THE ALEPPO TEMPLE (AAONMS) SHRINE
ORIENTAL BAND NEWS FOR THE YEARS 2002 to
2005
The above is the official logo of the Aleppo Temple (AAONMS)
Oriental Band.
IN THE PARAPHRASED WORDS OF VICTOR HUGO - "It was the best
of times and it was the worst of times!" The period from 2002 through 2005 saw
many changes in the BAND.
As the BAND entered 2002, it remained haunted
by the impact of world events which had occurred in 2001. Indecision and
confusion seemed to prevail and cut deeply into our very fabric. But first a
little background:
As a BAND we are comprised of an impressive group of
individuals. Many of our members are veterans of one conflict or another. We
have amongst our ranks individuals with Bronze Stars and Silver Stars earned for
service to the Country. We have individuals who have received battlefield
commissions. We have individuals who served in WWII, Korea, and Vietnam (before
it was even a word in our daily vocabulary). We have people who participated in
some of the most horrendous recorded military encounters. We have people whose
exploits are the stuff that James Bond (007) stories are made of and can be the
source of additional adventures with the series of those novels. We have various
civil servants working in fire and police protection as well as governmental
matters. And we have various people working in a variety of defense related
support positions. We also have friends and relatives in similar capacities. As
a whole we are a fairly loyal and patriotic group.
With the above
background, issues arose as to whether we should even continue as a group or, if
so, whether we should participate in uniform. There were those who refused to
participate in uniform and there were those who were reluctant to participate
without our uniforms. There were parade communities that refused to have us
march in uniform and there were parade communities that insisted that we march
in uniform. There were sideline audiences in some parade communities and in some
other UNITS who jeered and taunted us at various events and there were sideline
audiences in other parade communities and in other UNITS who cheered and
encouraged us on. CONFUSION persisted and some MEMBERS of the BAND, feeling
strongly one way or another, chose to resign from the BAND.
We,
nonetheless, persisted in our efforts and ultimately decided that we would march
in uniform because we felt that it was a significant part of our presentation
and performance and agreed that, if that should become problematic, we would
deal with it at that time. As it turned out, we were able to complete the parade
year without incident though our performance was diminished somewhat by the loss
of certain members.
IN THE INTERIM, we suffered some other losses when
the BLACK CAMEL came to visit HIRAM SHORTER and CLARENCE (LARRY) LEDREW - both
long time members of the BAND and instrumental in its governance. In addition,
the BLACK CAMEL also came to visit CHRISTINE MOISTER, a charming lady who,
though we did not have a great deal of time with her, nonetheless endeared
herself to us.
We struggled through 2002 and 2003 though there was a
marked sentiment of apathy which proved to be quite concerning and ominous. As a
result we were unable to attend the IMPERIAL SESSIONS in VANCOUVER or
MINNEAPOLIS and NESOBA, suffering from problems of its own, failed to generate
enough interest for us to attend its events as well.
2004 was upon us
before we knew it and we were all hopeful that it might mark a turning
point.
As in the ELECTIONS of 2000, we decided to endorse the TACO BELL
Dog for PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. We felt that she (yes, she) had been
grievously maligned and victimized by Election Fraud in 2000 and deserved
another chance in 2004. It was our position that she was more intelligent than
any other candidate, and that her position of standing "four-square" was
something that none of the other candidates could commit to.
The new
POTENTATE of ALEPPO TEMPLE for 2004 encountered some serious medical conditions
throughout the year and the parade schedule and our ability to attend the DENVER
IMPERIAL suffered accordingly. It was not a very exciting year, but it did
provide us with an opportunity to do some damage control and recover from the
experiences of the previous years and for that we were quite
appreciative.
Saddened by the ELECTORAL LOSS of the TACO BELL Dog (once
again), we moved into 2005 with a certain amount of optimism. The new POTENTATE
for this year was in good health and was an energetic sort of being with some
interesting plans. Despite those plans, and despite having made some good
strides in recovering our composure, some apathy still remained and the aging of
our members took its toll too. So we remained a bit frustrated and found
ourselves having to cancel our participation in some events that we would have
normally otherwise done and the condition also precluded our attending the
BALTIMORE IMPERIAL as a BAND. That sense of frustration continued to build up
and ultimately resulted in the resignation of our DIRECTOR, CHARLIE SALIE.
CHARLIE had put in almost thirty-five years with the BAND but he felt it best to
pass the baton at this time. In recognition of his service to the BAND and the
TEMPLE, CHARLIE was given the WILSON AWARD (a recognition Award) at the June 11,
2005 Ceremonial (we congratulate him on this and express our appreciation for
all he did for the BAND) and he was succeeded by our Assistant Director, ROBERT
(ROB) JOHNSON.
Our new DIRECTOR decided to have us take a break for a few
weeks and that is what we did.
Our new Director has been an active member
of the BAND for some five years as a musette player. He is the grandson of a
former member of the BAND, ROY HASKELL, and tells stories of how ROY used to
take him to BAND parades and events when he was a very young child - so he came
to the BAND as no stranger.
Our new Director's goal and objective is to
revitalize the BAND and to try to coax some old members back into the BAND as
well as to seek some new members. It is a daunting task, but one that we all
support and wish him the best in.
Under our new Director, we eventually
resumed practices and participated in a number of novel parades and events in
2005 which were enjoyable. During our Holiday Break, we ended the year at our
Annual Holiday Party and looked forward to the coming year. There is a new
spirit amongst the BAND members and we are all hopeful that we will make some
progress in bringing the BAND back to its former stature of prowess. Logistical
concerns, however, will most likely be keeping us from attending the IMPERIAL in
Tampa in 2006.
Having resolved issues with the YAHOO takeover of
GEOCITIES, efforts will also be made to more frequently update the WEBPAGE in
the future. Drop by every now and then.
BEST WISHES are extended to
ALL.
The song which accompanies this PAGE is called
AVINU SHALOM. WEBSHEIK(c) humbly respects all rights to the song and no effort
is made hereby to circumvent those rights by including the song herein.
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