March 10, 2025 • 30 mins
This week’s show featured DEAR Diabetes president Lorie Lewis promoting their Strike Out Diabetes fundraiser on April 26th. Then, Tangier Shrine assistant rabban and historian Tim Bernet invited the public to their Corned Beef and Cabbage Feast on March 16th, an annual fundraiser for their service organization.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:04):
This is Community Matters, a weekly public affairs program to
inform and entertain you with some of the great people, organizations,
and events in and around Omaha. Now here's the host
of the program from news radio eleven ten KFAB It's
Scott for Heats.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Thank you so much for being a part of our program.
This week, we welcome back to the president of Dear Diabetes. THAT'SDAR.
Dear Diabetes. Lorie Lewis is back here on Community Matters,
and Lourie, thank you very much for coming back. Remind
everyone what dea R stands for.
Speaker 3 (00:39):
Thank you Scott for having me back. D is diabetes education,
awareness and resources.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
There is a really fun event coming up to raise
funds for this organization called Strikeout Diabetes. The event is
next month, but you've got to get registering here in
the next couple of weeks, so Laurie tell me about
what's going on on Saturday, April twenty sixth.
Speaker 3 (01:01):
We're really excited about this event and it'd be a
great way to do a friend raiser as well as
fundraising for diabetes. And our goal is to bring in
more people just to raise awareness and have people get
together and develop some community around the event. It'll be
a great event at Maplewood Lanes on April twenty sixth
as Scott said, and we're asking you to register early
(01:24):
so that we have an idea of how many teams
we have, and we're also going to be doing some
raffle prizes, so we hope everyone gets registered early and
bring some friends, bring some family and stay afterwards for
raffle drawings and drinks and in food.
Speaker 2 (01:38):
Excellent. Register your team by March thirty. First, we talk
a lot on this program about various golf events. So
I'm like, all right, so that's a four someone who
can have this many teams and there's eighteen holes on
a golf course usually, so I kind of understand all
that verbiage. I love the bowl, but how many teams
can we have? Do you have to register an entire
(01:58):
team for people on a if you would do an
individual answer all these questions for.
Speaker 3 (02:02):
Me, right, absolutely, So we can fill the entire bowling
on only if we want to, which is thirty six lanes.
We can do teams from four people all the way
up to eight people on a lane. Obviously you won't
get in three games of bowling, but it's really about
the fun. Individual bowlers are welcome as well. Certainly a
lot of people do golf outings. We wanted to do
(02:23):
something where we could get kids involved, we can get
families involved, really make it a family activity so that
we can appeal to the families and let them know
about diabetes and get that education out there early.
Speaker 2 (02:33):
Well. Plus you have the great title of the event,
strikeout Diabetes. Absolutely, it just works well. And there's one
other big reason why you might want to do a
bowling fundraiser as opposed to golf. You don't have to
worry about the weather.
Speaker 3 (02:45):
That's right. You don't have to worry about the weather,
and you don't have to worry about being a great bowler. Yes,
I mean, you know, we may have some prizes for
whoever gets the first gutter ball. So we're going to
make it fun for everybody, and we just really hope
a lot of people come out to support the community
and support those living with diabetes.
Speaker 2 (03:03):
It's going to be fun, it's going to be educational.
Methodist College will be there on site doing a one
C testing. Where do we go from more information?
Speaker 3 (03:11):
In order to register, they can go to our website
which is deardiabetes dot org. And on the home page
right there, we have all the information about the bowling event.
When they click on the link on the right hand side,
there's some wording there they click on that that will
take them to the registration.
Speaker 2 (03:26):
Page deardiabetes dot org and that's where you can learn
more about registering your team by March thirty first for
strikeout Diabetes on Saturday, April twenty sixth at Maplewood Lanes.
Man Maplewood Lanes has been there for a few minutes,
hasn't it. It has my whole life. They're thirty thirty
North one hundred first Street, not far from about one
(03:48):
hundred and second and Maple.
Speaker 3 (03:50):
Area, very centrally located right off the interstate, easy for
people to get to.
Speaker 2 (03:55):
And on that Saturday, it's between three and five o'clock.
You check in before that and you're bowling for a
couple of hours, so it'll be a lot of fun,
right right. That's what's going on on that day. As
we talk here with the president of Dear Diabetes, Laurie
lewis with us on community matters, So Laurie, tell me
why we're doing this on this date.
Speaker 3 (04:13):
So the reason we're doing it on this date again,
is to really help raise awareness about diabetes. We wanted
to do something midyear. Weather is great, so it doesn't
matter what the weather is, but we want to do
something midyear and people can join us afterwards on the
patio help support us through having some community We'll have
(04:33):
some games, we'll do drawings for the Raffle prizes, and
people can stay for food and drink and a portion
of those proceeds go back to Dear Diabetes.
Speaker 2 (04:40):
Tell me about what Dear Diabetes is able to do
to help people who are battling diabetes here in our community.
Speaker 3 (04:47):
Yeah. So some of the things that we have been
able to do through the generous owners that we have
is to provide resources to individuals. We have individuals who
apply through our website if they're struggling to pay them rent,
they need help with their utilities, any of those types
of things, so we're able to give them some assistance
through that. We also do our educational programs. We did
(05:09):
an educational program last year. We have another one coming
up this year, having multiple speakers that will be at
the event, so that we can just provide more information
about diabetes and helping individuals learn about it early and
understand the implications of diabetes.
Speaker 2 (05:25):
It seems like the rate of people getting that diabetes
diagnosis continues to go up every year. Has the prevalence
of some of these weight loss, whether they're drugs or treatments,
has that helped it all? Has that stem that tied
a little bit?
Speaker 3 (05:40):
It definitely has helped those individuals that are really trying
to manage their weight. There's so many new therapies that
are out there and drugs, as you mentioned, the weight
loss drugs. I have personally known more than a handful
of people that have utilized the drugs and as a result,
they've lost weight and also gone either into the pre
(06:01):
diabetic stage or they're no longer diabetic. And you know,
it certainly is not the cure all for everything, but
it's something that will help them and just boost that
process and then along with the other changes that they make,
it's just very life changing.
Speaker 2 (06:17):
Of course, that's one of the stereotypes of diabetes is
being overweight. Not always the case with the diabetes diagnosis.
Speaker 3 (06:23):
Absolutely, you're absolutely right, So it isn't always someone who
is overweight. Those drugs are meant to help those individuals
that are struggling with that, but certainly there are other
individuals who are not overweight and they may just have
a propensity towards diabetes that could be genetic. We know
that there's a number of cases where there's genetic mutations
(06:45):
that lead to maturity onset diabetes of the youth, which
is a genetic form of diabetes, and many people get
diagnosed with that even when they're not overweight. So they're
not type one, they're not type two, but they have
this genetic mutation.
Speaker 2 (06:59):
Yeah, of the stereotypes that I have to deal with
in my own predisposition all the time, I'll talk to
people who are young, healthy, looking, athletic, and diabetic absolutely like,
oh yeah, I forgot that. That certainly happens way too much.
So for people who do have whether they're pre diabetic,
(07:21):
whether they're diabetic, if they have a loved one who
is trying to manage their own condition their own way,
what can they do to reach out to your organization
and get help, LORI.
