Is it great to be a member of a Shrine Oriental Band or what? Darn right it is! We have a lot of fun with all of our unit activities and we do most of the stuff as a large group since there are now 40 active members in the band. Check out our calendar page and see what all events we have.

As a Shrine Oriental Band, we meet at our temple band room once each week during most of the year to practice playing selected Arabic sounding music. Our instruments that we play are: bass drums, cymbals, "F" horns (Musettes), gongs, tambourines, tom tom drums, tri & quad drums and various other musical items as the occasion calls for, such as bells. Granted, not true Arabic instruments, but what the heck! Some of the music we play is: Sheik of Araby, Bedouin on the Roof, Santiago, etc.. Usually, whenever we parade or play in competition, our uniforms are Arabic tunics, head dress and sandals. However, since that terrible attack on our country, we have not worn our Arabic costumes in parade. Maybe someday we will again, but it will be awhile. We have numerous colors that we can mix and match to wear. If you have never seen a Shrine parade and all the colorful units with clowns, bands, motorcycles, horses, mini-cars, foot patrols and other stuff, you have really missed something.

In Texas, we have 13 Shrine Temples and each one has a Oriental Band unit, sized as either "A", "B" or "C" class, depending on the number of playing members. In "A", the large band category, Moslah competes with the other large band in Texas,Khiva from Amarillo. We win some and they win some, actuslly, that's the way it should be. It's fun to participate, it's fun to win, but the comraderie is the best part. We enjoy the competition and like to show off our stuff to others. Also, we Bedouins do love to party, especially when there is a reason to have one.

Since we are a marching unit, we sure do enjoy being in parades because we can get up close to all of you people and show off our marching and musical skills. After all, our marching style usually wins us the Texas State Championship, so why change! So, if any of you know of a local parade anywhere around the Fort Worth/Dallas area that would like to be livened up, contact us and we will do our dog-gonned best to participate in it. Hint hint, since we do this for FREE, what a deal to offer some of the smaller towns!

As for the circus, this year it will again be in November here in Fort Worth. Our Oriental Band unit sells novelties and the guys really do a good job at it. It really is a lot of work for each of the performances, but it is the biggest way to raise operating capital which we need to keep our Shrine Temple going. This year the circus is planned to be bigger and better than ever, so make it a point to be in Fort Worth during that time so you can enjoy one of the best nights you can imagine. Not only will you find it very affordable, but you will get to see one of the greatest shows you ever have experienced. It's about three hours long, so plan on staying for awhile. From the kids to the grandparents, everybody loves a circus!

Well, that just about brings you up to date on what we are do. I guess I will quit for now and let you keep on surfing the web for more neat stuff. Take care and "Ma@a Salaama" - go without fear! Oh yeah, PLEASE sign our WebPage Guest Book before you go, we like to hear from you all and we do read your comments!

'Da Sandman