Volume Springfield, Massachusetts 3, Issue 2 February 2016

InsIdeMeet our new low ManP14

new Board ChaIrMan oF shrIners hosPItalP14

unCle MIltIe’s gaMe suPPerP4

BrIan Conner eleCted Potentate For 2016P1, P8

tItleP8

Potentate’s MessageP2, P4

FroM the reCorder, BlaCk CaMel & $100 MIllIon CluB donatIonsP3, P4

Melha unIts & CluBsP5, P6, P7, P8

Melha shrIne ladIes, raInBow gIrls, deMolayP11

eVent CalendarBaCk Page

Uncle Miltie’s Secret Weapon

By Mike RobinsonThe Nobles of Melha Shrine,

at their Annual Meeting, elect-ed E. Brian Connor as their Po-tentate. These are challenging times, especially for fraternal organizations. Memberships are dwindling, expenses to operate a building are escalat-

ing out of control, investment returns are none existent. But One thing is still constant, brotherhood and fellowship are timeless. It’s just a little more elusive, in this modern world of computers, social network-ing and a myriad of distractions that our grandfathers could

never have imagined, men like Brian aspire to leadership in spite of the pitfalls. Our new Potentate hit the ground run-ning even as Chief Rabban, he was presenting his vision to the Nobles at Chief Rabban Night. He understands that teamwork Continued on page 8

Brian Connor Elected Potentate for 2016

By Mike RobinsonOnce a year something mag-

ical happens at the Shrine Cen-ter. Uncle Miltie re-appears on his annual visit to oversee his very successful Game Supper. You can’t really see him but he’s there just the same. He’s part of all his friends at Melha who he touched, trained, ca-joled and admonished through-out the years. Bob Wogatske has taken up his heavy mantle like Atlas holding the world precariously on his shoulders. So there are the teams; A food preparation team, an animal dismantling team

Continued on page 4 Photo by Bert Krasner. Robert Wogatske directing the Melha Game Supper

Photo by Bert Krasner. Newly elected and installed Potentate, Brian Connor laying out his plans for the future of Melha Shrine.

2 Melha shriners

POTENTATE’S MESSAGE

the oFFICIal PuBlICatIon oF Melha shrIners, shrIners Inter-

natIonal

CAMELHAAvailable on the Web at

www.melhashriners.com

EDITORMichael RobinsonEmail: ..........editor@melhashriners.com860 748-8128(C) .... 413 567-2138(Hm)

SPECIAL NOTICEForward all unit EVENT information

to the editor for advance publication and public news releases. ‘NEWSPA-PER ENTERTAINMENT CALENDARS’ need info submitted 2 weeks prior to event.

All copy submitted for Camelha pub-lication must be submitted by e-mail and received before the 12th of the month preceding publication.

All Ads must be submitted by the 1st of the month.

The Editors reserve the right to edit all copy.

shrIners hosPItals For ChIldren516 Carew Street - 413-787-2000Springfield, MA 01104Imp Ralph W. Semb P.P. ....Chair. Bd. of Trustees Emeritus.Melha Bd. oF goVernor MeMBersGeorge Sachs, Joseph Surprenant, Edward Geoffrion, Craig Kazin, Gary SurprenantJason Freeman, Associate MemberEmeritus Members: Robert W. Clarke, Raymond Kalita, Edward B. Briggs, Edward Shore Jr. P.P., James Spear Jr.Chairmen Emeritus: Allen Zippin, P.P, Charles Weaver, P.P., Philip E. Thomas P.P., David BursteinshrIners Burns hosPItal-Boston51 Blossom StreetBoston, MA 02114-2699617-722-3000

Melha Bd. oF goVernors MeMBersDean WhalenRuss Mitchell, PPEmeritus Members: Saul Michaelson, Robert Spaulding P.P.

MELHA SHRINER CENTER133 Longhill Street Springfield, MA 01108Tel.: ............................... (413) 736-3647Fax ............................... (413) 731-9572e-mail: ......recorder@melhashriners.orgPhilip E. Thomas, P.P. - RecorderOffice E-mail: recorder1@melhashriners.comDebra Collins .......................... Secretary

OFFICE HOURS8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

Monday through Friday

MELHA WEB SITEwww.melhashriners.com

PAY WITH CREDIT CARDMelha honors Visa, MasterCard and

Discover cards. Minimum amount charged must be $20.00. You may also pay online at our web site.

use it for: Dues, Melha Events, Fezzes, Melha

Trips, etc.

2016 DIVAN

Potentate ............Edward ‘Brian’ Connor413-636-4270Chief Rabban ............. Raymond Turrini413-297-8111Ass’t Rabban ............... Robert Wogatske413-575-7788High Prst & Prophet ... Glenn Surprenant413-583-8991Oriental Guide ................... Daniel Smith413-531-3542Treasurer ................Ronald Gagnon P.P.413-568-4402Recorder ..............Philip E. Thomas P.P.413-736-36471st Cerem. Master .............. Leo Plourde413-348-3889Chief Director ....................Alan Stratton413-323-02682nd Cerem. Master ......Jeffrey Hastings413-896-7548Marshal ............................. Garth Parker413-265-9996Capt. of the Guard .........Randy Wessels508-344-4472

It is an honor and a privilege to serve you as the 106th Po-tentate of the Melha Shrine. I can’t believe it has been 8 years since I began this jour-ney as Captain of the Guard. I want to thank Ill. Sir James Blevins for that appointment. I am very proud to be a mem-ber of my Shrine family which includes Thelma Emery, the matriarch; (I wish I had the honor of getting to know Ill. Sir Ken); Imperial Sir Ralph and Pat Semb; Ill. Sir Edward and Evelyn Shore; Ill. Sir Ed-gar and Anne Gelinas and my

Shrine Parents, Ill. Sir Jim and Pat Blevins. Thank you all for mentoring me through the line.

