| President Ill Sir. Steve Norris (Sudan) called the meeting to order at 9:30am. The presentation of Colors was conducted by the Sudan Patrol. President Norris introduced SASA Chaplain Ill. Sir John Stanley (Oasis) who offered the invocation to begin the meeting in the proper form.
President Steve Norris welcomed everyone to the 2017 Spring Business session in New Bern. He then introduced the Spring Director General, Noble Tim Ludwig and our Fall Director General Noble Rusty Watson. Next, he recognized the following Past Presidents of the association who were present.
• Ill Sir R. Paul Gregg, PP, 2002-03 (Jamil)
• Ill Sir Albert H. Parker, PP, 2003-04 (Sudan)
• Ill Sir Marion E. Dawson, PP, 2004-05 (Acca)
• Ill Sir Ray Fields, PP, 2007-08 (Amran)
• Ill Sir David L. Monell, PP, 2008-09 (Khedive)
• Ill Sir Donald L. Ratliff PP 2013-14 (Kazim)
President Norris then recognized our Emeritus Secretary/Treasurer, Calvin Gaddy for his many years of dedicated service and he called him to the podium for a special presentation. On behalf of the SASA officers and of those Past Presidents he served in the past, Noble Gaddy was presented with a new fez with the title of Emeritus Secretary/Treasurer on the front of his Oasis fez as well as a Shriner Statue - Silent Messenger mounted on a wooden stand with his name and time of service noted on the plaque. Then the current officers posed for a picture with Noble Gaddy with his new fez.
President Norris proceeded to introduce the current officers for 2017-2018 as follows;
• Secretary/Treasurer Ill. Sir Donnie Ratliff, PP (Kazim) Past President of SASA 2013-14
• 5th Vice President Ill. Sir. Jim Wilson (Amran)
• 4th Vice President Ill. Noble Ralph A. Calhoun II (Omar)
• 3rd Vice President Ill. Sir David Juergens, PP (Kosair)
• 2nd Vice President Ill. Sir Douglas Stalnaker, PP (Nemesis)
• 1st Vice President Ill. Sir Greg Diffenderfer, PP (Jericho)
• President SASA 2018 – Ill. Sir Steve Norris, PP (Sudan)
President Steve Norris then introduced special guests in attendance as follows:
• MW Speed Hallman, Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of North Carolina
The Grand Master welcomed all of us to New Bern and the great state of North Carolina and he made comments giving us a history lesson for the area and thanked us for the warm welcome we gave him and thanked SASA for the hospitality.
• Ill Sir Teeny Jones, Potentate of Sudan
The Potentate welcomed us to his oasis and offered his assistance of anything we needed to just let him know.
• Imperial 1st Ceremonial Master - Kenny Craven (Omar) noted he had to leave early for another meeting.
• Imperial Oriental Guide – Bill Bailey (Orak)
• Imperial Chief Rabban – Jim Cain (Al Menah)
President Steve Norris began the business meeting by calling on Secretary/Treasurer Ill. Sir Donald Ratliff for the roll call. Each Shrine Center was announced and the number beside the temple name indicates the number of representatives reported.
ACCA 6
ALEE 2
Alhambra 1
AMRAN 3
BENI KEDEM 4
EL HASA 3
HEJAZ 3
JAMIL 4
JERICHO 5
KAZIM 7
KERBELA 2
KHEDIVE 3
KOSAIR 2
NEMESIS 5
OASIS 7
OLEIKA 5
OMAR 8
RIZPAH 3
SUDAN 15
Yaarab 0
It was noted we had 75 Representatives present and 19 temples represented. A quorum for the meeting was established.
Following the roll call President Steve Norris called on Sec/Treas. Donald Ratliff to read the minutes. A motion was made and duly seconded to dispense with the reading of the minutes and the motion was approved.
President Steve Norris called on Ill Sir Donald Ratliff to present the report of the Financial Committee Report. He reported the SASA budget for the Sec/Tres was underspent by $11,015.89. The Checking account lost $9,854.18 and the Money Market account gained $14.69 in interest. The loss of $14,303.56 was the result of not having the Fall meeting due to the hurricane and mandatory evacuation. Most of those which we had contracts signed refunded our money, but there were expenses that were not recoverable.
While at the podium, Ill Sir Ratliff explained that the officers had reworked the temple line up for 5th Vice President by moving Jericho to Region 3 with the Virginia temples and by assigning Alhambra to region 4 and Yaarab to region 2. With those changes, all the regions are now balanced, and each has 4 temples represented. He announced that in 2018-19 we would accept a 5th Vice President resolution from Acca. 2019-20 would be Beni Kedem; in 2020-21 it would be Oleika and 2021-22 it would be Alee’s turn.
President Steve Norris called on Ill Sir Ratliff to report on Membership Committee report and not having the information needed a motion was made and properly second to dispense with the report. All voted in the affirmative.
President Norris then called on Ill Sir Jim Wilson 5th Vice President and chairman of the Credential Committee report and he reported we had 121 Nobles registered with 75 representatives. We had sold 85 tickets to the Ladies Luncheon and 139 tickets sold to the President’s Banquet. We have representation from 19 or our 20-member temples. Motion was made and properly seconded and all voted in the affirmative to accept the report.
