East - West Shrine Football Game Results

The 2009 East-West Shrine football game was played today with the victory going to the East with a final score - East (13) and West (10).

The West took the lead with less than 7:00 minutes left to play (10-6), with what everyone thought was the game winning possession, but East responded with an 11 play - 55 yard drive that ended with an 8 yard TD pass from QB Mike Kafka (Northwestern) to TE Andrew Quarless (Penn State) with 6 seconds left to take their victory.

Even though this years East-West Shrine Game was the lowest scoring in almost 20 years, the critics argued that it was the most exciting finish in the 85 year history of the game.

The next East-West Shrine football game is scheduled for January 22, 2011, and will once again be held at the Florida Citrus Bowl in Orlando, FL. Please visit the official website of this wonderful event for next years ticket information and Television air dates.

Martin Luther King Jr. Day!

Did you know?

At the White House Rose Garden on November 2, 1983, President Ronald Reagan signed a bill creating a federal holiday to honor King. Observed for the first time on January 20, 1986, it is called Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.

This was followed by President George H. W. Bush's 1992 proclamation, that this holiday was to be observed on the third Monday of January each year, near the time of King's birthday.

On January 17, 2000, for the first time, Martin Luther King Jr. Day was officially observed in all fifty U.S. states.

Reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Luther_King,_Jr.

85th East - West Shrine Football Game

The 85th East – West Shrine College Football game will be held in Orlando Florida at the Florida Citrus Bowl Stadium. The East-West Shrine game is the oldest All-Star game in the country and features college football’s finest athletes from the United States and Canada. This event draws representatives from all NFL teams (GM’s, Coaches, Scouts, etc.) during the week, providing these college players a wonderful opportunity to showcase their talents during what is always an exciting football game.

But what makes this event truly special is the financial support and national television exposure it provides to raise awareness about the expert orthopedic, burn, spinal cord injury rehabilitation, and cleft lip and palate care, available at no charge to patients and families, through the 22 Shriners Hospitals for Children.

For more information about this event, or for tickets, hotel, and travel please visit www.shrinegame.com or www.shrinershospitals.org.

2010 New Mexico Lodge Officers Conference

The Masonic Education Committee will sponsor a conference on Saturday, January 30th 2010. The conference will be held at the Las Cruces Scottish Rite Temple (195 E. Boutz Rd, Las Cruces, NM 88005).

The conference will begin at 9 am, and should finish by 3 pm (approximate). The conference is open to any lodge officers or other interested Masons. Masters, Wardens, DDGMs and DDGLs should make every attempt to attend. Those planning to attend should RSVP to the Grand Lodge office by January 25th (505-243-4931).

Topics of discussion will include:

- Introduction of new Mentor's Manual Overview of long-range plans for GL, and next year's GL activities.

- Grand Lodge legislation process.
- Planning for Lodge leaders
- Duties of Lodge officers
- Ritual topics
- And more, as time permits

New Years Day!

Did you know?

In 45 B.C., New Year's Day is celebrated on January 1 for the first time in history as the Julian calendar takes effect.

Soon after becoming Roman dictator, Julius Caesar decided that the traditional Roman calendar was in dire need of reform. Introduced around the seventh century B.C., the Roman calendar attempted to follow the lunar cycle but frequently fell out of phase with the seasons and had to be corrected. In addition, the pontifices, the Roman body charged with overseeing the calendar, often abused its authority by adding days to extend political terms or interfere with elections.

In designing his new calendar, Caesar enlisted the aid of Sosigenes, an Alexandrian astronomer, who advised him to do away with the lunar cycle entirely and follow the solar year, as did the Egyptians. The year was calculated to be 365 and 1/4 days, and Caesar added 67 days to 45 B.C., making 46 B.C. begin on January 1, rather than in March. He also decreed that every four years a day be added to February, thus theoretically keeping his calendar from falling out of step. Shortly before his assassination in 44 B.C., he changed the name of the month Quintilis to Julius (July) after himself. Later, the month of Sextilis was renamed Augustus (August) after his successor.

Celebration of New Year's Day in January fell out of practice during the Middle Ages, and even those who strictly adhered to the Julian calendar did not observe the New Year exactly on January 1. The reason for the latter was that Caesar and Sosigenes failed to calculate the correct value for the solar year as 365.242199 days, not 365.25 days. Thus, an 11-minute-a-year error added seven days by the year 1000, and 10 days by the mid-15th century.

The Roman church became aware of this problem, and in the 1570s Pope Gregory XIII commissioned Jesuit astronomer Christopher Clavius to come up with a new calendar. In 1582, the Gregorian calendar was implemented, omitting 10 days for that year and establishing the new rule that only one of every four centennial years should be a leap year. Since then, people around the world have gathered en masse on January 1 to celebrate the precise arrival of the New Year.

Reference: http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/new-years-day