The main reason I joined the Shrine was due to the services my son received at our Spring-field hospital. After seeing firsthand the care he received, I was hooked and decided I wanted to become a Shriner. This year’s project, the EOS imaging system, will dramati-cally improve the quality of services provided here for many more patients for years to come. This state of the art system will be the only one of its kind not only in our hospital system but in many surround-ing regions. I am very lucky and grateful to have First Lady Shelley by my side throughout this journey spearheading this project.

My pin this year is a badge representing my 30 year ca-reer as an Agawam police of-ficer. On the left side is the American Flag; on the right is

the Massachusetts flag. Look closely in the blue shield; you will see a gold bar which means “Let’s pass the bar on Membership in 2016”. In the pin’s center, you will see the Masonic square and compass and Shrine Fez side by side; a theme you will see throughout this year.

Our #1 goal this year is to continue to have fun and come up with new ideas, events, concepts and of course, mem-bers. We have to get informa-tion out several months before the events are going to take place. PR Chairman Michael White and Communications Director Michael Robinson will be using a proactive PR approach to get the message out earlier, stronger and to the public, an audience we have seriously missed. I ask that all Unit Heads work with the Communications and Public Relations Team to drive Melha in the right direction, forward.

In addition to the Camelha, there will be a weekly e-news-letter sent on Mondays. Get your event info to the C/PR team by Sunday, 5 PM to be promoted. This year’s events were designed to be fun, af-fordable and encourage friends and family to share in the Mel-ha experience. For example, join us for a romantic evening of fine dining, dancing and the “Ultimate Tribute to Rod Stewart” on Sat., February 13th. The fun continues with the Melha Mardi Gras night on Sat., February 20th – authen-tic Southern food and spirits; along with the Bourbon Street experience. And don’t forget about the OB Pasta night on February 27th.

As I have always said as I went up the line: I am a noble first and being the Potentate is

Continued on page 4

3 Melha shriners

FROM THE RECORDER

From Shriners Interna-tional: We are in the process of rolling out a major soft-ware upgrade that has to be accomplished for the Shrine to move into the future. It will take time and patience to get it done. This process requires a lot of information cleanup to accurately reflect and support all of the Shrine processes in a uniform way. Due to time constraints and the necessary data cleanup, the decision was made to produce one type of card that did not reflect the Dues Class or any special des-ignations such as ‘100 Mil-lion Dollar Club’. Obviously, it was imperative to get cards out as quickly as possible for 2016. In addition, some er-rors were made in the initial batches that resulted in cards being printed without middle

initials and/or suffixes. It is recognized that this created problems and we are working on corrections and a process for reissue.

This year’s cards are plastic instead of paper as in years past. For this reason, the cards must be created and mailed in batches for cost effectiveness. Twice a month, records are checked to see if dues are paid and then sent to the printer. The printer then creates the cards and mails them out. This will change to once per month when the bulk of cards have been distributed.

We will be sending another card to members who did not receive the correct designating suffix on their name.

On another Note: The illus-trious Potentate has indicated that all candidate obligations will be held at stated meet-ings at the hospital starting in March. So, check your calen-dar every month for the stated meeting as well as events.

Remember, let’s bring Mel-ha back to where we were with members, all members are part of the membership recruitment team. We need to work the collectively on this.

PAST POTENTATES OF MELHA SHRINE

Name YearCharles Miller * ................................ 1897-1902William H. Titus * ............................. 1903-1904H. Leroy Woodward * ................................1905Charles L. Young * .......................... 1906-1907Robert P. Cunningham * ................. 1908-1909Fred R. Brown * ........................................1910Frank E. Ladd * ..............................1911 - 1912Albert E. Taylor * .......................................1913Hugh J. Buckley * ......................................1914Fred A. Eldred * .........................................1915Albert E. Lerche * ............................ 1916-1917Franklin A. Latimer * ........................ 1918-1919Walter H. Damon * .......................... 1920-1921Fred C. Smith * .........................................1922Harry H. Caswell * .....................................1923Charles F. Watson * ..................................1924Charles A. Frazer * ....................................1925John A. Webster * ........................... 1926-1927Walter S. Pease * ......................................1928George M. Hendee * .................................1929Harry A. Spaight * .....................................1930Carl P. Reilly * ...........................................1931Edward S. Chase * ....................................1932Arlan M. Spencer * ....................................1933Paul H. Hosmer * ......................................1934Henry K. Fruch * .......................................1935Walter E. Perry * ............................. 1936-1937John G. Rose * ..........................................1938Norman P. Dempsey * ...............................1939Alfred J. Bird * ...........................................1940George W. Streeter * .................................1941William L. McCleary * ................................1942George G. Carr * .......................................1943William E. Grobe * .....................................1944Earl C. Daniels * ........................................1945Dr. George W. Gray * ................................1946Donald H. Mudd * ......................................1947Wesley G. Stephens * ...............................1948Otto C. Kuhrt * ...........................................1949Theodore A. Wiel * ....................................1950Donald A Bartlett * .....................................1951James Matthew * ......................................1952Chester W. Haynes * .................................1953V. Frank Greis * .........................................1954Fred S. Conkey * .......................................1955Ralph F. Beaudry * ....................................1956Wayne H. Latham * ...................................1957Bennett W. Benson * .................................1958Norman R. Vestor * ...................................1959Jule Kaufman * ..........................................1960Robert E. Samble * ...................................1961Richard C. Zoller * .....................................1962Elliot Anderson * ........................................1963