Speaker 3 (07:31):
There's a number of ways that they can reach out.
The best way is for them to use the contact
us form on our website again, that's deardiabetes dot org.
We also have an assistance form so if they need assistance,
they can complete that form and send that to us
and we will reach back out to them and help them.
Speaker 2 (07:50):
Go to deardiabetes dot org. Register your team here by
the end of the month March thirty first for the
event coming up on Saturday, April twenty sixth at Maplewood
Lanes called Strikeout Diabetes. It's at deardiabetes dot org. Another
moment here with the president of this organization, Laurie Lewis
with us on community matters and Laurie, there's another big
(08:12):
event that your organization does much later in the year,
but I want people to reserve the date on their
calendar because you have a great speaker coming in. Tell
me about what's happening later this year.
Speaker 3 (08:21):
We do. We moved our event to November so that
we could align with Diabetes Awareness Month. It will be
on November six at Metro Community College and we are
having Sonya Jones from the Biggest Loser. We'll be joining us.
So we're very excited to have her as our speaker
coming up on November six.
Speaker 2 (08:40):
What's what's her story? I know the show tell me
about her.
Speaker 3 (08:43):
Yeah, so her story she had been involved in athletics,
her weight got to a point where she was approaching
three hundred pounds and she had been diagnosed as pre diabetics,
she had some other conditions that she was working through.
She lost fifty percent of her weight. Wow, and it's
just an amazing story. So we're very excited to have
(09:03):
her come and talk about her journey that she went
through and share that with us, and then we're planning
some other activities afterwards as well. It'll be a luncheon
event this year as opposed to a gala. We're hoping
that people can come out during the day and join
us and have a lot of fun at that event
as well.
Speaker 2 (09:20):
Wonderful. That's on November sixth.
Speaker 3 (09:22):
That's right.
Speaker 2 (09:22):
It's still ways away, but it's, as is often the case,
suddenly time catches up with you and you're like, oh wait,
I wanted to do that. I totally forgot. So when
can one register for that event if they know they
want to be a part of it.
Speaker 3 (09:35):
We also have that on our website. You can start
we do great, you can start registering now. We're always
looking for organizations and individuals as sponsorships. We have some
book signing opportunities as well, depending on the sponsorship level,
so visit our website and learn more about it.
Speaker 2 (09:53):
It is such an important topic and Lori Lewis and
the team of Dear Diabetes do a great job of
working with those who've gotten the diagnosis and their families
oftentimes their caregivers in many instances to get them the
resources and the information they need. Start by going to
the website Dear diabetes dot org. That's for the event
(10:14):
on November sixth, as well as much more close from now.
Saturday April twenty six strikeout Diabetes at Maplewood Lanes. Go bowling,
have fun for a great cause, and register your team
here by the end of the month at deardiabetes dot org.
Laurie Lewis, President of Dear Diabetes. Again, for those who
(10:34):
tuned in in the middle of the conversation, go what
is dear diabetes? Tell me again the acronym.
Speaker 3 (10:39):
Diabetes, education, awareness and resources.
Speaker 2 (10:43):
Just making sure you know I figure as president you
probably have pretty good idea. Laurie, always a pleasure talking
with you. Thank you so much for what you're doing
for people in our community and thanks for telling us
about it on community matters.
Speaker 3 (10:53):
Thank you so much.
Speaker 2 (10:53):
Scott up Next in the program. We welcome the assistantraband
and historian at the legend Tangier Shrine here in Omaha,
Tim Burnett joins us on community matters and Tim, it's
great to have you as part of the program.
Speaker 4 (11:07):
Well, thank you, Scott, and thank you for that legendary comment.
Speaker 2 (11:10):
Well, maybe that's a little bit bias coming from me.
I'm a Ralston kid, and so the Tangier Shrine building
there at eighty fourth and Center, near eighty fourth and Center,
I was just over there my entire life and seeing
the parades and wanting to wear a fez and seeing
all that. I've always had a lot of questions about
the Tangier Shrine. But as far as growing up in Omaha,
(11:32):
I know the building, I know the fez, I know
the circus. We're gonna get to know a whole lot more.
The first thing I want to promote, though, is just
days away, coming up next weekend on Sunday, March sixteenth.
Tell me about Corn, Beef and Cabbage Feast.
Speaker 4 (11:46):
Well, as you say, it's March sixteenth, eleven to seven
on Sunday. Tickets are twenty dollars. You can contact Tangier Shrine.
As you said, eighty fourth and Center to get tickets
also tangishrine dot com. It's actually we're bringing it back
this year because as COVID happened in twenty twenty, we
stopped having our full fledge a corn beef and cabbage feast. However,
(12:09):
we're bringing it back and I'm really excited about that,
getting the community to know that we're doing this again
and getting them in our doors and the ability to
raise awareness and they can learn about who we are,
why we exist, what our overall mission is as Shriners.
Speaker 2 (12:23):
It's going to be at the shrine. It in there
it is, And what are the times on this.
Speaker 4 (12:27):
Eleven o'clock in the morning till seven?
Speaker 2 (12:29):
Okay?
Speaker 4 (12:30):
That is it?
Speaker 2 (12:31):
All you can eat? It is so someone could get
there right at eleven and just sit there and stub
themselves for a corn bee and cabbage for the next
eight hours.
Speaker 4 (12:40):
It has never happened, but in theory, in theory theory,
it could happen.
Speaker 2 (12:45):
So how much corn beef and cabbage can you eat?
Speaker 4 (12:47):
Well? I really enjoy it. We've got guys that have
been doing it for thirty or thirty five years, so
we've got some of those guys coming back and they
just put out a great spread corn beef and cabbage,
obviously potatoes, carrots and butter. In the past we've had
sugar cookies for sale. We did not do that this time,
but I promise next year we'll have those cookies.
Speaker 2 (13:07):
So tis the season corned beef and cavesure here on
Saint Patrick's Date Eve coming up Sunday, March sixteenth. What
else does one do here in addition to eating all
this delectable food, tim.
Speaker 4 (13:19):
Well, that day, that's primarily what we'll do. We'll talk
about who we are and what we do and what
our goal is.
Speaker 2 (13:25):
So if I go there, is there a set times
where there's presentations or do you just go table to
table and say, let us tell you who we are
and what we do. How does all that work?
Speaker 4 (13:35):
Well, it'll just be the corn, beef and cabbage feed.
We're kind of easing the folks back into this. In
the past we've had Irish dancers and Irish music. We'll
probably have some Irish music playing, and we've had some
other festivities. This time, we're just getting back into the
nuts and bolts of putting on the feed. But there
will be plenty of Shriners there mingling about we will
have a drive through also in addition to eating in
(13:57):
so plenty of opportunity to talk to folks raise awareness.
Speaker 2 (14:00):
Excellent. Well, let's talk a little bit here as historian
for a Tangier Shrine. How long. Let's start here at
the beginning. For you, Tim, when did you join the
Shriners and why was it that you decided to be
a part of the organization.
Speaker 4 (14:14):
I'm actually a legacy member, and what that means is
my great uncle was a Shriner and his brother, my grandfather,
was a Mason, though he did not become a Shriner.
