Alzafar Shrine ACHBAR
January 2021
The Alzafar Achbar is the Official Membership/Communication of Alzafar Shriners: It is published monthly by Alzafar Shriners Stated Meeting ………………………….. 2nd. Thursday Monthly Chartered ………………………………………………… July 13, 1916 PHONE: 210-496-1625 San Antonio Shrine Auditorium: 901 N. Loop 1604 West San Antonio, Texas 78232: www.thesashrineauditorium.com Alzafar Shriners E-mail: alzafarrecorder@gmail.com Official Website: www.alzafar.org 2021 ELECTIVE DIVAN Potentate …………………………………………….Travis Elmendorf I Chief Rabban ……………………………………….Robert Norman II Assistant Rabban …………………………………Rick Reyes III High Priest & Prophet ………………………….Marco Zuniga Oriental Guide ………………………………………Michael Long Treasurer ………………………………………………David Olivares Recorder ……………………………………………….Thomas Leverett 2021 APPOINTIVE DIVAN 1st Ceremonial Master …………………………Russell Brown 2nd Ceremonial Master …………………………William Brown Director …………………………………………………Bert Gonzalez Marshall …………………………………………………John Pennington Captain of the Guard …………………………….Edward Rodriguez Outer Guard ………………………………………….David Hadley Chaplain …………………………………………………Hoagy Elmendorf 2021 IMPERIAL REPRESENTATIVES Potentate ………………………………………………Travis Elmendorf Chief Rabban ………………………………………..Robert Norman P.P. Reese L. Harrison, Jr. ………Emeritus Representative P.P. Robert “Bob” Jett …………….Emeritus Representative Daniel M. Hutchison III …………..Emeritus Representative P.P. Robert “Bobby” Hunt P.P. Eric A. DeWalt 2021 FINANCE COMMITTEE Potentate ………………………………………………Travis Elmendorf Chief Rabban ……………………………………….Robert Norman II Assistant Rabban …………………………………Rick Reyes III 4 years………………………………………………...Allen Dittmore 3 Years…….. …………………………………………Garrett Ethridge 2 Years …. …….…………………………………….Gary Bausell 1 Year..…………………………………………………Kyle Jackson ALZAFAR SHRINE PHOTOGRAPHER Art Loera STATED MEETING The next Stated Meeting of the Alzafar Shriners will be held on February 11, 2021 at the San Antonio Shrine Auditorium, 901 N. Loop 1604 West San Antonio, Texas 78232. Dinner is at 6:00pm on a first come first served basis. The purpose of the Stated Meeting is to receive and ballot on petitions, to receive committee reports, to discuss and take possible action on agenda matters and any such other business, as might come before it YOUR 2021 DUES CARD WILL BE REQUIRED FOR ADMITTANCE TO STATED MEETINGS. BE SURE TO BRING THESE THREE THINGS: Your fez on your head Your dues card in your pocket The spirit of fun and good fellowship in your heart
Potentate Recorder
Travis Elmendorf Thomas D. Leverett
Travis Elmendorf Potentate Happy New Year Alzafar, There are few mes in your life that you find yourself breathless, anxious, enthusias c, nervous, ecsta c and calm all at once. The day that the drill sergeants picked you up for training, the day that you asked your future father in law for his daughter’s hand, the day you stand before the Nobility for considera on for Divan elec on, this day is one of those mes. Thank you for your con nued support and trust. With much gra tude and love, Lady Brenda and myself meet you this year. As 2020 falls into history, we can reflect on it’s en rety or in por ons, either way it was a strange and peculiar year. It began with a bang and then stu ered through the remainder. We learned many new ways to communicate and gather, a emp ng not to lose momentum and cohesion. I believe that we came through brilliantly, more agile and with renewed strength and purpose. Though this pandemic s ll holds an influence on us, we look to the me with measured breaths when normalcy again reigns. As of this me many of our larger enterprises, such as Laredo parade and Fiesta are either cancelled or TBD. This will not detour us from celebra on and func on. Many are the tasks ahead and we will meet them with robust vigor. Imperial Sir Marty Bartle , I thank you for your service and dedica on to Alzafar and it’s mission. Lady Martha and yourself have been a driving force in guiding Alzafar and it’s future. You captained us through these new and difficult mes and never waiving. The energy and ini a ve given throughout this year speaks volumes. Though your me with us closes you will s ll be apart of us in your newest undertaking, the 10 year Imperial line. Good luck and Godspeed. One of the many items we experienced this year was ability to truly visit with core family and friends; me spent with loved ones can be immeasurable. I would ask that each of you reach out any Noble that has been no ceably absent for a me and inquire to their well being. For together we are stronger. Together we can……..
