SHRINERS PARTNERSHIP

Shriner partnership shines a light on orthopedic care

BY REBECCA HUNTINGTON

Jackson Hole Snow Devils presents a $30,000 donation to the Jackson Hole Shrine Club at the rodeo.

Connecting valley kids to life-changing medical procedures, Shriners chapter forges on with help from Jackson Hole Rodeo's Wilson family.

By Evan Robinson-Johnson

When the Jackson Hole Cutter races shut down three years ago, the local Shriners weren’t sure how their organization would continue to fundraise. Then the Wilson family, which runs the Jackson Hole Rodeo every summer, reached out, offering to donate all of the proceeds from two late-season shows, and the tradition has continued ever since.

The Jackson Hole Shrine Club is part of a broader fraternity, Shriners International, which supports a network of teaching hospitals that focus on nonemergency procedures to improve quality of life, such as bone deformations, burns and cleft palates. Since partnering with the Wilsons, the Jackson club has raised over $100,000 each year for its partner hospital in Salt Lake City.

“The relationship has been phenomenal,” club Vice President Tom Needam said of the Wilsons. “They’re much more than just a rodeo business. They have a vested interest in giving back to the community.”

Several members of the rodeo family have needed care from the Salt Lake facility, and they’ve come back under the fairground lights to tell their story.

Phil Wilson and Needam remember the first year of their partnership, when one such patient came forward during intermission to speak to the crowd. Quickly moved to tears, he described how the Shriners Foundation had helped pay for over $1 million in medical treatment. Now recovered, he comes to the rodeo every year to share his story and garner support for the hospital that changed his life.

The Jackson club has helped make that treatment affordable and accessible: A core mission of Shriners hospitals is to provide specialized care regardless of ability to pay. So what exactly makes a Shriner? In practice, they function similar to a town Rotary Club, but when the first Freemason members joined up in 1870, they called themselves the Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. The original shrine, as the name suggests, remains a mystery, but the group’s modern counterpart strives for three main pillars: character, camaraderie and philanthropy — a mission

“They’re much more than a rodeo business. They have a vested interest in giving back to the community.” — Tom Needham

JACKSON HOLE SHRINE CLUB

epitomized by their most famous quote, “No man stands so tall as when he stoops to help a child.”

Needam’s father was a Shriner, and the club’s treasurer, Nicholas Houfek, is a proud fourth-generation Shriner.

“It’s always been part of what our family has done,” Houfek said, adding that the fundraising work is as joyful and fulfilling as always.

“If there’s a child in our community that needs help, we sponsor them. We had one two years ago who had an Achilles’ tendon issue and needed braces,” he recalls. “We paid for his transportation between Jackson and the hospital, put his mom up in housing, and he is now running and playing and doesn’t need the braces.”

Those kinds of success stories keep Houfek motivated and make Shriners more than just a social club. Its secretary, Chris Schroeder, also serves on the board of governors at the Salt Lake hospital, where he gets to interact with the children and see their smiles.

“Probably the single biggest thing about the Shrine is a continuity of care,” Schroeder said. “Once the child enters into our system, from start to finish they see the same people. ... And they really become part of the Shrine family.”

For instance, on Halloween the Shrine club puts on a wheelchair clinic, providing superhero costumes and decorating the chairs so the children can participate in a bit of trickor-treating revelry.

“It’s just one of those things that if you don’t get all choked up, you’re just not paying attention,” the VP said.

The dates are already set for this summer’s Shriners night at the rodeo, with two shows booked for Sept. 8 and 11. The club members are thrilled those shows will be back to full capacity.

Schroeder said there’s a “groundswell” of patriotism and emotion bubbles up from the rodeo family. He’s thankful for the Wilsons for their continued support and generosity.

In addition to the rodeo the club has started raising funds at the nearby All American Cutter/Chariot Races in Afton, which are simultaneously nostalgic and successful. Houfek said the Shriners made nearly $40,000 at the February races this year, thanks in part to the former patients who volunteered to tell their story to the crowd.

To find out more about Shriners, visit ShrinersHospitalsForChildren.org.

PATTI WAGNER / COURTESY PHOTO

Stretch Austin and Rick Hillstead speed down the track in February 2020 during a chariot race in Star Valley. The All American Cutter/Chariot Races in Afton are another important fundraiser for Shriners.

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