3-5 June 2010

TSA President:  Moslah Shrine Center

Host Shrine Center:  Moslah in Fort Worth, Texas
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     John M. Wyatt of El Maida Temple had been President of a temporary organization while in Indianapolis at the Annual  Session of the Imperial Council in June, 1919. On March 15, 1920, Noble Wyatt presided as Chairman at a meeting in the Grand Royal Arch Chapter Room in Waco, Texas, the Texas Shrine Council was organized. Samuel P. Cochran of Hella Temple was elected President, and Puff D. Mathis of Alzafar Temple was elected Vice President. In the late fall of 1932, the council apparently ceased to function.

Texas Shrine Association

     At a meeting on August 11, 1934, with three Past Presidents of the Texas Shrine Council present (P.D. Mathis of Alzafar Temple, John F. Zurn of Moslah Temple, and William H. Calvert of El Mina Temple), a new association was organized under the name of the All State Shrine Ceremonial Association of Texas. This meeting was chaired by T.R. James, Potentate of Moslah Temple. (He was nominated for Chairman of the meeting by Porter Loring, who would be elected president of the Association on February 23, 1935.) Bylaws were submitted, subject to ratification by each Temple.

     The Association again convened on February 23, 1935 in Waco, where the first order of business was the election of a President and a Secretary, and an All State Ceremonial was set for November 23, 1935 in Waco, Texas.

     On February 27, 1949, the All State Shrine Ceremonial     Association of Texas changed its name to the Texas Shrine Association (TSA).

     The Texas Shrine Council and the TSA shared the common purpose of promoting the general welfare and prosperity of Shrinedom in Texas and the Texas Shrine Temples.

     In 1938, Maskat Shrine Temple hosted the All-State Shrine Ceremonial Association convention. Kindel Paulk, Potentate of the "Biggest Little Temple" and Association Vice-President, was assisted by all 1,060 Maskat Nobles, including Governor James Allred and Walter Cline, Past TSC President and future Imperial Potentate, in greeting visiting Shriners. (P.I.P. Walter Cline's Imperial Potentate's jewel and other Shrine memorablia are on display in the trophy case at Maskat Shrine Center.) Even then, the ten member Temples comprised the largest state Shrine Association, helping support the 15 Shriners Hospitals and the 42,000-plus children who had been patients.

     Under the leadership of Potentate/TSA President Dan Tompkins, Maskat was proud to host the 72nd Annual  Texas Shrine Association All-State Convention in June of 2006.

    In 2009 Maskat again hosted the TSA Annual Convention.  Originally, it was to be held in Galveston under the direction of TSA President/El Mina Potentate Samuel J. Khoury.  Because of the devastation in the aftermath of Hurricane Ike, Galveston was unable to handle the convention.  As a result, Maskat was selected for the honor, and under the leadership of Potenate Mark Elgin the Nobles and Ladies of Maskat did "their thing" and produced a wonderful "All-State."