Jack M. Glasscock *
Illusstrious Sir Jack M. Glasscock
Potentate - 1998
The 83rd Potentate of Arabia Temple, the Illustrious Sir Jack M. Glasscock, solemnly and with humility accepted this exalted position on January 19, 1998, along with First Lady Billie, in a beautifully choreographed installation ceremony. The Illustrious Sir, J. D. Buddy Baccus, was the installing officer. This inspiring open ceremony was conducted in the center of the ballroom with great dignity and beauty and included the Divan and their ladies, followed by the installation of all unit and club officers. In his acceptance speech, from the ballroom stage, Illustrious Sir Glasscock vowed that Arabia would be great in 1998 and that he would work diligently to earn the title, “A NOBLE’S POTENTATE”.
Continuing his acceptance address Illustrious Sir Glasscock divulged some of his plans for 1998 including a crawfish boil, family picnics, a Baby Pageant and several dances. Keeping in mind his love for Masonry and what it stands for, Illustrious Sir Glasscock explained that he was not trying to duplicate the closing of a lodge but was symbolically closing this open installation. He then asked “Noble Chief Rabban, How do Shriners meet?” (At this point the Illustrious Sir, all of the Divan and the appointed officers descended to the ballroom floor). The Chief Rabban replied “On the level, Illustrious Sir”. The Illustrious Sir then asked, “And how part, Noble Assistant Rabban?” The Assistant Rabban replied, “On the square, Illustrious Sir”. The Illustrious Sir then declared, “So shall we ever meet, on the same level as each other and so shall we part, in peace and harmony”. So ended a most elaborate and beautiful installation, one that Arabia Temple will long remember.
Five days later, the gorgeous 1998 Inaugural Ball Extraordinaire was held in the Imperial Ballroom with the Charles DeLaney orchestra providing dance music to hundreds of nobles celebrating the start of another auspicious year for Arabia Temple. The ballroom was beautifully decorated as an Egyptian Oriental Fantasy.
Some of the goals for 1998 were to promote programs that would increase our membership, improve our contributions to Shriners Hospitals for Children, to work more closely with our units and clubs, and for all of us to enjoy being Shriners.
To help boost our membership, we initiated several new programs. Because the membership chairman’s job is so important and the time to develop a comprehensive program requires months of planning, our High Priest and Prophet assumed this task. By having the High Priest and Prophet in charge of membership responsibilities, it would allow an extra 12 months for him to develop a sound membership program. To encourage this effort, the High Priest and Prophet journeyed to Tampa, Florida to attend an Imperial Council sponsored membership seminar. Another membership effort found the Potentate and Director and their ladies attending the Shrine Directors Association meeting in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. What was gleaned from this conference was how to insure that the four scheduled full Shrine Ceremonial hot sands would be conducted properly, safely and with a lot of humor. Each of the four hot sands were held in the ballroom on a Saturday following the Scottish Rite Reunions and were followed by a dance, open house or family night. The new Shriners saw first hand how much fun we have and should be more willing to come back and participate. The ceremonials were made more elaborate by adding scenery, lighting and pageantry.
Due to the new benefit schedules and programs initiated by our Oriental Guide, we should see an increase in contributions to our hospitals. One of the new hospital benefit programs was to hold Hospital Benefit Day on Friday afternoon from 3:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m., and on Saturday, from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., followed by a spaghetti dinner at the temple. Another program was to re-institute the Crippled Children’s Ball. For twenty years, Arabia Temple held these very successful balls and earned hundreds of thousands of dollars for our hospitals.
The lifeblood of Arabia Temple is our units and clubs. To work more closely with them, we initiated an Official Visit night for each group. For years we have held annual official visits to our Shrine Clubs. These visits have demonstrated to our Shrine Clubs how important they are to Arabia Temple and have helped the Divan keep in closer contact with our members from other cities. By initiating the units and clubs official visits, and with the cooperation of the 1998 Divan in attending only one other randomly selected additional meetings per year, we will reduce the pressure that has been put on the units and clubs in hosting the Divan so often. This should allow them to conduct their business in a more relaxed atmosphere and to have more open discussion with each other. These official visits are one of the many highlights for our units and clubs and allow the units and clubs to more properly host the Divan.
Some additional objectives for 1998 involved more publicity for our order, beautification of our facilities, an improved sound system and added video equipment. In order to accomplish one of these objectives, a separate non-profit organization was formed by a couple of the nobles so that we could accomplish a long term dream of our Potentate, and that is to have the world famous sculptor of Sam Houston statue fame, David Adicks, create a large statue of a Shriner holding a child and leading another child. This statue will be given to Arabia Temple and will provide great publicity and be a beautiful addition to our temple besides reminding each of us, and all of Houston, what Shriners stand for.
During the year, at a special ceremony, we honored the memory of Imperial Sir Frank Cameron Jones by celebrating the 70th anniversary of his serving as the 1928 Imperial Sir. Imperial Sir Jones is the only member from Arabia Temple to accomplish this honor of becoming the leader of all Shriners in North America. Imperial Sir Jones was Potentate of Arabia Temple in 1916, and prior to that, he was Potentate of El Mina Temple in Galveston. He also was the top line signer on Arabia Temple’s charter.
The Divan Mid-Winter was held in Abilene, with the Texas Shrine Association meeting in El Paso, followed by the Imperial Council sessions in Orlando, Florida. As you can see, all three trips were a great distance from Houston.
In El Paso, we stayed at the Marriott Residence Inn. Each couple had a regular suite for $69.00 per night that included a full kitchen, living room, and large bedroom or a penthouse suite (up 13 steps) for $90.00 per night, which included a full kitchen, living room, dining area, Murphy bed, an upstairs bedroom and two baths. All units and the Divan shared a large hospitality room which was in a separate building allowing us to have our own swimming pool. What a blast, what a good time.
In Orlando, Florida, we stayed at the ten month old Coronada Resort which was only one mile from Epcot and is a Disney hotel and serviced by the Disney Transportation System. The Coronada Resort’s regular rooms are spaced in a semicircle around a 45 acre lake. The motif of the hotel is southwestern. Again, all units and the Divan shared a hospitality room and had a great time.
At T.S.A. and Imperial, the Illustrious Sir, Jack M. Glasscock, awarded each noble participating in competition with $100, $75 or $50 for first, second or third place, respectively.
In May, the Potentate’s trip to England, Scotland and Paris was enjoyed by many nobles and their ladies. One of the many highlights of this tour was a trip to the Grand Lodge of England, a truly magnificent building.
Being Potentate of Arabia Shrine Temple has been indeed a real honor and privilege and I thank each of you for your love and support. I believe that we can all say, Arabia was Great in ‘98.
Es Salamu Aliekum.
