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Shriners to fill Tampa hotels at record rate

The influx of 20,000 members and families will surpass the 1999 Baptist convention and the 2001 Super Bowl.

By ALEXANDRA ZAYAS
Published January 26, 2006

Downtown Tampa will be hit full force this summer with a new fashion staple: the red fez.

The Shriners of North America will hold their yearly Imperial Session in Tampa the first week in July. The event will bring in more people than the 2001 Super Bowl, making it Tampa's largest convention ever.

Shriners will wear their signature hats while they play bagpipes in nightshirts outside the Tampa Marriott Waterside Hotel & Marina. Tassels will twirl in the air as they drive down Bayshore Boulevard in their signature novelty cars. Fez Head Fred, the man-sized costumed mascot with a 4-foot long black tassel, will make celebrity appearances.

In total, 20,000 Shriners and their families are expected to flood Tampa from June 30 to July 6. They've booked more than 4,000 hotel rooms at nearly 30 hotels around Tampa. The Tampa Bay Convention and Visitors Bureau anticipates the event will bring in an estimated $31.4-million to the city.

The second-largest convention to come to Tampa was the National Baptist Convention in 1999, which generated 28,000 room nights throughout the city. The 2001 Super Bowl generated 19,000. This convention, expected to keep visitors in town for more than a week, has already racked up 31,000 room nights.

"They will absolutely take over this community," said bureau spokeswoman Karen Brand. "It's going to be great."

The Shrine was founded in 1872 by 13 men belonging to the Masonic Order. It has since grown into an international fraternity of 500,000 men, invested in philanthropy and tradition.

Tampa is home to both the Shriners International Headquarters, on Rocky Point Drive, and its newest orthopedic facility, the Tampa Shriners Hospital on the USF campus. To Imperial Potentate Gary W. Dunwoody, the city was "an easy pick."

On July 3, members of the public can watch Shriners compete in citywide events from horse riding to motorcycle racing. That night, outside the Marriott Waterside, Shriners who play musical instruments will put on a jam session in their nightshirts, called the Ballyhoo Bash & Nightshirt Parade.

The convention's biggest event will be the Fourth of July parade along Bayshore Boulevard. Three Gasparilla Krewes will kick off the four-hour fanfare of funny cars, hats and clowns.

"It's just a beautiful place to have a convention," Dunwoody said.

It'll be fun, but in the end, it's a business meeting. Representatives from the 191 chapters will make decisions on everything from the Shrine hospitals to fraternity ceremonies and leadership. The highest-ranked thousand will bring their wives to the Imperial Sirs Evening, a black-tie dinner at the convention center.

Brand hopes business will become pleasure, both for the Shriners and for Tampa.

"The hope is not only will they extend their stay for a vacation but they also will come back if they have a great time," Brand said.

Alexandra Zayas can be reached at 813-226-3354 or at azayas@sptimes.com

[Last modified January 26, 2006, 01:01:17]