Thousands of Shriners pack downtown for annual parade
Sunshine and temperatures in the 60s brought thousands of onlookers to downtown New Bern Saturday for the annual Sudan Shriners Winter Ceremonial Parade. It was a stark contrast to 2011, which featured cold, wind and snow.
For those who enjoyed Saturday’s hour-long parade of 46 Shriners’ units from throughout Eastern North Carolina, May will provide an added treat.
Newly inducted Potentate Steve Norris said Saturday that the Shriners are bringing their Spring Ceremonial and parade back to New Bern for the first time since 1996.
“We had great weather today,” he said. “(Last year) it snowed terrible. 2012 is going to be a very exciting year.”
This year’s event was easier on the onlookers and the participants. Ron Packard of the Sudan Chef Crew, said the unit’s annual outdoor cooking of the Moslem Feast for upwards of 1,000 parade participants was “miserable and cold” a year ago.
This year, his job of breading more than 900 pieces of chicken was much easier. The Chefs, headed by Shriners Bobby Dail and Arthur Broom, are among a number of units headquartered at the Broad Street Sudan Shrine Center. Others include the Patrol, Truckers, Cooligans and Mini-Cars, all participants Saturday.
Another Sudan-based unit is the Roadrunners, volunteer drivers who transport sick and burned children to Shriners hospitals in Greenville, S.C., and Cincinnati — all at no expense to the families.
John Moore of Pitt County, longtime TV personality and the voice of the Sudan parade in New Bern for the past 15 years, again entertained the crowd from the Middle Street reviewing stand.
“My job is to let people know that it’s big boys with big toys,” he said of the self-sustained units that come from throughout the east. “These guys buy their own (equipment) and they do this for their love of children. We have men here today parading from 18 to 75 years old. And, coming to New Bern is just beyond friendly for us.”
Shriners raise money to buy and maintain the fleets of tiny cars, trucks and other vehicles, along with costumes and props for other acts that range from clowns to the Mourners, a Pamlico group in black suits accompanied by a horse-drawn hearse.
Lenwood Banks of Reelsboro is one of the Sudan Truckers, a unit that was featured early in the noon parade. With units still rolling along Middle Street, he walked through the crowd, looking for his wife Shirley. Banks sported an embroidered shiny black truckers jacket. He also carried a portable oxygen unit in one hand, with tubes leading up to his nose.
He shrugged off notions that being on an oxygen supply should keep him from driving his tiny truck to raise awareness for the Shriners’ cause.
“No sir,” he said. “Joining the Shriners is the best move I ever made, considering when you see all the people out there, especially the children.”
Eddie and Kelly Sinnette of New Bern bring their children to the parade every year.
“It’s entertainment for them and we buy a cane and donate a little money for the Shriners,” he said. “I like the cause more than anything, what it stands for.”
The event annually brings thousands of Shriners to town for a weekend that boosts the local economy and showcases the Shriners’ work. There are plenty of Shriners in the crowd watching, too.
Joe Hardison and his wife, Ann, drove 50 miles from Jamesville to watch. He’s been a Mason since 1970 and a Shriner since1974.
“I like all of it,” he said of the streaming procession of Shriner units as they passed. “I don’t know anything I don’t like about it. It’s the best parade there is.”
Another Shriner watching was Bill Harrison, a member of the Havelock Shrine Club.
He said he had been attending parades for 40 years, two years longer than he has been a Shriner. He knows first-hand about the work his fraternal organization does. He had a niece with serious burns who was treated at a Shriners’ hospital.
But, he added that becoming a Shriner was not the number one accomplishment in his life.
“No, marrying my wife Mildred was,” he said. “But being a Shriner, that takes a pretty good second place.”
Charlie Hall can be reached at 252-635-5667 or . Follow him on Twitter @charlierayhall