This year I had the opportunity to attend the MD Grand Assembly with Katie, Sami, Vanessa, Mom Paula and my mom from Manassas Assembly #13.  The MD Grand Assembly took place at the Delta Hunt Valley Inn from March 15 – 18, 2018.  MD Grand Worthy Advisor, Blake DeVaney’s, theme this year was:  “Hike Your Own Trail with Maryland Rainbow” and her mascots for the year were Black Bears and Forest Friends and all the Grand Officers wore red dresses.
After the morning session was over we met up with our GWA Libby, PGWA Rachal, and Libby’s parents from Virginia.  We got some pictures with all of the attending VA Rainbow girls and then Libby and Rachal needed to get ready for the Grand Cross luncheon while the rest of us went out to eat at Panera and to do some shopping in the afternoon to pass the time until the evening Installation.  Libby, Rachal, my mom and I went to the Installation banquet while the rest of our group went to dinner at Texas Roadhouse.  I saw familiar faces from NJ both the PGWA and current GWA who I saw when I went to their Grand Assembly last August.  The meal was served buffet style and my mom and I sat with people from Georgia and Pennsylvania.  I did some pin trading with the people from PA.  Next Grand Assembly I will need to buy several extra pins for trading especially since Supreme Assembly is coming and I hear pin trading is becoming popular. After the banquet was over, we went over to the ball room that was the assembly room for the GA sessions. 

We noticed the differences with the installation in MD from those of Virginia.  There were a lot of introductions.  They even introduced all of their pledges!  The Grand Deputies had funny sun glasses at their introduction as well.  The new GWA, Allie Robinette had a beautiful dress and all the girls wore white for the installation.  This year’s term 2018 – 2019 has a theme of:  “Finding Your Pot of Gold with Maryland Rainbow” and a mascot of the Irish Work Horse theme was spot-on since it all took place on St. Patrick’s Day.  This installation was long compared with the Virginia Installations at Grand Assembly and it was followed by a dance. I left before it ended since I was going home that night because I had a lot of other activities going on the next morning back at home.  We were very tired by the time we could finally go to bed, but we had a good time!

Isabella
Manassas Assembly #13

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

This year I had the opportunity to attend the NJ Grand Assembly with Kate B who had been appointed the Grand Representative to NJ at our Virginia Grand Assembly in July of this year.  The NJ Grand Assembly took place at the Hilton Hotel in Parsippany from August 11 – August 13, 2017.  Their Grand Worthy Advisor, Jenna Brink, selected the theme:  “Have Courage and Be Kind”; and her mascot was Cinderella.  Kate’s mom drove up with Kate, my mom, and me, and we were able to attend the Grand Officer Banquet and the Opening Session.

Kate and I were seated at the Grand Officer’s table during the Banquet and I was even able to get some phone numbers of the girls so I can keep in contact with them.  After the Banquet was over, we went over to the ball room that was the Assembly Room for the Grand Assembly Sessions.  I was surprised that they sat me in the East and I was introduced as a visiting dignitary.  Kate and I were both showered with gifts and everyone was very kind to us the entire evening.  We got three gift bags each: one from NJ Grand Assembly, one from the Grand Rep. Counterpart, and one from NJ OES.

I noticed differences between the NJ Grand Assembly and that of Virginia.  The Mother Advisors of the different Assemblies are introduced behind the Bow and then got to sit in the East.  All the visiting Grand Officers and Grand Representatives are introduced as a group behind the Bow and then go to the East as a group but then get to go up to stand with the Grand Worthy Advisor in the East and be individually introduced before going to their seats.  I think that’s neat!

They had two types of parades/contests during the opening session.  The first was for the Assembly and Pledge Group Banners.  NJ has nine active Assemblies and six active Pledge groups.  The banners were judged and the winner got to have a pizza party during Grand Assembly.  The second parade/contest was for the costumes for the Grand Representatives and some of them were pretty amazing!  The Grand Representatives dressed up to represent their appointed State/Grand term for that State.  My favorite one was the Dr. Seuss where the Grand Representative actually had a bookshelf that she pushed around the room.

There were several soloist songs sung and there were several Grand Officer Reports given.  I found it interesting that they announced the 2017-2018 Grand Officers during the opening session and even the Grand Worthy Advisor is appointed as a new officer and is not the Grand Worthy Associate Advisor for the prior year.  For the 2017-2018 Grand Year Amy Wilkie is the new GWA and her theme is:  “Don’t Just Fly, Soar with NJ Rainbow” and her mascot is Dumbo.  There was also a slide show of all the pictures throughout the year.  They also have the Grand Officers sign the Book of Memories during the Opening Session so that meeting is really long and lasted from 7:30pm until after 11pm. 

Once the Opening Session was over, we were able to meet up with Mom Renn, Mrs Susan Rennegal, our Supreme Worthy Advisor, since she was there as well! Kate was able to meet her new counterpart, Lydia, and she is also their Grand Hope.  We were very tired by the time we could finally go to bed, but we had a good time!

In Rainbow Love & Service,
Isabella C.

I had a very exciting experience during my first Grand Assembly. Not just to see and meet friends, but because of all the fun we shared as well. It was such an honour to serve as a Grand Flag Bearer, especially considering the fact that I had only joined a few months before. It was an even greater honor to become appointed as the Grand Page to Supreme Inspector Mom Jenkins during Grand Banquet. My favourite part was definitely the dance on the last night. This was a wonderful first experience, and I can’t wait to have an even better Grand Assembly next year!

In RL&S,

Lina
Richmond Assembly #10