July 20 - July 22, 2013

July 21, 2013

 

 

The saga continues….yesterday we arrived at the meeting place for Ozemb Temple No. 27 Daughters of the Nile. Harold replaced the generator fuel pump and all was well with the world…or so we thought! Don’t get the wrong impression; the generator was working as it should, however when Harold drove to the RV park which we were staying at for the night, he hooked up to the electric at the site and no power. Apparently another issue, was that the power transfer switch was defective. The good news was, with the help of a neighbor, Harold located a service technician who came to the coach and verified Harold’s findings. The bad news was that he didn’t have the part and at 4:30 on Friday afternoon, replacing the switch wasn’t going to happen. But….. the generator was operating!! Anyway, Margaret Ann and I were not privy to any of this until after the banquet and we arrived at the RV Park around 9:30 pm. In we drive, there’s Harold outside the coach, picnic table surrounded by neighbors. Not only did he receive assistance with the problem, he had shrimp and steamed clams with them. Guess I don’t need to worry about him getting a meal, do I? Ozemb Nile Temple put on a beautiful ceremonial and wonderful banquet complete with entertainment. This morning, we made an early escape and drove to Boumi Shrine Temple outside of Baltimore, MD.

 

Wow!!!

What a wonderful day we had yesterday, Sunday, July 21^st at Zitta Temple in Baltimore, MD! These ladies meet at Boumi Shrine Center which is located outside the city on a large parcel of land. The building is beautiful!

 

 

 

The Potentate and his lady joined us for the banquet as well as many of the Boumi Past Potes and Divan members. The Zitta Patrol unit performed their drill routine to the beat of the Boumi band. It was amazing!

 

 

 

 Since our next stop was Fairfax, Virginia and the Boumi Shrine Center is northeast of Baltimore, due to the morning commuting traffic being horrendous, we felt it wise to make the 1.5 hour drive directly after the Zitta banquet. Monday morning, July 21^st we headed into our nation’s capital, Washington, DC for the Official Visit and Banquet of Samla Temple No. 51, Daughters of the Nile. This Nile Temple meets at the home of Almas Shrine right on K Street in the heart of DC. This is another beautiful Shrine Center and how fortunate the ladies are to have the facilities at their disposal! The newest member, who they initiated, is the wife of the Grand Master of the District of Columbia. Because the Grand Master’s schedule was already filled he had only a few minutes to bring greetings to our order. This may be a first for us; to have the Grand Master address a Daughters of the Nile Temple during the social time, in a bar. What an absolutely delightful man he was, very supportive of our order and his wife’s desire to join. After the banquet, we were driven back to Fairfax by making a few side trips along the way. Our driver, Joyce, took us by the scaffolded Washington Monument, the Capitol, the Lincoln Memorial and the Pentagon. How beautiful these buildings are when lit up in the night sky! She then took us by the George Washington Masonic Memorial in Alexandria, Virginia before delivering us to Nila at the Kena Shrine Center. Touring the George Washington Masonic Memorial has just been added to my bucket list.

 

 

 

July 16, 2013 - July 19, 2013

July 20, 2013

Much has happened since my last posting; are you ready?! To begin the story, I have to say that I will never understand why anyone would choose to reside in southwestern Connecticut and northeastern New Jersey! Traffic, traffic, traffic!! Horns blarring, hand gestures and obvious road rage, holy moly! I love you State of Maine!! When we arrived at Salaam Shriners, the gentlemen were wonderful. Gordon and Jerry helped to wire us into the building so we would have the correct power connection; thank you guys. The ladies of Maalas Temple No. 20 Daughters of the Nile greeted us warmly and put on a beautiful Ceremony of Initiation, bringing in one new member, a beautiful 18 year old young woman who has been waiting 12 years to become a Daughter of the Nile, how lucky for the Temple! At the banquet, following the Ceremonial, we met Potentate Will Navallo and several more of the Divan members; thanks again for all the cortesies and assistance.

