Greetings Nobles,

My name is John Fitzgerald, the Director of the Al Kader Oriental Band in Portland, Oregon. I have been in the Shrine since 1996, and part of the Masonic family for four generations in my home lodge, North Bank #182, in Washougal, WA.

Some of my greatest moments with the Oriental Band, and in Shrine in general, have been in working with the hospital in Portland, or visiting other hospitals in Hawaii, Houston, and Spokane to name a few. And of course, some of the most fun times have been in competing at Imperial Session, having jam sessions, helping the boys from Montana clean up the hospitality room one glass at a time.

Because of these great times in the past, and the hope I have for the future, I am putting forth my name to be considered for the position of First Vice President for the next year. The other Noble Fitzgerald and I have had a number of conversations about what we can do for the next couple of years to help build our organization. A shared goal we have is to bring our annual competition back in line with Imperial Session, and to develop a program to draw individual Oriental Bandsmen to come to our events during the Imperial Session. I would like to restructure our competition in a way to draw more bands, soloists, and small group participation. Furthermore, ensuring one or more Jam Sessions to bring in the bandsmen who may be attending with another unit or part of a Divan will be something to advertise.

Speaking of advertisement and communication, my goal for 2022-2023 will be to contact every Shrine center in North America and establish communications with them, as well as take an inventory to help our quartermaster create the database we all want to see on our website. With 5 phone calls per week over 52 weeks, we reckon we can accomplish this goal in one year. Inshallah!

The Al Kader Oriental Band has given so much to me, that I am excited to return what I can for both our band and the national organization.

In the Faith,

John Fitzgerald