John Baird * ..............................................1964Carl B. Martin Jr. * .....................................1965H. Edward Baker * ....................................1966Harold E. Kjoller * ......................................1967George Aronson * .....................................1968Maurice M. Chaffin * .................................1969Dr. Kenneth E. Nicholson * .......................1970Robert W. Nothacker * ..............................1971Jean R. LaCroix ........................................1972Phillip E. Taylor * .......................................1973John M. Samson * .....................................1974Maurice H. Baitler * ...................................1975William G. Kavaney * ................................1976Edward W. Bock * .....................................1977John R. Lundgren * ...................................1978Robert D. Davis * ......................................1979Kenneth E. Emery * ..................................1980Robert A. Meffen .......................................1981Jack A. Butterfield * ...................................1982Allen G. Zippin ..........................................1983John E. Bethel* .........................................1984Joseph A. Harrison* ..................................1985Donald J. Lohnes * ....................................1986Imp. Ralph W. Semb .................................1987Gordon J. Smith * ......................................1988Clyde O. Hooper Jr. * ................................1989David Skolnick * ........................................1990W. Douglas Spingler * ...............................1991Richard C. Bewsee ...................................1992Norman T. Maagero ..................................1993Arthur E. Hastings .....................................1994Edward W. Shore Jr. .................................1995Sheldon M. Titcomb ..................................1996Charles H. Weaver ....................................1997Philip E. Thomas .......................................1998Robert G. Spaulding Jr. .............................1999David J. Gates ..........................................2000Edgar W. Gelinas ......................................2001Edwin A. Os * ............................................2002Robert H. Marshall ....................................2003Anton E. Koss ...........................................2004James W. Marceau ...................................2005Tom D. Fielding .........................................2006Kirk E. Burkins ..........................................2007James H. Blevins ......................................2008Ronald R. Gagnon ....................................2009Jeffrey S. Goodless ...................................2010Russell D. Mitchell ....................................2012Edward F Griffin ........................................2013William Faust ............................................2014David F. Butterfield ...................................2015*deceased

STATED MEETING NOTICE

Wednesday, February 24 2016 at 7:30 PM for the purpose of conduct-ing the business of Melha Shriners, as well as, balloting on individuals for initiation, obligating candidates, and for the dissemination of information to the membership on matters relating to current Shrine events. All nobles invited to attend, current dues card is required. Units and Clubs leaders are required to attend. Proper attire is required and please wear your fez.

SPECIAL MEETING NOTICE

The following resolution was read at the January Stated meeting. Resolu-tion to increase the initiation fee from $189.00 to $225.00. A vote on the proposal will be held at the February 24th, 2016 Stated meeting.

Edward B. Connor PotentateAttest, Philip E. Thomas, P.P.

Recorder

MELHA SHRINEBeverage Manager ...........Dick MarceauBanquet Manager ............. Debra Collins

TRUSTEESAlan Couture(Chr.) .......... 413-537-1657Jack Greaves .................. 413-527-7355Michael Santos ................ 413-246-2804Kevin LaPlante ................ 413-599-0188Richard MacGreggor ....... 413-896-5447John Scribner .................. 413-323-7729Anthony Langone ............ 413-205-9953

ADMINISTRATORSNick Creanza (Chr.) ......... 413-596-2577 Cary Miller ....................... 413-567-0514 Jeffrey Gopin ................ 1-774-452-2110Ron Gagnon .................... 413-568-4402Edward W. Shore III ........ 413-746-6442

MELHA SHRINE

4 Melha shriners

Melha Shrine Is Going Green!

The printing and mailing of our monthly Camelha is get-ting very expensive so switch-ing to a paperless version makes sense.

Save the Shrine Center hundreds of dollars and help the environment too. Call the Melha office with your current e-mail address.

You will always find the current issue of the Camelha, and back issues as well as past issues, can be found on our web site at www.melhashri-ners.com.

Pote’s Message Continued from page 2

just running the house for the year; at the end of the day, I am still a proud noble of Melha. We all need to work as a team for Melha.

P.S. Thank you everyone for the exhausting work that was done at the game supper. Congratulations to the 2016 Presidents and other elected officers. Thank you for al-lowing me the opportunity to serve you as Potentate in 2016. Let the good times roll this year!

