The Shrine Center is available to host and has recently hosted a variety of events from the Shrine Circus to the Amazing Acrobats of China to other entertainers which include concerts from bands ranging from Country Western to Pop, as well as serving as popular venue for the national Blue Comedy Comic Tour.
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or call 417-869-9164
The Shrine, or more properly the Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine (A.A.O.N.M.S.), was founded in New York City in 1872 by Billy Florence, an actor, and Walter Fleming, a physician. The idea was to create an appended fraternal body that would provide a fun outlet. In 1870, several thousand of the 900,000 residents of Manhattan were Masons. Many of these Masons made it a point to lunch at the Knickerbocker Cottage, a restaurant at 426 Sixth Avenue. At a special table on the second floor, a particularly jovial group of men used to meet regularly.
The basic unit of Masonry is the Blue Lodge, where members earn the first three Masonic degrees. There is no higher degree than that of Master Mason but for those who wish to further explore the allegory and symbolism learned in the Blue Lodge, the Scottish Rite and York Rite elaborate on the basic tenets of Freemasonry.
Charity has been a part of the Shrine almost from the beginning, but Shriners sought a greater purpose to define the Order. In 1920 the organization voted to adopt its own official philanthropy, dedicated to providing free orthopedic medical care to children in need, after whcih the first Shriners Hospital was built in Shreveport, LA, in 1922.
Today, the Shrine's philanthropy has now evolved into and consists of 22 "Centers of Excellence" including three Shriners Burn Institutes.
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In addition to Shriners conventions, dances, circuses and other entertainments, the Mosque has also been the site of wrestling matches, Jackson Day activities, telethons, dance-a-thons, war bond drives, revivals, dog and cat shows, roller derbies and concerts featuring acts from John Philip Sousa to the Vienna Singers to Elvis Presley (whose concert, by the way, sold few tickets). Presidents Harry Truman, Franklin Roosevelt and Ronald Reagan also appeared there.
The lower level of the Mosque contains a large room that can seat 1,300, special rooms for Shrine units and a museum. For a period in 1973-1975 there was talk that the Mosque might be torn down because it had deteriorated over the years, but in 1975 the Shriners announced that it would be renovated.In 1982 it was placed on the National Register of Historic Places. The renovation began in 1987 and was finished in 1990.
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