Searching High and Low

We attended another Official Visit this past weekend and someone asked me an interesting question. We were talking about part of the process in a traditional Official Visit where the individual members of a Chapter are introduced by name and office for each Chapter that is participating. The standard formula goes that the officers of the particular Chapter are asked to stand by their Worthy Matron and then she introduces each officer in order, says whether they are a Past Matron or Patron, and gives years they served as Deputy or Grand Representative or as a Grand Officer. Then all the other members of the Chapter are asked to stand up as well and we clap and then those who are Past Matrons and Patrons and fifty year members who haven't been introduced are asked to remain standing so the other members sit and then another round of introductions is made for the remaining people and then we move on. By virtue of watching the clock, I have been able to determine that this process takes about eight to ten minutes per Chapter. Since pretty much everything at a traditional OV is the same except for how often you change who is sitting in the chairs and how many times you introduce people, the variance in the length of time the OV takes is closely related to the number of Chapters that are there. Some OVs go a bit extra for entertainment or for a presentation skit or something like that, but most vary only because of the number of Chapters. So at an OV with four chapters, which I sort of use as "average", it takes two hours from the start of the opening ceremony until we start walking out to refreshments. With seven or eight chapters in takes 2.5 hours or a bit longer, so about ten extra minutes per. I have asked why we do this introducing and have been told that we used to do it so that the Grand Line Officers can know who is eligible to be a Deputy and who has been a Deputy and should be considered for a Grand Officer because we can see them do their ritual work and use that information to choose. But now that I am a Grand Line Officer, I am not sure that this reason is still valid, at least not for me. To begin with, I have a terrible memory for names. I take notes during the OV to remind myself which of my girls did what part of the OV and to know which ones were there so that if I get a gift card that isn't signed, I will know who was there to contribute so I can send the right thank you notes. I also try to note down anything special about the hall or the meeting that might be useful later on. But I don't write down the names of random members who are introduced and their service records. If I want to know someone's service record, I can send an e-mail to the Grand Chapter office and the Grand Secretary can send me a record sheet with every office and every committee on which they have served. Also, quality of ritual is only one of several criteria that I would consider important for the selection of Grand Officers. I can't speak for anyone else and I won't actually be choosing or asking for another two years, but when that time comes, I would think that I would like to choose people who have served their Chapters and the Order so that the opportunity to be a Grand Officer is a well deserved recognition. If someone wanted to stick out in my mind, I would like to see them be a person who attends Grand Chapter each year, not just one or two years, but several, and who has perhaps served on some Grand Chapter committees. For the ladies, having been a Deputy is not mandatory, but it sure helps because then you see much better how this person interacts with the members when they are in charge and it is easier for them to perfect their own ceremonial work when they come to the schools. It is harder for the men because we don't let them be deputies. I would want to know that they are well regarded in their Chapter so that their Chapter will support them and I would want to know that they have done some work in their Chapter too. For example, going through the line the first time is incredibly fun and exciting. The second time can be fun too because you are less nervous. But very few people go a third or fourth time for fun. At that point, it is more often the case that they are helping out their Chapter through a rough spot and they have stepped up to the plate and taken on the work and the responsibility to keep their Chapter going until some new people are ready to be leaders. But I can't really think of a time when sitting though the introductions has actually made anyone catch my eye, just from that. Now sometimes, when someone has suggested a name to me of someone that I should look at, so I already know the name, the introductions are helpful to let me match the name to a face, so that works, but if that happens once in a whole OV, that would be a high estimate. Another reason someone proposed to me for the introductions was to let the Appointive Grand Officers find out the names of their subordinates. But what that person didn't know, and I guess no one knows unless you have been a Grand Officer, is that at the beginning of each year, the Grand Secretary sends a list of all the subordinate officers to the Grand Officer for just this purpose, to let you find them and communicate. So, when I was Grand Warder, I got a list of all of the Warders in all of the Chapters in California. She sent it out in Word, but I asked for and got it in Excel. It was sorted by Chapter number, but I added a column for district number and then sorted it by district. Then, before each weekend, I would print out or write into my book, all the names of the Warders for the Chapters in each district we were visiting that weekend and then, when I got to the event, I could ask for the specific members by name. That way, I met all of my subordinates before the meeting actually started and could give them some last minute coaching on their work too, just to help out. So by the time they were introduced with the rest of their Chapter, I already knew all of them. It was harder when I was Grand Marshal because you have so many other things you are scrambling to get done. This year is back to being easier and it should get easier yet as I will have the same people next year and possibly some of the names will actually stick. I am great on the faces, but names are tough for me. The only trick is that I have found that it takes about an hour to meet all my people, chat with all the other members, give some instruction on the work for the day to help the Associate Conductresses look good and stand for pictures. Less than an hour and I can't get everything done. For the past two years, our goal for traveling had been to arrive an hour early, but this year, the decision was made to arrive at the OVs less than an hour ahead, more like forty or forty-five minutes, which is totally fine and I am sure that there are good reasons, but unfortunately that just isn't enough time for me, especially because I am a chatterbox and take longer to greet and chat with everyone, so often I have had to go ahead of the rest of the Grand Family to get to the hall in time to get everything done before we sit down and get started. I wish that wasn't so, but I don't want to short my girls or the other members or not have a chance to give my girls some tips to look good on the floor because they are often nervous and everyone is watching them and a quick reminder can make for a world of happy. Next weekend actually starts on Wednesday and I will be in Santa Rosa, Ukiah, Eureka and Ferndale.