Shrine Life Cycles

Edward Otting ..................................Feb-01Joseph E Bolaske ...........................Feb-01Russell E Lowe ...............................Feb-01Frank W Messier.............................Feb-01Henry T Warchol............................ Feb-02Kenneth A Dorey ........................... Feb-02Howard J Wineberg ....................... Feb-02Charles J Mc Arthur ...................... Feb-03Leslie B Rhinemiller ....................... Feb-04Arthur J Pappas ............................. Feb-04Shawn G Kelley ............................. Feb-04Erwin S Bilsky ................................ Feb-05Steven M Jankiewicz ..................... Feb-05John H Lewarn ............................... Feb-06Arthur Musen ................................. Feb-06Robert L Hastings .......................... Feb-06Stephen Ferraro ............................ Feb-06Paul A LaPane ............................... Feb-06Perry Smith .....................................Feb-07Anthony Langone Sr. ......................Feb-07James P Liston .............................. Feb-08Howard L Ser M.D. ........................ Feb-08James P Wright ............................. Feb-08William J Faust p.p. ....................... Feb-08Lester G Brinkley ........................... Feb-09Stanley F Hanson ...........................Feb-10Russell F Fortini .............................Feb-10Raymond S Haire ...........................Feb-12Francis P Mazzone .........................Feb-12Jeffrey A Lourie ..............................Feb-13Robert M Fuster Jr. .........................Feb-13George Christodlous ......................Feb-14Robert A Bouchard .........................Feb-14James V Parolo ..............................Feb-14Umberto Maruca.............................Feb-14Jerry J Bird .....................................Feb-14Robert A Holmberg .........................Feb-15Bernhard H Kvarnstrom Jr. .............Feb-15Charles R Hammond ......................Feb-15William D Stelmok ..........................Feb-15Walter Combs Jr. ............................Feb-15Brian Zippin ....................................Feb-15

Donald M Safford ............................Feb-16Theodore W Roukas.......................Feb-16Douglas M Finn...............................Feb-16Donald J McKinnon ........................Feb-16John S Nikopoulos..........................Feb-16Allan P Jenney ................................Feb-16Arthur E Bliss ..................................Feb-17Richard A Eisold .............................Feb-17David T Galanis ..............................Feb-17John M Harris .................................Feb-17Warren C Christensen ....................Feb-18Stuart J Hurwitz ..............................Feb-18Edward B Briggs .............................Feb-18Gerald J Hachigian .........................Feb-18Gerald O Ethier ...............................Feb-18Michael F Bader .............................Feb-19Jeffrey T Scott ................................Feb-19Edgar W Gelinas PP .......................Feb-20Richard E Fiske ..............................Feb-20Robert J Wright...............................Feb-20Joel M Feder ...................................Feb-21Ernest P Follansbee Jr. ..................Feb-22Ronald E Lohnes ............................Feb-22Alan F Rainford ...............................Feb-22Raymond E Dudek Jr......................Feb-23Robert T Mondene .........................Feb-23Charles L Heffelfinger ....................Feb-23David J Pauze Sr. ...........................Feb-24Jack A Goldberg .............................Feb-24Salvatore Amenta ...........................Feb-24Richard W Power ............................Feb-24Ronald E Jackson ...........................Feb-25Ernest A Byron ...............................Feb-26William R Barnett ............................Feb-26Andrew A Dow ................................Feb-26Richard A Poudrier .........................Feb-27Richmond H Laisure .......................Feb-27Jeffery D Hodgen............................Feb-27Robert A Meffen P.P. ......................Feb-28Alfred S Gardner ............................Feb-28Raymond G Lewis Jr. .....................Feb-28

Nobles celebrating birthdays in February:

27th Annual Melha Winter Picnic Feb 6

This year in beautiful Ven-ice, FL. The picnic will be in the Community Hall at San-dalwood Park, 300 Sandpiper Rd. Catered by the famous Gold Rush BBQ, the price is only $13/person. Social hour

at 11:00 am and dinner at High Noon. Beer, wine and soft drinks will be available for a donation. For reservations contact Tony Koss, P.P., 468 Spindrift Dr. S, Venice FL 34285, 413-589-9518 or email melha04@earthlink.net.

gaMe suPPerContinued from page 1

(we won’t go into that), a serving team, a cleanup team and the very important cook-ing team. It’s like the NCAA playoffs; January madness. All this energy focused on one goal; the game winning shot - The Game Supper. The Butterfield Auditorium is so packed that the only way to accommodate any more people is to put on a new ad-dition. I think the administra-tors said that would happen when pigs fly. Be careful not to mention pig around Bob, it might end up as an appetizer.

Who would have thought that the feast was prepared with animals that until last week were roaming the wilds of Forest Park. Well, maybe not the bear or moose but you get the picture.

Such fare as moose meat-balls, turkey and pheasant a-la-king, wild game sausage (boar, venison and moose, creole of rabbit, ragu of bea-ver and muskrat and lemon dill salmon. All the food is home made in our kitchen by Bob and his team. A pinch of salt, some secret spices. Even uncle Miltie’s son takes time from his restaurant to help with the seasoning. Bob told me that if he offered tickets to next years game supper, he would sell out the tickets in advance. Uncle Miltie is defi-nitely smiling.

5 Melha shriners

CLOWNS

By Jerry “ Fix-It” DucharmeHere it is already Febru-

ary and we are in full swing of things. I know what you are thinking, OMG he wrote in here two months in a row. Well we have lots to tell you so lets get to it.

I would like to introduce the new line officers for the year 2016. First off we have the new chief, Chris “Chow” Howe. Next up is myself Jerry “Fix-It” Ducharme as your first assistant. Now the sec-ond assistant is Rob “MiS-MaTcH” Cote’. That brings us to the last 2 on the list, Craig “Doc” Kazin as treasurer and Bill “Railz” MacKinnon as your newest secretary. Well there you have it so if you see them around how bout a pat on the back or just a thanks for doing your part I know they would appreciate it.

We also brought in a new apprentice clown this past month. How bout a warm welcome for Rob “Cycle”( maybe ) Aubin. He isn’t sure on the name just yet but he is trying it out. He did attend the northeast Clown Institute with about a dozen of us learning the fine arts of clowning. For those that don’t know there is make-up classes and move-ment classes not to mention balloon and magic classes, you know all the things a clown needs to succeed. We have high hopes for Cycle and are sure he will be a great ad-dition to our alley.

