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Second Vice President 2020-21 – Grady R. Vandiver, Jr.

Second Vice President 2020-21 – Grady R. Vandiver, Jr.

That is me in the picture located nearby, the new Second Vice President of ASOB International.  Being brought to you by the modern miracles and mysteries of the internet, the new way of doing almost everything.  Hopefully, it will be in person sometime during the ensuing year.

My story started on June 14, 1944, in Lake Charles, LA.  During the next 23 years, I lived in just about every state West of the Mississippi and a few on the Eastside.  Texas and later Oklahoma was considered home base.  In 1967 I mover with wife and daughter to Sand Springs, Oklahoma and this has been home base ever since.  I finished my formal education while living in Sand Springs, OK (near Tulsa) where I received a Bachelor of Science Degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Tulsa.

Sand Springs is where I was raised a Master Mason in 1986 and joined the Tulsa Scottish Rite, Akdar Shrine, and the Akdar Shrine Oriental Band shortly thereafter. Through the years I have served as the secretary, treasurer, president, music director, and other positions in the band and have played most of the instruments.

In 2015 I was nominated and elected as the 4th Vice President of CSASOB and just recently became a past President of that organization. Through the years as a member of Akdar Shrine Oriental Band, we won many awards at the Central States meetings including first place in all categories at various times and myself as “Best Director, Small Bands” in 2003.

At the 2019 ASOB Jamboree in Nashville, TN, my second ever Jamboree, myself, and the main drummer for Akdar Shrine Oriental Band managed to win First Place in the Small Band category. Later in the year at the CSSA meeting in Sioux City, Iowa, Akdar joined forces with the India Shrine Oriental Band (Oklahoma City) and we managed to take home First Place in all three categories plus Best Director for medium size bands.

In the coming years, I will be working hard to meet the obligations that go with the position of 2nd Vice President and other positions in the Association of Shrine Oriental Bands.

AS you know our main duty and obligation is to help the Children.  This is primarily through the Ladder of Smiles.  The Ladder of Smiles is our, ASOB, charitable arm that contributes to the support of the main Shrine Hospitals for Children.  Our current ASOB President has set a goal of $50,000 for this year and we will need everyone’s help obtaining this goal.

The best way to keep abreast of the progress toward this goal and the happenings around the Shrine Oriental Band World is by visiting the ASOB web site (ASOB.ORG) often.  Here you will find the history of the ASOB organization and the Oriental Bands in your area and from across the World, current news about the BANDS, and a schedule of upcoming events from across the world of Shrine Oriental Bands.

If anyone out there has any questions or needs any help with/for their Band, please contact me or any of the other ASOB Officers.  We are here to help you and our organization.

Grady R. Vandiver, Jr.
2nd Vice President ASOB

First Vice President 2020-21 – Bill Bailey

FIRST VICE PRESIDENT 2020-21 – BILL BAILEY

I am Bill Bailey your 1st Vice President for this year and proud to be on the line trying to help this organization grow. We have had challenges we could never have guessed at only a short year ago and as most of you know this is not the year we planned for but it is the year we were dealt with. A lot of Temples have been closed since March and it isn’t clear when all will be open again. The Jamboree had to be canceled. We have become accustomed to using Skype and Zoom as the means of meetings. It looks like the end is not in sight so we will need to use some imagination to make things work again. Fundraisers are not impossible but must be done a bit differently.

I usually spend my winters in Costa Rica and in Panama City Panama working with the band down there since retirement and that has proven pretty much impossible this year so I am readying myself to live through my first Winter in 4 years here in Kansas.

CSSA Business meeting was held in Overland Park at the Abdallah Temple and was small but well attended. 1700 dollars was raised for the Ladder of Smiles with 1000 coming from the ASOBCS treasury.

I know it is easy to become negative towards pretty much everything right now but as Shriners, we need to look for the positive things going on right now and see if we can help them along.

