Hello there!  Today I will be telling you about South Carolina’s Grand Assembly.

I started off from my grandparents house driving to Richmond to pick up Noelle.  After we picked up Noelle, we drove another eight hours to South Carolina’s Grand. This year, South Carolina was having their Grand Assembly in Columbia. In the car, Noelle and I watched some shows and played some games.

When we finally arrived, we changed in the car and went straight to dinner at the Lodge. We had chicken wings and rolls for dinner.  After they were done serving dinner, the Grand Representatives went around the dinner room and showed off the arrows they made for the term. On the arrows were symbols and the name of their jurisdiction they were corresponding to. Afterward, Mom Dedra announced that they didn’t have enough new initiates to dump a bucket of ice on her head. However, there was still a lot of initiates, so she let some first line signers spray her all over with silly string. It was really funny.

After that, we went back to our hotel room. In the hotel room, we realized it’s not a grand assembly without a late night snack run. So me, Mom Christi, Kaitlyn, and Noelle drove to Walmart to pick up some snacks. We bought so many. That night, we played a game we bought and chilled.

The next day we woke up early to go to breakfast with my grandparents. After breakfast, there was not any sessions that we had to go to so we went to the zoo. At the zoo, we visited many animals such as lions, tigers, and rhinos. After our long adventure at the zoo, we went to the gift shop  where Noelle and I got matching necklaces. Our necklaces both had two baby turtles on them.

After the zoo, we headed back to the Lodge to eat lunch. After our delicious lunch, we headed down to the assembly room to get started on the first session.  The assembly room was kind of like a theater so you could see the stage from up above. One of the things that we did at the first session was initiation. After that session, we went to dinner and then went to another session.

After that long day, we went back to the hotel room and ate our mac & cheese and ramen. The next morning, we went to go eat breakfast and then went to a session. Next thing that we did was having lunch at the Lodge.  After lunch, we took a break in the hotel room, and we took some naps. Alyssa and I went over to the talent show what they were having, and Alyssa judged while I watched. I hung out with some other Virginia Rainbow girls and did the trivia that they included. After that, we got ready and headed to the banquet.

At the banquet, they did the same type of things that Virginia does in announcing the new officers.  However, in South Carolina you don’t apply for the office…. you just get awarded it. At the banquet, they had some delicious ham and mac & cheese, and they had one of the best cheesecakes I’ve ever had.

After finishing all of their work for the year we went to the hotel room and went to bed knowing there was a long day ahead tomorrow. The next day, most of the Virginia Rainbow girls left but Noelle and I stayed for the installation that was beautifully done. After the installation, we headed home knowing there were eight hours ahead. Overall, I can say South Carolina was a very fun Grand Assembly!

In Rainbow Love and Service,

Ella, Ashburn Assembly #11

On March 19^th I attended Maryland’s Grand Assembly for 2022.

Earlier that day I rode up to Maryland with some of my favorite people such as Mom Erin, Kaitlyn, and Mom Christi. When we got to Maryland, we changed right away and went to the first session. In the first session on Saturday, they did baby dedication, memorial service, and speeches. Some people who did the speeches from VA were Kaitlyn, Mom J, And Jasmine. Once the session was over, we changed and went to California Pizza Kitchen. At California Pizza Kitchen, I got a very yummy pizza. After we ate, we went shopping to places like Dick’s and Marshall’s. After we shopped, we went back to the room to change so we could go to the banquet. At the banquet we had food at a buffet, and the Maryland girls did a skit for the incoming GWA. After the banquet we headed to the installation. A lot of amazing girls got installed. After the installation we went back to the room, changed, and went home. It was very fun to visit a different jurisdiction.

During the weekend of Grand Assembly, I roomed with my rainbow sisters, Charlye and Mary. I had such a fun time rooming with them and really enjoyed when we listened to Harry Styles sleep podcasts. They were really relaxing and helped me fall asleep. Mary even knew it word for word which was pretty impressive! I enjoyed the podcasts so much and enjoyed spending time with my roommates even more!

In Rainbow Love and Service,

Sarah

While I didn’t have enough time to go to Richmond’s Installation this weekend, I was able to turn on Zoom and watch the afternoon session for Canada’s Grand Assembly.  This was a game session where everyone played a scavenger hunt paying homage to the missed Rainbow travel over nearly a year and a half since the pandemic started.  We went in search of things around our house that we would either take on travels like a passport or driver’s license to things we would get on a trip like our favorite souvenir.  This made me want to go visit Canada Rainbow when things open up and we can cross the border without restrictions.

Isabella C.