The next morning we left Livingson for,what should have been a fairly short jaunt to Trenton. Not so! Our GPS, which we have named Randi (Rand McNally), directed us to get on the NJ turnpike heading south. Big mistake! This may come as surprise to many of you (lol), during rush hour traffic, no one and I mean NO ONE will let you get in or out of your lane. Needless to say, we ended up being pushed out onto the wrong exit and headed north. Now remember, Trenton is toward the south. After getting turned around, Randi directed us to get back on the NJ turnpike and now we are north of where we started. Time for additional action; the atlas came out of storage, I directed Harold to make an exit, and head to the Garden State Parkway, which proved to be a wise decision. We arrived at the Crescent Shrine Center in Burlington, NJ only 1 hour and 45 minutes late. Because our generator quit working, Harold dropped us off at the Shrine Center and he drove to Croydon, PA to have the generator looked at. Of course, when he arrived at Industrial Diesel Power Systems, the generator decided to run. It’s hard to determine if something is wrong mechanically when it’s running, however, the company donated 2 hours of their time in trying to determine the problem and ran some diagnostics. Thank you so much for your efforts. After Harold returned to the Shrine Center, Potentate Henry and his staff were wonderful and assisted Harold in getting us hooked up to power and water. Mollie became their office mascot for the day and has taken on the title of Supreme Dog. Boy did the air conditioning feel good that night!

 

 

Items sewn and donated by Al Haram No. 130

 

Thursday, July 18^th we visited the Philadelphia Shriners Hospital for Children®. The ride into Philly went smoothly and without any hitches. The hospital arranged for us to park Nila directly in front of the building on Broad Street for all to see. What a fabulous hospital this is! We were greeted by a very friendly staff who directed us to the 9^th floor where we had an unbelievable view of this historic city, Philadelphia, the city of “Brotherly Love”. Our tour guides were Sara and Stephanie, who led us through this magnificent hospital which specializes in the treatment of spinal cord abnormalities and injuries. They have this “play” area which is utilized to assist the patients with adaptive living skills. They hava a therapeutic pool with an underwater treadmill. They are the second Shrine Hospital to implement a full body xray (the EOS) which takes only a few seconds to complete the scan; AMAZING! This particular day at the hospital was a meeting day of the Board of Governors, who presented a certificate to Supreme Queen Margaret Ann Risk and after, joined us for a wonderful lunch.

 

 

Supreme Queen Margaret Ann's first parade!!

 

The therapeutic pool.

 

 

We then worked our way out of Philadelphia and to Warminster and the next Official Visit of the Daughters of the Nile. I need to back track a bit. While parked at the Philadelphia Hospital, the coach generator quit. No roof air, again, 95+ degrees outside. The Recorder of Allah Temple No. 28 had a portable generator delivered to the ceremonial site, which unfortunately was not equipped with the correct plug configuration. No fault of the recorder. After hours of trying to wire, rewire, etc we found a Lowe’s and purchased the plug needed to make the connection or so we thought! The plug WAS correct, however, the generator refused to switch over to shore power so……at 10 pm we decided to check into a Day’s Inn for the night. Hallelujah! Fast forward….. 8 am July 19, 2013. Harold and I drove Nila to a Cummins Service Center in Bristol, PA and were told by the service writer Mark and the technician that the extreme heat may be partly due to the failure of the generator to start. They also determined that the generator to the fuel pump is probably defective. Since this service center did not have the needed part in stock, they called ahead to their Harrisburg facility, ordered the part and I arranged for someone in Harrisburg to pick it for Harold to install himself when we arrived in Harrisburg. The ladies of Allah temple put on a beautiful and well executed Ceremonial with two new members followed by a wonderful banquet. We have been so fortunate to have assistance offered to us everywhere we’ve stopped. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!

 

 

July 16, 2013

July 16, 2013

Sunday, July 14^th we were “On the Road Again”; destination - Newington, CT for the Official Visit at Aisha Temple No. 83, Daughters of the Nile. The ladies of Aisha showed their stuff and made us all feel very welcome both at the Ceremonial and the banquet which followed at the Sphinx Shrine Center.

 

 

 

We’re again experiencing difficulties with necessary electrical hookups for the coach but are working through it. In order to run the roof air and electrical appliances, the coach needs to be plugged into a 220 line. To all the Queens/Recorders where we are scheduled to stay at a Shrine Center, Masonic Center, etc. if the building is NOT equipped as above; please provide us with a portable generator which produces a minimum of 30 amps and the fuel to keep the generator running. Thank you for your assistance with this!

Monday, July 15^th we headed to West Haven, CT and were welcomed by Queen Suzie and Recorder Ruth. I wish I’d taken pictures of the inside of the Masonic Hall where they met. It was like walking into the courtyard of a castle. The walls were built with cement blocks, all the interior doors were made of beautiful oak and the ceiling was painted sky-blue with floating clouds. Absolutely beautiful!!

 

 

 

The banquet following the Ceremonial and hosted by the ladies of Pyremus Temple No. 82 was held at a country setting restaurant and the dining room looked out onto rock gardens.

