Area members gathered at the CASO station earlier this month to celebrate Shriners International Awareness Day.
The day commemorates the founding of the Imperial Council on June 6, 1876.
Southwestern Ontario Potentate Jim Thomsen tells myFM about the work Shriners undertake with young people.
The occasion also marked the 150th anniversary of the Great Western Railway in St. Thomas and Elgin county.
Railway historian David Harding and his four-wheeled handcar provided the backdrop for Town Crier David Phillips to read the proclamation to commemorate the event.
The fraternity established Shriners Children’s as its official philanthropy in 1922.
Today there are 21 Shriners Hospitals in North America, including a facility in Montreal.