Chief Rabban Robert Norman II Happy New Year’s Alzafar!!! As I write this ar cle I can’t help but think about this past year and the challenges we faced as a na on, state, city and shrine. This is the last me I will write to the nobility as your Assistant Rabban as well. Even with all the things that happened this past year with all the cancella ons of events and shut downs this year went by extremely fast. Lady Tiffany and I would like to thank you all for the support, assistance, and encouragement this past year. We tried every day to do our best in all that we did. We can only hope we have made you all proud. We are looking forward to seeing what the future holds as you have now elected us as the Chief Rabban and Lady for 2021. We can promise you all that we will con nue to go the extra mile while represen ng and serving you to the best of our ability. To the nobility: Lady Tiffany and I want to say THANK YOU!!! We thank you for allowing and trus ng in us to serve on your Divan and look forward to 2021 as your Chief Rabban and Lady. We are humbled and honored to have the con nued opportunity to lead and serve Alzafar Shrine. I have said every year my promise to you all is I will do my best to not let you down as I will not let myself down. We understand you have entrusted in us a huge responsibility and we don’t take it lightly.” It is my truest hope that we have succeeded in the task thus far. We will con nue in our stride to be the best that we can be for the nobility and the children that we serve. THANK YOU, ALL SO, VERY MUCH!!! We are uncertain at this me if Alzafar will have a circus this year or not. We currently have a contract with the provider and hope that we are able to come to an agreement and that this pandemic is under control by then. However, with that being said we are working on other fundraisers right now to offset the circus in the event it doesn’t happen. We are currently working with members of the Divan and outside businesses to assist with genera ng revenue for our fraternity that will carry us into the following year. More informa on on these fundraising events will soon be available. Illustrious Sir Marty Bartle and First Lady Martha thank you for this past year. Nobody saw Covid-19 coming and what it would do to 2020. In the year that you should be celebra ng your final year on the Divan you guys weren’t given the full opportunity to do so. Hopefully, you two made great memories in a very trying year. Congratula ons to being elected and installed onto the Imperial Divan. We wish you guys nothing but the best as you guys have stepped up and commi ed your selves to the fraternity for the next 10 years. What an opportunity to represent Alzafar and con nuing to put us on the map as a premier Shrine. Good luck to you both!!!
Rick Reyes III Assistant Rabban Seasons gree ngs and a Happy New Year! Or at least let’s hope for a Happy start to the New Year. 2020 will go down in the books as one of the hardest years Alzafar has faced. With that being said, we have pushed through as a team and come out of it be er than ever. Our temple when faced with uncertainty has certainly persevered. We managed to hold every event that we typically do in a given Shrine year and with the excep on of Imperial and TSA being cancelled, we even got to travel a bit too. As I call around to my counterparts at other Shrines around the United States, its obvious that things could have been worse and we are truly blessed to have such an awesome nobility represen ng us at Alzafar. A quick recap of the HP&P events held this year. We started off the year with the Masonic Youth Brunch and Grand Masters Conference. We moved the ceremonial to August and held it in conjunc on with the Masonic Picnic. From there we moved to the Memorial service. All required events were conducted and I couldn’t have done it without the assistance of so many nobles. Aside from the usual requirements, we also took on the first ever motorcycle raffle which made more than $10,000 for the opera ng budget. In addi on to the raffle, we partnered with the Assistant Rabban on the golf tournament which raised nearly $17,000 for our hospitals. I’d say it was a pre y busy and successful year. Finally, as we move into 2021, we have some amazing opportuni es to raise funds for the hospitals. Please con nue to reach out with your ideas as they are what drives the future of our Shrine. Those ideas will lead to yet another golf tournament in 2021, another raffle, the Gala, and many other events. Our hope is to get back into the public’s eye as soon as possible. My goal in 2021 will be to promote our fraternity and philanthropy, grow the transporta on fund, and have as much fun as possible in the process. Un l Next Time, Rick Reyes