There are lots of things planned for this year coming up with parades and circus’s and loads more that these cra-

zy clowns will be at so make sure you get out there with smiles and laughter to show your support not only for the clowns but for Melha as a whole.

Thanks for reading my ram-blings and until next month, yes I will be here next month, “ bump-a-nose “.

DIRECTORS

by Frank WatsonWell, here we are in 2016.

This past year flew by in no time. The Directors managed to keep themselves busy at every turn and this year looks to be even more eventful. We started the year helping our dear friend Peg Stearns celebrate her 105th birthday with over 100 friends, family, a contingent of Shriners and even some local politicians. This party included the release of her new book, “My Journey of a Century.” At her birthday party last year, Peg asked ev-eryone to donate to SHC-Sp-fld and raised $1004.00. And then, she started writing her book. Her first day sales were $800.00 creating nearly $500 in flow through donations to the hospital. Thank you to all of the Directors who showed up and presented Peg with a Love to the Rescue Bear Blan-ket. Her book can be ordered on createspace.com for $15.00 ($9.68 is donated for each book sold).

The major event for the Di-rectors this year will be the SDA Convention April 13th-17th. As Directors, we need to pull out all the stops to support Noble Dean Whalen as he has been promoting Melha as this

year’s venue for several years.Our February meeting is

being planned at the hospital where Lee Kirk, the Hospital Administrator, and each of the Department Heads will speak to us about their departments similar to the highly informa-tional 90th Anniversary tour.

And in March, be prepared for our Unit picture to be tak-en at the Holyoke St. Patrick’s Day Parade.

Stay tuned to the weekly newsletter for any updates. Let’s have a great year!!

DRUM CORPS

by Jim Marceau,PPLet me start by congratulat-

ing our new Potentate Brian Connor and wishing him and his Divan a successful 2016. As always, it was bitter sweet last night at the annual meet-ing to see Ill. David Butter-field’s term end, but it happens to the best of us. Been there, done that. Dave, thank you for your efforts in 2015. Now we move on.

Question: Did Roman doc-tors refer to IV’s as 4’s?

It will be nice to get back to our regular routine and be practicing...our regular rou-tine! The holidays are nice, but if the break were any lon-ger Ron would have to teach me how to play the drum again. I’m sure we’re all in the same boat.

Best tee shirts: 1) Some-times I laugh so hard the tears run down my leg. 2) You peo-ple must be exhausted from watching me do everything.

It was nice to see Lou Red-fern roll into the annual meet-ing (he was in a wheelchair).

He was telling me how he and Muriel were busy selling Circus ads, something I wish more of us would do. Roll on, Lou! Laissez le bon temps roulez.

Your tax dollars at work: The latest government funded study has revealed that three out of four people make up 75% of the population!

Believe it or not, there have been some members of the Shrine who think they can come up with better puns for our monthly article. So be it. I am starting a Guest Punster of the Month spot. Anyone who wishes to contribute a pun for consideration should get it to me at melha05pote@yahoo.com or by some other means. Here is the first sent to me by Corps member Digger Baldy-ga. I take no credit for the content. “ What do you sing to honor a snowman? Freeze a Jolly Good Fellow!” (Now you know why I take no credit for the content.)

Time to go. I leave you with this thought: To vacillate or not to vacillate, that is the question...or is it? Rock the Fez!

FLYERS

By Lance WhitcombMalcolm, Winnie and I

arrived down in Florida on Wednesday, the 30th of De-cember. We left on Monday at 4:00 pm due to the storm com-ing in. We left in a hurry and ahead of our scheduled time, driving to New Jersey by 9:00 pm that evening. Although we missed the storm, our truck was covered with ice in the

Continued on page 6

MELHA SHRINE UNITS

6 Melha shriners

MELHA SHRINE UNITSMelha unItsContinued from page 5

morning as we headed out. The rain stopped around 9:30 am and around 1:00 p.m. the sun came out and the tempera-ture was 60 F. We are having a cool spell now, but was in the 70’s and 80’s a couple days ago. I have already been to a couple Lodge meetings and a Shriner club meeting.

I am still thinking about do-ing the sky dive over at Dive City in Zephyrhills Munici-pal Airport. I’ll be setting it up with them for February or March (probably March). So, if you want to join me, come on down. If we have enough interested Shriners to jump, maybe we could start an an-nual event. The jump could be a fun money raising activity for the kids. I’ll be looking for pledges for me to jump – so I won’t chicken out!

Remember to visit your home Lodge, or another in your area. They’ll be glad to see you!

HADjI

By Donald F Sacco Sr.Happy New Year everyone.

I hope all of you and your fam-ilies had a safe and enjoyable holiday season. First, I would like to thank all of you for having the confidence in me to elect me as your president for 2016. Hadji has always been the premier unit in Melha and I want that to continue. I want everyone to be saying “Hadji is everywhere.” But that de-pends on all of you. You all joined Melha for a reason. It may have been to help the

hospital, it may have been for the fun, or it may have been for the socialization. What-ever the reason, each of you joined, all of that is still there. BUT, YOU have to be there for it to happen. YOU have to be at the parades, YOU have to be at the events, YOU have to be there for this to work. I am asking all of you, please, please be involved this year. Let’s have the best parade at-tendance we have ever had. Let’s be at all the events.

