Nobles,

I was honored and proud to have served as Potentate of Orak Shrine for the year of 2020. Since 2016 when Illustrious Sir Dale Morgan appointed me to be Captain of the Guard, and I accepted, I have been on the journey to be able to serve and honorably represent Orak Shrine,  Nobles and their Ladies.

During my Divan years I have had a lot of fun times-events and parties at the Orak Shrine Temple, Imperial Sessions,  GLSA Conventions and Competitions.   We have also had some hard times that brought about changes we never expected to have to deal with – the sudden passing of the 2016 Potentate Dale Morgan  (and wife Sheila) and shortly after High Priest and Prophet John Beach.  The 2016 Divan rocked.   But true to the strong character of Orak Shrine’s Leaders and Nobles we pressed forward and stayed strong in our commitments to Shrinedom and Orak family.   We laugh, we cry, we march forward together.  God bless the families of all those who have been called by the Grand  Architect of the Universe, and may God give blessing of better health to those that are challenged by physical problems or disease today.

Never did any of us see Covid-19 coming.  Lady Fran and I were looking forward to a wonderful year full of fun and new things.  We were blindsided March 13^th when everything was ordered to shut down.  What started out as weeks turned into 5 months and then restrictions.  I immediately implemented a Brother to Brother calling committee so all members could be checked on during this time.   However…we still ended up with a Positive Year…

Because of Covid-19 there was no selling of onions or the fall circus, two of our big fundraisers.  We tried some new and exciting fundraisers that ran all year.  Thanks to the hard work of the Chairmen and the support of Oraks Nobles we were able to cover the loss of the onions and circus.  How great would it have been if Covid-19 had not happened.

Many events had to be rescheduled or improvised.  In the process we continued to learn new things, most useful for communication – Oh! By the way,  weren’t our communication people Illustrious Sir John Bridegroom – Public Relations,  Eric Pittman – Social Media Chairman, Bob Guthrie Membership Chairman, Chuck Combi – Colonel of the Units, and Illustrious Sir Bob Keuper Website – terrific in getting out and keeping up with notices, events, etc?  GREAT JOB! – back to useful things from Covid-19.  We all learned Zoom!  LOOK at us now!  NOTHING CAN STOP US!

On that note, I would like to say Congratulations to the 2021 Divan.  I am confident that ORAK SHRINE is in good hands with our newly elected Potentate Illustrious Sir Tim Lawson and elected officers.  I know they are looking forward to serving Orak’s Nobles and Ladies in 2021.

Lady Fran and I would like to thank all who have given time and support to us.  Without you we could not have accomplished all the things we did successfully.  Your support, fellowship, and friendship, will never be forgotten!

And with this, I turn the page and close this chapter of my life.

God Bless All

Yours in the Faith

Wayne Hodgetts

2020 Potentate