Marco Zuniga High Priest and Prophet First and foremost let me start off by saying thank you! This past year has been a trying year for us all and we’ve had many challenges but we always seem to come out on top. With the help of the units, nobili es and the ladies Alzafar has shown that we can overcome anything. I have thoroughly enjoyed being your Oriental Guide and it has been a great privilege and pleasure. I tried to the best of my abili es to con nue the annual tradi ons and hope I made y’all proud. I am looking forward to seeing what the future holds as you have now elected me to be your High Priest and Profit of 2021. I can promise you that I will con nue to do the best and put forth the extra effort in serving you. To my fellow divan members this has been a crazy but memorable year. You have taught me so much and s ll have so much more to learn from you all. I am excited to see what 2021 has in store for us. I know we tackle and overcome any challenges put forth in front of us as we have this year. Lady Lori and I would like to say thank you for the generous support we received throughout the year from the nobility and their families. We are looking forward to con nuing our work and will strive to do our very best to make Alzafar proud. Respec ully, Marco Zuniga
Michael Long Oriental Guide
David Olivares Treasurer
Alzafar, Thank you for your recent support in December! I will keep the momentum going, and con nue to think outside the box, for both our fraternity and our business. I have plans for the be erment of both, please bear with me in the future as the plans come to frui on. I do have our fraternity in mind for the long haul. As we have seen our membership decline, we need to get back to fun and fellowship. I will be working closely with our membership team, and hold a round table mee ng in late January. I did win a TV at December’s stated mee ng, but will roll it for the noble who top line signs the most new Shriners this year. The TV will be given away at December 2021’s mee ng. With COVID slowly ge ng behind us, I’m exited for the new year, it’s been a while since I’ve seen some of y’all. Once your vaccinated come on back to your units mee ng, and Alzafar’s different events. Imperial has asked us to update all info on web fez. Also please call our office and update your phone numbers, address, email address, etc. the past units I’ve been a part of EMAIL and communica on is key for par cipa on. So first off I will be working hard on ge ng everyone’s current email address. Regards, Michael along mikelong.alzafar@gmail.com 210-387-0025
What a year 2020 turned out to be and what a year to start my first year as your Treasurer. Thank you STU!!! LOL JK. We had a heck of a year, so congratula ons to the 2020 Divan led by our Imperial Sir Marty Bartle and warm welcome and best wishes to the newly elected Divan for 2021 led by none other than OUR Illustrious Sir, Link Travis Elmendorf. I am thankful for all the support I received this year serving as your Treasurer. Yes, we had a trying year financially due to the loss of almost all rental income but I feel we came out of this doing well. What really helped was the sale of the 10 foot frontage to TEXDOT along with the monthly royalty. It also didn’t hurt that we had a successful motorcycle raffle ran by Rick “Tater” Reyes which really added to our coffers. I could go on with the many people that helped throughout the year. Thank you, Nobles! Thank you to the Finance Commi ee, Kyle Jackson, Garre Ethridge, Gary Bausell and Alan Ditmore for all that you did last year, and I look forward to your input this year in keeping our Temple in good financial health. Remember the Divan and Finance mee ngs are open to the nobility. We meet on the Monday before the Stated Mee ng. Come join us where you can hear “first hand” what is going on at YOUR TEMPLE. In closing, I feel very confident with this year’s Divan and Finance Commi ee, we will con nue our success and have another great year in 2021. Sincerely and Fraternally, David Olivares Alzafar Treasurer alzafartreasurer@gmail.com
