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
