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.

By: Kaitlyn

This year has probably been the most exciting Grand Assembly I’ve been to so far.  It all started off with unpacking the storage unit to help Dad Joe Grist on Thursday July 14th.  When we arrived at Grand Assembly, we also helped unpack the stuff and set up the Assembly Room with our Grand Worthy Advisor, Rachel Cochrane, and her sisters.

On Friday morning, we started off with a swim in the pool.  Also, Friday was full of practices and making sure everything was perfect for opening night.  At opening night, when they were announcing the competition winners, I couldn’t believe that my name and Gigi’s were announced for winning the Rose Lecture.  Gigi took pleasure in letting me say the Lecture because she wanted someone else to shine since she was a Grand Officer.  Also, our very own Relena won the Dad’s Talk Lecture.  Introductions were so much fun to hear and to see all of these amazing people.  That night as a group, we got together to do trivia night organized by Abby.  We played many fun games and got to know each other.

The next day we had an Initiation.  The Initiation was done beautifully by all our Grand Officers.  That same day we had the Book of Memories.  Every Officer put their signatures in the Book of Memories.  That night, we had the Grand Banquet.  The food was so delicious and I had a fun night with all my Rainbow Sisters.  Also that night, they announced all of the competition winners and the new Grand Officers.  We congratulated Hampton Assembly on winning Assembly of the Year.  Also, the new Grand Pages, Flag Bearers, and Representatives were announced.  After the Grand Banquet, all the Rainbow Girls came down for movie night.  The movie was very exciting to watch and I enjoyed it.

The next day, we had the Installation of officers.  Rachal Murray was installed as our new Grand Worthy Advisor.  It was a beautiful Installation and I enjoyed every minute of it.  When the Installation was over, we all helped out with taking down the Grand Assembly Room and putting it back into storage until next year.  Overall, this Grand Assembly year is one I will cherish for the rest of my Rainbow years.

This summer’s Virginia Grand Assembly was the first Grand Assembly I have ever been to. It was definitely a new experience to watch the Grand Officers perform the ritual work properly and gives me something to work towards. The now past Grand Worthy advisor, Brigitte Wendel, was my first Grand Worthy Advisor and did a great job interacting with all the girls at Grand Assembly. It was sad to see her leave her station in the East and even more so Majority out of Rainbow. I liked Brigitte’s theme and how it fit with everything we did during Grand Assembly. The Grand Officers opening dance, to “One World”, was a great way to incorporate the international theme into the sessions. I really enjoyed all the activities Brigitte had planned at Grand Assembly and I was happy to participate and meet Girls from all over the State. The two parts of Grand Assembly I liked the most were, the Grand Banquet because, during the banquet the awards we had worked for all year were announced. My second favorite part was the Majority Service because it was very touching and beautiful. Overall, Grand Assembly was a great experience and I hope I get to go next year.
In Rainbow Love and Service,
Dalanie -Manassas Assembly #13