On July 14 – 16, Virginia Rainbow had their 24th annual Grand Assembly!  It was amazing to see so many guests attend along with seeing our Supreme Worthy Advisor, Mrs. Susan Rennagel.  Virginia Rainbow also got to be there for our Grand Worthy Advisor, Rachal Murray’s Grand Year of “The Light Within.”  The Norfolk Girls, along with me, were able to enjoy a fantastic Grand Assembly.

On July 13th, our girls, Phoenix, Kayla, Haylee, our Mother Advisor, Christi Reed, and I helped out with setting up the Grand Assembly room for Rachal.  We all went up to the storage unit to gather up all of the Grand Assembly supplies along with some of our Manassas Sisters and some of our DeMolay Brothers.  It took a lot of teamwork in order to load up all of the supplies into the truck.  Finally, we went to our Grand Assembly at the Doubletree Inn were we started to put together our Grand Assembly.

On July 14th, everyone started coming up to attend Grand Assembly.  I was able to see all my Rainbow Sisters from other Assemblies.  Also that day, we had a lot of practices before Opening Night.  I had to go to Grand Flag Bearer, Grand Representative, and Book of Memories practice.  While some of the practices were going on, the rest of our Norfolk group, Tommy, Pia, Alyssa, Relena, Jordan, Sarah, Lisa, Cecilia, and Paula, came up to join us.  We also had Dad Rowland get his Grand Cross of Color, the highest honor, that same day before he had to go back to work.  Later that day, we had our Opening Night of “The Light Within” Session.  All of the Grand Officers, Grand Representatives, Grand Flag Bearers, and Grand Pages were introduced.  We also had the introductions of guests from other Masonic organizations.  After introductions, Mom Casey Humphries announced the winners of the Rose Lecture and the Lambskin Apron Lecture.  We were all super excited that the people who won were both from Manassas Assembly!  After Opening Night, everyone put on their Rainbow casuals and had some fun playing games and dancing downstairs in the Grand Assembly room.

On July 15th, we had our Initiation of two girls.  The Grand Officers did so beautifully on their ritual work and the new initiates did very well.  We also had the Majority Service after the Initiation.  Hanna and Madeline got their Majority.  Later that day, we had the Memorial Service given by Manassas Assembly to honor all of the Rainbow family members who have passed away.  Then we had the Book of Memories for all of the Grand Officers.  It was a very emotional time for Rachal and all of our Rainbow family.

On Saturday night, we had our Grand Banquet.  The table was set with all things Harry Potter.  We even got to take home little pens that looked like little flying broomsticks.  The food was fantastic and we were able to have a little fun while we were eating.  Assemblies and adults were making funny chants back and forth to each other.  During the Banquet, scholarships were handed out by Nancy Martin.  Many of the Grand Officers, including Rachal, were given these scholarships.  Also, Rachal and Casey Humphries gave out the awards for the House Cup, Grand Representative’s Posters, scrapbook, and Assembly of the Year competitions.  In our Assembly, Phoenix was awarded second place in the Rose Lecture and our Dad Boyd got third place in the Lambskin Apron Lecture.  Pia got first place in the Grand Representative’s poster board competition and I was able to get second place.  Our Assembly was also awarded second place in the scrapbook competition, third place in Assembly of the year and finally, we were awarded the House Cup.  I was so proud of my Assembly and my girls because of all the things we were awarded and how our new Assembly was able to accomplish all of these things in the past year.  Finally, we had the announcements of the new Grand Pages, Grand Flag Bearers, Grand Representatives and Grand Officers by Mrs. Linda Jenkins, our Supreme Inspector.  In my Assembly, Kayla, Haylee, and Alyssa were announced as Grand Representatives.  Phoenix, Pia, Relena and I were announced as some of the new Grand Officers.  I was also happy to congratulate Kensley on becoming the next Grand Worthy Associate Advisor.

