Schoolhouse Rock

Another year comes around and another Deputy Grand Matron school for the Grand Officers to help teach the new Deputy Grand Matrons how to perform the ceremonies of our Order so that they in turn can instruct the individual Chapters in their Districts. Each year, the main school is traditionally held near the home Chapter of the Worthy Grand Matron, so this year, we were in Hayward. The school this year was a little different because a fair number of the Deputies are repeaters, meaning that they have served as deputy before. That makes it different because on the one hand, the repeaters can ask questions at a greater level of detail, having learned all the basics before, but it can also be a challenge because some things have changed and it is tough to learn a new way when you have an old way stuck in your head. I had that problem last year because when I was first Associate Conductress in my Chapter, I learned a lecture that has since been completely re-written and it is tough to get the old one out of your head in favor of the new one. I had that same toughness in a couple of spots this year although luckily I had all of last year watching my Big Sister to try to fix those. For example, when I was first a Conductress in my Chapter in the early nineties, I could have sworn that we turned at a different point on the floor to go in to open the Bible, one of the duties that the Conductress performs most often, but now we turn at an earlier point and it is hard to get that stuck in your head unless you just do it over and over. Some other little bits have changed also and for each one, you have to toss out the old and in with the new, assuming you remember which is which of course. I really enjoyed the school not only because I love to teach, but it also gave me a bit more practice before I have to go out on the road and teach all this stuff to my girls, so that I can have it all correct in my head because if you teach it wrong, it gets done wrong FOREVER! One thing that made this particularly interesting is that in Hayward, the first floor of the lodge building is rented out to a church on Sunday. As we discovered at Grand Officer School, and as we were reminded this weekend, this particular church is not quiet. In fact, we could have danced to the music on the second floor, where we were practicing, without any trouble whatsoever. I've never wanted to go to church before, being Jewish, but I must admit that I was curious to see what on earth was going on down there that had to be so LOUD. Unfortunately, the church got out around an hour or so before we were done, so they had cleared out by the time we went downstairs. So I guess I will have to check it out another time. I thought I had mostly recovered from Grand Chapter, but spending Friday on my feet again in flats taught me that I was overly optimistic. So Saturday was tennis shoe day since I knew that there would also be walking to do on Sunday. On Sunday, because it was Halloween, the Grand Officers came in to start the day and then we went out on "break" while some other stuff was discussed with the Deputies, and then we came back into the room in costumes. I am sure that there will be opportunities for people to see our costumes because as soon as we walked in, the cameras started going off. There were lots of individual pictures taken and then some people insisted on group pictures too. I wore my Dorothy costume, complete with silver shoes, (I am a book Dorothy, not a movie Dorothy, I'll have you know), and pigtails tied with gingham ribbons. Someone told me that I looked young enough to card with my hair parted in the middle and put into pigtails and I know that it is true because when I was in my thirties, I wore my hair that way and got carded. That may be why I now part my hair on one side. I know I look young enough to be Dorothy in the costume, but I also knew that the Eastern Star paparazzi were likely to get us, so Dorothy was a better choice than the only other costume I own, which is a short, black satin saloon girl costume with red, ruffled petticoats and a hairband with a feather sticking up out of it. Sometimes people ask me why I don't wear my medieval clothing for a Halloween costume and I tell them that I don't think of those clothes as a costume. They're my clothes for SCA events and medieval parties, just like my formals are for Eastern Star events and formal occasions, although I admit that I own a few that could be turned into costumes. :-) Now that it is November, we are into Installation season. I will be doing installations all over the state each weekend this month. I only go to ones where I am invited and I try to always RSVP any invitation I get, but it helps when there is a proposed RSVP contact on the invite. I will pick up on more group travel with the Grand Family the first weekend in December.