Shrine Agenda: Good Deeds, Time for Fun

Nearly 30,000 men will be in Los Angeles this week wearing red cone-shaped hats with flat tops and tassels, some dressed as harem guards complete with curly toed shoes and scimitars, others like genies in beards, baggy gold lame pants and white satin blouses.

No, Hollywood is not filming a sequel to “The Arabian Knights.� The Shriners’ convention is in town.

The fraternal organization, known for its work with crippled children as well as members’ trademark red fezzes, is conducting its 112th Shrine of North America International Convention at the Bonaventure. It is the first time in more than three decades that the convention will be in Los Angeles.

The Shriners are here to conduct business, including the election of their Imperial Potentate and a meeting of the board of directors for the 22 hospitals they operate. But they’ve never been known to let business get in the way of a good time.

“That’s the main reason we go to conventions,� said Dale Bacon, potentate of the 24,000 member Al Malaikah Temple based in the Shrine Auditorium. “We just get together to have a doggone good time and to stimulate interest in the Shrine.�

The Shriners are famous for their colorful parades, and they plan two this week. On Tuesday at 9 a.m. and Thursday at 6 p.m. queues of clowns, antique fire engines, miniature cars, marching bands, drill teams, horse patrols, singing groups and Keystone Kops--about 4,000 participants in all--will snake down Figueroa Street from Pico Boulevard to the Coliseum. They are also famous for their heavy partying and sometimes off-beat behavior. The last time the national convention was held here, a big group decided to play cards in the street; and at the Western Shrine Assn. convention here in 1959, the patrol unit of the Al Malaikah Temple held its 31st reunion breakfast in the intersection of 7th St. and Broadway. But convention director Thomas Boles said that the Shriners are trying to break that image and such stunts are now frowned upon.

In addition to the parades and parties, other convention highlights include an inter-faith church service today at the Shrine Auditorium, bands, clown, singing group and drill team competitions at sites around the city on Monday and Wednesday, a “Hollywood Extravaganza� at the Shrine on Wednesday night. Mayor Tom Bradley will attend the opening ceremony and Gov. George Deukmejian will address the closing Friday.

Boles said he expects about 30,000 Shriners from all 50 states, Mexico and Canada and their families to attend the convention, which began Saturday and continues until Friday. The group is all male but has affiliated women’s units.

Scattered in 39 Hotels

The conventioneers will occupy more than 7,000 rooms in 39 different hotels, Boles said, and spend about $50 million during their stay here. Susan Cox, a spokeswoman for the Greater Los Angeles Visitors and Convention Bureau, said the convention will be one of the biggest of the year, but gave a more conservative estimate of how much the Shriners will spend--$660 per person or about $20 million.

The last national Shrine convention in Los Angeles was held 36 years ago, despite the fact that Al Malaikah is the organization’s largest chapter. The reason for this, Boles said, is that the convention site is chosen by the Imperial Potentate and it has been 36 years since one was elected from Los Angeles. Walker S. Kisselburgh, a native of Los Angeles, was elected last year and will preside over the week’s festivities.

The Shrine, officially the Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, was founded in 1870 in New York by Walter Fleming, an amateur juggler and magician, and Billy Florence, a famous actor of the time. The two men wanted to form a Mason-like organization devoted to fun and frivolity. They adapted Arabic symbols and traditions as a satirical theme for the fraternity.

Dedicated to Children

During the 1920s, Boles said, the group decided it needed a better reason to exist than the pursuit of fun and it dedicated itself to helping young polio victims, a major disease at the time.

Today, the Shriners number nearly 900,000 and operate 19 orthopedic hospitals and three burn centers. The hospitals and centers are presently treating, free of charge, more than 82,000 children who are burn victims or are afflicted with scoliosis (curvature of the spine), osteogenesis imperfecta (brittle bone disease), orthopedic problems associated with cerebral palsy and other disorders.

“The most important thing about the Shrine is philanthropy,� Boles said, who calls it one of the “largest and purest� charitable organizations. About $165 million was raised last year without help from the government and almost 99% of it was spent directly on the child patients, he said.