can scrape together 35 of you cheap bastards, I’ll book it next week!!

Kudos to Ladies of the Ori-ental Shrine of North America and to the Daughters of the Nile bringing in new members. The dinner for the Grand High Priestess at Tony and Penny’s was excellent. (by the way Ray T. My name is Andy Parker, in the O.B. thanks)

PAST MASTERSBy Richard A. Poudrier

By the time you read this ar-ticle, summer will be just about over and a new Masonic year will begin. But before I get into the new. Let me focus, for a moment, on our unit’s Third Annual BBQ Picnic this past June. The weather was per-fect. We had a few members who weren’t able to attend. But we still were able to make this year’s picnic the most at-tended in the last three years. This year, Ill. Sir Ralph Semb and our potentate and his Lady Shelley were able to take time from their demanding sched-ules to join us. Other first time attendees were Perry Smith and his lady Carol. Myer’s Ca-tering once again treated our group with a delicious meal. The owner, Richard Lyman, was there to make sure ev-erything went smoothly. After the meal, one of the attendees commented “anytime that you

can cut beef brisket with a fork... that’s great brisket”.

At this juncture, I would like to acknowledge the ladies who cleaned up after the picnic while the members held their meeting. Your thoughtfulness was greatly appreciated. A spe-cial thanks to my Lady Susan for making all the homemade desserts for the meal. Despite the fact that she had gone on a bus trip to Canada and wouldn’t be able to attend. I’m sure that baking in 90 degree weather wasn’t on top of her “things I would love to do list”.

Thanks also go out to George Sachs, Andy Tieman and Ken White for their help in making this event a success. The unit voted unanimously to have the same BBQ & Caterer again next year.

On August 14th, the pre-siding Chief of the Highland-ers, an Emeritus member of the Board of Governors of the Shrine Burns Center in Boston and long time Melha Admin-istrator, had his 80th birthday celebration at Melha. Our unit salutes his Shrine achieve-ments and wishes him health and happiness for years to come.

Reminder our unit’s Quar-terly meeting will be held at the Melha Shrine Center on Thurs-day, September 22nd (first day of autumn) at 7:30 PM. Please make every effort to attend these meetings not only to keep involved with the running of the unit but to enjoy the fel-lowship as well. Your input is necessary to keep our unit run-ning smoothly.

September begins the pro-

cess of regular Masonic meet-ing after coming out of “dark-ness”. There will be Official visits of the District Depu-ties, Installation of Lodge and Grand Lodge Officers. Some Districts will be meeting their newly appointed DDGM’s. These are all opportunities for you to get involved, not only in your lodge, but also in your Districts as well. With declin-ing membership, your par-ticipation and need to bring in new candidates is more critical than ever. No longer can you say “there will be someone else to do it”. In today’s Frater-nity, be it Shrine, the Rites or Blue Lodge, YOU ARE THE SOMEONE ELSE!

VINTAGE AUTOby Don Salva

Our Annual Car Show is the first Sunday after Labor Day in September. We need more sponsors. If you can’t find a sponsor, how about buying a sponsor poster for yourself?

Attention All Units – bring your bikes, cars, trucks, mini-bikes, clown suits, and musical Instruments. Come on down to support the show, have fun and see some great looking cars.

The master plan is to as-semble the show car goody bag immediately after the monthly meeting in September. Come on down and help out. The whole operation will take less than an hour.

Buttery Brook cruise night and the second paper drive are now history. The first pa-per drive netted $700 - a good start.

Looking forward, there will

be a parade in Belchertown on the 24th September, followed by a fall run in Charlemont on the 25th September. More de-tails will follow.

I went to the Hilltown car show in Otis, held early in Au-gust. George Sachs was there with his rumbling Firebird. There was an impressive col-lection of hot rods. See you at the show.

BERkSHIRE SHRINE CLUB

by John H FiskeThe Berkshire Shrine Club

is in mourning. The Black Camel has taken Noble Charles (Chuck) E. Gardener Sr. Noble Chuck passed on July 19,2016. He was a three time Past Presi-dent of our Club. He was al-ways there to help any Noble who needed it. He loved the parades and when he could no longer walk the routes, he lead our group with his pickup dis-playing the Club banner. PP Ill Tony Koss referred to Noble Chuck as “Mr. Shriner of the Berkshires” . Noble Chuck will be greatly missed. Our Sym-pathy and Prayers go out to Chuck’s Lady Rita and his sons Chip and Mark.

The month of September is one of our busy months. We have the Franklin Co. Fair parade on September 8th in Greenfield, Ma. The monthly meeting will be on September 14th at the Boston Seafood Restaurant in N. Adams, Ma. We will be ordering off the menu. Social is at 6pm with the dinner at 7pm. The following afternoon ,September 15th is

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unItS and cluBSContinued from page 8the Third Thursday on North St. in Pittsfield. If you haven’t been to one of these nights you should go. It gets the Shrine name out to the public and lets people know what we do. The Lee Founder’s Day will be September 24th. The Bike Night and the Fall Run will be on September 24th and 25th. These are two events in which we need to have as many Fez-zes as possible. These events are a lot of fun and you get to meet many people.

