July 14, 2016: Friday morning started out early because I went to early morning swim practice. Then I came home, got ready and packed my bags. We left our house about 10:30 am and went to get Zoe at her house and then to Nokesville Elementary School to get Alyssa. We had a fun ride to Williamsburg and stopped by Starbucks along the way. When we arrived, we had enough time to register before the Memorial Service practice started and then I went straight into the Grand Flag Bearer practice and the Cavalcade of Flags practice. We had a break after that and took luggage to our rooms and then changed for dinner. I was nervous for the opening since I was doing my Flag Bearer Tribute but everything went by quickly and the Grand Officers looked really nice in their opening march. There were many introductions and we found out that Zoe Nash won the Rose Lecture and Dad Tom won the Lambskin Apron Lecture at ritual competitions. After the opening session we got ready for the swim party, but it was canceled because of lightening; so I went back to my room for the night while others played games in the Assembly Room or ordered snacks at the hotel restaurant. Some girls stayed up really late and worked on completing our Assembly Scrapbook so it could make the Saturday 9am deadline.
July 15, 2016: Zoe and Mackenzie were our Saturday “wake-up call” since mom Joanne needed to fix Zoe’s dress for the morning session. I had a Starbucks breakfast thanks to mom Joanne so I could get to the opening session on time. Our Grand Officers along with Zoe and Dad Tom did a great job on their parts for initiation. Our Assembly performed the Memorial Service which went well and the rest of the morning session was good and there were more introductions. We took pictures and then had a break for lunch. The afternoon session included the Cavalcade of Flags, more introductions, reports, and then it got emotional with the announcement of Olivia’s term, the Majority Service and the Book of Memories ceremony. We had an afternoon break before the banquet and I was in the Jewelry room spending my mom’s money. Then we got ready for the banquet and our Assembly won so many of the Ritual Competitions! The new Grand Officers, Representatives, Flag Bearers and Pages were announced. This year Manassas Assembly has 3 Grand Officers, 6 Grand Representatives, 5 Grand Flag Bearers and 1 Grand Page. I was able to meet the counterpart for Nevada, one of my states that I was assigned to as a Grand Representative, and I was so excited to meet her. After the banquet we quickly went upstairs to change our clothes to be ready for the dance, which was fun. I didn’t get much sleep that night with all the excitement.
July 16, 2016: Sunday was an early morning since we had to pack the car before going to the installation in the morning. Everything was beautiful and based on the numbers given during the registration report this was the biggest Grand Assembly in Virginia yet. Before leaving and getting lots of pictures I made sure to get all the necessary supplies: T-shirts for the Grand Year, pins, a shark necklace, and Grand Directory. At the end I was so tired, but I am inspired to do so much for VA Rainbow and Supreme 2018 for the next year!
In Rainbow, Love, and Service,
Isabella