What can the ASOB do to make things easier for you? What suggestions or aggravations do you have for the ASOB? Do you know who the last couple of Presidents were? Has your Ambassador called or come by a meeting? These are things we are trying to find out and need your help in learning. Email me at avenger@cox.net and let me know. We can only make it better with your help.

Bill Bailey
1st Vice President ASOB

Greetings from Richard “Bear” Sobek, ASOB President 2020-21

GREETINGS FROM RICHARD “BEAR” SOBEK, ASOB PRESIDENT 2020-21

ASOB VISION:
A healthy oriental band community for the benefit of Shriners Hospitals for children.

The ASOB Mission:
To provide the tools for fun, music, recruitment, and Ladder of Smiles fundraising for the oriental band community.

Greetings Band-Brothers:

It is now 2020-2021, the year of the Bear, and I am proud to have spent last year not only as a Member of the Abdallah Oriental Band but as an officer of the ASOB.  Now is the time to reflect on how to communicate the importance of the ASOB to the Shrine organization.  I am totally aware of what needs to be done.  Specifically, the ASOB philanthrope called the Ladder of Smiles will remain at the forefront of our fundraising.  Fundraising is essential for the continued success of Shriners Hospitals for Children.  I plan to focus the attention of the Elected Line Officers on increasing membership.  Additionally, a big welcome to our Regional Association Ambassadors as they are the key link between our membership and the ASOB.  As to fun, I am planning on having an exciting ASOB Jamboree in Kansas City at the end of May 2021.  Throughout the year the leadership team will be traveling to the various ASOB Associations to spread fun, and support at mid-winter and annual meetings.  Please know that as your President I want to get out the gorilla glue and patch the holes, so the value of the ASOB is known throughout the land.

I realize that the current epidemic environment is understandably hard on all, and particularly on your Temple as it remains temporarily closed thus leaving a gap in sharing.  Here at Abdallah, we have started Zoom stated meetings. Our OB also has rebounded and had our first meeting last Thursday evening.  Sadly, the Music Director (me) could not attend. I have been attending to my Lady following her surgery.

Enough about me. I am here to support your Band in every way possible.  Let us all join and make what started MANY years ago to elevate all Shrine Oriental Bands to be the pride of each Shrine Center.

I am always available and will answer any question or offer any help that I am able to.  I will rely on my predecessors to help this organization renew and prosper for the future.

From the flatlands of the central states (ASOBCS), I remain,

Richard “Bear” Sobek
President, ASOB
Music Director, Abdallah Oriental Band
913-991-1200
lakotavalley@wildblue.net

Al Kader Oriental Band – History

AL KADER ORIENTAL BAND – HISTORY

Although we for many years have been a regular member of' the uniformed units of our temple, the oriental band. first got started with members of the Camel Herders. Chinook Stable No 45. At every ceremonial of Al Kader Temple, initiation into the Camel Herders takes place at high-noon. Music for this session was usually just a piano. Some of us thought that we shou1d do better than that music-wise and Noble Jim Bracco who times played said piano, came up with the idea of forming an oriental band. The idea took hold and Sahib Jim wrote one of the greatest bandsmen of all, the late Monty FerDon who at that time was Sec'y-Treas. and National Organizer for the Association of Shrine Oriental Bands asking for advice and information about getting started with the forming of an O.B. Needless to say, the letter to Monty got a prompt reply with full info on what to do and it was decided that Jim Bracco would while in San Francisco for· the Shrine East-West Football game find out all he could from the oriental bands in attendance at the game about uniforms, instruments, etc.

January 11th, 1951 was the date we held our organizational meeting, elected. our first officers and a new O.B. was born. Those elected to serve as first officers of the band. were: Jim Bracco - Director, Floyd Charbeneau - President, Wm. Leverenz.-.Vice President. Marion Kuebler -Sgt-at-Arms, and Bob Parkhill as Sec'y-Treas. Having formed an oriental band, we applied for membership in the A.S.O.B. were accepted and received our charter from Monty FerDon a short time later - date on the same being January 29. 1951.

