​Well here we are in April and how fast the year is going like they said it would, January brought cold weather and our circuses, I would like to say thank you to all the clubs and units, nobles and their ladies for all the support and help in Flint and Saginaw circuses and making them a success this year.

At my installation I said we were going to try some new things so in February we had the first annual chili cook off which we all had fun with thirteen entrees. We also started our monthly comedy show which will be held on the second Friday's of the month at circus park and on the second Saturdays in Saginaw.

Nobles, please remember that you need to get the potentates permission to participate in any activities at any other shrine temple, this includes parades, circuses, etc. This is so we know where our nobles, clubs, and units are and that they are covered under the temples insurance. With the parade season rapidly coming upon us it is also important that the clubs and units let the recorder know your parade schedule for the year and so I can get a list so maybe I can come parade with you guys.

YOURS IN FAITH
RYAN A. STANLEY
​ILL.. POTENTATE 

​Happy Springtime Nobles, if you’re back home from the south please update your current Address, Phone No., and email to the Recorder at 810-686-2641 ext. 4… Your Shrine Officers hope everyone had a healthy and safe winter where ever you spent it (north or south).

Our circus was a bit more successful over last years. Sales from Noble Tickets showed some improvement helping the bottom line, thank you Nobles for your support and help, remembering the Circus is Elf Khurafeh’s largest fundraiser supporting the Temple operations. Please remember that Elf Khurafeh needs to operate in order to be able to help the children to and from our Shrine Hospitals. If you care to make a donation to our operating funds please feel free to do so.

We still can use drivers to transport the Children to the hospitals. Chicago Shrine Hospital has now partnered with Covenant Hospital in Saginaw for Telehealth. This is for follow up check-ups of 15-20 minutes instead of traveling to Chicago for the same. Chicago started this early in the second quarter of last year and it is working very successful. When used, this is a large savings to our Transportation Fund and travel time for the drivers, parent and child.

Nobles we need petitions for the May Ceremonial being held at Saginaw Shrine Hall, May 4th, 2019. Please help Elf Khurafeh gain members in 2019. Remember a Shriner should always try to sponsor one candidate to replace himself with and one for the Temple to grow with.

Fraternally,
Clarence W. Meyer, Jr., P.P.
Recorder
​Ph. 810-686-2641 ext 4

​Happy New Year Nobles and Ladies, we hope all is well with everyone and this year has started smoothly. Congratulations to all 2019 Officers, the Installation on December 30th was well attended and a good time was had by all. Potentate Stanley has planned many endeavors’ for 2019 and we would like all Nobles to come out and attend and join the fun in 2019.

Nobles, Elf Khurafeh lost 82 members during 2018; (39 suspended, 7 demitted, 3 dropped and 53 Nobles deceased). We Created 11 new Nobles, Restored 6 and Affiliated 3, for a total net loss for 2018 of 82 Nobles. Elf Khurafeh January 2019 membership is; Regular = 1148 + 4 Associates =1152 total Members. The new Membership Committee is planning to work hard on Restorations in 2019 and also on having members join Clubs and/or Units and attending Shrine activities.

The main reason of losing members, we have no control of, but losing members because they are not active could very well be our fault. We should all mentor and help our Brother Nobles whenever we can; this makes our Fraternity stronger, are we doing our best? Are we trying to sponsor new members? Only you can answer these questions for yourself, the Officers don’t need your answers, we see by who sponsors new Creations. Always remember that our Blue Lodges need new and active members. Visit your lodge in 2019 or a Lodge nearby your home. The Lodge Officers will be pleased to have you there.

For you Nobles looking for something to do and have spare time, Elf Khurafeh needs drivers to transport Shrine Patients to the Chicago Shrine Hospital (food, fuel, hotel (when needed) and van are provided by Elf Khurafeh Transportation Fund), what we need is your time. The success stories you hear about from Kids and Parents will bring tears. That’s the biggest reward we can give you. Thanks for helping the Kids. Contact the Recorder if you could help drive.

Fraternally,
Clarence W. Meyer, Jr., P.P.
Recorder
Ph. 810-686-2641 ext 4

Welcome to the "new for 2019" Elf Khurafeh Shrine website! Lady Laura and I have been working for the last month or so to revamp the website. While our old site was pretty good (two Dromedary awards!), we decided it was time to spruce things up a bit. We studied current website design and found that things were bigger and bolder, so we decided to make ekshrine.com bigger and bolder as well.

A few notes about the new site. First, while we are in the process of getting things moved around, the store will be closed. If you need to pay your dues over the next few days, you'll need to do it the old fashioned way - either by check or by stopping into the office and dropping off payment there.

Secondly, our calendar of events has been broken down into four different categories - Temple Meetings, Club and Unit Meetings, Temple Events, and Public Facing Events. This was done for a couple of reasons. Primarily, we wanted to break out the public facing events so everyone viewing the calendar would know what events they could invite their non-Shrine friends to. As an organization that relies on donations and fund raisers, it gets tough to continually try to tap our nobles for the funds it requires to keep this organization going. By including your friends and neighbors, we can let them help us fund our organization, and hopefully, these new people will see how much fun us Shriners have, and they will ask to join!

Very soon, there will be a "Members Only" page also. This page will be password protected so we can limit exposure to only Nobles. Passwords will be provided to those Nobles that ask for it. You can either email me (jdowning@ekshrine.com), call or text me (810-347-1586), or ask me at any event you see me at. I'll gladly provide you with the password, but I'll request that you not share it with non-Shriners. There won't be any thing super-secret on that page, but in the event we need to put something for members eyes only, it would only be secure if you don't share your password.

Lastly, this blog page. On the previous version of the website, only the Potentate and the Recorder published any notes or information. For this version, all Divan members will be allowed to use this forum to communicate information. It is UP TO THE DIVAN to use the blog page to improve communication with Nobles that may not be able to make it to business meetings or club/unit meetings, but do happen to read the website. Also, Nobles will be able to respond to blog posts by using the comment section below. The comment section is currently not moderated, so please remember to keep discussions civil and of a public nature. Anything that may reflect badly on the Shrine or other Nobles will be removed. 

In keeping with the old site, you will still be able to read about upcoming events, see if you were a winner on the Cash Calendar, view the Arabian Knights news paper, and all of the things you were able to do on the old site. Use the navigation menu across the top to see the different things available on the site. And most of all, use the site as a way to keep informed. Also, if you notice a mistake, or something that's missing, let us know. We try to keep everything up to date, but we can only provide what information we are given. If you have information about an event, please write up a few paragraphs about your event, or send in a flyer and we'll do the best we can to get it published on either the website or  as an event on Facebook. Send any info to webmaster@ekshrine.com, and Lady Laura and I will do our best to get your information up within forty-eight  hours.

Thanks for reading and enjoy the site!

Fraternally,
Jeff Downing
​High Priest & Prophet