WA WA Shriners History
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The Ancient
Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine for North America is an
international fraternity of approximately 400,000 members who belong to 191
Shrine Temples, now commonly referred to as Shrine Centres, throughout the
United States, Canada, Mexico and the Republic of Panama. Thirteen Masons
founded the Shrine in New York City in 1872 on the basis of the Masonic
principles of brotherly love, relief and truth. A man must be a Master Mason in
good standing before he can petition to become a member, referred to as becoming
a Noble, of the Shrine of North America. |
The basic
organizational unit of the Shrine is the Temple, or local chapter, which is
governed by an elected board called the Divan. The Divan is headed by the
Potentate, who is the presiding officer of the Temple. All Shrine Temples are
subordinate to the Imperial Council. The Imperial Divan, which consists of 13
elected officers, is headed by the Imperial Potentate. |
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The Shrine’s
most recognized symbol is the red fez that Shriners wear at official functions.
The fez derives its name from the city of Fez, Morocco, and was chosen as part
of the Shrine’s Arabic (Near East) theme. Each temple has been named to reflect
this Arabic theme; the province of Saskatchewan has been named WA WA Temple, WA
WA being a territory far south on the east bank of the Nile River. |
In 1922
Shriners adopted as their official philanthropic cause, Shriners Hospital for
Crippled Children, now called the Shriners Hospitals for Children. They
are dedicated to providing excellent medical care to children with orthopaedic
diseases and injuries, burns and spinal cord injuries and cleft lip and palate
conditions at no cost to the patients, their parents or any third party. Today
there are 18 orthopaedic Shriners Hospitals, three burn Shriners Hospitals, and
one Shriners Hospital providing orthopaedic, burn and spinal cord injury care.
At present the Chicago Hospital provides cleft lip and palate treatments with
more sites being added in the future. |
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A group of
Saskatchewan Shriners received permission from the Imperial Council on December
1, 1910 to form a temple; on July 12, 1911 the Charter to form WA WA Temple was
granted. The first Potentate was Brother Fred W. Logan, a member of North West
Mounted Police Lodge No. 11. Records indicate that membership in the Temple grew
from 20 on January 1, 1911 to 181 by January 1, 1912. For many years business
meetings were held in the Regina Masonic Temple. Following the sod turning
ceremony for a new temple building in June 1953, held in conjunction with the
first June Ceremonial (the annual initiation ceremony), a two mile long parade
was held in downtown Regina, ending at the Exhibition Grounds before a crowd of
6000 spectators. In 1955 the new building was completed to house the Temple
operations. Since its inception 6600 Nobles have been created or become members
of WA WA Temple by affiliation. Today, 1250 active Shriners continue to maintain
the Shrine heritage of service, dedication and accomplishment. |
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WA WA Temple
serves one of the largest geographic territories in Shrinedom. The territory is
served through the dedication of 17 Shrine Clubs and 26 uniformed Units
dispersed throughout the province. The Saskatoon Shrine Club is reputed to be
the very first Shrine Club in North America, having been formed shortly after
the establishment of the Temple in Regina. Ladies’ Auxiliaries were also
established in many Saskatchewan centres where clubs were situated. |
All Shriners
are Master Masons in good standing and must maintain that status in Craft
Masonry to remain members of the Shrine. WA WA Shriners actively support the
concept of the “Masonic Family of
Saskatchewan”. Many Nobles have and continue to serve their local lodge as
officers and regular attending members. To date two Saskatchewan Master
Masons have served the Shrine as Potentate and the Grand Lodge of Saskatchewan
as Grand Master: Illustrious Sir Pat H. S. Campbell
was Potentate in 1969 and Grand Master in 1980-81 and Ill. Sir J. Stu MacLachlan
served as Potentate in 1997 and as the Grand Master in 2002-03. |
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In keeping
with its philanthropic labour of love, Shriners Hospitals for Children,
WA WA Shriners continue to identify, sponsor and support children who require
orthopaedic, burn care, spinal cord or cleft lip and palate treatments. Trips to
Shriners Hospitals are provided free of charge to the child and a family member
through donations from the WA WA Shrine Patient Transportation Fund, a
registered Canadian charity. Ninety-two Saskatchewan children are currently
patients of Shriners Hospitals in Montreal, Minneapolis, Cincinnati or whichever
centre can best treat the child. Shriners Hospitals for Children operate
22 hospitals – twenty in the United States of America; one in Montreal, Canada,
and one in Mexico City, Mexico. |
The tireless
staff dedication at Shriners Hospitals for Children and the scientific
understanding of our researchers leads, quite simply, to better lives for
children. Medical research has had a strong, positive impact on their care. At
Shriners Hospitals, it is clear that “today’s research is tomorrow’s patient
care.” And not just for Shriners’ patients. Our research findings benefit
children and adults everywhere, all around the globe. |
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In 1993, the Grand Lodge of Saskatchewan extended official recognition to Shriners by
declaring it was in amnity with “The Imperial Council for North America of the
Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine … and the Temples and
Shrine organizations chartered and recognized by it.”1. This
recognition is currently included in Regulation 136 of the Constitution of Grand
Lodge. (Proceedings
of the Grand Lodge of Saskatchewan, 1993, p. 62.) |
A history of
the WA WA Shriners would not be complete without recognition of our ladies and
their contributions. The Shrine family members support all the undertakings of
the Nobles and some of the clubs have their own official Ladies Auxiliary. WA
WA Shriners, through the dedication of the individual Nobles, continues to serve
the communities of Saskatchewan by assisting with local initiatives and
identifying children that are in need of assistance. While enjoying the fund
and fellowship of the fraternity the Nobles are living the Shriners motto of Having Fun & Helping Kids.
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