Annual Sudan Shriners winter event starts today in New Bern
By From staff reports
Published in News on January 24, 2014 1:46 PM
NEW BERN -- Sudan Shriners will hold their 98th Winter Ceremonial today and Saturday -- the event where new officers are elected and appointments made for the ensuing year.
It will start this afternoon when Shriners and their families arrive as well as the perspective Masons who will join the Shrine on Saturday morning.
Awards will be presented tonight to deserving clubs, units and individuals for their achievements during 2013.
On Saturday, the elections and various board meetings will be held as well as the induction of the new Nobles into the fraternity.
The annual Sudan parade will follow through the historic streets of New Bern with 40 plus parade units entertaining the crowds. Clowns, animated animals, miniature trucks, cars, and the Drum & Bugle Corps will entertain during the hour-long parade.
The units come from as far away as Elizabeth City to Wilmington to Robeson County.
These are the same units that travel across North Carolina during the year in support of the Shriners' Hospitals for Children.
Shriners' Hospitals for Children are the direct benefactors of Shriners International. There are Shrine Temples throughout the United States, Canada, Mexico, the Philippines, Germany, and Panama.
Shriners' Hospitals for Children have treated more than one million patients since their conception. Treatment care ranges from orthopedic, burn injury, spinal deformities and injuries, lip and cleft palate, and brittle bone disease.
Patients are being treated at the 23 hospital facilities throughout the United States, Canada and Mexico. They receive treatment regardless of the patient's, parent or guardian's ability to pay.
In 2013 new management procedural changes in new patients application that resulted in a significant increase in new patients. The Greenville, S.C., hospital saw a record number of new patients and performed a record number of surgical procedures on these children that need care.
Within the Sudan Shriners jurisdiction, there are more than 550 patients.
Anyone who knows of a child or a family that needs medical assistance and care from one the hospitals should contact any Shriner.
For more information, visit www.shrinershospitals forchildren.com.