Our first playing and marching performance as an oriental band was at the regular April meeting of the Camel Herders in 1951. We started with 15 members and by the end of 1951 had a band of 35. Of the 15 charter members, only seven are left., Gene Loyd, Bob Smith, Harold Durr, Pete Briggs, Clyde Cushman, Ray Evanson, and Bob Parkhill. Retirements, transfers to other areas and visitations of the Black Camel accounting for the others.

Al Kader Oriental Band participates in the first section at all ceremonials, has never missed a parade, and naturally, furnishes the music for every initiation of the Camel Herders. During the year the band is kept busy with attendance at all Temple Stated Meetings, weekly practice sessions every Tuesday night, participates at all Shrine football games here in Portland, Oregon and many times makes the trek to Pendleton, Ore. to take part in annual Shrine game there. Each year during Shrine circus. time the O.B. is busy with the selling of ads for circus programs, also selling of said program as well as circus tickets. At the last two Shr1ne circus sessions the band has appeared 1n full orientals in the circus arena and played before the start of the big snow.

Each band member owns his own uniforms from the full orientals, which are made by the way by a member of our group Noble Gene Loyd, to the regular O.B. red coats, with grey slacks, white shirts, black tie and shoes and O.B. Fez which is worn when not appearing in full orientals. When occasion demands, all Nomads, of course, wear formals with a white coat. This band as did most O.B.s started with the double reed Chinese musette but has long since changed to the precision Steinhauer in key F for the 18-inch horns and key C for the 24-inch tenor musettes. We find that with our Steinhauer musettes we can play harmony that is not possible with any other musettes. We are most fortunate in having as a member of the band the man who makes these instruments and who quite naturally is in our musette section – Sahib Kirby Steinhauer.

Many of our instruments are owned by the Nobles who play them and if not owned by band members belong to the band. When on stage or 1n parade we can have 50 men in uniform led by band director, Noble Ben Gillaspie followed with two banner carriers, two who carry gongs, one magician, twenty-four musettes, eight tambourines, six conga drums, two cymbals,  two gong players and two tympani drums.

Al Kader O.B is a charter member of the Pacific Northwest Shrine Oriental Band Association.  Two members of our group, Chuck holder now retired, and Jim Crider has served through the line and are now Past Presidents of P.N.S.O.B.A. Sahib Larry Severson who is our band President for 1964 is also an officer of the O.B. Regional Ass’n. having been elected to the office of Sgt-at-Arms at the last regional meeting. Another Al Kader O.B. member, Bob Parkhill also serves the P.N.S.O.B.A. as Sec’y-Treas., and having served through A.S.O.B. line is a Past President of the National O.B. Ass’n. it would be most remiss not to mention here that Al Kader Oriental Band turned out in full force giving wonderful support to their above-mentioned fellow bandsman who was the outgoing ASOB President in 1960 at Imperial Session at Denver, Colorado.

This bearded bunch of Nomads has made many public appearances as well as those for Shrine and Masonic functions. They have been in attendance at most temple regional sessions of the P.N.S.A., also have made the trek on three occasions to participate in the W.A.S.O.B. Jamboree and World’s Championship O.B. contest. Although never having won the overall Championship we never the less have always brought home trophies, five of the same on one occasion.

As aforementioned, our first director was Jim Bracco and to Noble Jim must go a lot of credit for it was he who was the spark plug in getting this band started and leading it until he moved from Portland to Los Angeles some two years later. With Bracco leaving, the Ass’t director Dick Braughn took over and we were under the direction and leadership of Noble Dick for the next three years. A visitation of the Black Camel has taken Sahib Braughn to the Unseen Temple and for years now we have been under the leadership and guiding hand of Noble Ben Gillaspie. No question but what this O.B. is most fortunate in having as its director this Noble Son of the Desert who can and frequently does play any instrument in the band. Being a patient man, Sahib Ben has spent many hours instructing his fellow bandsmen and we have learned much under his most able leadership. Thanks to our director the musette section of Al Kader Oriental Band now plays notes and harmony we didn’t know could be done until this hard-working Nomad showed us the way. All music we play is written by Noble Ben and we are hoping his being appointed to Al Kader Divan will not interfere too much with his directing of our band.

