Three Nights, One Heartbeat: How Our Shrine Clubs Opened the Season with Energy, Legacy, and Vision
- trevor3861
- Nov 28
- 5 min read
Written By Noble Trevor Eliott (Mr Fancy Fez) - Assistant Rabban, Al Shamal Shriners
There are moments in Shrine life when you don’t just talk about energy.
You feel it.
You feel it in the quiet pride of a Noble standing a little taller as his collar is straightened. You feel it in the hush of a room during Cold Sands. You feel it in the weight of a 50-Year Jewel resting against a Brother’s chest. You feel it in the laughter that follows tears. And you feel it on the drive home… when the highway is long, but your heart is full.
Over the span of just one week this past November, three Shrine Clubs across Northern Alberta held installations, celebrations, and milestone moments.
Three separate communities.Three separate nights.But one unmistakable truth.
The heartbeat of the Shrine is still alive.
And tonight, I want to tell you what those three nights revealed about Energy, Visibility, Purpose—and our future.
THE FIRST SPARK: “YES” IS STILL BEING SPOKEN
On November 18, the Northern Lights Shrine Club gathered at the Tipple Park Museum for their officer installation.
A museum.
A place where motion is preserved—but not moving.
And yet that night, history didn’t feel frozen.
It felt alive.
There were no contested elections. No political tension. The officers were acclaimed.
Which means something deeply important still happened that night.
Men were willing to stand up when called.
Not for applause. Not for ego. But because the Shrine still mattered enough to say:
“Yes, I will carry this for one more year.”
That is what Energy looks like in its purest form.
It doesn’t roar.
Sometimes it simply steps forward when called.
And when a man says yes… the heartbeat continues.
THE SECOND FLAME: PURPOSE WITH BOOTS ON THE FLOOR
Five days later, the road led north to the Fort McMurray Shrine Club for their installation.
And this one carried a different kind of electricity.
Because 2026 is their 50th Anniversary year.
Half a century of:
Parades
Pancake breakfasts
Road trips
Fundraisers
Hospital visits
Funerals
Weddings
And friendships that outlasted careers and crises
And then the new President, Noble Ray LeFrense did something powerful.
He talked about fun.
Not as a luxury. Not as an optional extra. But as fuel.
Because without joy, service becomes heavy. But with joy, service becomes contagious.
And then he did something even bolder.
The club committed publicly to a $50,000 donation to Shriners Children’s in honour of their 50th year.
And then he said this:
“Let’s go present it in person. Let’s walk those hospital halls. Let’s meet those doctors. Let’s shake those hands. Let’s make this real.”
That is Purpose with Visibility.
Not just sending money.
Showing up.
That is the heartbeat in motion.
THE THIRD FIRE: WHERE GOLD AND COLD SHARED THE SAME ROOM
On November 24, the Battle River Shrine Club gathered at the Camrose Masonic Hall.
Music. Santa. Children’s gifts. Dinner. Laughter.
First —
The gold.
A 50-Year Jewel presented to Malcolm Lyseng, through Camrose Lodge No. 37.
Fifty years of showing up. When no one asked. When no one watched. When no applause followed.
That jewel said something powerful without a single word:
“This fraternity is not sustained by spectacle. It is sustained by faithfulness.” Silence.
And then —
A Cold Sands Ceremony for Douglas Ryder.
One moment celebrating history. The next moment celebrating the beginning of a journey.
That’s not a contradiction.
That’s the Shrine.
THE PATTERN: ENERGY & VISIBILITY ARE THE SAME FLAME
Three nights. Three clubs. Three different stories.
One truth tying them all together:
Energy and Visibility are not separate. They are two expressions of the same flame.
Energy is the internal fire. Visibility is when that fire becomes a beacon.
We cannot market a heartbeat that isn’t beating.
People don’t join because of bylaws.They join because they feel life in the room.
WHY THIS MATTERS RIGHT NOW
Every Shrine jurisdiction feels the same pressures:
Smaller rooms
Aging memberships
Harder recruitment
More competition for attention
And yet these three clubs prove something quietly radical:
Men have not lost their hunger for meaning. They have lost patience for places that no longer radiate it.
Men still want:
Brotherhood that feels real
Fun that isn’t shallow
Purpose that isn’t abstract
Leadership that feels human
The Shrine still has all of this.
But it only becomes visible when it is lived openly, not managed quietly.
WHAT REIGNITES A HEARTBEAT (WITHOUT A MARKETING PLAN)
None of these clubs followed a consultant’s strategy.
They simply did four powerful things naturally:
1. They Chose Celebration Over Survival
None of these nights felt desperate. None felt like, “We’re just trying to hang on.”
They felt like:
“We are still alive—and we are moving forward.”
2. They Honoured the Past Without Trapping the Future
Cold Sands. 50-Year Jewels. Club origin stories.
Not nostalgia. Inheritance.
3. They Named Purpose Out Loud
$50,000 for children. Parades in rural towns. Gifts for families. Hospital visits.
Not vague goodwill.
Specific impact.
4. They Treated Fun as a Strategic Asset
Golf. Clowns. Car shows. Banquets. Degrees.
Fun is not the opposite of purpose.
It is the engine that carries it.
MENTORSHIP: THE INVISIBLE LINE THAT NEVER BREAKS
The loudest applause didn’t come at the most important moments.
It happened quietly:
When past Presidents stood behind new ones
When senior Nobles nodded without speaking
When younger Nobles realized, “I belong here too.”
Legacy is not what you accomplished.
Legacy is what the next man feels authorized to build because you stood before him.
THE INVITATION THAT ECHOED THROUGH EVERY ROOM
Each club, in its own way, issued the same invitation without ever putting it on a poster:
“Come stand where we stand. Come carry what we carry. Come be part of something that still matters.”
Not through pressure. Not through scripts.
Through presence.
THE HEARTBEAT IS NOT FADING. IT IS WAITING.
At one of these gatherings, a senior Noble leaned over and said quietly:
“It feels like the old days again.”
That sentence is both a compliment and a warning.
We do not need to go backward.
We need to move forward with their fire.
The Shrine does not survive on memory.
It survives on motion.
On men who still believe:
That fellowship heals
That service matters
That joy and charity can live in the same room
That legacy is something we choose to continue
Three clubs. Three nights. One unmistakable truth:
The heartbeat is here. It is beating. And it is waiting to be carried forward—by you.
THE HEARTBEAT WILL GROW LOUDER
So don’t just attend. Don’t just renew. Don’t just wear the fez.
Ignite it. Show it. Pass it on.
Because somewhere right now, a man who doesn’t yet know what the Shrine is…is waiting to feel exactly what you felt in those rooms.
And when he does—
the heartbeat will grow louder.
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