History of the Jackson Hole Shrine Club

Let me begin by stating Shriners are men who come from within the membership of Freemasons; you cannot simply join the Shrine Club, to become a Shriner, a man must first be a Master Mason. It has been suggested that AANOMS formed an anagram of ‘A MASON.”

The fraternity of Freemasonry (hereafter, Masonry) is the oldest, largest and most widely known fraternity in the world. Freemasonry does not solicit membership, you must ask to join this fraternity. Only after becoming a Master Mason can you ask or be asked to become a Shriner.

Shriners are committed to family, are engaged in personal growth and dedicated to providing superior healthcare improving the quality of life for children and families in need, regardless of their ability to pay.

Jackson Hole Shrine Club was founded in the spring of 1954 with a visit from the Kalif Potentate to Jackson where he specifically asked local Shriners to form a club; preliminary meetings were held by laws written and on January 1, 1955 Jackson Hole Shrine Club officially adopted, ratified and confirmed all rules, promulgations and orders issuing from Kalif Temple, A.A.O.N.M.S., located in Sheridan, Wyoming. Lewis G. Gill was the JHSC first president.

Over the years there have been many men who have served as leaders of this club to further the charitable philanthropy. A partial list of them is included though not necessarily complete and comprehensive:

James Cle Allen, John B. Adams, Dean K. Bark, John J. Bastian, William Murray Black, Robert Michael Boetticher, James L. Braman, John W.M. (Jay) Brazelton, Norris Colkitt Brown, Jr., Felix Robert Buchenroth, Jr., Frank Burchfield, Lael W. Byrne, Vernon Bressler, Joseph Howard Ballew, Gustave Baley, John J. Barton, Harold George Bell, Richard Boyer, Arthur H. Brown, Harry Woods Brown, Charles H. Brown, Robert C. Brown, Guy N. Bush, Samuel Douglas Clark, Cecil Felix Campbell, Lewell Harold Clark, Robert Leroy Crisp, Davy Scott Crockett, Edward H. D’Atri, Nels Lenard Dahlquist, Stanley G. Needham, Hobart William De Wolf, Robert C. Emrick, Austin Rodgers Everett, Tom Needham, James Wesley Flower, Noble A. Franzen, , Robert B. Rank, Lou Scarlett, Tom Patterson, Robert Lundy, Bob Zimmer, Rob Weed, Ralph Holstrom, Stephen McNeil Watson, Blake Van deWater

A variety of different events were held from the inception in 1954 until 1972 to raise money to support the Shriner Children Hospital by the local club. Our most notable and longest was the Jackson Hole Shrine Cutter Races which ran from 1972 through 2016, 44 years of racing. “The cutters run that a child may walk.” 2017 would have been 45 years, however we could no longer gather enough teams to be able to put on a quality event this more so than unpredictable weather requires the event in Jackson to cancel.

Going forward for the Jackson Hole Shrine Club Shrine Cutter / Chariot Races are being held in Afton at the Simplot Fields. This is thanks to the approval of the Lincoln County Commission and the county fair board. The club has partnered with Western Wyoming and All American Chariot and Cutter Association.

In Jackson we have partnered with the Jackson Hole Rodeo who put on two nights of rodeo each September in a generous effort to give back to the community and replace the winter races we no longer do in Jackson. The rodeo has been a huge success and has contributed an enormous amount of money in the first three years to benefit Shriners Hospitals for Children. We have also partnered with Stockton and Shirk interior Design to sell their Christmas Trees with the proceeds going to the Shriners Hospitals for Children.

Since our beginning as a club in 1954 the Shriners and this community have come together to host events which have benefited untold numbers of children. We continue this philanthropy.

History of the Jackson Hole Shrine Club

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