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President Greg Diffenderfer (Jericho) called the meeting to order at
3:05 p.m. and proceeded to establish protocol in due form. Jericho
Legion of Honor posted colors, led by Illustrious Sir Elbert (Smiley)
Bridwell and Noble Darryl McPheron and then led us in the Pledge of
Allegiance. The President then recognized Past Imperial Chaplin, Ill Sir
John Stanley (Oasis) to open the meeting with an invocation.
President Diffenderfer thereupon introduced the SASA Director Generals
for 2019, Ill Sir Pete Rambo (Jericho) and Noble Rusty Watson (Omar). He
then praised their work to make this Session a success and for their
support to SASA.
President Diffenderfer introduced the 2019 SASA officers who were
present.
Ill Sir Donald Ratliff, (Kazim)
Secretary/Treasurer and SASA Past President
Ill Sir Thornton Holt, Jr., (Acca) 5th Vice President
Ill Sir Jim Wilson, (Amran) 4th Vice President
Ill Sir Ralph Calhoun, (Omar) 3rd Vice President
Ill Sir David Juergens, (Kosair) 2nd Vice President
Ill Sir Douglas Stalnaker, (Nemesis) 1st Vice President
And Ill Sir Greg Diffenderfer, (Jericho) President.
President Diffenderfer then introduced our Imperial Officers who were
present.
Imperial Past Potentate, Alan W.
Madsen 2012 (Oasis)
Chairman Board of Trustees Shriners Hospitals for Children, Jerry G.
Gantt (Arabia)
Imperial Second Ceremonial Master, Kevin R. Costello (Cyprus)
Imperial First Ceremonial Master, Richard Burke (Yaarab)
Imperial High Priest and Prophet, Kenneth G. (Kenny) Craven (Omar)
Imperial Potentate, Jeff Sowder (Midian)
He noted that we would afford them the opportunity to make remarks later
in the program.
President Diffenderfer then introduced the Past Presidents who were
present.
Ill Sir Walter (Sticky) Burch
1981-1982 Oasis
Ill Sir R. Jack Richardson 1989-1990 Beni Kedem
Ill Sir M.E. (Gene) Morrison 1999-2000
Ill Sir Paul Gregg 2002-2003 Jamil
Ill Sir Albert Parker 2003-2004 Sudan
Ill Sir John R. (Bob) Gray 2006-2007 Omar
Ill Sir Ray Fields 2007-2008 Amran
Ill Sir David Monnell 2008-2009 Khedive
Ill Sir Joe Scott 2011-2012 Hejaz
Ill Sir Donald Ratliff 2013-2014 Kazim
Ill Sir Edward (Eddie) Everhart 2014-2015 Kerbela
Ill Sir Mike Matthews 2015-2016 Rizpah
Ill Sir Steve Tucker 2016-2017 Jamil
Ill Sir Steve Norris 2017-2018 Sudan
President Diffenderfer then presented Past President jewels to those
individuals who had not previously been awarded a Past President’s
jewel. Those presented jewels were:
Ill Sir David Monnell
Ill Sir Joe Scott
Ill Sir Donald Ratliff
Ill Sir Edward (Eddie) Everhart
Ill Sir Mike Matthews
Ill Sir Steve Tucker
Ill Sir Steve Norris
President Diffenderfer thereupon
recognized our Secretary/Treasurer, Ill Sir Donnie Ratliff (Kazim) for
the reading of the minutes from the Spring meeting in Kingsport,
Tennessee. A motion was made and properly seconded to dispense with the
reading of the minutes, and the vote was unanimous.
President Diffenderfer then recognized
our Secretary/Treasurer, Ill Sir Donnie Ratliff (Kazim) for roll call.
Noting we have 7 officers and 14 SASA Past Presidents present. The
number beside each Shrine Center represents the number of
Representatives present at the meeting.