So I came in in July of two thousand and
nine when my uncle brought me in. And I have
to tell you, I don't know what I was looking for,
but I can sure tell you what I found. It's
(14:35):
that kind of thing. Probably one of the best decisions
I've ever made was to join this organization.
Speaker 2 (14:41):
That's fantastic. What was it that appealed to you right
at the beginning?
Speaker 4 (14:45):
Well, I didn't know, like I say, what I would find,
but when I got there, you know, the brotherhood, the fellowship,
the acceptance, you know, the love. As many people may
not know, to become a Shriner, you must be a
man Mason first. So the Shriners is an independent body
under the Masonry umbrella, and there's a number of groups.
(15:07):
One of the things that I like about it so
much is that there's something for everyone in the family.
Obviously Shriners were talked a little bit about them.
Speaker 2 (15:16):
That's the men.
Speaker 4 (15:17):
We have Eastern Star for ladies. We have Daughters of
the Nile for ladies, d Malay for boys, and Job's
Daughters and Rainbow Girls for girls. So there's really something
for everyone. And though it is a men's organization, there
are ladies. We couldn't do what we do without our ladies.
They let us come and do what we need to
do to support the Shrine in all of our events,
(15:39):
and most often they're standing the right side, right beside us,
you know, helping us do those things.
Speaker 2 (15:44):
I was asked to speak to a Mason's group here
in Omaha years ago, and one of the other speakers
was a woman, and I thought, oh, that kind of
shatters one of the stereotypes that perhaps I had of
the organization. Another one is is that you know, the
Masons are just this under world group that are secretly
trying to plot various government overthrows and they control everything
(16:06):
and so forth. And everyone I've ever known who's a
Mason or part of a Masonic group here usually they
just kind of get together, they talk about stuff, and
they see what in the community they can do to
help things. And I guess it's like any organization, you
kind of get out of it what you put into it.
And different groups have different goals. Are you one of
(16:27):
the we want to overthrow all world government groups? If so,
when can you start?
Speaker 4 (16:32):
Yeah, some people would like that, I suppose right now
with what's going on. But it's very insightful that you
said some of the things you said there. But no
masonry goes back a couple thousand years on paper, we
can go back probably two hundred and fifty three hundred years.
But really in a nutshell, and this sounds like a
canned sort of response, but it's really about good men
(16:56):
coming together, helping each other be the best we can be.
And then, as you said, looking outwardly into the community,
how can we help our community and fellow man? And
that's really all those those dependent bodies that I talked
about have in and of themselves a particular mission that
they support out in the community.
Speaker 2 (17:14):
Give me some idea here as we talk with assistant
raband and historian of the Tangier Shrine by the way
online at Tangiershrine dot com, Tim Burnett with us on
community matters, Give me some ideas in the fifteen sixteen
years or so that you've been a part of this organization,
what are some things here throughout our community that you
guys have had a hand in.
Speaker 4 (17:34):
Well, Really, our overall mission is to support and take
care of the greatest asset in our community, really in
any community in any country, our children and so Shriners
they were formed in eighteen seventy two and for the
first I don't know twenty years or so thirty years,
(17:55):
maybe they gave money to lots of different things in
the community. Natural disaster San Francisco earthquake was one of
those things. And then a group of Shriners got together
and they thought, you know what, They asked themselves a
few questions, what if we've tunneled all of our energies
and all of our resources into one area, how much
good could we do? It said a little bit in
(18:16):
a lot of places, all of it in one area,
and what culminated from that was our first hospital for
children Shreveport, Louisiana, nineteen twenty two, and from there we've
had twenty two hospitals. It's really an interesting time to
be us as Shriners because we're in a bit of
a change period where we're introducing things such as telehealth clinics.
(18:40):
Where one day we had twenty two touch points, we
may have one hundred touch points now. So some of
our hospitals begin to partner with teaching hospitals. It allows
us to use their facilities while sharing our expertise with
new doctors and nurses, while not having to maintain freestanding
hospitals of our own. Few of our hospitals have begun
(19:00):
to explore that. We've also begun to partner locally with Boystown.
We're doing some intake there, We're doing some prosthetic work there, adjustment,
some new prosthetics, those kinds of things. So just a
good time to be us right now.
Speaker 2 (19:17):
That's excellent, and thank you so much for everything you're
doing in our community. As we're talking here with Tim
Burnett with the Tangier Shrine, that's t A n G
I E. R. Tangier Shrine dot com. So this coming Sunday,
March sixteenth, the Corn Beef and Cabbage Feast. That is
a fundraiser for all of those works and all those
things that you guys do. What are some other fundraisers
(19:39):
you have throughout the year to work towards accomplishing these goals.
Speaker 4 (19:44):
Yeah, I should explain too that people may not understand.
At Tangier we straddle kind of two sides of the house.
We have the operation side, and that is where this
money will go from the corn beef and cabbage feed. Hey,
the light bill, keep the doors open, those kinds of important, yes.
And then we have the philanthropic side, and that's where
we help the kids through our transportation fund. We have
(20:05):
a number of things that we do, our Show and
Shine car show coming up in June. All the money
will go to our transportation fund. And what that is
is a group of guys we call the road runners.
They actually drive children back and forth and their families
back and forth to procedures. Typically it's going to be
Minneapolis that we would drive to, sometimes Saint Louis. We
(20:27):
also fly children if they need particularly burn care, maybe
to Ohio or one of our burn care centers in Texas.
So all of that is paid for by Tangier. So
everything we're doing, really in one way or another, does
go back to that overall guiding mission of caring for
our children.
Speaker 2 (20:46):
What do they drive them in those little cars you
see in parade?
Speaker 4 (20:49):
They don't. However, I have driven one of those in
our parade there. Well, some of us don't, but it's
great fun and we do more than just parade and
wear silly hats. But that silly hats called a fez,
by the way, I think you might have said that.
Speaker 2 (21:06):
Right, Well, so let's you brought it up here before
I get back to some of the other fundraisers and
things you do here. Why the fez?
Speaker 4 (21:13):
Well, when they those first group of Masons that created Shiners,
they were looking for ways to be unique, probably a
little mysterious. That fez actually comes from well, Tangier or Morocco,
and that's also where we got our name Tangier when
we formed in eighteen eighty nine here in Omaha.
Speaker 2 (21:33):
It is a unique look. As soon as you see it,
you know like, oh these are these are the Shriners.
Speaker 4 (21:37):
And that's why they chose that. And actually, if you
look back in history, military organizations, governments, lots of organizations
have used the fez in one form or another, So
I think that's why we chose it too.
Speaker 2 (21:47):
Okay, all right, so we got a little off track
for I suppose here other fundraisers you got.
Speaker 4 (21:52):
Sure, Well, we have the Sportsman's Raffle coming up May third,
and what that is. Tickets are twenty dollars. We can
get those of Tangier Shrine dot com or stop by
eighty fourth and center. We're giving away twenty five thousand
dollars worth of shields gift cards.
Speaker 2 (22:07):
Wow.
