Upon giving the current Temple Building Restoration project some thought, members of the Temple Restoration Committee under the leadership of Noble Ken Bennett, thought it might enhance current repair efforts if the Nobility, interested friends and family knew a little more about the history of the auditorium and office building.  Why should a Noble or anyone else be interested or concerned about preserving a building that they know little about?  For newer members, “it’s that place we go to once every January to have the ceremonial” and nothing else. Towards that effort, Sudan Shriners is proud to offer this ‘temple’ history in a series of articles, beginning with the early history of Sudan Temple.                                                                 

     For those not informed and to clarify, Shriners International has requested that subordinate entities be known as “Blank Shriners” with the office building itself referred to as ‘the temple.’  Simply put ‘Sudan Shriners’ refers to the fraternity, ‘Sudan Temple’ refers to the building where the offices and auditorium are.     

     With limited assets, it is impossible to complete the needed repairs.  With the historically supportive City of New Bern being the home of ‘Sudan Shriners’, we may well be forced to depend on our own facilities for future ceremonials.  Finding a city that wants the Shriners for a weekend with the logistical problems in hosting a parade is becoming more difficult and future ceremonials may well be New Bern based exclusively.

     With that said, please enjoy the history of ‘Sudan Temple’ and ‘Sudan Shriners’ hopes that this series will inspire individuals, clubs, units and other associated groups to contribute money, time, material or other resources.  The preservation of our history is up to us and our future success may well depend on it being restored as our only safe haven for future ceremonials.

Sudan Temple Building History

 Part 1 in a Series

     So where were you in 1951?  For many of us, we weren’t even here yet.  Maybe not even that proverbial glimmer in someone’s eye, but that is the year that Sudan Shriners began an earnest effort to build an auditorium for Sudan business meetings and ceremonials to be held.

     Talk of an auditorium began in December 1921, just 5 ½ years after the first institution ceremonies were held in November 1916, establishing Sudan as an official subordinate organization.  With officers installed, Sudan was on its way…or maybe not.

     The Building Committee, appointed in Wrightsville Beach at the 1919 fall meeting, reported in December 1922 that due to a disastrous fire in New Bern, Sudan would delay talk of constructing any building because the construction might compete with recovery efforts of the City of New Bern.

     With 40 city blocks involved, 1,000 building or homes destroyed, and approximately 3,200 people left homeless, rebuilding would take some time.  Many people were living in US Army tents a full two years later.  It is referred to as ‘The Great Fire of 1922’ and is most noted for the ironic sequence of events, including a high school basketball game,  leading to the escalation of a chimney fire that resulted in a mass conflagration.  (Research ‘The Great Fire of New Bern of 1922’ on-line or at your local library for more details.)

      Over the next 19 years or so, there was much talk and acquisition of property on the Neuse River both in New Bern and 10 miles east of town where a ‘Sudan Camp’ was eventually located.  The ‘Red Fez’ in April 1935 reported that “the camp is available for rent at $5 per week or $3.50 for the weekend” for nobles interested in fishing and swimming.

    The New Bern property was a residence that faced the Neuse and sat on property currently owned by Sudan Shriners.  According to Sharon Jones, Office Manager of Sudan Shriners, if a noble walked out of the current river-facing office entrance, they would walk into the back door of the colonial house that faced Front Street and the river.

Thus Sudan’s current address is 403 East Front Street from many years ago.

      The ‘Sudan Home’ is not referred to in any of the documents in Sudan Shriners archives as far as usage other than office space.  It is rumored that there were bedrooms upstairs that could be rented out for a modest price for those nobles traveling into town for meetings.  The ‘Home’ was briefly considered as a liquid asset and eligible for sale, but a change in plans led to the property being retained and adjacent property bought in 1950 to begin construction of the new auditorium.

Sudan Shriner to Cycle 3100 Miles

to Raise Funds for Shriners Hospitals

                                                                            
                                                                         
      Elizabeth City Shrine Club Noble Syd Hill will be at it again this year to raise funds for the Shriners Hospitals for Children. This was announced at the Venison Feast on 12 February at the Elizabeth City Shrine Club. In attendance were a hundred and fifty Shriners and guests including Illustrious Sir Bruce Bulluck of the Sudan Shriners, some of the Divan, Sudan Nobles and Illustrious Sir Donald Meyer of the Khedive Shriners, some of their Divan and Khedive Nobles. Syd as the guest speaker gave a rousing account of being an ambassador for Shriners on his last solo ride of some 3,900 miles across the Southern US from San Diego, California to Jacksonville, Florida and up the east coast to Elizabeth City, North Carolina.


Mic, Syd and Ali at Waring General Store Texas

     Among many experiences on the back roads, he spoke of cycling 2 weeks in the most desolate areas of West Texas. His spirits was down until he met a little girl named Mic at a general store in Waring, TX. The little girl with her older sister recognized Syd as a Shriner. You see she had been at the Shriners Hospital in Houston Texas for orthopedic surgery. She became his best friend and it reminded the noble why he took the journey in the first place. It was an inspirational speech to all who attended.
      This year’s fundraiser will be “I Ride So Children Can Walk, 2011”. The goal is to raise $1 for every mile ridden. On 3 May the start will be at Fort Meyers Beach (FMB) Florida to Key West (KW), Florida and will finish at Bar Harbor (BH) Maine. The 3100 mile Trip will take approximately 52 days riding time with an allowance for up to 8 days to enjoy the scenery along the way. The route goes along the outer banks and near the Elizabeth City with plans for a day of rest and maintenance on the bicycle and gear. Those individuals, clubs, units who want to buy miles so the Noble can make it home by the end of June can make their checks out to the “Shriners hospital for Children”. In the memo of the check write “East Coast USA Ride”. Provide donations to Elizabeth City Shrine Club. See Attached Form. In additions those clubs and units that want to sponsor the Noble for the trip will be listed on the “I Ride So Children Can Walk”, Facebook. Larger sponsors ($150 or more) in addition will receive the Noble as a Guest Speaker for an occasion of their club or unit’s choosing. See Attached Form.
     Those that want to follow the journey can on Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/pages/I-ride-so-children-can-walk/223646883425 Syd takes a computer and blackberry to update his Facebook each night conditions permitting. He can be tracked by your home computer through a google program called latitude which locks on the GPS in his blackberry. Contact him at sydhill44@gmail.com and instruction will be emailed to a limited number.

