Initially, membership in the LOSNA was restricted to the families of Osiris Shriners, but when the news if Isis Court No. 1 reached Nobles’ Ladies in Pittsburg, PA and Parkersburg, WV, they wanted to be a part of the activities, and thus Allah Court No. 2 and Hathor Court No. 3 were formed.

 The ladies soon realized the need for a governing body.  Representatives from the three existing Courts met on June 24, 1914 and organized the Grand Council.  Today, the LOSNA have over 16,000 members in 78 Courts across North America.  The aim and goals of the Ladies Oriental Shrine, as set forth in the meeting in 1903, are to promote sociability, good fellowship and the betterment of all Ladies connected with the organization. 

In the beginning, Shrine Nobles installed the officers of LOS.  The original emblem on the LOS fez was the men’s shrine emblem.  Soon the ladies held a contest to choose the LOS emblem for the fez, and the emblem chose remains the same today. 

The Ladies support various special projects with the emphasis given to the LOS Special Project for the year, as chosen by the reigning Grand High Priestess.  This special project is designed to assist an area of specific need within the Shriners Hospitals such as research into various childhood conditions.  For the year 2008-2009, Lady Judith Cline-Junkins, Grand High Priestess, has chosen “Scoliosis Research” in the Shrine Hospitals as the special project.  When Lady Judith was visiting our Court, she reported on a specific Doctor whose specialty in Scoliosis in newborns.  She had perfected a procedure to manipulate the newborn’s spine, set the hips and bind them together.  Six weeks later, reset the hips and bind them again.  There is a special table used when binding the children.  Keep up that procedure and that can cure the scoliosis in the newborns.  Another procedure used for older children, at least 16 years of age, it to put rods down the spine held in with 21 titanium screws.  The rods are placed in so that they grow with the children or they can replace the rods with very little difficulty.  No body cast is needed.  They have designed a titanium rib to be used when a person is pulled over to the side with scoliosis.  The rib is applied vertically to help straighten them up.

Philanthropy totals from this past year, turned in from all 78 Courts, are: Mileage – 757,661;  Hours of Service – 225,055;  Articles Donated – 1,098,824;  Value of Articles - $613,772;  Cash Contributions - $1,730,039.

Here in Wichita, we are fortunate to have Arami Court 101.  We are a small court in numbers, but we are very active and have a fine group of ladies.

 In February of 1983, three ladies (Ruth Halfhill, Mary Funk, and Ileen Maars) got together and decided to for an LOS Court.  They wrote down names of women they knew and who they thought would be interested in joining a LOS Court.  The enlisted the help of the Ladies of Tarrara Court #83, Independence, MO, who helped them, decide how much to charge for initiation fees and dues and more importantly helped them decide on a name for the new Court.  The ARAMI was formed using the letters of the first names of these three Ladies – Ruth, Mary and Ileen.  The had the RMI.  Eventually they hit upon the idea of adding two A’s to complete the word.  Arami was born.

 In April 1983, officers were elected.  The original three Ladies were elected as the first High Priestess, Princess and Associate Princesses.  The first High Priestess was Lady Ileen Maars.

 By July, the group had collected 127 petitions.  On August 6, 1983, ARAMI Court #101 was instituted and a grand ceremonial was held.  That evening there was a banquet and the new officers were all installed.

 By February 1984, there were148 members who are all considered Charter Members. 

Today, Arami Court #101 has 109 members.

There are 7 Units and Clubs within our Court.

From the beginning, our Ladies have been very busy.  We have rung bells for the Salvation Army, collected “golden garbage” for KFDI’s Community Club Awards, and put on a Ball complete with an orchestra!  We recently “adopted” a shrine child to share experiences with.

Each Fall Ladies from the six-state surrounding area meet at the Mid-States Unit Meet.

Grand Council, a weeklong gathering of all Courts, is held each May.

 Membership is open to any lady related to a Master Mason or Shriner, in good standing, by blood, marriage or adoption.

 Ladies interested in learning more about the organization and Arami Court in particular are encouraged to contact one of the following Ladies:

 

Claudia Keller, High Priestess	(316) 978-6941,	lckeller@cox.net
Linda Gibson, Princess	(316) 361-0758,	deerangel@cox.net
Terri Wells, PHP, Recorder	(316) 773-9651,	wwtbear@infionline.net
Cheryl Ross, PHP, Treasurer	(316) 682-8873,	cheryl.ross@cox.net
Louise Meade, Associate Princess	(316) 655-1194,	lcm655@sbcglobal.net
Philomena Wohlford, 1st Ceremonial Lady	(316) 721-4369,	Bensonwohlford@sbcglobal.net
Brenda "BJ" Kauffman, 2nd Ceremonial Lady	(316) 821-9089,	sbjkauffman@cox.net
Jan Hiebert, Grand 2nd Ceremonial Lady, PHP	(316) 729-4023,	bhieb1@cox.net

 

Click on the link: www.ladiesorientalshrine.org