And all this starts with our first event, which is our Febru-ary Monthly Meeting. That is our Valentine’s Dinner Meet-ing with the Directors and all of your better halves are in-vited. We are going to have a great dinner that night. All of our dinners have been great this past year but Michael goes all out for the Valentine’s dinner. Also that night we are taking our new Hadji Unit pic-ture. So if you want to be a part of that, you need to be there that night. So, let’s have as many of you there as possible and remember to wear your uniform and your fez. Bring your wife out, have a nice din-ner, some great socialization and get your picture taken for free. Unfortunately, the dinner will cost you $15.00. But your wives are free, as their dinners will be paid by Hadji. If you didn’t sign up at the last meet-ing call Rob Pierce, our new Tillerman at (617) 470-9375 and make a reservation. Or you can call me at (413) 302-5612.

Again, thank you in advance for all your support this com-ing year and I hope to see all

of you at the Valentine’s Din-ner Meeting on February 11th. Dinner starts around 6:30 so come hungry. Remember, UNIFORMS and FEZ’s for the unit picture.

HIGHLANDERS

By Garth Parker, PCHere it is February already,

only about 70 days to spring. Only 40 days or so until the First Parade, Worcester, fol-lowed by “The Holyoke”. Practice is the key to our look-ing and sounding good. Be-tween now and then there will be practice every Monday. So bring your instruments and plan on going upstairs at 7:30.

The New Officers are in place or soon will be. Saul has a good handle on the events for the year, if you have any sug-gestions on how to make them better, see Saul. The Temple has had its changing of the guard. Brian Connor now is at the tiller and has some new ideas on the operation. He is calling for ALL the Highland-ers for attendance and partici-pation in the events. He has an aggressive schedule with some special events and we have added a couple of parade for the year. Southbridge has asked us to join them in May and then another new one is Palmer in October. These are Tercentennial parades. They are excited we are coming, so mark your calendars.

New events coming up are the Super Bowl Party, Valen-tines Dinner/Show, a Mardi Gras festival and the OB Pas-ta Supper. Try to make it to whatever you can and bring your friends. Information is

available in the issue of the Camelha.

OK, that’s it…. I’m done, my last issue for the Camelha. The Jr Past Chief Corey La-Crosse will be taking pen in hand from here on. Thanks for putting up with me. It has been a good time. In closing I really mean it when I say THANK YOU for all you have done for Melha and the Highlander unit.

Get to PRACTICE, get back to your Blue Lodge for new blood, and down to the Unit Room, your friends are thirsty. See you on the street.

LEGION OF HONOR

By P.C. Richard SkowronWow, Winter is finally here

and is it ever COLD! A lot of us missed the blizzard of January 23. Some were not so lucky and got a lot of snow. With the price of oil I hope you did not lock in a contract with the price that was up be-fore the oil price drop like I did.

We have a couple issues that the Legion of Honor members should be aware of which will be brought up at our next busi-ness meeting. One is amend-ing the bylaws, changing a quorum of fifteen members to a majority of the members present. We are not able to get enough members for a vote without a quorum.

Another issue is when a business meeting is sched-uled and there is inclement weather, the line officers feel that they should be able have the flexibility to move it to the following week.

Continued on page 7

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MELHA SHRINE UNITSMelha unItsContinued from page 6

If the bad weather continues the meeting might then be cancelled and business post-poned until the following month. During that time, the Foxhole would remain dark and closed. It is important that you all attend our business meetings to be able to effec-tively discuss these reasonable changes. Your input is impor-tant to the unit. Unit dues no-tices are all out. Please don’t forget to remit them to our fi-nance officer. If you have not gotten your card yet make sure he also knows that.

If any Legion member knows of a member unable to pay his dues, because of health issues or other problems,let us know; we are here to help. Calendars from the Melha Shrine Center will be coming out soon, so look for them. They contain a lot of valu-able information. God Bless America, and bring our troops home safe.

MARINERS

MILITARY BAND

ORIENTAL BAND

PAST MASTERS

By Richard PoirierAt our December 17, 2015

meeting, the nomination com-mittee submitted the follow-ing slate of officers for 2016. President: Joseph N. Westcott; 1st Vice President: Kenneth P. White; 2nd Vice President: Kenneth E. Taylor; Treasurer: Andrew P. Tieman and Sec-

retary & Camelha Correspon-dent: Richard A. Poudrier. The slate was voted in unani-mously. Congratulations to Joe Wescott and his corps of officers and best wishes for a great year.

Our Past Masters Unit will be putting on Railroad Degree at the Butterfield Auditorium at the Melha Shrine Center. The event will be Saturday, afternoon, May 21st . Social hour noon Lunch at 1 p.m. with the degree to follow. Open to all Master Masons. Casual dress. Contact officers for tickets.

Andy Tieman reported on the parking at the Rays of Hope Walk-A-Thon. He thanked all who volunteered that day and stated that all went well. He suggested that, since the parking was a Ma-sonic endeavor, it should be advertised in the lodges to ap-propriate volunteers.

Our unit’s next Quarterly Meeting will be on Thursday, March 24, 2016. We are plan-ning to meet at the Red Rose Pizzeria, 1060 Main Street, Springfield, MA. A count is necessary by 16th to make space available at the restau-rant for this meeting. Let us know if you are planning to attend. E-mail Richie Poudrier at richieddgm27@hotmail.com

This year’s PM Unit An-nual Picnic was discussed and it was unanimously voted to have it once again in East-hampton for a third year. It will be held at Nonotuck Park with Myers Catering putting on the BBQ Dinner as in the past. The consensus of the

members was that both the place and caterer were great and we should continue with this venue. It will be held on Thursday, June 23, 2016. So circle that date on your calen-dar...now. If you haven’t at-tended in the past, you should really give it a try. You won’t be disappointed. Cost TBA.

