History of

Yelduz Charter:

July 14, 1904

Yelduz Founding Fathers:

W.T. Clark

A.J. Clocksin

Lewis B. Geisler

Elmer R. Judy

N.H. Wendell

 

                Yelduz Shrine was chartered on July 14, 1904, with El Zagal Shrine Center, Fargo, North Dakota, as the sponsoring shrine.  Yelduz was the 92nd of 191 Shrine Centers to receive a charter.  Yelduz Shrine members come from all over northern South Dakota and southern North Dakota.  Until 1999, the Shrine Centers were noted as “Temples’. 

                Yelduz was the 92nd Shrine Temple to receive a charter.  It has exclusive Jurisdiction in Brown County and concurrent jurisdiction in an area that extends 250 miles east and west and 50 miles north and south.  This area is located mainly in the northeast quadrant of the state of South Dakota.

                The first Potentate of Yelduz Temple was N. Howard Wendell, who was a well known businessman in the early Aberdeen area.  The temple held its first official meeting on October 6, 1904.  The installing officials from El Zagel Shrine arrived by train with a large number of its members, who then marched up Main Street to the present Masonic Lodge for the formal christening of the Yelduz Shrine.  Yelduz is the Turkish word for “star”.  The first Imperial Potentate to visit Yelduz Temple was Imperial Sir J.F. Trent on October 12, 1911. 

                The Yelduz Shrine remained in the Masonic Lodge building until 1970 when it moved to its present location at 802 South Main Street.  Currently, Yelduz has over 800 members and most of the members, and most of the members belong to one of 24 different parade units.

                Each year numerous events are conducted to raise monies which support our Hospitals whose services are free of charge to the patient.  Some of the most important fundraising events are the Shrine Football Game, circuses, aluminum can collections, laser cartridge programs, Road Runner pancakes and many others, including a large number of donations to the Shrine Hospitals and the Road Runners through memorials and endowments.

                To celebrate our 100th anniversary in 2004, members of the El Zagal Shrine again visited Yelduz Shrine and joined with us in the annual Gypsy Day parade.  The Shrine Horse Patrol journeyed by horse to Fargo to pickup the Charter and deliver it back to Yelduz on September 25, 2004.  The Imperial Potentate from Baltimore, Maryland participated in the ceremony.

                Yelduz Temple was a charter member of the Midwest Shrine Association.  It has hosted the summer sessions in 1949, 1961, 1973, 1985, 1996 and 2008 summer and winter sessions.  Living Past Presidents from Yelduz are PP John Batteen and Forrest Preston.  Other Past Presidents from Yelduz were PP W.T.“Bill” Clark (1937), PP Charles A. Draeger (1949, PP Arthur B. James (1961, and PP Robert Johnston (1985).  Yelduz will be hosting the Midwest Shrine Association in 2008 with President DeWayne Storley PP.

                The first uniformed unit of Yelduz Temple was the Arab Patrol which was organized on February 1, 1906.  Other organized units that are still active and their approximate dates of organization are:

                                1917       Yelduz Band                                       1945       Yelduz Chanters

                                1947       NE Scooter Patrol                              1947       Yelduz Wrecking Crew

                                1950       James Valley Motor Corps                  1959       Yelduz Color Guard

                                1965       Yelduz Horse Patrol                            1965       Lake Region Four-Wheelers

                                1968       Yelduz Clowns                                    1977       Yelduz Greeters

                                1979       James Valley Fire Crews                     1980       Gettysburg Mini-Corvettes

                                1982       Provost                                               1984       Air Patrol

                                1985       Westerners                                          1991       Road Runners

                                2007       Yelduz Racing Team

                Other active units are the Foot Patrol, James Valley Drovers, Mobridge Scooter Patrol, Watertown Clowns and Vintage/Classic Cars. 

