Ill. Gary Burke
It is with a great sense of pride and deep humility that I begin this term as your Potentate. I deem it an extreme honor to be numbered among those Shrine Masons who have taken upon themselves the mantle of leadership of Damascus Shrine Temple Number 2.
Let me begin by saying that it has been a pleasure to have served in various divan positions since 2004 when Robert L. Anderson II asked if I’d be interested in doing something in the Shrine. I had joined Damascus on April 24, 1999, when my dear friend and Brother, Paul Gleason, was the Class Sponsor, so I was a relative newbie in the Shrine at this point. Although, for those that know me, I’ve been around the Shrine since I was 14 while in DeMolay. I’ve worked at so many Circus’s that I can’t count them all and certainly must admit, miss them. So it may seem to many that I wasn’t such a newbie after all. Again, for those that know me, you can say with some level of certainty, that once I get involved with something, I’m involved! So 2004 was the beginning of a journey, and what a journey it has been. I thank all those that have had any part in the journey to this point. I would especially like to take this opportunity to thank the Order of DeMolay, as an Organization, and all those individuals that gave to me and so many other young men, the opportunity to experience what DeMolay has to offer. I can say with all my heart and soul that if it were not for DeMolay, I would not be where I am in this organization of Freemasonry or in my life in general. There are all too many to single out, you know who you are…..THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart. But special thanks goes to my lovely wife and partner, Debi and my two children Josh and Ashley for their understanding and support of my total Masonic commitment all these years. Without that understanding and support I could not and would not have been able to do all that I’ve done in Masonry.
It has also been a pleasure to work with a number of dedicated Shrine Masons over the past eight years on the Divan. Each year we have grown and continued the journey to a more positive and thriving Temple. We have strived to dwell not on the negative aspects of what goes on everyday, but the positives. Each new Divan has moved towards a goal of improvement in each of us and the Temple as a whole. Join us as we continue that journey. I’d like to thank each of the Potentates that I’ve served with for your unique talents and commitment to Damascus and Shrinedom. I hope that you will continue to offer yourselves to this and future Divans as we move forward.
Communication and Membership
This past year you saw that we concentrated on communication. If you didn’t know what was happening at Damascus, it had to be because you were living under a rock. That same commitment to communication will continue into the future. You saw a commitment to membership. Membership being the lifeblood of this and any other organization, you can be certain that same sense of urgency will continue. With that in mind, start gathering those names of potential candidates for our Spring Noble Bring a Brother event on March 10th and petitions for the Ceremonial on May 12th. If you are the first line signer on three (3) petitions during 2012, you will receive a Damascus Shrine shirt to wear and show off. Not the Damascus Pride Shirt, but a special “Potentates Membership Award” shirt. So get those petitions in and walk around looking quite smart in your new shirt. We will be concentrating on the IRR factor. That factor is simply Involvement, Retention and Restoration. I will be encouraging each of you to become more Involved in your Shrine. Support the activities to a bit higher level than you have in the past. If you attend one more meeting a year or go to one more social activity, that will be a benefit to Damascus as a whole. That involvement will build a greater sense of commitment and give you a reason to Retain your membership well into the future. This past year you saw the Potentates Passport Program as our way of encouraging new membership growth. This next year we will utilize a similar type of program for those members that we have lost over the past several years. Here is where we will work on Restoration, thus completing the IRR (Involvement, Retention, and Restoration) factor. The 2012 Potentates Passport Program will focus on reaching out to those Nobles that have demitted or been dropped from our roles for non payment of dues, to invite them back and give us an opportunity to possibly fulfill their unmet expectation(s) of what Damascus Shine Masons are all about. We failed them in some way. We did not meet their expectation(s) of what the Shrine is all about. Some of these Nobles we may be able to get back, some not. I realize that Masonry and Shrinedom may not be for everyone, but we need to try our best to at least make the effort to get them back.
What’s coming this year?
We will try to offer a balance between social activities and the necessary meetings of our Shrine. Some tried and true activities, like the Hoe Down Square Dance being held on February 1st will be back by popular demand. We’ll do a Pig Roast in July and a cruise down the Erie Canal in August. Take a bus trip to our Hospital in Erie during June to see the good work we do there and experience first hand how we take care of our children. Do you like to fish? Well, during September we’ll have a fishing derby out of Point Breeze which will be a hospital fundraiser. In June we’ll have our second Arts & Crafts Show and the hosting of the Finger Lakes Classic Car Show in July, also hospital fundraisers. It can’t be summer without the, “almost world famous”, Damascus Shrine Friday night Car Cruz from May 11th – September 7th. Well that gives you a flavor of what’s coming this year. I ask for your support.