RECORDERS CORNER By: T-Bone Tommy Levere Recorder to the Stars alzafarrecorder@gmail.com 210-496-1626 Good Bye 2020. What a challenging year for all of us. Many Thanks to Marty & Martha Bartle for s rring this big boat during rough seas. Marty and I started this journey five years ago when he ran for Oriental Guide and I ran for Recorder. We did not have a lot of highlights, but watching Marty get elected to the Imperial Divan was one of the best. Now Marty starts a ten-year journey on the Imperial lineup. Things are ge ng back to normal. Joy Bonebrake, our Rental Manager, has booked over $350,000 in rentals for 2021. When the Covid-19 Virus hit we lost all of our rentals. Thanks to Joys help most of our clients rebooked their events for 2021. She also was able to get the parking lot rented for $3,500 per month for COVID-19 Tes ng. We rented our Ballroom out for early vo ng for $20,000. We just had K12 our largest rental in for a week ren ng the whole building. Joy and I are working on Alzafar sponsoring our own gun show star ng in 2021. The employees are back to work full me.to work full me. And I am hoping to hire a new Part-Time Employee star ng in early 2021 to replace Carol Kin gh. It is s ll hard to believe we lost Carol at age 62 to cancer. The Maintenance Staff came back in late November. We only have David, Shpresa and Tim, but they are our core group. If you no ce projects that need a en on around the Shrine Center please email or text me the informa on. I have asked all units, clubs and masonic bodies to please empty your own trash. We have two dumpsters in the back and we try to leave one open. Please tell your members our dumpsters are for shrine trash only and not for personal trash from home. As you can imagine it is expensive to have these dumped on a weekly basis. We just decide at the December Divan mee ng about the charges for Camp. For 2021 the Rental is going up $50 per year to a total of $650. This will be due no later than March 1, 2021. Don’t come to see me on March the 2 because the rent will go up $100 per month for being late. The second part of the equa on is a $100 Assessment which will be due before June 1, 2021. A le er will be going out to Camp owners the week of December 14, 2020. Alzafar s ll rocks even with the Coronavirus. We have managed to keep our building free from the Virus. (Knock on Wood) so we hope to see you soon Nobles. The coffee is always hot even if the weather is not.
Imperial Sir Marty Bartle Junior Past Potentate
Well, here we are. At the end of a 5 year wild ride with Alzafar and the beginning of our 10 year journey with Imperial. There have definitely been some tough mes and hurdles along the way, but I would never have changed a thing, because of the experience. The year 2020 was obviously the biggest challenge, but also what makes me the most proud of Alzafar. Soon a er we had 700 people a end the Nobility Ball on Feb29 (maybe we started the problem), the world as we knew it seemed to come to an end. All of our plans changed as nearly every event we had planned was cancelled. When other temples went into hiberna on, that is when Alzafar adapted and jumped into ac on. We quickly held blood drives for the community, collected food for the food banks, delivered groceries and medica ons to those at home, paraded through nursing homes and shut-in communi es, held events, and the ladies made hundreds and hundreds of masks and gowns to raise $10,000 for our hospital transporta on fund. While other temples froze, we created an en re Alzafar in Ac on program in response to the pandemic. There were some cri cs along the way, but I could not be more proud of how our Divan and the rest of the team pulled together. Shriners Interna onal has highlighted Alzafar over the last 2 months as the model on how a temple can adapt during a crisis. Now our focus turns to 10 years on the Imperial line. Hopefully we will see many of you in Houston this July, as we have an Imperial session in our backyard. Martha and I are excited for the road ahead where we will get to make many new friends around the country. We will never forget, though, that our true love always resides at Alzafar. For this year I would especially like to thank George, Joe, Luis, Kyle, Jose, Cheryl, and many, many others. Your support has been fabulous. Most importantly I want to thank Martha. Her pa ence, guidance, caring and support have been the very best. We are excited to do this together for the next 10 years, where we just might see you all again with an Imperial session in San Antonio in 2030! Take care and embrace your own journey.