                Yelduz has nine active Shrine Clubs, which are Britton Shrine Club, Gettysburg Shrine Club, James Valley Shrine Club, Lake Region Shrine Club, Mobridge Shrine Club, Northeast Shrine Club, Oahe Shrine Club, Ringneck Shrine Club and West River Shrine Club.

Memorable Dates in the History of Yelduz Temple

07/03/1916         A Temple Building Committee was appointed.

12/06/1917         Widow’s Benefit Fund organized.   On January 26, 1995, the Board of Trustees moved                                                            that the interest of Widow’s Benefit Fund be credited to the Yelduz Transportation Fund.

05/29/1919         Pilgrimage on special train to El Zagel Temple, Fargo, ND.

10/05/1922         Yelduz Nobles attended the cornerstone laying for the Shrine Hospital in Minneapolis,                                     MN.

1926                   The Drum and Bugle Corp went to the Imperial Session in Philadelphia, PA.

02/07/1935         Potentate E.R. Judy appointed a committee for the first Yelduz Shrine Football Game.

05/20/1949         Yelduz hosted it’s first Midwest Shrine Association meeting in Aberdeen.

06/1967             Yelduz Temple was made one of the beneficiaries of the Shoblom Trust.

10/15/1970         Yelduz Nobles voted to purchase the Bradbury Building for a Shrine Temple.

01/23/1971         First Potentate’s Ball held in the new Shrine Temple honored then Potentate Allan H. Rylance.                           

 1980                  Start of the annual Elmer Diedtrich Golf Tournament.

1982                   Yelduz Shrine Hospital Transportation Fund established.

02/06/1982         Yelduz was awarded the George Van Wagenen traveling trophy for having the highest                             annual percentage increase in membership during the 1981.

1987                    Yelduz Nobles attended the cornerstone laying for the new Shrine Hospital in                                                          Minneapolis.

1991                    Yelduz Shrine started the Road Runners Unit in 1991.  Unit members volunteer to drive                              patients to the Twin Cities Shriners Hospital for Children.

 

History of the Shrine of North America

                In 1872, Walter Fleming, a 33 degree Scottish Rite Mason, took the ideas supplied by William Florence about the ceremonies he had attended in Algiers and Cairo, and converted them into what would become the Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine (A.A.O.N.M.S.).  While there is some question about the origin of the Fraternity’s name, it is probably more than coincidence that it’s initials, rearranged, spell out the words “A MASON”.

                With the help of other Knickerbocker Cottage regulars, Fleming drafted the ritual, designed the emblem and ritual costumes, formulated a salutation, and declared that members would wear a red fez.  The initiation rites, or ceremonials, were drafted by Fleming with the help of three Brother Masons:  Charles T. McClenachan, lawyer and expert on Masonic Ritual; William Sleigh Paterson, printer, linguist and ritualist; and Albert L. Rawson, prominent scholar and Mason who provided much of the Arabic background.

                The Emblem:  The Crescent was adopted as a Jewel of the Order.  Thought any materials can be used in forming the Crescent, the most valuable are the claws of the Royal Bengal Tiger, united at their base in a gold setting.  In the center is the head of a sphinx, and on the back are a pyramid, an urn and a star.  The Jewel bears the motto “Robur et Furor”, which means “strength and Fury”.  Today, the Shrine emblem includes a scimitar from which the Crescent hangs, and a five-pointed star beneath the head of the sphinx.

                The Salutation:  Dr. Fleming and his co-workers also formulated a salutation used today by Shriners – “Es Selamu Aleikum!” – meaning, “Peace be with you!”  In returning the salutation, the gracious wish is “Aleikum Es Selaum,” which means “With you be peace.”

                The Fez:  The red fez with a black tassel, the Shrine’s official headgear, has been handed down through the ages.  It derives its name from the place where it was first manufactured – the holy city of Fez, Morocco.  Some historians claim it dates back to about 980 A.D., but the name of the fez, or tarboosh, does not appear in Arabic literature until around the 14th century.  One of the earliest references to the headgear is in “Arabian Nights.”

