A Day At The Races

This past weekend was the pre-reveal and Revealing of the Associate Grand Patron designee for the current Grand Conductress along with her reception. The themes of both the pre-reveal and the reception were based on horse races, as the lady's fun emblem is a horse and her man was known as the Horse Whisperer. The pre-reveal is a custom that I learned about second hand from a friend who was a Past Grand Matron and never experienced until I was a Grand Officer in 2008. The usual methodology is that the man the Grand Conductress has chosen is made available about four or five hours before the GC Reception begins, where everyone finds out who he is, for certain people to meet and greet and know about early. The tradition is that the Past Grand Matrons and Patrons and each family of Grand Officers with which the GC served is invited to this event. So this year, the PGMs and PGPs, the current Grand Family, and the 2009s and 2003s were invited. The GC's own family, from when she was Grand Marshal, in this case the 2008s, were in charge of putting together the event and doing all the work for it. Since I was Grand Warder in 2008, I got to help put this event on for my big sister. You start with at least two decent sized rooms, although sometimes three works better. You need to have a waiting area, (maybe holding pen is more accurate :-), because people tend to come early, even ones that should know better, and they have to wait for their specific time to go in and meet the guy. Some years the people are let in one at a time and some years in batches. Each person, or group, goes in to the next room, meets and greets the guy, sometimes takes a picture, and then is herded off for refreshments, (remember Order of the Eating Siblings - NO event without food!). Some years, the refreshment room is a third room. This year, the meet and greet room and the refreshment room were all one big room with a built up wall to shield the meet and greet area from the entry door. I was stationed at one end of the built up wall and it was a little funny to watch the people because as they came in the door to my left and waited their turn to go around me and the wall to my right, I swear that lots of people were growing extra long necks. They were trying to lean or stretch or do anything to see around the corner. You know, I find it amusing that people who have waited four or five months to find out the identity of this guy were having so much trouble waiting another five minutes. But I suppose that imminence is everything. :-) So after each group met the guy, we lined them up for a picture and then they got to sit down and start on some drinks and snacks. When all the people had processed through, we served paninis and salad and dessert. It was really nice having the meal and letting everyone sit and chat. That is a really fun part, less so when you are one of the people ferrying food one way and emptied plates the other way, but fun nevertheless. Then everyone was off to the hotel to change clothes for the reception later that evening, when everyone would find out about the man. Based on comments and experience, it seems that the hardest thing about your first pre-reveal experience is that you have to now spend two hours in the room with the guy and NOT LOOK AT HIM! I was actually at the designee's table, but being a trial attorney, I have lots of practice at not giving stuff away with looks or funny smiles (she made a great choice and grinning at him was what I wanted to do) or too many giggles. But there you are at the reception for two hours from the beginning until the big announcement, and almost one hundred of the four hundred people in the room know who the guy is already and you are not supposed to give him away to the other three hundred people! This is verboten! Of course, as soon as the guy is announced, Blackberries are happily spreading the news to all parts of the state near and far. I know this year at least one person actually took and sent out a picture about sixty seconds after the announcement. But that is your chance to take a deep breath and go whew, now everyone knows and the pressure is off. The pre-reveal was not done in 2009 because that year's lady did not want a formal reception or a pre-reveal, choosing instead to reveal her choice of man at a large local event. I can see the value of doing it that way since it saved her and her Chapter an awful lot of time, work and money, not having a reception, and also saved her 2007 family a fair bit of work too. I know almost exactly how much work now, having just done it this weekend. But a lot of people like the pre-reveal and the reception and I am told that my 2009 Grand Family is very excited about doing it, so I currently plan to have those events. Of course, first I have to find a man and the rumors are already flying. I have been told that there are already people watching which men from the south I talk to at events. I also wonder if it isn't nicer and easier to be the person on the door side of the wall than the person on the reveal side of the wall. One way or another, I will know in about fifty weeks. Next weekend, I will be in San Ramon.