We've Cleared the Tower

What a weekend! The Grand Family for 2010 made its first public appearance in our new travel outfits at Deputy Grand Matron School in Chowchilla, a three day tour of duty going all day Friday and Saturday and finishing up on Sunday morning. Our year is now officially launched. For those of you unfamiliar with this annual rite of passage, each year the Worthy Grand Matron (WGM) appoints Deputy Grand Matrons (DGMs or Deputies) to serve as her representatives all over the State, helping to teach our ritual and ceremonies so they are performed correctly in our Chapters, to check the books and records of each Chapter to make sure everything is in order and to be her eyes and ears. It's a big state and the time flies by. There is no way the WGM could do all this reviewing and supervising of all 190 or so Chapters on her own, so each Deputy is assigned a group of Chapters to oversee. This group of Chapters is called a District. One or more Districts can form an Association also. The WGM makes an Official Visit to each District in the State and it is part of the DGM's job to help the local leaders put it together. Sometimes there are Association events too. But a Deputy can't teach our ritual if they don't know it themselves and in most areas the Deputy is replaced every year. While each of them is required to be a Past Matron, having led their own Chapter and they therefore should be familiar with the ritual ceremonies, there is a gigantic difference between learning one part and learning all the parts. The Deputies even have to instruct the men in their parts and of course none of them have ever sat in any of the chairs that are limited to men. Teaching is also a separate skill from knowing, so even if they are good ritualists themselves, learning the work well enough to answer questions takes a higher level of understanding. To assist the Deputies in getting ready for their job, the Grand Officers, who had their own school a month ago to perfect their own work, demonstrate the various ceremonies for the Deputies and then coach them in the different parts. The big school this weekend was for all the Deputies from all over the state. We will also hold two Brush Up Schools later in the year, one in the North and one in the South. The problem is, two and a half days is not a lot of time to learn everything there is to learn. I have now been, over the years, to four DGM Schools and six Brush Up Schools and every single time I attend one, I learn something new that I have never heard of or done before. And sometimes I find out that the way I have been doing something is wrong. I love the fact that I am still learning, but my heart goes out to the Deputies. For most of them, they've never really studied the ritual at the level required to teach it and then they have to go back to their Districts and be IT, the One Who Knows, Teacher of All Floor Work, Giver of All Answers. It was obvious that all of the Deputies were really concentrating on learning everything we could teach them and they were a lot more confident and comfortable towards the end of the weekend. They asked really good questions and started to know what they did and didn't know so they could figure out what to ask. Maybe by the time I am done with this journey, I will actually know the ritual myself. The Grand Officers were great. Everyone was really putting in 110% to try to do their work perfectly for the Deputies and were unfailing in their willingness to show things over that someone needed to see. After all that hard work, we had dinner out on Saturday night at a local restaurant, but it didn't have a big enough dining room for all of us, so the Deputies and the WGM and WGP were in a big room in the back and the rest of the Grand Officers and their Escorts were in a smaller room in the front. We had a great time at dinner, even if some of us, including myself, who can't sing were doing it anyway. When you find someone sitting next to you who also knows the lyrics to Tom Lehrer songs, what can you do but sing a few? To liven up the evening, the Grand Officers decided to pay a visit to the DGM dinner, just to let them know that we missed them. We piled into their dining room with a rousing chorus of Together Wherever We Go from the musical Gypsy. Note to self - Before two dozen people pile into a dining room with sixty other people in it to serenade them, make sure your group knows all the words. We made up in enthusiasm what we lacked in tune or lyrics though, so a good time was had by all. The next morning, the DGMs had their revenge though. They treated us to new lyrics to the tune of Row, Row, Row Your Boat and did it as a round with each side of the room taking a different start. It was very cute, especially when some of the Deputies forgot the new words and just started singing the original ones. On top of the school all day, after dinner each night, I got to attend my first Line Officers' meetings. So I have cleared that tower too. We discussed a lot of stuff, but it was really nice to work in a group of people who are all trying really, really hard to do the right things for the Order and who are truly interested in reaching consensus. I know we probably took longer doing things that way, but it was very rewarding to listen to everyone's point of view, contribute to the discussion and reach a decision together, especially when we all have to live with the results. It could have been awkward with two people from last year gone and two new people in the room, but it wasn't and that was great too. Next weekend we start into November and that is Installation Month. Instead of traveling as a group in November, the Grand Officers get invitations to local Chapter installations and go to those events individually. I am already signed up to do my first Installing on November 1 in Soquel and will let you know all about it next Monday.