Ohio Grand Assembly Saturday July 14, 2018

Ohio Grand Assembly starts early!  Breakfast is from 7 – 8 am and you need to arrive dressed for the morning session since that starts right after.  There are so many differences in Ohio Rainbow.  In Ohio as a Grand Representative I am considered a Grand Officer and so are Grand Flag Bearers and Grand Pages.  They have a trumpet call to order at the beginning of each session which is followed by the Supreme Deputy and all the Grand Deputies being escorted in by Grand Escorts that they choose.  Then the visiting grand officers are brought in and seated in the east.  Once that is done then the Grand Officers come in and do a huge marching number to different songs and they have props that go with the theme for the year.  Grand pages then collect all the props and then they go to their seats.  Then the GWA has an honor court that she walks through before she gets to the east.  It really is an impressive show.  After that I got to speak to everyone.  They then showed some ritual work and gave out the mascot awards to the different assemblies.  Once that was over there was the Courtesy to the GWA.  In VA we have the signing of the memory book, but in OH it is where they give gifts to the GWA and the Grand Officers say good-bye to her.  Kate received a quilt showing her theme for the year, a memory box, several scrapbooks for all of her travels, a special gift from her Grand Aide, and a hope chest to store all of it.  Her aide also gave her a tiara since Ohio doesn’t use crowns.

Following the morning session was lunch and then there was some down time for people to change into their Superteam clothes (each team had matching t-shirts and some even had matching hair accessories).  We made another trip to the campus bookstore before going to the competition.  Each district makes a team and then there was a team for the out-of-state visitors.  Zoey was on that team and competed in the balloon tossing contest and got second place!  Afterwards we realized we were running low on snacks so we made a trip to the next town over to go to Walmart and then change before going to dinner and the evening session.

The evening session was the installation of the new grand officers.  It was different from Virginia because they have two installing marshals.  It makes things move much faster.  Also, not all of the Grand Installing Officers are past GWAs – just the installing officer and the first installing marshal.  It was fun to watch.  The new GWA’s name is Shelby and her theme this year is:  Bows, Pearls and Rainbow Girls.  Her mascot is “Pearl the Pig” and her colors are: lavender, antique blue, mint green and peach.  Her service/charity project is M.A.D.D. and they will be selling Malley’s Chocolate Bars for the send Rainbow Girls to Grand Assembly scholarship fund.  We were given gift bags for attending the OH Grand Assembly too!  After the installation was over it was a race to get into line for pins, t-shirts, mason jars, and candy bars for this new Grand Year.  Once we were done with that we caught a shuttle back to the dorm so we could change and get some sleep for the night.

Isabella

Virginia Grand Assembly

By Kassie

Our Grand Assembly was good and we had lots of fun there.  Some of us were in the Cavalcade of Flags.  I carried the New Hampshire flag, because I was the Grand Representative to New Hampshire.  Ashley and Anna carried the flags of Missouri and Vermont, because those were their Grand Representative states.  The Grand Worthy and Grand Worthy Associate Advisors from Maryland, Pennsylvania and South Carolina were there.  Gia, who is Libbie’s friend from California, was also there.  Libbie’s theme was the sailboat and shark.  During the morning session, they played How Far I’ll Go, sung by Moana.  During the afternoon session the song was That’s My Girl, by Fifth Harmony.  I was excited to see some majority girls from my assembly, especially Rachel, the past Grand Worthy Advisor.  Ilana and Andi received their majority cards.  At the banquet we received our awards and found out who won the raffle prizes.  When it was time to announce the Grand Representative and Grand Officer positions we found out we had three Grand Representatives, two Grand Officers, one Flag Bearer, and one Grand Page from our assembly.  After the banquet we had a dance and it was fun.  In the morning, the new Grand Officers were installed.  Kensley, the new GWA, had her home Assembly do the ribbon ceremony, and introduced her family and friends.

Grand Assembly

On the weekend of June 29 to July 1st, Virginia had its 25th annual Grand Assembly at the DoubleTree by Hilton hotel. The girls who attended are myself, Katie, Sami, Gigi, Vanessa, Kate, Dalanie, Zoey, Isabella, Joella, Batu, Balu, Alyssa, Allison, Eliza, and Emma. I rode with Mom Jean, Zoey, Balu, and Batu. We left on Thursday, as we wanted to help with setting the assembly room beforehand, and all of us were either grand flag bearers or grand representatives, and we had practices the next day.

The sessions were long, and I was really shocked at how long they were. They were interesting, but at some points I wanted to go to sleep (mostly the night sessions) because I was tired. The ritualistic initiation was beautiful, and I thought all the girls that were participating did a fabulous job.

Manassas Assembly came home with a lot of awards. For the awards, the Assembly won Assembly of the year and the traveling gavel, which was amazing. We also had a lot of competition winners, Ella, Alyssa, won first place in the 11-14 competition, Kate won first in the 14-16 competitions, Katie won 2nd, and Vanessa won 3rd. In the Rose lecture, Katie won 2nd, and for the dad talk, Dalanie won 1st, I won 2nd, and Katie won 3rd. All the winners for the adult competitions were in our Assembly, including Mom Robin, Mom Priscilla, Mom Erin, Mom Jean, Dad Tom, Dad Clancy, and many more adults. Our assembly was the only one to participate in the baby dedication, Katie and Sami winning first place, Gigi and Dalanie winning 2nd. For the rodeo, our team, consisting of Katie, Sami, Vanessa, and Kate won 2nd. Jasmyn, Alyssa, Batu, M’Balu, Maribel, Isabella, Sami, Joella, Ella, Zoey, Gigi, Katie, Vanessa, and Dalanie all won the traveling award, and I won the Amanda Award, which was cool. I remember stumbling on my acceptance speech and trying to figure out what to say on the spot, and somewhat failing at it.

We also got a lot of grand appointments and came back with a lot of grand officers. Alyssa is now a grand flag bearer, Joella, Isabella, Maribel, Balu, Sami, Batu, and Allison are all grand representatives for the coming year. For grand officers, Vanessa, Kate, Dalanie, and Katie all got grand bow stations, Zoey got Grand Confidential Observer, and Gigi got Grand Associate Worthy Advisor! I am so proud of the assembly and what we have achieved! Assembly of the year is a huge deal!

After grand assembly, a bunch of us helped some of the adults put the assembly room stuff back in the storage. It was hot outside, and that slowed us down a little, but we got it all done. Afterwards, Mom Jean, Zoey, Balu, Batu and I all hopped back in the car, stopped for lunch at Dairy Queen, and then head back home. When I got home, I directly went to bed, because I was tired. Overall, Grand Assembly was fun, and I can’t wait to go back next year!

In Rainbow Love and Service,

Akshita

Manassas Assembly #13

Massachusetts Grand Assembly started Friday with introductions, after a Formal opening. Saturday morning had a memorial service by the Grand Officers that was ended by bagpipes. After that, was the elections for the new Grand Officers, then we retired for lunch.

 The afternoon session was laid back, and girls went into short skirts and those in the grand rep parade wore shorts. This reminded me of our grand banquet, but calmer and with no food. I was able to be a part of the parade, and though we didn’t win, I still had lots of fun.

Massachusetts was enjoyable, and I had fun just watching their Grand Assembly. 

Zoey