Jam and Jelly

This past Saturday was the annual Jam and Jelly Day. I have made this event three times now and there are few events with better food. That's saying a lot when you're considering events in the Order of the Eating Siblings. Unfortunately, the old TANSTAAFL rule still applies. (That's There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch, which I learned from Robert Heinlein in The Moon is A Harsh Mistress, one of my favorite books.) Please understand, I love this event, but the logistics sometimes leave just a bit to be desired. As with most OES events, before you get to eat, there are certain preliminaries that must be followed. The usual order (your mileage may vary) is that there is a welcome speech or two, then a prayer and the Pledge of Allegiance and usually the National Anthem is sung and then there is some escort and some introductions. That's all fine, but this event has some interesting tweaks. Let's start with a part that I like. Each Grand Officer, and a few other selected dignitaries, are given a special person to escort them into the hall. When you get to the front of the room, the Grand Officer introduces their special escort person and says a few words about them. You need to make sure that you meet the person ahead of time and get some information so that you have something to say about them other than just "what a very nice person this is" which may be true, but is not much of an introduction. Now in years past you had to know to show up with something to write on so you could ask some questions and take some notes. This year they made a great improvement by giving us an information sheet with some basic stuff already filled in. That is a great time saver because you can then ask about unusual or extra stuff to really liven up your presentation. This year I had the absolutely easiest time of anyone because my special person was a member of my Chapter and she and I had lots of history together so the tough part was choosing what not to say! We had a great time and I hope she gets to be my person next year too because I still have a bunch of great stuff saved up. So now let's go maybe not the best part. Because the Grand Officers and some dignitaries are going to be escorted in and introduced, they are lined up to do this, but they are lined up outside. We couldn't see or hear anything at all. Now I am told that if the speakers were working, we'd be able to hear, but we still couldn't see and here is this person giving a welcome speech and the guests that they are welcoming are all still outside. See the problem? I still had a good time because since we couldn't hear anyway, we amused ourselves by chatting while we waited and I probably had too good a time because a couple of times when we laughed, we got shushed and I am sorry if we disturbed anyone. But if we are the honored guests, how about doing that bit of escort and introductions first so we can see the rest of the program? On the other hand, I did have a lot of fun chatting, so maybe leaving us outside is okay. :-) Another not my favorite part is the number of self-introductions. Okay, I confess. I think the whole escort and introductions thing goes on too long. I can only sit for about two hours before my bottom falls asleep and I would rather be chatting and eating. It is true, mea culpa. But it is particularly frustrating when people are doing self introductions without a mike in a big room. You can hardly hear the introductions anyway and no one is quite sure when it is their turn, so there are pauses while people sort out who is going next. But eventually all of that is over and we can get back to the really fun part. You see at this event, the local Chapters each host a Grand Officer or two. The local Chapter members fix a picnic type meal, often full of home made goodies, and then you sit with that Chapter and eat whatever they brought. They always bring way too much so you have to pace yourself because everything is awesomely tasty and you don't want to run out of room. You can visit and eat and spend the most delightful time with the members. Of course if you are a real gourmand, (or perhaps glutton is a better word :-), then you go around to the other Chapters to say hello to the members and of course, they all offer you tastes of their goodies too, so you don't just get double or even triple desserts, more like four or five. It is also amazing to me how many of the Brothers in our Order cook. I had a pie slice made by one that was scrumptious and at another table, I had a fruit and rum mix inside a fried wonton wrapper with powdered sugar that was to die for also made by a Brother. Wow! Next weekend, I am going to some local receptions. I will not be in San Bernardino nor Buena Park.