                The First Meeting:  On September 26, 1872, in the New York City Masonic Hall, the first Shrine Temple in the United States was organized.  Brother McClenachan and Dr. Fleming had completed the ritual and proposed that the first Temple be named Mecca.  The original 13 Masons of the Knickerbocker Cottage lunch group were named Charter Members of Mecca Temple.  Noble Florence read a letter outlining the “history” of the Order, and giving advice on the conduct of meetings.  The officers elected were Walter M. Fleming, Potentate; Charles T. McClenachan, Chief Rabban; John A. Moore, Assistant Rabban; Edward Eddy, High Priest and Prophet; George W. Millar, Oriental Guide; James S. Chappel, Treasurer; William S. Paterson, Recorder; and Oswald M. d’Aubigne, Captain of the Guard.  But the organization was not an instant success, even though a second Temple was chartered in Rochester in 1875.  Four years after the Shrine’s beginnings, there were only 43 Shriners, all but six of whom were from New York.

                The Imperial Council:  At a meeting of Mecca Temple on June 6, 1876, in the New York Masonic Temple, a new body was created to help spur the growth of the young fraternity.  This governing body was called “The Imperial Grand Council of the Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine for the United States of America.”  Fleming became the first Imperial Grand Potentate, and the new body established rules for membership and the formation of new Temples.  The initiation rit7ual was embellished, as was the mythology about the fraternity.  An extensive publicity and recruiting campaign was initiated.

                It worked.  By the time of the 1888 Annual Session (convention) in Toronto, there were 7,210 members in 48 Temples located throughout the United States and one in Canada.

                While the organization was still primarily social, instances of philanthropic work became more frequent.  During an 1888 Yellow Fever epidemic in Jacksonville, Florida, members of the new Morocco Temple and Masonic Knights Templar worked long hours to relieve the suffering populace.  In 1889, Shriners came to the aid of the Johnstown Flood victims.  In 1898, there were 50,000 Shriners, and 71 of the 79 Temples were engaged in some sort of philanthropic work.

                By the turn of the century, the Shrine had come into its own.  At its 1900 Imperial Session, representatives from 82 Temples marched in a Washington, S.C. parade reviewed by President William McKinley.  Shrine membership was well over 55,000.

                Evolution of the “World’s Greatest Philanthropy”:  The Shrine was unstoppable in the early 1900s.  Membership grew rapidly, and the geographical range of Temples widened.  The first Shrine Circus is said to have opened in 1906 in Detroit.  During the same period, there was growing member support for establishing an official Shrine charity.  Most Temples had individual philanthropies, and sometimes the Shrine as an organization gave aid.  After the 1906 earthquake in San Francisco, the Shrine sent $25,000 to help the stricken city and in 1915, the Shrine contributed $10,000 for the relief of European war victims.  But neither the individual projects nor the special one-time contributions satisfied the membership, who wanted to do more.

                The climax came at the June 1920 Imperial Session in Portland, Oregon.  Freeland Kendrick      (Lu Lu Temple, Philadelphia) changed his previous failed resolution titled otherwise to one establishing the “Shriners Hospital for Crippled Children,” to be supported by a $2 yearly assessment from each Shriner.

                First Hospital:  Before the June 1922 Session, the cornerstone was in place for the first Shriners Hospital for Crippled Children in Shreveport, Louisiana.  The rules for this hospital, and all the other Shriners Hospitals which would follow, were simple:  To be admitted, a child must be from a family unable to pay for the orthopaedic treatment he would receive, be under 14 years of age (later increased to 18) and be, in the opinion of the chief of staff, someone whose condition could be helped.

                The work of the great Shriners Hospitals network is supervised by the members of the Board of Trustees, who are elected at the annual meeting of the hospital corporation.  Each hospital operates under the supervision of a local Board of Governors, a chief of staff and an administrator.  Members of the boards are Shriners, who serve without pay.

Copyright 2008 Yelduz Shrine A.A.O.N.M.S