 

 

 

 Thank you Pyremus for your hospitality! Nila and her occupants spent the night in Milford, CT before heading out today for Newark, NJ.

July 14, 2013

July 14, 2013

It’s been over a week since my last posting, I have resurfaced, and is there a lot to report on! We arrived home from Indianapolis on July 4, 2013 after picking up our lab, Mollie and stopping to visit with my folks at their home in Rockport, Me.

I have to share the following story with you. On July 3^rd we were driving up I-495 in Massachusetts and stopped to refuel at a Shell Station. As I exited the coach, an employee from the station came up to me and asked, “do you accept donations?”. After stuttering and stammering I responded that we do so he proceeded to hand me rolled up currency. I thanked him and put the money in my pocket. As he was walking away he said to me “I wish I could do more.” His generosity and sincerity really caught me off guard and I decided I needed to speak with the man some more, so inside the station I went. After apologizing to him for not thanking him properly, I thanked him again and asked him if he knew anything about the Daughters of the Nile and/or the Shriner’s Hospitals. “No ma’am, I really don’t know anything about the Daughters of the Nile but when you drove in, I knew I had to do something. My girlfriend’s sister has a little boy who was born 3 months early with severe CP and has been treated at a Shriner’s Hospital. They have been so good to her and her little boy. I knew I had to do something”. I thanked him again and went back outside, in tears. I said to Harold, I am so stunned and overwhelmed by his thoughtfulness that I want to give him a “Love for the Children” pin. So back in the store I went and presented him with this very small token of our appreciation. By now the coach was refueled and we boarded to continue our trek to Maine. I pulled the rolled up money from out of my pocket, it was single dollar bill. I cannot express the emotions which welled up. This young man gave from his heart…..friends; this is what it’s all about: giving freely from your heart.

Friday, Saturday and Sunday we spent reorganizing and replenishing Nila. Saturday, July 6^th, Supreme Queen Margaret Ann Risk arrived from Texas and was delivered to our house by Queen Teresa. Sunday a small group of us visited McLaughlin’s at the Marina in Hampden, Maine for “lobstah”, a request of the Supreme Queen.

 

 

 

Monday, July 8^th started out in a downpour however, we were determined that “it wasn’t going to rain on our parade”. The skies cleared just enough at the beginning of the “Kick Off Event” so we went ahead as planned. Two of the local television news stations were there to interview the Supreme Queen and promote the tour, channel WABI-TV and WVII-TV/FOX affiliate. Danny Webb, owner of Webb’s RV Center, presented Nila’s keys to Supreme Queen Margaret Ann.

 

 

 

 

 

Several Anah Shrine Clowns, Anah Go Cart members, Anah Funsters and Anah Highlander Ernie Smith were in attendance. Several Anah Divan members, Past Potentates, current Potentate F. Lee Kaufman and Peggy were able to take a few moments off from work to support this event and greetings were brought from Potentate Lee as well as Past Potentate Larry Hersom, representing the Shriners Hospital in Boston and Anah Chaplain, Alton Kenny representing Shriners Hospital in Springfield. It was also nice that my sister, Karen drove my folks up from Rockport for the event and my son and his family was also there to support us and wish us well on the tour. Many of my friends were there to send us off with their well wishes.

 

 

 

This event was largely successful due to the dedication of the committee and those assisting; Chairman Past Potentate Tony Bowers and his wonderful wife Carmel, Anah Oriental Guide Steve Trimm and his wife, Betty, Princess Tirzah, Ankh Temple Daughters of the Nile, Queen Teresa and her husband David, many friends, and members of Ankh Temple No 160.

 

 

 

 

 

 

A special thank you to official adopted photographer Noble Dick Kilton. The Anah Go Carts made a special presentation and donation to the Love for the Children Tour Daily Expense Fund. For me, the highlight of the event, were the two guest speakers which Chairman Tony asked to attend; Craig Clifford from Haynesville, who spoke of his experience as a Shrine child, back in the early days and Lauren who is currently being treated at the Shriners Hospital in Philadelphia. Both speakers shared their stories with us, their love for the hospitals and how being treated by the doctors and the staff has changed their lives. In a word, “Priceless”.

Monday evening, July 8, 2013 – Ankh Temple held its’ Official Visit with our new Supreme Queen, Margaret Ann Risk at the Ralph J. Pollard Masonic Center. The banquet started at 6 pm, followed by a performance of the Ankh Temple Dance Unit. (Missed you Lorena!) We initiated 1 new Princess into our order; I was so proud of our officers who executed their parts extremely well! (We missed you, Lorena!)

