Ancient and Accepted Order of the Noble Mystic Shrine
Ottawa Valley Shrine Club
Tunis Temple.
SUMMONS
Dear Noble:
You are hereby cordially invited to
attend the regular meeting of the
Ottawa Valley Shrine Club
to be held at the
Travelodge
900 Pembroke St. E.
Pembroke ON
Tuesday, September 22, 2015
Oasis at 6:00 p.m.
Dinner Served at 7:00 p.m
Secretary
Noble Geoff Roberts
613-433-9103
Team Captains please notify Noble Percy
Gutzeit with numbers attending 613-7323341 by Friday September 18th
Tunis Divan Representative:
High Priest & Prophet
Noble Gary Tristram
.
Tunis Temple No. 179 A.A.O.N.M.S.
2140 Walkley Road
Ottawa ON K1G 3V3
Phone: 613-729-2296 Fax: 613-729-3545
Administrative Assistant
Barb Seabright-Moore
admin@tunis179.org
President’s Message:
Dear Noble:
Continued from July Summons:
In 1870, several thousand of the
inhabitants of Manhattan were Masons.
Many made it a point to lunch at
Knickerbocker Cottage, a restaurant at 426
Sixth Avenue. They often discussed the
idea of a new fraternity for Masons. Two of
the table regulars, Walter M. Fleming,
M.D., and William J. Florence, an actor,
took the idea seriously enough to do
something about it.
Billy Florence was a star. He toured
London, Europe and Middle Eastern
countries. While on tour, in Marseilles,
France, Florence was invited by a banker
to attend a party given by an Arabian
diplomat . The entertainment was
something in the nature of an elaborately
staged musical comedy, at the conclusion
of which, the guests became members of a
secret society.
Florence made copious notes and
drawings at the initial viewing and on two
other occasions, once in Algiers and again
in Cairo. Florence recalling the
conversations The First Meeting - On
September 26, 1872, in Masonic Hall, 114
East Thirteenth Street, New York City, the
first Shrine Temple in the United States
was organized. The first Temple was
named Mecca. The organization was not
an instant success, even though a second
Temple had been chartered in Rochester in
1875. Four years after the Shrine's
beginning there were only 43 Shriners, all
but six of whom were from New York.
The Imperial Council - At a meeting
in Mecca Temple on June 6, 1876 in the
New York Masonic Temple, a new body
was created to help spur the growth of the
young Fraternity. This governing body was
called "The Imperial Grand Council of the
Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the
Mystic Shrine for the at the Knickbocker
Cottage, realized that this might well be the
vehicle for the new fraternity. When he
showed this material to Dr. Fleming on his
return to New York in 1870, Fleming
agreed.
It was Fleming who took the ideas
supplied by Florence and converted them
into what was to become the Ancient
Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic
Shrine (A.A.O.N.M.S.). With the help of
other Knickerbocker Cottage regulars,
Fleming drafted the ritual, designed the
emblem and ritual costumes, formulated a
salutation, and declared that members
would wear a red fez.
The Ritual - The initiation rites, or
ceremonials, were drafted by Fleming with
the aid of Charles T. McClenachan, lawyer
and expert of Masonic ritual; William Sleigh
Paterson, printer, linguist, and ritualist; and
Albert L. Rawson, a prominent scholar and
Mason who provided much of the Arabic
background.
The Emblem - the Crescent was
adopted as the Jewel of the Order. The
Jewel bore the motto in Arabic, "Kuwat wa
Ghadab," the translation of which is
"Strength and Fury." Today the Shrine
emblem includes a scimitar from which the
crescent hangs and five pointed stars
beneath the head of the sphinx.
The Fez - the red fez with a black
tassel that is the Shrine's official headgear,
has been handed down through the ages. It
derives its name from the place where it
was first manufactured - the holy city of
Fez, in Morocco. Over the years, the
Shrine has adopted red, yellow, and green
as its official colours.
To Be Continued-Noble Norm Brooks President
Please Note:
Ill Sir Dale Olm and Ill Sir Peter Rippstein
will be attending to discuss membership.
What are we doing to increase
membership?
Coming events
Harvest Social and Dinner
October 3rd 2015
Ottawa Masonic Centre