The Nomads of Al Kader O.B. are firm believers in what has often been said…that nowhere will you find better fellowship than that which exists among oriental bandsmen. Certainly, we have found this to be so whenever we have had the pleasure to visit and rub elbows with our fellow bandsmen from other temples at various Shrine functions regardless of where it might have been.

Needless to say, we are proud of our unit and as a member of the Al Kader Uniformed Bodies are always ready to serve our temple in any way we can. No matter what the activities may be – ceremonial, circus, football game, annual sessions of PNSA and PNSOBA, or whatever there you will find, these bearded Nomads of Al Kader Oriental Band are always willing to play, parade, perform or lend a helping hand. May it ever be so.

 

Bob Parkhill

 

SECRETARY/TREASURER Don Moores

Greetings Bandsmen! 

We have just completed a very unusual year in our history.  All Association of Shrine Oriental Band Events were canceled beginning in March 2020 because of the Covid-19 Virus which has impacted the entire world, and in most areas still going strong.  The ASOB Jamboree to be held in Billings MT was canceled and the Imperial Council Session in Kansas City, Mo was also canceled. 

Congratulations to now Past President Darren DeHass P.P. for a very unusual year.  In March all Masonic and Shrine events were canceled by the leadership of the organizations.  When it became time for the Jamboree the Coronavirus was in full force and many states eliminated travel, group events, and close contact with each other. 

A new vocabulary came to the forefront, ZOOM Meetings, many of us knew nothing about electronic communication.  We had to learn in a very short time because we started talking about ZOOM Meetings, etc.  Well, we learned and started holding these meetings.  The ASOB Annual Meeting was held by a Zoom Meeting with about 22 members attending. We had our Annual Meeting and the election of officers for the year 2020-2021 electronically, it went very well.  I guess you can teach old dogs new tricks.

The slate of officers was elected going forward into 2020-2021 and hopefully further the Association’s longevity. The new Officers are: Noble Richard “Bear” Sobek, President, (Abdallah); Noble William “Bill” Bailey, 1st Vice-President (Midian); Noble Grady VanDiver, 2nd Vice-President, (Akdar); Past President Noble Chris Tsaros, 3rd Vice-President, (Al Azhar); Past President Ralph Jubb, Sergeant at Arms, (Al Kader);  Past President Don Moores, Re-elected Secretary/Treasurer, (Amara).   As you will notice the 3rd VP and the SAA positions are being filled with Past Association Presidents because despite the Officer’s efforts no one came forward to present their names for these positions.  It is hoped that someone reading this report will see fit to come forward and present their name for one or both these positions, so the President and the Executive Committee can appoint someone to fill these positions for going forward into next year.

The minutes of the Annual Meeting were distributed to the Executive Committee by email and no corrections have been reported to date; therefore the Minutes are approved as written.

 

Aleikum Es Selam,
Don Moores
A.S.O.B. Secretary/Treasurer

Greetings from the Sgt. at Arms (pro tem) to the A.S.O.B.

GREETINGS FROM THE SGT. AT ARMS (PRO TEM) TO THE A.S.O.B.

Greetings from the Sgt. at Arms (pro tem) to the A.S.O.B.

I am Ralph Jubb from Al Kader Shrine Center in Portland/Wilsonville, Oregon.

I bring you greetings from the Great Northwest and our Band.  With much of what has been going on throughout the country, we are no different, as all of our events, rehearsals, and parades being canceled.  Our Band has been doing a great job of holding weekly Zoom Calls for the last 5 months.  We have a Booze Bingo each night where the Band gives up to a $50 bottle of booze to the winner, it seems to keep the members joining in the call, go figure.  The Zoom type method of communication is a great way to keep your members involved, and I would suggest something like that to all of our bands and associations.

Just a line or two about my history in the Al Kader Oriental Band.  I have been a member since about 1991.  During my duration, I have been a drummer, musette player, and director along with WASOB President.  I served as A.S.O.B. president in 2010 & 11 and hosted the annual meeting in Denver, Co.

