Iowa Shrine Bowl

This evening I attended the 2008 Shrine Bowl at Jack Trice Stadium in Ames. I probably would not have gone and I not been asked by my employer to make a check presenation. Grinnell Mutual is one of the corporate sponsors. I actually got to make an on air presenation to Jerry Hoffman, General Manager of the Iowa Shrine Bowl....hope the check wasn't upside down when I presented it to Jerry!

The Shrine Bowl is a really neat experience for the football players, cheerleaders, and the coaches. They always get a trip to the Shrine Hospital in Minneapolis and in my estimation that is probably the neatest part of the whole Iowa Shrine Bowl. Jerry told me tonight that on Wednesday when they went up, the kids that were in the hospital went outdoors with the football players and the boys threw the football around for the kids and run a few plays for the kids to watch. Hopefully that trip to Minneapolis shows those kids how fortunate they are and also shows them the important of giving back to those who are less fortunate than themselves.

Practically all of these boys are seniors so this will be their last game as high school football players. What a memorable experience to end one's prep career. Hopefully all of them will remember it long after their football days are over.

The Shrine Children's Hospitals were founded in 1921 during the Imperial Session which was held in Des Moines. The hospitals are actually run under an Iowa corporation charter. That is something that we Iowa Shriners should be very proud of that such a wonderful organization was founded in our great state. What a wonderful legacy for us as brother Masons and Nobles of the Mystic Shrine.

Specialis Procer

Tonight I had the privilege of participating in a very unique Masonic ceremony...the birth of a new lodge. Formally it is called an institution ceremony, but essentially it is the creation of a new lodge with brothers working for the advancement of the ideals of Freemasonry.

Credit for this goes to my good friends and brothers: Kurt Hoffman, Tim Bonney, and Jay Cole Simser. This lodge will be a "lodge of restoration". I think of that term as a restoration of our Masonic souls. We will be here to celebrate and practice the philosophies of our gentle craft. We will learn together and from each other. We are not going to be "hung up" on the usual Masonic fare, but instead we will share festive boards together and learn through presentations and papers.

We will practice the ceremony of the chain of union prior to the close of our meetings and our initiates will contemplate in the chamber of reflection before entering upon the solemn and life changing degrees of Freemasonry.

I have had the pleasure of being asked to serve as Senior Deacon of this new lodge and am looking forward to the times that I will share with my brothers of Specialis Procer. We have many great and outstanding members already. Our future is bright and we strive to feed the hearts and souls of our brothers.

Here is to Specialis Procer!