On July 16th, we had our Grand Installation.  The installation was beautifully done by Libby’s installing team.  Phoenix, Pia, Relena and I crowned Libby as Grand Worthy Advisor.  Libby’s theme for this year is “Sail into Rainbow”. Her mascot is a shark named Finley and her Charity projects are Chesapeake Bay Foundation and Supreme 2018.  Overall, I thought this was a spectacular Grand Assembly with Rachal’s term of “The Light Within” session.  She did a fantastic job during her year and I can’t wait to see what Libby’s year will has in store for Virginia Rainbow.

On June 10, 2017, we met at the Waverly Club Sports Pavilion for scrapbooking and swimming.  The girls who were there included:  Gigi, Joella, Delaney, Mackenzie, Zoe N., Maribel, Zoey W., M’Balu, Batu, Vanessa and me.  The adults who were there were:  Mom Priscilla, Mom Paula, and Mom Louisa.  The event started at 10am and we had lots of fun making pages for the scrapbook and listened to music and talked while we worked.  For lunch we had pizza from Tony’s Pizza in Haymarket.  A little before 2pm we cleaned up the meeting room and got ready to swim.  We all had fun and played at the pool on a hot sunny day.

In Rainbow Love and Service,
Isabella

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I learned many things about Grandpa Wayne during his interview.
Grandpa Wayne joined Masonry in 1973 when he was 30 years old. His motive in joining Masonry was that his father was a Mason when they lived in the Panama Canal zone and one of his uncles, who lived in Milwaukee, was also a Mason.

At the time Grandpa Wayne was stationed on the USS Belknap, he had to find a Lodge to join by finding some Masons. One lesson he has learned through Masonry is ​best stated by Albert Pike’s book, Morals and Dogma of the Ineffable Degrees, where he stated “A Freemason, therefore, should be a man of honor and of conscience, preferring his duty to everything beside, even to his life; independent in his opinions, and of good morals; submissive to the laws, devoted to humanity, to his country, to his family; kind and indulgent to his brethren, friend of all virtuous men, and ready to assist his fellows by all means in his power.”

Grandpa Wayne became involved with Rainbow in 1984 when someone wanted to start an Assembly on the south side of Hampton Roads. The Master of Corinthian Lodge agreed to sponsor the Assembly and in 1985 Norfolk Assembly LT got started.

Outside of Masonry, Grandpa Wayne enjoys woodworking, Rainbow paraphernalia, and cross-stitching.

With Rainbow Love and Service,
Pia

My report about Grandpa Boyd Wilson taught me more about the amazing man we see at every event supporting us.  We talked about how being a Mason has changed his life.  He said that it has made him a better man and lets him learn about the meaning of life.  

I asked him about his interests outside of Masonry.  I found out that he likes to golf and go fishing all the time.  He likes to be outdoors instead of inside all day.  Also, I asked why he wanted to join Masonry.  Grandpa Boyd said that he had the chance in 1954 to become a Mason, but he didn’t.  However, he talked to some of the other Masons and asked them some questions about it.  Those Masons weren’t able to answer his questions, but in 1955, he joined and was able to get answers to his questions.  After that, I asked if he had learned any important lessons through Masonry.  Grandpa Boyd said that he has learned to be a better man, to do good deeds, and help out with charities.  I asked why Masonry is important to him.  His response was that it is the organization and teachings that he loves.  He also said that it has changed his life as a man and that he is better than ever.

The next question I asked was to tell me about his favorite life memory.  Grandpa Boyd said that it was growing up with loving and caring parents and marrying his wife. They have been together for 54 years.  I asked what he did for a living before he retired.  He said that he worked as a painter before he retired.  The last question I asked was what advice he would give to a young man about Masonry.  His response was that it is one of the greatest organizations that any man could join and that they should consider joining because it will help them to understand how to be a better man throughout life.  

These are the interesting things that I found out about Grandpa Boyd and I hope that it will help you to see him in a different perspective.

With Rainbow Love and Service,
Kaitlyn