Just an update on George Sachs. As of this writing George is on the mend. It was nice to see him at our Decem-ber meeting.

The meeting concluded with our retiring president, Tony Langone, presenting his Annual Report. He met with applause and gratitude of the members present for a job well done. Congratulations to Ill. Brian Connor for being elected Melha’s potentate for 2016.

RAMBLIN’ CAMPERS

RIDERS

SPORTSMAN CLUB

TEAM CIRCUS

Calling all CirCus ads!

The 62nd Melha Shrine Cir-cus is coming to town Thurs-day, April 28 – Sunday, May 1, 2016. This event has been an area tradition and continues to thrill audiences of all ages. The Circus Committee is hard at work preparing for this year’s event and needs your help. Volunteers are needed for a wide variety of activi-ties from answering phones to ushering to set up and more. But the biggest area where

help is needed right now is …Ad sales.

The Circus program is chock full of fun information and photos as well as ad pages from our supporters. We know they are out there; it just takes a dedicated Noble like you to go get them. If you’ve never sold an ad before, that’s no problem. See Leo Plourde or a Circus Committee member and they would be glad to help you; it’s very easy.

Ads are available in a wide variety of sizes to accommo-date all businesses and bud-gets. Ask your friends and family members to consider a business card ad if a larger ad is not feasible. Nobles can even put their business card in as an ad. With thousands of programs printed, the sup-porter’s message will be seen by a huge audience.

The Circus Ad book is one of the largest fund raisers for Melha and it needs your help! Every Noble is an ad rep for this book. Remember, by sell-ing $700 in ads with over $100 being new ads or upgrad-ing a current ad, your 2017 Melha dues are covered; it’s that easy. Check the calendar for upcoming circus meeting dates and attend when pos-sible. Let’s make this year the best year ever for the Melha Shrine Circus.

VINTAGE AUTOS

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MELHA SHRINE CLUBSBERkSHIRE SHRINE

CLUB

CENTRAL MASS SHRINE CLUB

FRANkLIN SHRINE CLUB

ITALIAN AMERICAN SHRINE CLUB

PIONEER VALLEY SHRINE CLUB

by Michelle GreavesSawasdeeka ( hello), swas-

di pi him (Happy New Year) sounds like swasdi di my. I hope you all had wonderful holidays with your family and friends. Here we are already in February, the month of “love”, Happy Valentines Day. Don’t

forget to get your sweetie something nice; flowers, can-dy, BLING, BLING, etc. :-) he he he.

The New Years Eve Gala was a great success. Those that attended had an awesome time. The band was great, the food was delicious, the deco-rations were superb and the fun and fellowship was to the moon and back. Many people also had real fun at the picture booth.

Another year has finished and a new year is beginning with a new set of officers to be elected this month. We are get-ting together to set up another great year for the Pioneer Val-ley Shrine Club. We were very active last year with six fun events: the Pizza Party, Exit 7 Theater ( twice), Boat Cruise

on the Connecticut River, a bus trip to LaBelle Winery in NH and the New Years Eve Gala. These were all awe-somely supported, thank you. We hope to repeat more events this year, hopefully the events will please you and you will again support them. Any sug-gestion that you may have for things to do, please pass them on to us and we will definitely consider them. Contact either Bob Salmon 1-806-623-4511 or Michelle Greaves 1-413-427-9178.

Just a reminder the Pioneer Valley Shrine Club is open to all Shriners their ladies, wid-owers of Shriners, friends, etc. We are a social group promot-ing fellowship and fun. There-fore don’ t be shy come and join us and have a good time

meeting new friends.La kxn (goodbye) sounds

like (la kun)

Connor PotentateContinued from page 1

is a must, even more so in the Divan. He is especially attuned to communications which is the key to new mem-bership as well as retention.Starting with Ill. David But-terfield, there is a new wave of cooperation among our leadership. It brings to mind a quote from John Hancock at the signing of the Declaration of Independence, “We must be unanimous; there must be no pulling different ways; we must hang together.”

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MELHA SHRINE

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MELHA SHRINE

Uncle Miltie’s Game Supper - AlbumPhotos by Bert Krasner

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MELHA SHRINE LADIESAHLEM TEMPLE NO.

84

By Betsy BeaulieuHello, here I am sliding into

home plate. Heads up, Sunday Feb 7th is an important date for all units and members. There will be an organized meeting with PR Judy Da-vis regarding fundraising for 2016, Please be sure that your unit president or a designated unit member is present. Meet us at Melha in the dining room on Feb 7th at 1pm with your ideas.

FORGET-ME-NOTS

By Edith Sweeney

Happy Valentines Day --the “month” of love! Memories of our Nobles and shared events bind us in friendship with our Forget-me-nots group. we meet on the 3rd Friday each month (weather permitting) at noon at local restaurants. Our next date is March 18th. Please contact Corinne Pier-son 413-789-8148, Claire Pa-truno 413-596-3251 (claire-bear 1954@yahoo.com), or Edith Sweeney 860-749-0403 (esweeney12@cox.net) for in-formation/reservations. Please join us!

HELMA COURT NO.64

by Anita TetreaultAt our February 11th meet-

ing, the annual election of officers for the ensuing year will take place. We need a Princess, 2nd Ceremonial Lady and 3 year Trustee. It is important for the welfare of the Court for us to dig in our heels, take a deep breath and VOLUNTEER for one of these offices. You will be thanked enormously when you do. All officers will be in-stalled in March.