Speaker 4 (22:07):
So yeah, and there'll be several denominations. It escapes me
right now, and I should know this what the highest
one is. But at any rate, twenty five thousand dollars
in gift cards will be given out. So it's just
a raffle, right right. Tickets are twenty dollars. We're having
a lunch also. That ticket is twenty dollars and it
gets you a lunch that day. So we'll have some
(22:28):
festivities there, some silent auctions and other things going on,
and then lunch at eleven and the drawings are at one.
Speaker 2 (22:35):
Excellent. Do you have to be there to win. Do
not have to be there, all right, but if you're
going there to eat lunch anyway, hang out and see
if you win, right or having leftover corn beef and cabbin.
Well we hope not. Yeah, maybe not all right, So
that's coming up on May third.
Speaker 4 (22:51):
What else, tim, Well, we've got d In June, we
participate along with the two other Shrine centers in Nebraska
in supporting the Shrine Bowl Game. And for folks that
don't know, that's the high school kids that are not
only good on the grid iron, but good in the classroom,
good in their communities. They're all selected as well as
(23:13):
coaches from across the state and they have a game
that's going to be June sixth. And actually we bring
patients out to the football camp so they can interact
with them, and what they come away with is realizing
the score doesn't matter, that the winner is the kids.
So they enjoy it and they make lifelong friendships. Some
(23:34):
of these kids will go on to the pros and
they're going to remember this experience. We've had some come
back and talk to us at this media day and
at the beyond the field experience that we're going to
have the Monday, preceding the game where the patients are there.
We've had guys come back and share their experience. And
these guys are forty fifty years old, they remember.
Speaker 2 (23:52):
Yeah. I love having these conversations because I can almost
hear the epiphany on so many listeners going. I didn't
realize the Shrine Bowl had to do with the Shriners,
but it certainly does. Another example of how this organization
exists in our community. Anything else that's coming up on
the calendar, we need to write down.
Speaker 4 (24:11):
Just a few more things. Touch a truck that was
new for us last year, and that's in August. What
that is is we have military police and fire just
anybody that comes back, hos anything big wrecords and things
that kids can have fun playing with and climbing on
and learning about. And that certainly also allows us to
(24:33):
grace some awareness of what Tangier is.
Speaker 2 (24:36):
Yeah, kids love that stuff also, grown men, Yes, love
love that.
Speaker 4 (24:40):
I enjoyed it last year, A big hit for if
we want.
Speaker 2 (24:42):
To keep that going, all right, anything else we have.
Speaker 4 (24:45):
Spaghetti feed in September be much like the corned beef
and cabbage however, spaghetti, so we've been doing that equally
thirty thirty five, forty years, so always a big hit
for us. And then one of our newer events, our
first one was in twenty seventeen, is our Festival of Trees,
and that is actually where the community companies can come
(25:07):
in and actually put up a tree, fully decorated, and
then we have raffles the community comes in. Peruses are
trees upstairs and down. We've had as many as sixty
five trees and we've had as much as twenty five
thousand people go through that in right around Thanksgiving.
Speaker 2 (25:28):
The Fezdevol trees Trees. That's a very cool.
Speaker 4 (25:33):
And check for all of these on Tangiershrine dot com.
Speaker 2 (25:35):
Yeah, our website. There's so much going on here and
it's all right there on the website Tangiershrine dot com.
Another minute or two here with this assistant reband and
historian for the Tangier Shrine, Tim Burnett, with us on
community matters. What happened to the circus, the Tangier Shrine circus.
All the circuses are gone. Well, we loved it.
Speaker 4 (25:55):
There's a few shrine centers that are still doing one
and they're still having success areas I think for us
we started our first one. I'm a historian, I should
know that nineteen twenty nine, nineteen thirty, although I've seen
evidence of one from nineteen twenty two. So we did
it a good long time and we loved it. We
(26:15):
had had for a good time getting in front of
the community, given them some entertainment, but then again also
raising that awareness. But you also have to change with
the times and do some new things, new and exciting things,
and we think we've done that with some of the
things that I've listed.
Speaker 2 (26:31):
Anything that you mean, you've been a part of this
organization for so long here as you look to the
future and the next generation of Shriner, is anything that
you'd personally like to see them take on or do well?
Speaker 4 (26:43):
I think just greater engagement. That's one of the things
I think we struggle with in getting members, just having
the time. I know parents have their kids in there
and travel this and travel that, and they're pulled in
a lot of different directions. So I guess I'd like
to see people learn more about out what Shriners do
in their overall mission of taking care again of our
(27:04):
greatest asset, the children, right, And once you do that
and you're part of this group of thousands of members
across really the world that are Shriners. You know, you
get a lot of it. You get a lot out
of it. They tell you don't expect any repayment for it.
But boy, when you see a child smile that that
you've just helped walk that maybe couldn't walk before, that's
(27:25):
all you need.
Speaker 2 (27:25):
Is it hard to give members to an organization when
one of the staples of some Masonic lodges is not
to tell anyone you're part of the group.
Speaker 4 (27:32):
Right right, Well, a lot of that's changing. But to
become one, you hear the old statement become one, ask one,
So you can certainly we have links on our on
our website Tanjiwshrine dot com about how to become a Shriner.
Be a Shriner now. Is also another website that you
could access or just stop by. Stop by eighty fourth
(27:56):
and Center, talk to us, let us know that you're
interested in what we do, and then you'd like to
support that and we can start you on your journey.
It is a bit of a journey.
Speaker 2 (28:05):
Yeah, how it's worthwhile. What is the standard timeframe to
get to the level within the Masons, to where you'd
be accepted as a shriner. Are we talking about a
lifetime a week? What is it right?
Speaker 4 (28:18):
I think it varies by individual and some of our processes,
which right now we're looking at to maybe ease make
it a little bit easier to become a mason. And
once you are a Mason, then you can become any
of those appendent bodies rather quickly.
Speaker 2 (28:35):
Well, check the website to see if this is absolutely
something for you and if it's something that you have
a heart for, they're going to help you, focus you
and direct you in this organization, Tangiershrine dot com. So
one more time here, Tim, get us all hungry and
ready to go. What do we need to do and
when do we need to do it? For Corn, beef
and Cabbage Feast coming up on Sunday, March sixteenth.
Speaker 4 (28:56):
Okay, get those tickets. They're selling out fast March sixteenth,
eleven am to seven pm. You can buy tickets at
the door, but stop by the office there or Tangiershrine
dot com. Get those ahead of time because they are
selling out quick. I think we sold where we printed
two thousand tickets, so they're going.
Speaker 2 (29:14):
And the Tangier Shrine is right there near eighty fourth
and center here in Omaha. Assistant reband and historian for
the Tangier Shrine, Tim Burnett, great information. Thank you so
much for what you're doing, especially with kids in our community,
and thanks for telling us about it on Community Matters.
Well you very welcome.
Speaker 4 (29:30):
Thank you for having me. And I'll also put in
there that I went to Papillion, Ah.
Speaker 2 (29:34):
So you've heard me mention Ralston and you waited and
you just hit me with the dagger there at the end.
All right, Thanks Tim, appreciate Bet, Thank you, Scott.