ACCA 5
Alhambra 1
Alee 7
Amran 6
Beni Kedem 4
El Hasa 5
Hejaz 8
Jamil 9
Jericho 8
Kazim 5
Kerbela 6
Khedive 5
Kosair 5
Nemesis 9
Oasis 18
Oleika 6
Omar 4
Rizpah 3
Sudan 7
Yaarab 5
He reported a quorum was present and
to proceed with business.
President Diffenderfer then called on
3rd Vice President, Ill Sir Ralph Calhoun to present the Finance and
Audit Report. After reviewing the financial records of the South
Atlantic Shrine Association, the findings of the Audit Committee were
reported to the Association.
1. Business Checking Account $120,324.61
2. Savings Account $ 55,933.36
3. Total Accounts $176,257.97
A motion was made and properly seconded to approve the audit report as
presented, and the vote was unanimous.
President Diffenderfer then called on
the Ill Sir Ratliff to present the finance report for the past year on
the SASA accounts, which runs from October 1 through September 30. He
reported the data for both the checking and savings account. He reported
a loss in the combined checking and savings from the end of last year,
which was September 2018 to the last current accounting through August
was $41,918,91. He noted the primary cause for the loss was some of the
carryover bills from 2017. Because our Fall meeting was canceled and a
modified business meeting was held, it was costly with little income to
offset the costs. The same thing happened in 2018, which not only was
expensive, but we lost the opportunity for income for both meetings. We
purchased new jewels for officers and presented those Past Presidents
since 2011 with a jewel. Our old jewels did not have Georgia in them. A
motion was made and properly seconded to approve the financial report as
presented. The vote was unanimous.
Ill Sir Ratliff then presented his budget for 2019-2020. The SASA
Secretary/Treasurer budget was the same as the year before with no
increases; however, due to less income projected it is projected a loss
of $6,400. He assured the representatives that he would do everything he
could to save what he could save and not be in the red at the end of the
year. A motion was made and properly seconded to approve the SASA Budget
as presented. The vote was unanimous.
Ill Sir Ratliff then announced the
temples who would be placing names for consideration for 5th Vice
President to the Nominating Committee and they are as follows;
2020 Oleika
2021 Alee
2022 Oasis
And he noted, he ran the list through 2055 and each officer has the line
up in their officer’s book for this meeting. If any temple wants to see
when their temple would be eligible, all they need to do is ask.
President Diffenderfer then called on
the 1st Vice President, Ill Sir Doug Stalnaker to present his budget for
both the Spring and Fall meeting for 2019-2020. He noted we are looking
for ways to save money and our Director General, Rusty, has been
tremendously helpful in saving money wherever we can. He also noted the
presence of the Potentate, the Divan and the members form Nemesis Shrine
Center and the outstanding support he was receiving from his temple. He
also introduced his Director General for the Spring meeting, Ill Sir
Edwin G Propst, Jr. and his Spring Treasurer, Ill Sir Robert L Dennison
and made the comment that they were looking forward for us to visit
Parkersburg in the Spring. Ill Sir Stalnaker offered a budget for the
Spring meeting that represented a balanced budget and for the Annual
meeting in the fall at Myrtle Beach, he presented a budget that was
positive to cash. A motion was made and properly seconded to approve
both budget reports and the vote was unanimous.
President Diffenderfer then called on
the 1st Vice President, Ill Sir Doug Stalnaker for the Time and Place
Committee Report. Ill Sir Diffenderfer reported;
Time and Place Committee Report
2020 Spring March 26-29 Parkersburg, WVA
Fall Sept. 17-20 Myrtle Beach, SC
2021 Spring March 25-27 Louisville, KY
Fall Sept 16-19 Myrtle Beach, SC
2022 Spring *March 24-26 Charleston,
SC
Fall *Sept 15-17 Myrtle Beach, SC
*Tentative
Ill Sir Stalnaker offered this as his
report and made the motion for adoption. A second was made to the motion
to approve the Time and Place report as presented, and the vote was
unanimous.
Ill Sir Stalnaker then asked for a
short counterparts meeting in the meeting room as soon as this meeting
was adjourned.
