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Shriners gather to compete, discuss business at convention
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The Great Lakes Shrine Association Convention is in the Mahoning Valley this week. About 3,000 Shriners from six states and Canada traveled to Boardman, where most of the activities were planned. Shriner Bill Kissane used a point system in the former Value City parking lot on Friday to determine the quality of a team, with deductions made for unshined shoes, dirty pants, unclean motorcycles and other details.
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About 3,000 Shriners from six states and Canada traveled to Boardman on Friday and ran motorcycles and mini-Corvettes in and out of orange cones in the former Value City parking lot. The Great Lakes Shrine Association Convention held in the Mahoning Valley this week.
BOARDMAN
Some drivers on U.S. Route 224 did a double-take Friday morning as they saw motorcycles and mini-Corvettes weaving in and out of orange cones in the former Value City parking lot.
The display was part of the Great Lakes Shrine Association Convention in the Mahoning Valley this week. About 3,000 Shriners from six states and Canada traveled to Boardman, where most of the activities were planned.
“Shriners are all about helping kids and having fun,” said Al York, president of the Great Lakes Shrine Association.
Shriners are known for the 22 hospitals that they support in North America. Those hospitals provide free care to children up to age 18 who need orthopedic or burn care. The closest Shriner-supported hospitals are in Erie, Pa., and Cincinnati.
Shriners also are known for the distinctive red fez perched on their heads. The Shriners came about when a group of Freemasons decided to launch a new fraternity based on fun and fellowship in 1872. The only requirement to be a Shriner is to be a master Mason.
As a fraternity, the Shriners are a male organization. However, women can join the sister organization, the Ladies’ Oriental Shrine of North America. That group primarily raises money for toys, such as video games, to entertain children in Shriner-sponsored hospitals.
Phil Welce joined the Shriners after becoming a Mason.
“I wanted to help the kids, and I had become a Mason because my father and my grandfather were Masons,” said Welce, who has been a Shriner for 32 years and is a past potentate, or president of a local shrine.
Welce said the Youngstown Shrine Club was founded in the early 1900s, and the last Shriner convention in Youngstown was in the 1970s.
Shriners have regional conventions annually, said Mike Severe, imperial potentate and chief executive of Shriners International.
This week in Boardman, Shriners discussed regular business, such as the hospitals and fundraising, and also planned competitions and parades, he said.
“The most popular event is the parade, and it’s better to be in smaller towns than Cleveland or Chicago for these gatherings,” Severe said of why Youngstown was chosen as the venue.
The parade begins at 11 a.m. today at the old South Range High School on state Route 164 in North Lima.
Severe did say that international membership has dropped from a high of 780,000 to the current 340,000.
“But we’re keeping a presence in the community and providing care for children,” he said.