Kader Klowns were officially formed in 1992; however it started as an aspiration of Gary “Punkin” Bowers in 1986  when PNSCA late was in Portland, Oregon. As member of the “uniformed units’ staff “ in charge of competition he noticed that Al Kader’s “Cyclowns” did not compete as clowns, but as a fun-loving and somewhat unorthodox group dressed in clown costumes riding on scooters. Punkin wanted clown unit which performed and competed against clowns from other Shrine Temples.

     The following year after being appointed to the Divan, Gary kept pushing for a clown unit. Not until Jim “KoKo” Johnson an associate member of Afifi Shrine and former member of the Aloha Shrine Clowns, met with I.S. Chuck Faes 1991 Al Kader, asking if there would be any interest in a “True Clown Unit“ in Al Kader. He said he knew of another clown ,John “Topper” McClellan  might be interested in becoming associate members of Al Kader if there was.  I.S. Chuck Faes having done some Clowning on his own for the Shrine and knew of  Gary’s desire, arranged for the two to get together to organize a clown unit if possible.

   Gary , the two clowns from Afifi, Al “Shinbone” Alverson a recent transfer from another Shine Center with experience as a Rodeo Clown and Shrine Clowning, Erv “Jingles” Weeks  a volunteer at the Portland Shine Hospital who was doing some clowning at the hospital and Lu “LuLu” Noah from Hillah and a clown instructor met to create the new clown unit.   

   That same year at  PNSA in 1991 Gary, attended the PNSCA meetings. He was welcomed with open arms once they found out that he was seeking a true clown unit for Al Kader. He volunteered to be put in “Face” by the president of the ISCA and “Punkin” was born. At PNSCA Gary convinced IS Jim Davis and the divan to create a clown then and there and the entire Divan “in clown red noses” went to the PNSCA meeting and announced they would be applying for membership in PNSCA as soon as they got back to Portland.

   The new Unit the Kader Klowns soon attended & competed at PNSCA 1992, and later at the 1997 WSCA &  ISCA (Punkin’s year as Potentate),  always attempting to improve their skills and establish a reputation for an outstanding Shrine Clown Unit. It wasn’t unusual for the Kader Klowns to walk away with the “lions” share of the awards. Many of the Kader Klowns scored top honors in their first competition. One, example being the prestigious “Top Clown” award in WSCA, was first won by Sgt. BoBo (potentate of Al Kader 2006) and followed by three more by Punkin and Freddieee in 2007.  Not bad for the new kids on the block.

   Kader Klowns is the only Al Kader unit that may have satellite groups (“Clown Alley’s”) as part of their unit, not wanting to have separate clown units but one family of clowns..      

     Over the years the unit has experimented with “attraction” vehicles, first were a couple of “Balloon Machines.” They were a great as stationary attractions but very difficult to transport, and were sold. Next came the Kader Klown Kar (an older Volvo), under Ringmaster St. Bo-Bo, what fun it was to go to local events, it was given to Afifi Clowns.   Max “Choo-Choo” Alf donated an older golf cart to mount a Calliope material donated to the Unit by Salem Shrine Club, regretfully it died. A Clown train, a miniature ‘32 Ford roadster, miniature model T pick-up, and our newest 6 passenger converted gas golf car into the Kader Klown Kart  make up our present rolling stock.    

     Can’t wait to see what happens to our great Kader Klowns the future.