President Norris then called on Ill. Sir Gregory C. Diffenderfer, 1st VP and chairman of the Time & Place Committee, to give his report as to locations of future meetings as follows:
2018 Spring March 22-24 New Bern, NC
Fall Sept. 19-22 Myrtle Beach, SC
2019 Spring March 28-30 Kingsport, TN
Fall Sept. 18-21 Myrtle Beach, SC
2020 Spring March 27-29 Parkersburg, WVA
Fall Sept. 17-20 Myrtle Beach, SC
2021 Spring March 25-27 Claremont, KY
A motion was made, duly seconded and carried to approve the Time & Place report. All voted in the affirmative.
President Ill Sir Steve Norris reported as chairman of the Nominating Committee that 2018-19 would be Acca’s turn to offer a resolution to be considered as our new 5th Vice President, but this is for information only. It was announced that we do have a resolution from Acca nominating Ill. Sir Thornton Holt, Past Potentate 2017 as their choice for 5th Vice President and he would be voted on and installed at the Fall Meeting in Myrtle Beach. He then ask Ill Sir Holt to stand up and be recognized.
President Ill. Sir Steve Norris explained that all the temples received a copy of the proposed changes to our Bylaws with the proper notice. Over the past year the officers have worked to amend the Bylaws and bring them up-to-date and make them more practical. Having said that, President Norris asked for a motion to approve the changes to the Bylaws, and after a motion and a second, the amendments to the Bylaws were put to a vote and all voted in the affirmative.
President Norris then welcomed our guest running for Shriners Hospital Board of Trustees Candidate, Ill Sir Mack Griffin, who spoke as to why he wanted our vote at the upcoming Imperial session.
Next President Norris introduced Ill Sir Mark Hartz, who is running Imperial Outer Guard of Shriners International. Ill Sir Mark talked about his background and why he wanted to be the next Outer Guard and asked for our vote at the upcoming Imperial session.
President Norris called on the Spring Director General, Tim Ludwig to make announcements as to the remainder of our time together. He proclaimed he still had some Banquet tickets left and if anyone needs tickets please find him. He also announced the hospitality room would reopen in the afternoon hours for fellowship and refreshments.
President Norris called on the Fall Director General, Rusty Watson to update us on Myrtle Beach. He reported we will have a formal President’s Banquet. The parade will be a 9am start on Saturday at the Fall Meeting. He stressed the importance of not having gaps in the parade. He talked about the golf outing and he had forms with him if anyone needs one now.
President Norris proceeded with the drawing for parade position explaining by the directions in the Bylaws the President’s temple will lead the parade and at the Fall meeting in Columbia. The members voted that since Jamil’s opportunity to lead the parade last year was not possible with the hurricane coming in and since we canceled the Fall SASA meeting, the nobles voted on and passed the motion that Jamil would get the number two spot in this year’s parade. The Fall Director General, Rusty Watson, proceeded with the drawing for position in the 2018 parade in Myrtle Beach. The result on the drawing is reported below.
2018 SASA Parade Line-up
SUDAN 1
JAMIL 2
OLEIKA 3
ALEE 4
KERBELA 5
JERICHO 6
KHEDIVE 7
BENI KEDEM 8
ACCA 9
Alhambra 10
HEJAZ 11
NEMESIS 12
EL HASA 13
KAZIM 14
RIZPAH 15
OASIS 16
KOSAIR 17
AMRAN 18
OMAR 19
Yaarab 20
President Ill Sir Steve Norris then asked for the counter parts meeting to convene as soon as we adjourn. He then called on Ill Sir Ratliff for final announcements, he explained that the officers have inquired and are trying to add an event policy to our insurance portfolio to prevent a loss similar to what happen at our Fall meeting. He also asked that each temple provide him with 4 Potentate’s pins to prepare a special plaque for guests at the fall meeting. If you have them available you could provide them at the meeting and if not, he will email each temple to mail them to him. He also announced the minutes, that would include the meeting dates, parade line up and pictures will be placed on the website in the next couple weeks.
President Norris reminded everyone to make sure you have forwarded the contact information for the Potentates and Recorders to the Sec/Tres. He has only received 12 of the 20 temples to provide that information to-date.
He then received a request from the floor that we consider donating to Al Rai'e Saleh Shriners #192, Puerto Rico to help them with damages to their temple. A motion was made for SASA to donate $1,000 to their temple in Puerto Rico and an after a motion with a proper second to the motion was made, all voted in the affirmative.
President Norris then introduced Imperial Chief Rabban – Jim Cain (Al Menah) for closing remarks. Imperial Sir Cain thanked SASA for making the donation to the temple in Puerto Rico explaining several of the locations around the country were still without electricity and he was sure this gesture would go far. He thanked Noble Chris Hall for an exceptional job with the presentation on Membership session the day before. He challenged us to make good decisions on membership and our hospital. He congratulated SASA on the meetings this weekend. He also challenged each temple to form a DeMolay chapter for each temple if they did not have one. He mentioned the time and dedication of the candidates who spoke to us earlier, he asks we get to know them and support them in their efforts. He reminded us that he had a great time planned in Nashville for 2019 and asked that we come be with him. He also asked for support of the East-West Shrine Game. He praised the officers of SASA and asked that each person in the leadership at each temple support the officers. He thanked each person to look to the future and help the leadership be the best we could be. He asks for a commitment to our Shrine and steer away from casual Masons and casual Shriners.
Benediction was offered by Ill Sir John Stanley to conclude the meeting
There being no further business the meeting was adjourned at 10:49 am.
Respectfully submitted,
Ill Sir Donald L Ratliff
March 24, 2018 |
