Shriners flock Starbucks to raise awareness, laughter

PONDERAY — Grins and laughter were the order of the day after local Shriners Klowns flocked Starbucks on Friday.

It was just what Chuck "Doc" Schoonover hoped for.

"We feed on smiles and happiness and joy and fun," Schoonover said, looking around the bustling coffee shop with families laughing and people coming and going.

The flamingos, bright pink and standing proudly on a table, greeting customers walking into the Ponderay store, were hard to miss. If the tall "dad" flamingos, almost-as-tall "mom" flamingos and small "baby" flamingoes didn't tip you off that something was going on, the oversized, inflatable flamingo floatie should have.

Bright pink and fun, the flamingos and the flocking were designed to elicit smiles and giggles, Schoonover said. It was, he added, an expression of the joy and fun embraced by the Shriners and served as a way to raise money to reboot the Shriners club in the community, Schoonover said.

The idea for the flocking came about during a conversation with officials at the Ponderay Starbucks, Schoonover said. A regular at the cafe, the longtime Shriner Klown had been thinking about relaunching a club in the community and asked if anyone had any ideas for fundraisers.

The Starbucks staff invited the Shriners to come out on a busy day and agreed to the flocking, offering to put together a raffle basket.

Proceeds from the raffle will help the rebooted Calam Shriners get off the ground with operating money and help the Klowns help children. 

"All of our money then goes to the (Shriners) hospital or the transportation fund," Schoonover said. "Within our jurisdiction, any of our patients that are going to and from the hospital, we would pick up those expenses. They let us know that they're going, and we get the gas and their food and their lodging."

Being a Shriners Klown is a great way to help others and have fun at the same time. An example, Schoonover said, was a recent installation banquet for the new potentate.

Schoonover said he and a few other Klowns couldn't help but turn up at the installation banquet and present the new potentate with a traveling monkey to take with him on trips around the region. He even presented a framed certificate on how to care for the stuffed companion.

"Everybody was being serious and were all dressed up and spiffy, and by the time we were done, everybody in the place was laughing and rolling on the floor," Schoonover said.

Founded in 1872, Shriners International is based on fun, fellowship, and the Masonic principles of brotherly love, relief, and truth. Add in a willingness to laugh and help children and you have the basis for what Shriners is all about, Schoonover said.

From the original Shriners club in New York City, the fraternity has grown to more than 200 Shriners temples in several countries and thousands of clubs around the world.

The fraternity established the Shriners Children's hospitals in 1922, adopting what would become a network of pediatric medical facilities across North America as its official philanthropy in 1922.

"We strive to make the world a happier, better place," Schoonover said.

The Shriners Children's pediatric healthcare network covers orthopedic, spine, burn and other specialty care and rehab. Starting with a hospital in Shreveport, La., the network has grown to about two dozen facilities in North America, with the closest Shriners Children's hospital located in Spokane, which focuses primarily on orthopedics.

The Calam Shriners unit was active in the community until about 2006, and when it stopped being active, Schoonover said he started going to events with the El Katif Shriners in Spokane. It was last year, after attending a Shriners event in Post Falls, that Schoonover said he got to talking with other Shriners about rebooting the local club.

At the time the local club shut down, Schoonover said the Calam Shriners had grown to 40 clubs and participated in 85-100 events a year.

"The Shriners are a great organization," Schoonover said. "We're so grateful for the public's help that we get and the public's willingness to support the Shriners … In the end, we do it for the kids."

When the chance came to reboot the local club, Schoonover said he was all in. He's been a Shriners Klown since the early 1980s, when he joined the Masons with his dad, and the pair decided being a Klown would be a fun way to help others. 

He hasn't looked back.

"Knowing that we're doing something, promoting something that benefits everyone and doesn't cost anything," he added.

For more information, go online to calamshriners.com or call the Calam Shrine Temple office at 208-743-6916. For questions about the Shrine Klowns, call Schoonover at 208-255-9556 or email him at docdaklown@idaho.net.

    Chuck "Doc" Schoonover sets up a flock of flamingos during a flocking of the Ponderay Starbucks on Friday. The event was held to raise money to relaunch the local club and to help Shriners Children's.
  

    Chuck "Doc" Schoonover, left, talks to a fellow Shriner.
  

    A flock of flamingos adorn a table at the entrance of the Ponderay Starbucks.