Masonic motors: Fat men wearing a fez squeezed into little toy cars driving in formation – now what could that be? Shriners International — formerly known as the Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine — started in 1870 and was (of course) a freemason society which hung out at their temple doing your typical ritual pranks. However, in 1922 as a polio epidemic broke out in the united states, the shriners started funding hospitals. In order to fund these Shriner health care centers they organised carnevalesque events to raise cash. This somehow mutated into what today is a memorial day parade where the Shriners drive custom built model cars in circles and formations wearing a fez covered in rhinestones.
Shiners children’s hospitals.
If your kid is sick, they take care of them.