October is a slower month. The Fall Foliage Parade is October 2nd in North Adams, Ma. Our Meeting in October is at the Berkshire County House of Correction. It is on October 12th at 6 pm. You MUST be

on time and you MUST make reservations with Kevin at 413-207-1067. Please have them in by October 6th. The last Third Thursday for the year will be October 20th. Hopefully we will see a lot of Fezzes.

Ron Gagnon, P.P. Receives Emeritus Award At Tampa Imperial Convention

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MELHA SHRINEFORGET-ME-NOTS

By Edith Sweeney

We met again on July 15th with sixteen ladies at Olive Garden. Support of Melha Shriners was shown to us by a surprise “Nobles Chief Rab-ban Ray Turrini and Tony Ler-oux joining us. This was truly appreciated! We met again on August 19th at the Center Square Grill and celebrated mutual birthdays #82 of Shir-ley Brown and Edith Sweeney --- both born on that day, at the same hospital in Springfield.

Memories are our blessings and friendships are continuing through this group. Our meet-ings are held on the third Fri-day monthly for lunch at local restaurants.

Please contact Corinne Pier-son 413-789-8148, Claire Pa-truno 413-596-3251, or Edith Sweeney esweeney12@coxnet for future plans.

Grand High Priestess Official Visitation To Helma Court Springfield, MA

The Forget-Me-Nots monthly luncheon with special guests Anthony LeRoux and Chief Rabban Ray Turinni

Lady Diana Schmitz, Grand High Priestess of Ladies Oriental Shrine of North America with Helma Court No. 64 and Fuad Court No. 30 visit to Shriner’s Hospital Springfield 7/29/2016

Daughters of the Nile Supreme Queen visita-tion

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MELHA SHRINE

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MELHA SHRINE

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MELHA SHRINE

10th Annual Hospital RunPhotos by Carla Wessels and Bert Krasner

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MELHA SHRINEhOSpItal RunContinued from page 1500 to 600 participants. The proceeds will go towards the new state of the art EOS im-aging machine. It produces x-rays exposing the children to 1/9th the amount of traditional radiology.

The run has become popular with the region’s motorcycle enthusiasts because it’s family oriented and the pride in mak-ing a difference in the lives of the young patients of Shriners Hospital.

There are raffles, live music and lunch at the Shortstop Bar and Grill in Westfield as the final stop.

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MELHA SHRINEclOwnIng aROundcontinued from page 1Melha Clown. It’s what they do - it’s who they are. They always joke that they take hav-ing fun seriously.

The VFW in Southwick do-nates the space for the day’s entertainment; a traveling ar-cade, photo booth, dunk tank, and a DJ.

Wendy Hunt, the organizer of this event, works closely with the clown unit to make sure this a success year after year.

The clowns do a skit show and mingle with the children and families throughout the day.

Last year over $2000 was raised with $100% of the pro-ceeds going to the hospital. This year they nearly doubled their donation.

Clown Unit President, Chris Howe said, “Our clowns love days like this because we can help raise money for our hos-pital while just having lots of fun with all the families in at-tendance.”

photos by Bert krasner

More from the “hospital Run”

Melha Calendar of EventsSeptemberSep 1 DON Full Session [BA]Sep 5 Office Closed For Labor Day Sep 8 Mariners Cookout at Pioneer Valley

Yacht ClubSep 8 Two Unit Dinner [BA]Sep 8 Franklin County Fair Opening ParadeSep 10 Annual Walk for Love & Barbecue [SHC]Sep 10 Chester Hadlyme Mystery Night [BA]Sep 11 Vintage Auto Car Show Chicopee

Moose LodgeSep 18 Annual Clam BakeSep 19 Board of Directors Meeting Sep 22 DON Patrol Rehearsal [BA]Sep 22 NSA Field Days Luxor ShrineSep 24 Belchertown ParadeSep 25 Charlemont Fall RunSep 26 BIG E Parade. Form at 4pm Step off at

5pmSep 28 Stated Meeting Shriners Hospital

MELHA SHRINERS133 Longhill StreetSpringfield, MA 01108-1499

Non Profit OrganizationU.S. POSTAGE

PAIDSpringfield, MA 01152

Permit No. 211

October Oct 1 Order of the leaf dinner. Melha Shrine

Cigar ClubOct 2 Fall Foliage ParadeOct 3 - 10 Potentate’s Trip to IrelandOct 6 DON Session [BA]Oct 9 Orange ParadeOct 10 Office Closed Columbus Day Oct 13 Two Unit Dinner [BA]Oct 14-16 Melha Shrine Thrills & Chills Fall

Feztival. Franklin Cnty Fair, Greenfield, MAOct 15 DON Craft Fair & Skidmarks Rock Con-

cert [BA]Oct 15 Palmer ParadeOct 22 Harvest Moon Dinner Dance [BA]Oct 24 Circus Steering Committee Oct 26 Stated Meeting [BA]Oct 27 DON Patrol Rehearsal [BA]Oct 28 Melha Shrine Golf Banquet Oct 29 Oriental Band Halloween Dance [BA]

BA = Butterfield Auditorium SHC = Shriners Hospitals for Children - Springfield