Speaker 1 (29:42):
This has been Community Matters, a weekly public affairs special
on Cat one O three, Omaha's Greatest Hits, ninety nine
point nine KGr News Radio, eleven ten KFAB, Country's Greatest
Hits ninety three three The Wolf, and ninety six to
one Kiss FM. Thank you so much for listening, and
enjoy the rest of your day
This is Community Matters, a weekly public affairs program to
inform and entertain you with some of the great people, organizations,
and events in and around Omaha. Now here's the host
of the program from news radio eleven ten KFAB It's
Scott for Heats.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Thank you so much for being a part of our program.
This week, we welcome back to the president of Dear Diabetes. THAT'SDAR.
Dear Diabetes. Lorie Lewis is back here on Community Matters,
and Lourie, thank you very much for coming back. Remind
everyone what dea R stands for.
Speaker 3 (00:39):
Thank you Scott for having me back. D is diabetes education,
awareness and resources.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
There is a really fun event coming up to raise
funds for this organization called Strikeout Diabetes. The event is
next month, but you've got to get registering here in
the next couple of weeks, so Laurie tell me about
what's going on on Saturday, April twenty sixth.
Speaker 3 (01:01):
We're really excited about this event and it'd be a
great way to do a friend raiser as well as
fundraising for diabetes. And our goal is to bring in
more people just to raise awareness and have people get
together and develop some community around the event. It'll be
a great event at Maplewood Lanes on April twenty sixth
as Scott said, and we're asking you to register early
(01:24):
so that we have an idea of how many teams
we have, and we're also going to be doing some
raffle prizes, so we hope everyone gets registered early and
bring some friends, bring some family and stay afterwards for
raffle drawings and drinks and in food.
Speaker 2 (01:38):
Excellent. Register your team by March thirty. First, we talk
a lot on this program about various golf events. So
I'm like, all right, so that's a four someone who
can have this many teams and there's eighteen holes on
a golf course usually, so I kind of understand all
that verbiage. I love the bowl, but how many teams
can we have? Do you have to register an entire
(01:58):
team for people on a if you would do an
individual answer all these questions for.
Speaker 3 (02:02):
Me, right, absolutely, So we can fill the entire bowling
on only if we want to, which is thirty six lanes.
We can do teams from four people all the way
up to eight people on a lane. Obviously you won't
get in three games of bowling, but it's really about
the fun. Individual bowlers are welcome as well. Certainly a
lot of people do golf outings. We wanted to do
(02:23):
something where we could get kids involved, we can get
families involved, really make it a family activity so that
we can appeal to the families and let them know
about diabetes and get that education out there early.
Speaker 2 (02:33):
Well. Plus you have the great title of the event,
strikeout Diabetes. Absolutely, it just works well. And there's one
other big reason why you might want to do a
bowling fundraiser as opposed to golf. You don't have to
worry about the weather.
Speaker 3 (02:45):
That's right. You don't have to worry about the weather,
and you don't have to worry about being a great bowler. Yes,
I mean, you know, we may have some prizes for
whoever gets the first gutter ball. So we're going to
make it fun for everybody, and we just really hope
a lot of people come out to support the community
and support those living with diabetes.
Speaker 2 (03:03):
It's going to be fun, it's going to be educational.
Methodist College will be there on site doing a one
C testing. Where do we go from more information?
Speaker 3 (03:11):
In order to register, they can go to our website
which is deardiabetes dot org. And on the home page
right there, we have all the information about the bowling event.
When they click on the link on the right hand side,
there's some wording there they click on that that will
take them to the registration.
Speaker 2 (03:26):
Page deardiabetes dot org and that's where you can learn
more about registering your team by March thirty first for
strikeout Diabetes on Saturday, April twenty sixth at Maplewood Lanes.
Man Maplewood Lanes has been there for a few minutes,
hasn't it. It has my whole life. They're thirty thirty
North one hundred first Street, not far from about one
(03:48):
hundred and second and Maple.
Speaker 3 (03:50):
Area, very centrally located right off the interstate, easy for
people to get to.
Speaker 2 (03:55):
And on that Saturday, it's between three and five o'clock.
You check in before that and you're bowling for a
couple of hours, so it'll be a lot of fun,
right right. That's what's going on on that day. As
we talk here with the president of Dear Diabetes, Laurie
lewis with us on community matters, So Laurie, tell me
why we're doing this on this date.
Speaker 3 (04:13):
So the reason we're doing it on this date again,
is to really help raise awareness about diabetes. We wanted
to do something midyear. Weather is great, so it doesn't
matter what the weather is, but we want to do
something midyear and people can join us afterwards on the
patio help support us through having some community We'll have
(04:33):
some games, we'll do drawings for the Raffle prizes, and
people can stay for food and drink and a portion
of those proceeds go back to Dear Diabetes.
Speaker 2 (04:40):
Tell me about what Dear Diabetes is able to do
to help people who are battling diabetes here in our community.
Speaker 3 (04:47):
Yeah. So some of the things that we have been
able to do through the generous owners that we have
is to provide resources to individuals. We have individuals who
apply through our website if they're struggling to pay them rent,
they need help with their utilities, any of those types
of things, so we're able to give them some assistance
through that. We also do our educational programs. We did
(05:09):
an educational program last year. We have another one coming
up this year, having multiple speakers that will be at
the event, so that we can just provide more information
about diabetes and helping individuals learn about it early and
understand the implications of diabetes.
Speaker 2 (05:25):
It seems like the rate of people getting that diabetes
diagnosis continues to go up every year. Has the prevalence
of some of these weight loss, whether they're drugs or treatments,
has that helped it all? Has that stem that tied
a little bit?
Speaker 3 (05:40):
It definitely has helped those individuals that are really trying
to manage their weight. There's so many new therapies that
are out there and drugs, as you mentioned, the weight
loss drugs. I have personally known more than a handful
of people that have utilized the drugs and as a result,
they've lost weight and also gone either into the pre
(06:01):
diabetic stage or they're no longer diabetic. And you know,
it certainly is not the cure all for everything, but
it's something that will help them and just boost that
process and then along with the other changes that they make,
it's just very life changing.
Speaker 2 (06:17):
Of course, that's one of the stereotypes of diabetes is
being overweight. Not always the case with the diabetes diagnosis.
Speaker 3 (06:23):
Absolutely, you're absolutely right, So it isn't always someone who
is overweight. Those drugs are meant to help those individuals
that are struggling with that, but certainly there are other
individuals who are not overweight and they may just have
a propensity towards diabetes that could be genetic. We know
that there's a number of cases where there's genetic mutations
(06:45):
that lead to maturity onset diabetes of the youth, which
is a genetic form of diabetes, and many people get
diagnosed with that even when they're not overweight. So they're
not type one, they're not type two, but they have
this genetic mutation.
Speaker 2 (06:59):
Yeah, of the stereotypes that I have to deal with
in my own predisposition all the time, I'll talk to
people who are young, healthy, looking, athletic, and diabetic absolutely like,
oh yeah, I forgot that. That certainly happens way too much.
So for people who do have whether they're pre diabetic,
(07:21):
whether they're diabetic, if they have a loved one who
is trying to manage their own condition their own way,
what can they do to reach out to your organization
and get help, LORI.
Speaker 3 (07:31):
There's a number of ways that they can reach out.
The best way is for them to use the contact
us form on our website again, that's deardiabetes dot org.
