Potentate's Message

Mensaje del Potentado en Español
Mensagem do Potentado em Português

Nobles and Ladies,

Well, after a few hours trying to think (yes I do think……..sometimes) on positive comments for events that have not taken place yet, I decided that the first message of the Potentate should be about the expectations and goals that I have for this coming year.

However, the one event I can talk about is the New Year’s Party that Noble High Priest & Prophet Luis Cisneros put together for us. It was Feztastic, sorry if you missed it. We all thank you Noble Luis and Lady Ingrid for a job well done.

Also, I want to recognize our Junior Past Potentate. What a fantastic year we had with the leadership of Ill. Sir Alan Gordon and Lady Iris. Thank you both for your services to our fraternity, your dedication is much appreciated.

By the time that you are reading this, we will have already had the Closed and Open Installation, some meetings with the Strategy Planning Committee, a few Board meetings, and the most important meeting of the year “the First Temple Business Meeting”. Thanks to Ill. Sir Anthony Murray for his management role in the Installation and to all those who were involved in it.

Going back to the beginning, the most important goal related to Almas Shriners that I have set since I became part of this board is to balance our budget by increasing our revenues and adjusting our expenditures to the best of our capacity. To accomplish this goal, I decided to create the Strategy Planning Committee Chaired by M.W.B. Akram Elias, P.G.M. and supported by Ill. Sir Alan L. Gordon, Noble Oriental Guide Steven E. Orr, and Noble Neil Hare. I am confident that with this successful group of business men and leaders, we will have the best Plan of Action possible to reverse our financial situation. My thanks, Ill. Sir Alan L. Gordon, for allowing this Committee to start working way before 2012.

Without any doubt the most important goal related to our philanthropy is Shriners Hospitals for Children; it has been since I become a Shriner, to expand Shrinedom around the world by spreading our philosophy and our philanthropy. The results are overwhelming . The membership growing in Uruguay, Bolivia, and Brazil are proof of this. But most importantly, the help and support received from Imp. Sir Douglas Maxwell is proof that we are on the right track to see a Shriner Health System in South America in the near future. To help accomplish this goal, I have created the International Affairs Committee Chaired by Ill. Sir Alan L. Gordon and supported with Ill. Sir Donald Ferguson, Noble Pablo Fontaina, Noble Marcos Hans, Noble Antonio Kato, Noble David Whitmore, Noble Leandro Cunha, and Noble Odin Bauer.

I am confident that our Membership Committee chaired by Marshal Noble Bruce E. French and supported by Nobles Ed Challita, Pablo J. Cordova, Odin Bauer, Marcos Hans and Hector Massiotti will increase our membership by not less than twenty percent. My goal is to increase the local membership by 300 additional members in the next 3 years. In order to accomplish this I would need everyone’s help. We need to bring Almas Shriners to a level that every Master Mason will want to be part of by sharing the Truth of the enlightenment in our lives with the Brotherly Love that we, Masters Masons, know of and by bringing that Relief that we as Shriners know about. And we need to bring Almas Shriners to a level that every good man will want to become a Master Mason so they can become part of the greatest philanthropy of the world in the near future. This is a goal that we together will accomplish.

The last that I will mention in this message, but not the last for this year, is the importance of the Public Relation Committee. Chaired by Noble Oriental Guide Steven Orr and supported by Nobles Daniel Huertas, Jose Vedia, Aaron Manalgo, I envision takeing Almas Public Relation and recognition to the next level. We are part of the Capital Free-Mason family and as such we must coexist with everyone in our community. We must walk side by side with our local authorities, our schools system, our health administration and everyone in our community.

And now, leaving out many Nobles and Ladies to recognize and follow¬ing the P.P.’s recommendations to keep this message short (I did listen to all of you but I couldn’t help it) is that I take this opportunity to thank my sons, Agustin and Federico, for the never ending support and my lovely Lady Maggie for being my better half in every aspect of my life.