 

 

Bright and early Tuesday morning, we hit the road for the “Love for the Children Tour”. We made a pit stop in Lewiston, Maine at the historic Kora Shrine Building and were greeted in the parking lot by custodian Tony Perkins. This man should be the Kora historian! What a wonderful tour he took us on in this absolutely beautiful building which is on the Historical Registry.

 

 

 

Our schedule dictated that we arrive in Portland by noon, so off we went. Arok Temple No. 94, Lewiston, Maine held its’ Official Visit that night at the Deering Masonic Lodge which is also where we parked for the night. The ladies of Arok put on a home-cooked very hardy dinner and executed a wonderful and fun-filled Ceremonial, bringing in two new members. Their new dance unit also, made their premier performance, “Dance Like an Egyptian”; great performance dancers!!

When Harold entered the building the next morning to disconnect from the power, he set off the alarm system and before we knew it, Portland’s “finest” came screaming into the dooryard on two wheels (two cruisers). No arrests were made, thank goodness; we would have hated to lose our chauffer so early in the trip! Now, the ending to this story would have been much different, if Margaret Ann had done what she threatened, to come running out of the motor coach yelling that she had been abducted! Good decision on that one, Margaret Ann, to stay inside!! Wednesday, we arrived in Wakefield, Massachusetts around 9:45 am at the Wakefield Masonic Lodge for the Official Visit of Oppela Temple No. 50, Daughters of the Nile.

 

 

 The ladies served us a wonderful lunch prior to the Ceremonial and afterward we attended a 100^th year Anniversary Celebration at the Danversport Yacht Club. A good time was had by all!! Thursday morning, we ventured into Boston to tour the Shriners Hospital for Children®. There’s a lot of new and exciting technology being introduced in the treatment, diagnosis, research and development aspects at the hospital. They have this scanner which they are now using to create an exact image of a patient’s burned area which is then used to make the compression appliance needed to prevent severe scarring from the burns injuries.

 

 

Amazing! During the luncheon, which included lobster rolls, Hospital Administrator C. Tom Desmond, presented a short power point and a certificate of appreciation to Daughters of the Nile for the organizations’ dedication and years of service. The Shriner Hospital in Springfield was expecting us at 3pm so off we went in a cloud of poofle dust! Harold got us to Springfield with minutes, literally, to spare and we were greeted by the Board of Governors who presented the Supreme Queen with a 100 yr. Anniversary cake. Again as at the Boston Hospital, new and exciting things are happening in the treatment, diagnosis and research development areas of healthcare.

 

 

 

 

One of the nurses demonstrated the use of a “vein finder” which when used decreases the time and trauma to the young patient when inserting needles for various procedures. This is just one of many technological advances which the Shriners Hospitals is implementing. Again, amazing!

 

We parked Nila at the Melha Shrine Center for all to see. Friday afternoon, Ahlem Temple No. 84 put on a beautiful ceremonial, initiating three new members followed by a casual picnic. Saturday; a day worth writing about. Now understand, that we left Bangor 4 days earlier with empty gray and black water tanks, and full fresh water storage. It’s 4.5 days later; we have not yet dumped or refilled the water tank. Are you starting to see where I’m going with this? At mid-day, I took a few minutes to bathe and shampoo, or at least I thought I was going to, until I checked the levels of the above stated tanks. Ooooops, full tanks, empty water tank. My thinking was that I could at least shampoo in the kitchen sink; well that thought went “down the drain”. Half-way through the process, the tank drained dry. With a towel around my shampoo laden head, outside I went in search of an outside water spicket to finish the job. Here I was in the middle of the Melha parking lot, looking like a contortionist using a garden hose to finish the job!!!

 Gotta love “dry” camping. Now, we needed to find a dump station to empty those full tanks so off we went to a treatment center to take care of that. Note to self – 3 days is the limit before refilling the water and emptying the waste tanks. Oh, and did I mention that we kept tripping the circuit breakers in the Shrine Center in order to run the roof air, curling irons, electric rollers, computers, printers, etc?! This first 3 day stay was truly a learning experience. Saturday night, the ladies of Ahlem Temple held an absolutely beautiful banquet and ball, great meal and fabulous music. One of the really nice things to see were all the Fez’s in the room. The Potentate of Melha, Ed Griffin, Past Imperial Sir Ralph Semb and Springfield Hospital Chairman of the Board of Governors, David Bernstein were all present and brought greetings. The evening was truly one for the memory book!