We also have an assistance form so if they need assistance,
they can complete that form and send that to us
and we will reach back out to them and help them.
Speaker 2 (07:50):
Go to deardiabetes dot org. Register your team here by
the end of the month March thirty first for the
event coming up on Saturday, April twenty sixth at Maplewood
Lanes called Strikeout Diabetes. It's at deardiabetes dot org. Another
moment here with the president of this organization, Laurie Lewis
with us on community matters and Laurie, there's another big
(08:12):
event that your organization does much later in the year,
but I want people to reserve the date on their
calendar because you have a great speaker coming in. Tell
me about what's happening later this year.
Speaker 3 (08:21):
We do. We moved our event to November so that
we could align with Diabetes Awareness Month. It will be
on November six at Metro Community College and we are
having Sonya Jones from the Biggest Loser. We'll be joining us.
So we're very excited to have her as our speaker
coming up on November six.
Speaker 2 (08:40):
What's what's her story? I know the show tell me
about her.
Speaker 3 (08:43):
Yeah, so her story she had been involved in athletics,
her weight got to a point where she was approaching
three hundred pounds and she had been diagnosed as pre diabetics,
she had some other conditions that she was working through.
She lost fifty percent of her weight. Wow, and it's
just an amazing story. So we're very excited to have
(09:03):
her come and talk about her journey that she went
through and share that with us, and then we're planning
some other activities afterwards as well. It'll be a luncheon
event this year as opposed to a gala. We're hoping
that people can come out during the day and join
us and have a lot of fun at that event
as well.
Speaker 2 (09:20):
Wonderful. That's on November sixth.
Speaker 3 (09:22):
That's right.
Speaker 2 (09:22):
It's still ways away, but it's, as is often the case,
suddenly time catches up with you and you're like, oh wait,
I wanted to do that. I totally forgot. So when
can one register for that event if they know they
want to be a part of it.
Speaker 3 (09:35):
We also have that on our website. You can start
we do great, you can start registering now. We're always
looking for organizations and individuals as sponsorships. We have some
book signing opportunities as well, depending on the sponsorship level,
so visit our website and learn more about it.
Speaker 2 (09:53):
It is such an important topic and Lori Lewis and
the team of Dear Diabetes do a great job of
working with those who've gotten the diagnosis and their families
oftentimes their caregivers in many instances to get them the
resources and the information they need. Start by going to
the website Dear diabetes dot org. That's for the event
(10:14):
on November sixth, as well as much more close from now.
Saturday April twenty six strikeout Diabetes at Maplewood Lanes. Go bowling,
have fun for a great cause, and register your team
here by the end of the month at deardiabetes dot org.
Laurie Lewis, President of Dear Diabetes. Again, for those who
(10:34):
tuned in in the middle of the conversation, go what
is dear diabetes? Tell me again the acronym.
Speaker 3 (10:39):
Diabetes, education, awareness and resources.
Speaker 2 (10:43):
Just making sure you know I figure as president you
probably have pretty good idea. Laurie, always a pleasure talking
with you. Thank you so much for what you're doing
for people in our community and thanks for telling us
about it on community matters.
Speaker 3 (10:53):
Thank you so much.
Speaker 2 (10:53):
Scott up Next in the program. We welcome the assistantraband
and historian at the legend Tangier Shrine here in Omaha,
Tim Burnett joins us on community matters and Tim, it's
great to have you as part of the program.
Speaker 4 (11:07):
Well, thank you, Scott, and thank you for that legendary comment.
Speaker 2 (11:10):
Well, maybe that's a little bit bias coming from me.
I'm a Ralston kid, and so the Tangier Shrine building
there at eighty fourth and Center, near eighty fourth and Center,
I was just over there my entire life and seeing
the parades and wanting to wear a fez and seeing
all that. I've always had a lot of questions about
the Tangier Shrine. But as far as growing up in Omaha,
(11:32):
I know the building, I know the fez, I know
the circus. We're gonna get to know a whole lot more.
The first thing I want to promote, though, is just
days away, coming up next weekend on Sunday, March sixteenth.
Tell me about Corn, Beef and Cabbage Feast.
Speaker 4 (11:46):
Well, as you say, it's March sixteenth, eleven to seven
on Sunday. Tickets are twenty dollars. You can contact Tangier Shrine.
As you said, eighty fourth and Center to get tickets
also tangishrine dot com. It's actually we're bringing it back
this year because as COVID happened in twenty twenty, we
stopped having our full fledge a corn beef and cabbage feast. However,
(12:09):
we're bringing it back and I'm really excited about that,
getting the community to know that we're doing this again
and getting them in our doors and the ability to
raise awareness and they can learn about who we are,
why we exist, what our overall mission is as Shriners.
Speaker 2 (12:23):
It's going to be at the shrine. It in there
it is, And what are the times on this.
Speaker 4 (12:27):
Eleven o'clock in the morning till seven?
Speaker 2 (12:29):
Okay?
Speaker 4 (12:30):
That is it?
Speaker 2 (12:31):
All you can eat? It is so someone could get
there right at eleven and just sit there and stub
themselves for a corn bee and cabbage for the next
eight hours.
Speaker 4 (12:40):
It has never happened, but in theory, in theory theory,
it could happen.
Speaker 2 (12:45):
So how much corn beef and cabbage can you eat?
Speaker 4 (12:47):
Well? I really enjoy it. We've got guys that have
been doing it for thirty or thirty five years, so
we've got some of those guys coming back and they
just put out a great spread corn beef and cabbage,
obviously potatoes, carrots and butter. In the past we've had
sugar cookies for sale. We did not do that this time,
but I promise next year we'll have those cookies.
Speaker 2 (13:07):
So tis the season corned beef and cavesure here on
Saint Patrick's Date Eve coming up Sunday, March sixteenth. What
else does one do here in addition to eating all
this delectable food, tim.
Speaker 4 (13:19):
Well, that day, that's primarily what we'll do. We'll talk
about who we are and what we do and what
our goal is.
Speaker 2 (13:25):
So if I go there, is there a set times
where there's presentations or do you just go table to
table and say, let us tell you who we are
and what we do. How does all that work?
Speaker 4 (13:35):
Well, it'll just be the corn, beef and cabbage feed.
We're kind of easing the folks back into this. In
the past we've had Irish dancers and Irish music. We'll
probably have some Irish music playing, and we've had some
other festivities. This time, we're just getting back into the
nuts and bolts of putting on the feed. But there
will be plenty of Shriners there mingling about we will
have a drive through also in addition to eating in
(13:57):
so plenty of opportunity to talk to folks raise awareness.
Speaker 2 (14:00):
Excellent. Well, let's talk a little bit here as historian
for a Tangier Shrine. How long. Let's start here at
the beginning. For you, Tim, when did you join the
Shriners and why was it that you decided to be
a part of the organization.
Speaker 4 (14:14):
I'm actually a legacy member, and what that means is
my great uncle was a Shriner and his brother, my grandfather,
was a Mason, though he did not become a Shriner.
So I came in in July of two thousand and
nine when my uncle brought me in. And I have
to tell you, I don't know what I was looking for,
but I can sure tell you what I found. It's
(14:35):
that kind of thing. Probably one of the best decisions
I've ever made was to join this organization.
