WA WA Shriners History
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.