Sudan Temple History Part 2

     With improvements made at the ‘Sudan Camp’, with the addition of a ‘wharf’ and general repairs made over the next 15 or so years, little mention is made of the auditorium in archived documents until January of 1948.  A committee was then appointed by the Potentate to investigate the cost and practicality of erecting an auditorium in New Bern by the purchase of used government buildings from the federal government that were being removed from service at the Auxillary Marine Air Base in Oak Grove, just outside Pollocksville.  No further reports are available regarding that proposal.

     We now arrive at 1951 that banner year for Sudan Shriners as the old Auditorium Committee is discharged in September 1950, with proper ‘thanks’ for their efforts, and a new Auditorium Committee appointed for 1951.  Their charge was to secure plans from a ‘competent’ architect in order that bids could be solicited from contractors.  The budget for drafting plans was $1,000 and with preliminary costs estimated, the Nobility voted to approve building the auditorium by order of the Potentate with a cost not to exceed $135,000.

     Chaired by Noble C.G. Sawyer from Durham, the Auditorium Committee was comprised by Nobles:

            Horace T. King                      Wilmington

            C. Wallace Jackson             Fayetteville

            Carl F. Bunting                      New Bern

            R. P. Baer II                           Edenton

            T. T. Potter                             Morehead City       

            Littlejohn Faulkner                 Wilson

            Mark Lassiter                       Snow Hill

            C A. Seifert                           New Bern

     Meeting in Fairmont, New Bern(twice), Raleigh, and Rocky Mount from October, 1950 until January of 1951, the committee was clearly focused on getting the auditorium project started.  In a detailed report submitted in Jan. 1951 it is obvious that much discussion led to the final recommendations by the committee.

     It was the committee’s suggestion that the ‘location of the proposed Auditorium should be on the present Sudan property, provided there be sufficient area, which there was not.  This led to the purchase of the Gaskins property which faced Broad Street which was initially priced at $22,000 and was considered “very high and out of line.”  A subsequent price was determined at $15,000 with the property ordered to be purchased immediately.

     At this same meeting, the Auditorium Committee was “continued” as the Building Committee with the addition of Sam B. Toler, Jr. “attached” as a consultant.  Orders were given that they proceed with funds available, money borrowed, or “Temple

bonds” sold in order to properly fund the construction.  They were charged with securing an architect, letting the contracts , with performance bonds deposited from each contractor to insure quality and faithful completion of work. 

     Three architects, all members of the fraternity, were requested to meet with the committee and offer suggestions and submit preliminary sketches of the proposed auditorium.  Of the three, only one Noble Burrett H. Stephens replied to the invitation, and after meeting with the committee, submitted sketches incorporating the wishes of the committee to minimally disrupt the current Sudan Temple building, the home facing the Neuse.  The construction of the auditorium did require the removal of the Temple’s back porch and adjoining rooms to allow construction of the newly proposed 83’6” by 153’8” two story building.

     After many further meetings and other correspondence, a final proposal included the provision for a ground floor of concrete to allow said floor to be used for “oyster roasts, fish fries, storage of Temple property and sleeping quarters, etc.  It would be especially suitable during a Ceremonial as quarters in which to process candidates”, and is used in the same capacity to this day as a meeting place for incoming Sudan candidates.

     The plans finalized, the blueprints were released for bids with the lowest being $133,649.25 and construction began in early 1951.  With all of the preliminaries handled, it was time to build an auditorium, an edifice worthy to represent Sudan Shriners as it’s home. 

     Construction began in early 1951 and with construction well underway, Sudan Potentate Marcus G. Carpenter, assisted by Divan members laid a ceremonial cornerstone for the building on September 25th, 1951.  Minutes from the ceremony mention the opening and closing prayers by Chief Rabban, Judge J. J. Burney and remarks made by Recorder C. A. Seifert.  The Potentate was assisted in his endeavors with Noble A. A. Kafer pointing up the cornerstone with trowel and mortar.

     As completion neared at the end of 1951, an Auditorium Committee was continued as the clearinghouse for proposed auditorium use and rules and regulations governing its use established.  Initially the only approved uses were for Sudan ‘Unit Organizations or Sudan Shriners as a whole’ and then only after approval in writing by each member of the six member committee.  A contribution to Sudan’s Charity Fund of $100 or .50 per person was suggested with a single day’s contribution not to exceed $300.  Any profits from concessions, merchandise sales, or coat room fees were also to be contributed to the Sudan Charity Fund.

     A year later, a dedication ceremony was held on Wednesday evening January 25, 1952 with Past Potentate, S. A. Toler Jr. presiding and Noble Robert L. Sides of Rocky Mount acting as Master of Ceremonies.  “The program was quite elaborate and thoroughly enjoyed by all those present”.