Speaker 2 (14:41):
That's fantastic. What was it that appealed to you right
at the beginning?
Speaker 4 (14:45):
Well, I didn't know, like I say, what I would find,
but when I got there, you know, the brotherhood, the fellowship,
the acceptance, you know, the love. As many people may
not know, to become a Shriner, you must be a
man Mason first. So the Shriners is an independent body
under the Masonry umbrella, and there's a number of groups.
(15:07):
One of the things that I like about it so
much is that there's something for everyone in the family.
Obviously Shriners were talked a little bit about them.
Speaker 2 (15:16):
That's the men.
Speaker 4 (15:17):
We have Eastern Star for ladies. We have Daughters of
the Nile for ladies, d Malay for boys, and Job's
Daughters and Rainbow Girls for girls. So there's really something
for everyone. And though it is a men's organization, there
are ladies. We couldn't do what we do without our ladies.
They let us come and do what we need to
do to support the Shrine in all of our events,
(15:39):
and most often they're standing the right side, right beside us,
you know, helping us do those things.
Speaker 2 (15:44):
I was asked to speak to a Mason's group here
in Omaha years ago, and one of the other speakers
was a woman, and I thought, oh, that kind of
shatters one of the stereotypes that perhaps I had of
the organization. Another one is is that you know, the
Masons are just this under world group that are secretly
trying to plot various government overthrows and they control everything
(16:06):
and so forth. And everyone I've ever known who's a
Mason or part of a Masonic group here usually they
just kind of get together, they talk about stuff, and
they see what in the community they can do to
help things. And I guess it's like any organization, you
kind of get out of it what you put into it.
And different groups have different goals. Are you one of
(16:27):
the we want to overthrow all world government groups? If so,
when can you start?
Speaker 4 (16:32):
Yeah, some people would like that, I suppose right now
with what's going on. But it's very insightful that you
said some of the things you said there. But no
masonry goes back a couple thousand years on paper, we
can go back probably two hundred and fifty three hundred years.
But really in a nutshell, and this sounds like a
canned sort of response, but it's really about good men
(16:56):
coming together, helping each other be the best we can be.
And then, as you said, looking outwardly into the community,
how can we help our community and fellow man? And
that's really all those those dependent bodies that I talked
about have in and of themselves a particular mission that
they support out in the community.
Speaker 2 (17:14):
Give me some idea here as we talk with assistant
raband and historian of the Tangier Shrine by the way
online at Tangiershrine dot com, Tim Burnett with us on
community matters, Give me some ideas in the fifteen sixteen
years or so that you've been a part of this organization,
what are some things here throughout our community that you
guys have had a hand in.
Speaker 4 (17:34):
Well, Really, our overall mission is to support and take
care of the greatest asset in our community, really in
any community in any country, our children and so Shriners
they were formed in eighteen seventy two and for the
first I don't know twenty years or so thirty years,
(17:55):
maybe they gave money to lots of different things in
the community. Natural disaster San Francisco earthquake was one of
those things. And then a group of Shriners got together
and they thought, you know what, They asked themselves a
few questions, what if we've tunneled all of our energies
and all of our resources into one area, how much
good could we do? It said a little bit in
(18:16):
a lot of places, all of it in one area,
and what culminated from that was our first hospital for
children Shreveport, Louisiana, nineteen twenty two, and from there we've
had twenty two hospitals. It's really an interesting time to
be us as Shriners because we're in a bit of
a change period where we're introducing things such as telehealth clinics.
(18:40):
Where one day we had twenty two touch points, we
may have one hundred touch points now. So some of
our hospitals begin to partner with teaching hospitals. It allows
us to use their facilities while sharing our expertise with
new doctors and nurses, while not having to maintain freestanding
hospitals of our own. Few of our hospitals have begun
(19:00):
to explore that. We've also begun to partner locally with Boystown.
We're doing some intake there, We're doing some prosthetic work there, adjustment,
some new prosthetics, those kinds of things. So just a
good time to be us right now.
Speaker 2 (19:17):
That's excellent, and thank you so much for everything you're
doing in our community. As we're talking here with Tim
Burnett with the Tangier Shrine, that's t A n G
I E. R. Tangier Shrine dot com. So this coming Sunday,
March sixteenth, the Corn Beef and Cabbage Feast. That is
a fundraiser for all of those works and all those
things that you guys do. What are some other fundraisers
(19:39):
you have throughout the year to work towards accomplishing these goals.
Speaker 4 (19:44):
Yeah, I should explain too that people may not understand.
At Tangier we straddle kind of two sides of the house.
We have the operation side, and that is where this
money will go from the corn beef and cabbage feed. Hey,
the light bill, keep the doors open, those kinds of important, yes.
And then we have the philanthropic side, and that's where
we help the kids through our transportation fund. We have
(20:05):
a number of things that we do, our Show and
Shine car show coming up in June. All the money
will go to our transportation fund. And what that is
is a group of guys we call the road runners.
They actually drive children back and forth and their families
back and forth to procedures. Typically it's going to be
Minneapolis that we would drive to, sometimes Saint Louis. We
(20:27):
also fly children if they need particularly burn care, maybe
to Ohio or one of our burn care centers in Texas.
So all of that is paid for by Tangier. So
everything we're doing, really in one way or another, does
go back to that overall guiding mission of caring for
our children.
Speaker 2 (20:46):
What do they drive them in those little cars you
see in parade?
Speaker 4 (20:49):
They don't. However, I have driven one of those in
our parade there. Well, some of us don't, but it's
great fun and we do more than just parade and
wear silly hats. But that silly hats called a fez,
by the way, I think you might have said that.
Speaker 2 (21:06):
Right, Well, so let's you brought it up here before
I get back to some of the other fundraisers and
things you do here. Why the fez?
Speaker 4 (21:13):
Well, when they those first group of Masons that created Shiners,
they were looking for ways to be unique, probably a
little mysterious. That fez actually comes from well, Tangier or Morocco,
and that's also where we got our name Tangier when
we formed in eighteen eighty nine here in Omaha.
Speaker 2 (21:33):
It is a unique look. As soon as you see it,
you know like, oh these are these are the Shriners.
Speaker 4 (21:37):
And that's why they chose that. And actually, if you
look back in history, military organizations, governments, lots of organizations
have used the fez in one form or another, So
I think that's why we chose it too.
Speaker 2 (21:47):
Okay, all right, so we got a little off track
for I suppose here other fundraisers you got.
Speaker 4 (21:52):
Sure, Well, we have the Sportsman's Raffle coming up May third,
and what that is. Tickets are twenty dollars. We can
get those of Tangier Shrine dot com or stop by
eighty fourth and center. We're giving away twenty five thousand
dollars worth of shields gift cards.
Speaker 2 (22:07):
Wow.
Speaker 4 (22:07):
So yeah, and there'll be several denominations. It escapes me
right now, and I should know this what the highest
one is. But at any rate, twenty five thousand dollars
in gift cards will be given out. So it's just
a raffle, right right. Tickets are twenty dollars. We're having
a lunch also. That ticket is twenty dollars and it
gets you a lunch that day. So we'll have some
(22:28):
festivities there, some silent auctions and other things going on,
and then lunch at eleven and the drawings are at one.