President Diffenderfer then called on
the 5th Vice President, Ill Sir Thornton Holt, Jr. to present the
Credential Committee report. Ill Sir Holt reported we had 7 SASA
officers present. We have 14 Past Presidents and 184 representatives. We
had 1,865 nobles and family members registered at the time of the
business meeting. We have 152 registered for the ladies’ luncheon and
156 registered for the Presidents’ banquet. A motion was made and
properly seconded to approve the Credential Committee report as
presented, and the vote was unanimous.
President Diffenderfer introduced Ill Sir Steve Norris to present the
Nominating Committee report, which was as follows;
Illustrious Sir Doug Stalnaker, PP -
President (Nemesis)
Illustrious Sir Dave Juergen, PP 1st Vice President (Kosair)
Illustrious Sir Ralph Calhoun II, PP 2nd Vice President (Omar)
Illustrious Sir Jim Wilson, PP 3rd Vice President (Amran)
Illustrious Sir Thornton Holt, Jr., PP 4th Vice President (Acca)
Illustrious Sir Donnie Ratliff, PP Secretary/Treasurer (Kazim)
Ill Sir Norris made a motion for each
of these officers to serve SASA 2019-2020 and it was properly seconded
to approve the Nominating Committee report as presented, and the vote
was unanimous.
Next, Ill Sir Norris read a Resolution
from Beni Kedem to place the name of Ill Sir Jason Hinkle as their
recommendation for 5th Vice President of SASA. Ill Sir Norris made the
motion and it was properly seconded to approve the Nominating Committee
report as presented to place the name of Ill Sir Jason Hinkle as the 5th
VP of SASA, and the vote was unanimous. Ill Sir Jason Hinkle received a
round of applause and accepted the nomination.
President Diffenderfer then called on
the 5th Vice President, Ill Sir Thornton Holt, Jr to introduce the Grand
Master of Masons for Virginia, MW William Hershey. The group gave him a
standing ovation and thanked him for his attendance.
President Diffenderfer then called for
any new business and there were none.
President Diffenderfer invited the
candidate for Imperial Outer Guard, Ill Sir Brad Prout to the podium and
he spoke to the group as to why he was seeking that office. Next we had
one individual wishing to be our next Trustee for the Shriners Hospital
Board, Ill Sir Mack Griffin. Ill Sir Griffin spoke for a few minutes to
explain why he wanted to seek that office.
President Diffenderfer then asked the
Director General, Rusty Watson, for announcements, noting the dedication
and effort put forth by him to make the event possible. His first
comments were to praise his team and that he takes no credit. He then
gave us an update on our status at Myrtle Beach. He reported the city
has asked us to do what we can to eliminate gaps in the parade. If a
temple is not ready to pull out at the appointed time, that temple may
not get to parade. If anyone has any suggestions as to make things
better, he asks them to contact him. As soon as this meeting is over,
the City Myrtle Beach police department wants to address the group about
the parade. There will also be a Parade Marshall’s meeting at the
conclusion of this meeting.
President Diffenderfer invited
Imperial Potentate, Jeff Sowder (Midian) for any comments he might want
to share.
Imperial Sir commented to the group
that it is an honor and privilege to serve as your Imperial Potentate.
His goal is to make this organization and its hospital system work
better each day than the day before. He then turned to comments on the
parade, he noted that earlier this year we had an injury during a
parade, and he asked that we pay attention to those spectators watching
the parade. SASA has a tremendous parade so let’s keep the gaps closed,
the maneuvers to a minimum and listen to those in charge of the parade
and be safe. He noted how blessed he is to get up every day and get to
work with such a dedicated group of officers.
Ill Sir Diffenderfer then called Omar
Shriners forward for a check presentation. They presented a check for
$5,000 for Shriner’s Hospital for Children.
Ill Sir Diffenderfer adjourned the
meeting at 4:45 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Donald L. Ratliff,
Secretary - Treasurer
South Atlantic Shrine Association
October 5, 2019 | 
