Sahib Shrine 2009 Potentate

At the Annual Stated Meeting on December 3, 2009, Chief Rabban Oscar Cloutier was elected our Potentate for 2009.

Oscar affiliated with Sahib on April 5, 2001 and was appointed Membership Chairman at the beginning of 2003. He retired in 1999 from an illustrious career in business management, most recently as President of L. & A. Molding Corporation, Lewiston, Maine.

Oscar was born in Biddeford, Maine. He graduated from Notre Dame Institute in Alfred, Maine in 1953. He went through training as a machinist at Saco-Lowell. He graduated with a BS Degree in General Studies from University of New Hampshire in 1978, then with an MBA from Northeastern University in 1980.

His passions and interests include being a member of the National High School Football Officials, officiating between 12 and 16 games per season in the State of Maine Class A Conference. He refereed in seven Class A State Championship games and served as President of the Maine Association of Football Officials in 1974. In 1972, he became member of the Boston, Massachusetts Chapter of NCAA Inter-Collegiate Football Officials, becoming Chairman of the Steering Committee for the newly organized Maine Association of intercollegiate Football Officials in 1977. In 1973, he started taking flying lessons in a single engine plane at White Mountain Airport in North Conway, New Hampshire, where he received his Private Pilot License. In 1975, he received his Instrument Rating, and his Commercial License in 1976. In 1977, he received his Multi-Engine Rating.

As a Mason, he was raised in 1974 at White Mountain Lodge, North Conway, New Hampshire. He is also a member of Masonic Lodge No. 12 in Cumberland, Maine. He became a member of the Scottish Rite, Commandery in Nashua New Hampshire. In 1989, he joined Kora Shriners, where he was a member of the Clowns and served as Director of the Clowns for six years. He is a Lifetime Associate Member at Anezeh Temple, Mexico City. From 1991 to 2002 he was a member of Put Stevens Court #109, ROJ in Lewiston, Maine, he was Director of the Book of the Play since 1993. He is presently a member of Sarasota Court #189 ROJ. He is a Master Artisan in the Q. He became Emeritus Director at Kora in 1996. In 1996, he was also elected 3rd VP of the International Shrine Clown Association and in 1999 was elected President, and was a Director in 2001 and 2002. In 1999, he was President of the Portland Maine Shrine Club. Oscar has been Membership Director for Sahib since 2003, and will continue in that position in 2005. He was elected Sahib Oriental Guide in 2005.