Speaker 2 (22:35):
Excellent. Do you have to be there to win. Do
not have to be there, all right, but if you're
going there to eat lunch anyway, hang out and see
if you win, right or having leftover corn beef and cabbin.
Well we hope not. Yeah, maybe not all right, So
that's coming up on May third.
Speaker 4 (22:51):
What else, tim, Well, we've got d In June, we
participate along with the two other Shrine centers in Nebraska
in supporting the Shrine Bowl Game. And for folks that
don't know, that's the high school kids that are not
only good on the grid iron, but good in the classroom,
good in their communities. They're all selected as well as
(23:13):
coaches from across the state and they have a game
that's going to be June sixth. And actually we bring
patients out to the football camp so they can interact
with them, and what they come away with is realizing
the score doesn't matter, that the winner is the kids.
So they enjoy it and they make lifelong friendships. Some
(23:34):
of these kids will go on to the pros and
they're going to remember this experience. We've had some come
back and talk to us at this media day and
at the beyond the field experience that we're going to
have the Monday, preceding the game where the patients are there.
We've had guys come back and share their experience. And
these guys are forty fifty years old, they remember.
Speaker 2 (23:52):
Yeah. I love having these conversations because I can almost
hear the epiphany on so many listeners going. I didn't
realize the Shrine Bowl had to do with the Shriners,
but it certainly does. Another example of how this organization
exists in our community. Anything else that's coming up on
the calendar, we need to write down.
Speaker 4 (24:11):
Just a few more things. Touch a truck that was
new for us last year, and that's in August. What
that is is we have military police and fire just
anybody that comes back, hos anything big wrecords and things
that kids can have fun playing with and climbing on
and learning about. And that certainly also allows us to
(24:33):
grace some awareness of what Tangier is.
Speaker 2 (24:36):
Yeah, kids love that stuff also, grown men, Yes, love
love that.
Speaker 4 (24:40):
I enjoyed it last year, A big hit for if
we want.
Speaker 2 (24:42):
To keep that going, all right, anything else we have.
Speaker 4 (24:45):
Spaghetti feed in September be much like the corned beef
and cabbage however, spaghetti, so we've been doing that equally
thirty thirty five, forty years, so always a big hit
for us. And then one of our newer events, our
first one was in twenty seventeen, is our Festival of Trees,
and that is actually where the community companies can come
(25:07):
in and actually put up a tree, fully decorated, and
then we have raffles the community comes in. Peruses are
trees upstairs and down. We've had as many as sixty
five trees and we've had as much as twenty five
thousand people go through that in right around Thanksgiving.
Speaker 2 (25:28):
The Fezdevol trees Trees. That's a very cool.
Speaker 4 (25:33):
And check for all of these on Tangiershrine dot com.
Speaker 2 (25:35):
Yeah, our website. There's so much going on here and
it's all right there on the website Tangiershrine dot com.
Another minute or two here with this assistant reband and
historian for the Tangier Shrine, Tim Burnett, with us on
community matters. What happened to the circus, the Tangier Shrine circus.
All the circuses are gone. Well, we loved it.
Speaker 4 (25:55):
There's a few shrine centers that are still doing one
and they're still having success areas I think for us
we started our first one. I'm a historian, I should
know that nineteen twenty nine, nineteen thirty, although I've seen
evidence of one from nineteen twenty two. So we did
it a good long time and we loved it. We
(26:15):
had had for a good time getting in front of
the community, given them some entertainment, but then again also
raising that awareness. But you also have to change with
the times and do some new things, new and exciting things,
and we think we've done that with some of the
things that I've listed.
Speaker 2 (26:31):
Anything that you mean, you've been a part of this
organization for so long here as you look to the
future and the next generation of Shriner, is anything that
you'd personally like to see them take on or do well?
Speaker 4 (26:43):
I think just greater engagement. That's one of the things
I think we struggle with in getting members, just having
the time. I know parents have their kids in there
and travel this and travel that, and they're pulled in
a lot of different directions. So I guess I'd like
to see people learn more about out what Shriners do
in their overall mission of taking care again of our
(27:04):
greatest asset, the children, right, And once you do that
and you're part of this group of thousands of members
across really the world that are Shriners. You know, you
get a lot of it. You get a lot out
of it. They tell you don't expect any repayment for it.
But boy, when you see a child smile that that
you've just helped walk that maybe couldn't walk before, that's
(27:25):
all you need.
Speaker 2 (27:25):
Is it hard to give members to an organization when
one of the staples of some Masonic lodges is not
to tell anyone you're part of the group.
Speaker 4 (27:32):
Right right, Well, a lot of that's changing. But to
become one, you hear the old statement become one, ask one,
So you can certainly we have links on our on
our website Tanjiwshrine dot com about how to become a Shriner.
Be a Shriner now. Is also another website that you
could access or just stop by. Stop by eighty fourth
(27:56):
and Center, talk to us, let us know that you're
interested in what we do, and then you'd like to
support that and we can start you on your journey.
It is a bit of a journey.
Speaker 2 (28:05):
Yeah, how it's worthwhile. What is the standard timeframe to
get to the level within the Masons, to where you'd
be accepted as a shriner. Are we talking about a
lifetime a week? What is it right?
Speaker 4 (28:18):
I think it varies by individual and some of our processes,
which right now we're looking at to maybe ease make
it a little bit easier to become a mason. And
once you are a Mason, then you can become any
of those appendent bodies rather quickly.
Speaker 2 (28:35):
Well, check the website to see if this is absolutely
something for you and if it's something that you have
a heart for, they're going to help you, focus you
and direct you in this organization, Tangiershrine dot com. So
one more time here, Tim, get us all hungry and
ready to go. What do we need to do and
when do we need to do it? For Corn, beef
and Cabbage Feast coming up on Sunday, March sixteenth.
Speaker 4 (28:56):
Okay, get those tickets. They're selling out fast March sixteenth,
eleven am to seven pm. You can buy tickets at
the door, but stop by the office there or Tangiershrine
dot com. Get those ahead of time because they are
selling out quick. I think we sold where we printed
two thousand tickets, so they're going.
Speaker 2 (29:14):
And the Tangier Shrine is right there near eighty fourth
and center here in Omaha. Assistant reband and historian for
the Tangier Shrine, Tim Burnett, great information. Thank you so
much for what you're doing, especially with kids in our community,
and thanks for telling us about it on Community Matters.
Well you very welcome.
Speaker 4 (29:30):
Thank you for having me. And I'll also put in
there that I went to Papillion, Ah.
Speaker 2 (29:34):
So you've heard me mention Ralston and you waited and
you just hit me with the dagger there at the end.
All right, Thanks Tim, appreciate Bet, Thank you, Scott.
Speaker 1 (29:42):
This has been Community Matters, a weekly public affairs special
on Cat one O three, Omaha's Greatest Hits, ninety nine
point nine KGr News Radio, eleven ten KFAB, Country's Greatest
Hits ninety three three The Wolf, and ninety six to
one Kiss FM. Thank you so much for listening, and
enjoy the rest of your day
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