Congratulations to our 2023 Bektash Divan, led by Illustrious Paul Little. He’s got lots of new and exciting ideas for our Fraternity. Your leadership team will do their best to help carry out his designs. The annual Installation of Officers was an unforgettable event. The food was excellent, the music was wonderful and everyone had a great time. No, my wife Marilyn wouldn’t let me do any Karaoke, much to the delight of all who attended.
We’ve been getting a lot of phone calls about the new dues structure and the cards. So please indulge me while I explain how it all works.
First, you do not need a Smart Phone or Apple phone to download your virtual dues card. The use of this type of dues card is strictly optional on your part. We still use and will continue to use the traditional dues card for admission to Shrine meetings, etc.
Secondly take your dues card out of your wallet and turn it over to the side you’ve signed. To the left of the signature space, there’s a square with a bunch of squiggly, erratic lines in it. It’s called a “QR” code. Most temples have a portable scanner much like the ones at your local grocery store when you check out (except on a smaller scale). When you come to a meeting at Bektash or any other temple throughout the world, you show them your card, and they will scan that QR code. The scanner links up with the temple’s computer and will immediately let the scanning Noble that your dues are paid up. Very simple, indeed!
So consequently, we don’t issue the old-fashioned stickers with the year on it to put on your card. We’ve found that the stickers loosen up and fall off, or get lost when we mail them out. Using this system also saves a lot of money on postage sending all the stickers out individually.
As our Ill. Pote mentioned, next month in March, Bektash will be hosting the Northeast Shrine Association (NSA) midwinter meetings right here in Concord. The purpose of this event is to finalize plans for the NSA fall field days in August. These meetings will be attended by visiting Divans from the northeast US and the Maritime Provinces of Canada. All Nobles are invited to attend the March meeting. The Fall Field Days in August include nobles and their families enjoying the competitions, parade, and other festivities. Check out the information on NortheastShrineAssociation.com. All the schedules are included for you to look at.
Please remember, your Bektash Shrine office is here to serve you. Let us know if there is anything we can do to help you!
It’s Great to be a Shriner!!
Tom Brison, Recorder, PP