Having gone through the line once, serving as a pro tem position hopefully will only be for a short time.  As a permanent replacement comes along, I will most gladly mentor that Bandsman for the duration of his time on the line.  Please let's step up to help preserve the A.S.O.B.

In closing, I have attached a brief history of our Oriental Band in Portland.  It was penned by Robert Parkhill, who was the A.S.O.B. President in 1959-60, back then we were called Organizers.  This history was written about 60+ years ago.  I would love to see more Bands post their history on our Na Khabar, so please submit.

Until later,

Ralph Jubb

To see that history, you can click on the following link: https://asob.org/al-kader-oriental-band-history/

President Report – August 2019

What a whirlwind of a summer it has been. I hope all is well with each one of you and you are out enjoying the weather, vacations and parade season.

This edition of the Na Khabar was not planned on my agenda, but when I started to think about the info that we always write about in our September/October issue of our magazine, it always covers Imperial or the Jamboree. That is a long time to wait before our members get to hear about what transpired at our annual gathering. Now that we don’t have the constraints of layout, publishing and then mailing why wait so long? So this “Special Jamboree Edition” was born. I hope it meets with everyone’s approval.

As I have said, this has been a busy summer for me. My trip to Nashville for Imperial and the ASOB Jamboree, managing updates on the website, laying out this edition of the Na Kahbar, shoring up arrangements for our executive planning session in September and the list goes on. Oh, yes I even managed to sneak in a parade with my band!

If all that was not enough, my wife, Timmie-Lynn and I decided to adopt two wonderful but feisty children of the four-legged variety. Both are rescues that are estimated at approximately a year old. The brindle little girl is Mia and the darker one is little boy Gilley.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Speaking of children, as Shriners and especially of bandsmen, we have adopted many children that need the specialty care that our Shriners Hospitals for Children provide. That is a very expensive endeavor and we have dedicated ourselves as ASOB bandsmen to collect money each year to help offset those cost so our hospitals may continue their commitment to helping our children. Please continue to fundraise with enthusiasm, for truely we do support the “World’s Greatest Philanthropy”.  As promised, to help you with some fundraising ideas, you will find the first suggestion in the “Ladder of Smiles” section below. Let’s commit to meeting that goal of 100% participation from each band this year. This can happen if we choose to work together.

I would like to leave you with a challenge and a reminder. Several disagreements that I have either heard of or witnessed as of late has given me a reason for concern. It is not the disagreements themselves that give me pause but the way they have been addressed. The majority of them had nothing to do with Oriental Band except that we are all brothers and Master Masons. As such, we are taught that we all meet on the level. I think we all tend to forget that lesson at times in our passion to do what we believe is right. In a world that is so very polarized at times, we need our masonic brotherhood to be as strong as it has ever been. As bandsmen, we need to set the standard and be the light, show by our example, how to treat our brothers especially in times of disagreement. So the challenge is to give all of your brothers the benefit and courtesy that you would expect for yourself. The reminder… is to remember from whence we came.

Until next time,

Es Salam Alaikum, my brothers!

Darren DeHass P.P.
darren@blujazz.net

Jamboree 2019 – A talk with Megan

We had a visit from Megan Johnson, an amazing young woman, and former Shriners Hospital Patient and Ambassador. She continues to be an advocate for our hospitals and Shrine Oriental Bands. Megan has some amazing accomplishments from writing books to fundraising. I will let her talk for herself through the video, so click on play and watch for yourself. I did reach out to her to make sure she didn’t mind us posting this video and she told me she would be honored to have her impromptu talk posted to our website. Thank you again, Megan!

JAMBOREE 2019 COMPETITION – Akdar

Our last band of the competition was up. Talking about showing some heart and bravery! Competing with only two bandsmen was Akdar Oriental Band hailing from Tulsa Oklahoma. They may have been the smallest band in the land, but they rated very highly with the audience in attendance. It really goes to show, that if you want to perform, then there is nothing that should prevent you from doing just that.