ALZAFAR SHOTGUN UNIT AKA SMOKIN CLAYS BY TERRY ZITTLE, SEXYTERRY
New Year Brings forth Shriners Children – Texas Dr. James W. Todd, Board Member
Gree ngs to all. Well we have had quite a rodeo these past few months! Thankfully we as a Unit have not had any of our members get sick with this Covid19 mess. And I believe that is saying something. At our last scheduled mee ng we held our elec on of Officers and we elected to keep the same slate as last year: President is Guillermo DeHoyos, 1st Vice President is Tom Jackson, 2nd Vice President is J.B. Clarkson, Secretary is Yours Truly, Treasurer is Jerry Smitha. It should also be noted that Jerry is also the President for the Texas Shriners Shotgun Sports Associa on. We also came up with a new unofficial posi on: Office of the Honorary 3rd Vice President and Chef, who is David Hadley. At that same mee ng it was decided that we would combine resources and have our annual Installa on of Officers/Christmas Party with the Provost Guard. Needless to say it was quite a success! The event was held on the 4th of December and the Installing Officer was Potentate Elect Link Travis Elmendorf. We won’t be shoo ng again un l February 2021. Maybe Santa Clause will bring some of us new bang s cks All of our events include family, friends and guests and are followed by a great meal. This is a fantas c unit so come on out and check us out. Don’t have a Shotgun? Don’t worry we probably have about 2030 extras. Our Monthly Stated Mee ngs are held on the 2nd Monday of each month in our room, which we share the Provost Guard and the Directors Staff. We have a meal that is served between 6:15 and 6:30 pm with the mee ng commencing at 7:00 pm. Feel free to come on out at check out this amazing unit. Un l next month keep your powder dry and remember as long as there is lead in the air, there is hope!
As 2020 is brought to a close, a “New” Center of Excellence for Shriners Hospitals will make its debut! Your Board of Governors at Shriners Texas are involved in facilita ng the transi on of the Houston Hospital to the Galveston facility, finishing up construc on issues and preparing to change over the emphasis and the marke ng to reflect the new name, new focus and new (to that loca on) Orthopedic, Cle Lip and Pale e Services for our young pa ents! The en re Board of Governors met with Imperial Sir Jerry Gan , Chairman of the Joint Boards, Imperial Sir Mark Hartz, Imperial Marshal, and our own Imperial Sir, Marty Bartle , Imperial Outer Guard, to con nue the planning, facilita on and implementa on of several projects that will take place over the next few years. Your Shriners Hospital for Children–Texas is gaining space for exam rooms, orthopedic beds, a gait lab, ortho c fabrica on and placement of a sonographic center. We were able to tour much of that new area on Monday, December 7th, during our board mee ng! By as early as January 15th, signs will reflect the name change, marke ng materials will be adjusted, new opportuni es of partnering will be finalized and all employees will be in place! Chairman, Noble Steve White announced that you will be delighted to learn that Mary Jaco, whom you have all met at our Hospital Galas, was selected as the Administrator of the newly named facility! By that me, this “Center of Excellence” will be ready to con nue working with our pa ents, all under one roof. Speaking of one roof, to come in the future, is a new complex including a mul -story parking garage with more than enough parking spaces, connected to the hospital thru a central corridor, to ensure safe entry and transfer of pa ents at all mes! Nobles, you never had this much fun, doing this much good!
JANUARY CALENDAR OF EVENTS
1st 7th 11th 14th 18th
NEW YEAR'S DAY-SHRINE CENTER CLOSED Seniors Meeting & Luncheon/Parlors 12:00 pm LOS Stated Meeting/Parlors 7:00 pm Finance & Divan Meetings/Conference Room 5:00 pm Alzafar Stated Meeting/Ballroom 7:30 pm NILE Stated Session/Parlors 7:30 pm MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. DAY-SHRINE CENTER CLOSED
_____________________________________________________________ FEBRUARY CALENDAR OF EVENTS 4th 8th 11th
15th
Seniors Meeting & Luncheon/Parlors LOS Stated Meeting/Parlors Finance & Divan Meetings/Conference Room Alzafar Stated Meeting/Ballroom NILE Stated Session/Parlors PRESIDENT'S DAY-SHRINE CENTER CLOSED
12:00 noon 7:00 pm 5:00 pm 7:30 pm 7:30 pm
__________________________________________________________________
MARCH CALENDAR OF EVENTS 2nd 4th 8th 11th
Masonic Youth Luncheon & Grand Masters Conference Seniors Meeting & Luncheon/Parlors 12:00 noon LOS Stated Meeting/Parlors 7:00 pm Finance & Divan Meetings/Conference Room 5:00 pm Alzafar Stated Meeting/Ballroom 7:30 pm NILE Stated Session/Parlors 7:30 pm