WHEELING — The year 2022 is a year of celebration for the Osiris Shrine Center in Wheeling.

The year marks three significant anniversaries. Shriners International celebrates 150 years since its incorporation in 1872. The Osiris Shriners mark 135 years since its founding in 1887, and Shriners Children’s Hospitals will celebrate the 100th anniversary of the opening of the first hospital.

Leading the Osiris Shrine Center in this year of celebration is newly elected Illustrious Potentate Jeffrey Hawkins of Wellsburg. Hawkins is the son of the late Maurice and Loretta Hawkins of Mingo Junction, where he was raised. He is a member of the 1980 graduating class from Mingo Junction High School. He is retired from the W.H. Sammis power plant, where he worked as an electrician and in safety. He and his wife, Kim Yost Hawkins, are the parents of five children: Ben and Sherry Hawkins of Austin, Arkansas; Clorissa Glenn of Follansbee; Chrissy and Jonathan James of North Little Rock, Arkansas; Kate Chuchiak of Columbus; and the late Katie Hawkins Moran, RN.

Potentate Hawkins is a 32nd degree Mason who is active in Wellsburg Lodge No. 2, the Valley of Wheeling Scottish Rite, Osiris Tin Lizzie Patrol, Northern Panhandle Shrine Club, Arab Patrol, Osiris Car Club, and Royal Order of Jesters Court 13.

Shriners founded in 1872. A group of 13 Masons from New York City who met regularly, discussed the idea of forming a fraternity of Masons to meet in the spirit of fellowship, fun, family and philanthropy while keeping the tenets of Masonry. The first chapter, Mecca Shriners, was formed on September 26, 1872.The idea grew, and today there are 200 Shrine chapters in countries around the world. The well-known red fez with its black tassel worn for special events and ceremonies distinguishes Shriners from other organizations. Derived from the city of Fez, Morocco, the Fez complements the organization’s pomp and pageantry and is worn at all official gatherings.

Osiris Shrine Center formed 135 years ago, in 1887, in Wheeling. The Osiris Shrine is made up of approximately 1,300 members who come from the Eastern Panhandle to the Northern Panhandle of West Virginia and several Eastern Ohio counties. Since 1926 the Osiris Shrine Center has called the historical Monument Place on Kruger Street in Elm Grove its home.

In 1922, the first Shriners hospital opened in Shreveport, Louisiana. Since that time, Shriners hospitals has grown into a network of 21 hospitals with locations in the United States, Canada and Mexico, and is now one of the largest pediatric sub-specialty healthcare systems in the world. Over 1 million children have been treated at Shriners children’s hospitals for orthopedic conditions, burns, spinal cord injury and cleft lip and palate. These services are provided to children 18 years of age and younger, regardless of the family’s ability to pay.

To help celebrate these three significant anniversaries, on May 15 will be the 15th annual Car Show at the Osiris Shrine Center, which is free to the public.

A birthday party and family picnic will be held on the lawn of the Shrine Center on June 18. Many other events are planned, and information about the Shrine events can be found at osirisshrinecenter.org.

Call the Shrine Center office at 304-242-2911 Monday through Friday if you need information regarding any event or would like to know more about the organization’s hospitals and how they can be of service to a child in need.