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Bandsman of the Year!

Find out how we select a member for this prestigious award and who that member is for 2019-20!

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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