May is Grand Council Ses-sion in Casa Mesa, California, where we hope to see our can-didate for Grand Outer Guard elected to this important of-fice. As many of our Court Ladies as possible should try to attend this session to give support and votes to our can-didate, and to give support to our new High Priestess.

We hope everyone is tak-ing part in the Phantasy Bake Sale. Lady Estelle guaran-tees that there are absolutely no calories in these Phantasy Recipes! Bake Sale money is due no later than the February meeting, and should be given to Lady Collette.

RAINBOW ASSEM-BLY

TEkOA CHAPTER DEMOLAY

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MELHA SHRINE

Uncle Miltie’s Game Supper - AlbumPhotos by Bert Krasner

13 Melha shriners

MELHA SHRINE

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MELHA SHRINE

By Kristen O’Shepa - Public Relations Assistant

Steven E. Behe, past poten-tate from Oxford, New York, has been elected chairman of the board of governors for Shriners Hospitals for Chil-dren in Springfield, Massa-chusetts. Behe, who for the past four years served as vice chairman, will be responsible for overseeing the implemen-tation of the new strategic business plan and vision for the Springfield Shriners Hos-pital. Behe who succeeded David H. Burstein, Esq., a lo-cal attorney and Melha Shri-ner, will serve a three-year term.

A Shriner for 38 years, Behe is a past potentate of the Kalurah Shriners in Endicott, New York and past master of Oxford Lodge No. 175 F. & A.M. In 2011, he was presi-dent of the New York – On-tario Shrine Association.

Since 1969, Behe has been the funeral director, president and manager of Behe Funeral Home Inc., in Oxford. He is a highly respected business-man who is very active in his community. He’s been involved with the Oxford Li-ons Club, Oxford Emergency Squad and Oxford Volun-teer Fire Department, where he served as chief. Behe has served on both the Oxford Town board and the Oxford Industrial Development Cor-poration (OIDC) board. He is the current president of the Riverview Cemetery Asso-ciation.

Behe and his wife, Sherry, have been married 47 years and have two children, Scott (who is also a Shriner) and Stefanie, as well as four grandchildren. In his spare time, he enjoys fishing, golf-ing and boating.

New Board Chairman Elected at Shriners Hospitals for Children - Springfield

Randy Wessels was born on May 6, 1972, in Littleton, NH and was raised in Worcester, MA. Randy graduated from Burncoat Senior High School in 1990 where he received an AAS in graphic arts from New Hampshire Technical College in 1992.

In 1998, Randy enlisted in the Army National Guard and began working as an EMT for AMR in the Marlborough/ Hudson area. Randy was de-ployed with the U.S. Army to Bosnia from August 2001 - March 2002.

For a year after his return to the US, Randy was a police officer with the Department of

Defense at Natick Labs. Later, Randy became a firefighter/ paramedic for the Ware Fire Department for seven years. In 2011, Randy began work at the Northampton VA and is a peer support specialist.

Mr. Wessels became a Mas-ter Mason in June 2010 and a Melha Shriner on April 27, 2011. He is currently a mem-ber of the Riders, Mini Chop-pers and Sportsman units. Randy served as Chief Stew-ard in 2013 and 2015. Randy married the love of his life, Carla LaVigne, on September 1, 2002. The couple currently resides in Ware, MA.

Meet Our New ‘Low Man’ - Randy Wessels

Photo by Bert Krasner. Randy & Carla Wessels

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Melha Calendar of EventsFebruary 20166 Sat 6pm Pioneer Valley SC Pizza Party [BA]7 Sun 3pm Melha’s Superbowl XL Party [BA]8 Mon 6pm Franklin Shrine Club10 Wed 6pm Berkshire SC13 Sat 6pm Military Band Valentines Dinner

Dance & “The Ultimate Tribute to Rod Stewart” 15 Mon 6:30pm Board of Directors Meeting20 Sat 6pm Mardi Gras Masquerade Night22 Mon 6:30pm Circus Steering. 7:30pm Circus

Committee Meetings24 Wed 7:30pm Melha Stated Meeting27 Sat 6pm Oriental Band Pasta Night

March 20166 Sun 5:00 pm Shriners Night at the Springfield

Falcons - Mass Mutual Center. Tickets $12. 5 Sat 6pm Sip and Dine Paint Party [BA]6 Sun 5pm Melha Shriners Falcon Night - Mass

Mutual Center10 Thu Deadline for Circus Ads12 Sat 6pm Italian American Club Dinner [BA]13 Sun 10am Leprechaun Plunge

13 Sun 12pm St. Patrick Day Parade - Worcester14 Mon Franklin Shrine Club14 Mon 6:30pm Board of Directors Meeting17 Thu Central Mass Shrine Club19 Sat 7pm Melha Shriners Irish Night [BA]20 Sun 9am Rainbow Girls Pancake Brkfst [BA]20 Sun 2pm St. Patrick Parade - Holyoke23 Wed 7:30pm Stated Meeting. 5pm Dinner [SHC]26 Sat 1pm Berkshire SC Appreciation Dinner28 Mon 6:30pm Circus Steering. 7:30pm Circus

Committee Meetings[BA] Butterfield Auditorium

MELHA SHRINERS133 Longhill StreetSpringfield, MA 01108-1499

Non Profit OrganizationU.S. POSTAGE

PAIDSpringfield, MA 01152

Permit No. 211

Photo by Bert Krasner. Uncle Miltie’s Game Supper