This past weekend started out with the Superior Association Event, which began with lunch on a, you guessed it, riverboat, the Delta King. For a state that is mostly desert, I am getting on a lot of river boats this summer.
We had a lovely lunch in the boat, which is floating on the river as it goes through Old Sacramento and then we went over to the California Railroad Museum before shopping on the streets of Old Sacramento. The Railroad Museum, which I am told is the largest one in the world, was pretty amazing. They have a lot of fully restored train cars, including engines, dining cars, freight cars and a caboose or two. Some of them are bigger than others, but they are all LARGE! Which means that Westerns are ruined for me for ever because looking up at the size of some of these monsters, I can tell that you'd break a leg or an ankle jumping off the thing while it was standing still, let alone while it was moving. And running along the top in cowboy boots - I don't think so! Traditional cowboy boots of the era had leather soles, which are smooth and slick, so running along a moving train, that rattles and sways from side to side and is made of polished wood or metal, with a curve in it from the top peak down to where it meets the side of the train - not happening! Nice thought, try again! I don't know that you could run along the top of the thing in cowboy boots while it isn't moving. And jumping off, well, I suppose we all have to die sometime, but that's not the way I would choose. If you are lucky, you break something that kills you right away. But more often than not, it looks like you would just break something painful that wouldn't kill you, so you'd just get to lie there and suffer. Not a good idea at all! So train running and jumping is not only off my list of things to do in this lifetime (okay, it was never really on there in the first place. :-), but I don't think I will ever be able to suspend disbelief watching a Western again. Alas, another lovely illusion shattered by the experiences of going up the Grand Line.
The item that particularly caught my eye in the train museum was a golden spike, called the Lost Spike, that is a twin to the Last Spike that was driven in to finish the Transcontinental Railroad and a picture and painting that went along with it. The first fascinating thing is that the picture of the spike being driven doesn't have all the rich, important people standing in carefully placed positions as the spike goes it. It's got a bunch of tired railroad workers standing around while the thing got driven in place, with some important people mixed in the crowd. But the commissioned painting of the event has all the important people in lovely, perfect positions, more important people bigger and in front of course, and you can see everyone and they are all nice and shiny clean too. The painting is famous, the photo far less so, and that would be what one would expect since even in the 1800s, PR people evidently knew how to get the most bang for their buck.
The Lost Spike itself is on display and was evidently picked up by the museum only in 2005. There is a plaque explaining that the Last Spike was engraved hastily and had the wrong date on it (May 8) because that is the day that they thought it would go in, although it really went in on May 10, and the engraving on the Last Spike was not as neat and fancy as the Lost Spike because the Lost Spike was engraved after the fact and with all the time in the world. I particularly liked the inscription, common to both of them, "May God continue the unity of our Country, as this Railroad unites the two great Oceans of the world. May 10, 1867.
After the Superior Event in San Francisco, I drove back to San Jose to attend an Emerald City Lights themed reception for our Grand Green Star Point Officer. The reception was done in a modified formal style, sort of like my own in that there were introductions but not escorting and no presentations. That shortened the program part to an hour which gave us time for a lovely half an hour of music and dance entertainment before going in for refreshments. The songs and dances were very nice and everyone enjoyed them.
After the reception, I engaged in an old tradition that I happen to like, that of offering hospitality to the Grand Family when they are in your area. This is a tradition that used to be more universal in Grand Families, but which has fallen off in more recent times. It used to be that when the Grand Family was in the local area of one of the Grand Officers, the local would have everyone over for a meal or drinks or just some social time. If your home was too small for everyone, you could also have them out at a local restaurant or bar. I know that with times being tougher, this added expense can be hard for some and with a schedule that is squeezed into weekends, times can also be hard to find, but I have always liked this tradition because it gives everyone some social down time when it is just the Family, to talk and enjoy each other's company without detracting from member time as would happen if the Family socialized at an event. Most of the Family was able to make it over to my house and I enjoyed having them. I think I've hooked a couple of them on my homemade fruit cordials. :-)
On Sunday, it was back up to Richmond for a Blue Christmas reception, which was done in the full, traditional style, with escort and presentations and everything. It was a lovely afternoon with the most amazing decorations. I don't know if I have ever seen so many blue Christmas decorations ever. I don't think I knew there were so many in existence. And they all looked great!
I couldn't help but notice though, that where the night before, the modified program was over, including speeches, in about an hour, followed by a half an hour of entertainment and then a social hour, the full, traditional style, took and hour and ten minutes to get through all the preliminaries and escort before the Worthy Patron took the gavel to start the speeches, and the speeches and presentations took us to a full two hours of program. While I feel very strongly that a reception is a very personal thing and, like a wedding, an honored member should have what they want, within reasonable boundaries of cost and decorum, I wonder as a general idea how much is added or subtracted by the member experience by these changes. Of course, since I can't sit for great lengths of time with pain, I am probably somewhat biased on this issue.
Next weekend, I am in Fresno for the AM/AP workshop.
Monday, July 25, 2011
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
From Riverboats to Rock and Roll
This past weekend were three more receptions for appointed Grand Officers and they were all spectacular in their own way. The only hard part was that they all had different themes calling for different clothes, so I think I packed more outfits for this weekend than I've needed all year long. :-) But it was lots of fun to dress up and participate in every one of them.
We started Friday night with a gambling themed social reception. After the obligatory remarks and speeches time, we enjoyed a room that reminded me of a riverboat casino. There were gaming tables and dealers and when we walked in the door, everyone got a $10,000 chip to play the games. Too bad that there was no cashier, because I would have just cashed out and called it a great day. :-) But everyone had the chance to play the games for free and there is nothing with less stress than the fun of playing gambling games when none of the money on the table is yours. :-)
All of the Grand Officers had feathers or dealer visors to add ambiance to the day and I don't think I have seen that many feather boas in one room at the same time since I went to a Las Vegas drag queen show. It was quite colorful. As with all things Eastern Star, there were tasty snacks and finger foods to enjoy between rounds at the gaming tables. I think that I will have to get the receipe for these mozzarella and pepperoni pinwheels that they served. They were serious YUM!
Saturday night was the Wearing of the Purple and it was all about the Crown. We all wore purple shirts or blouses and some of the men also had purple ties. One of the nice things about choosing a Mr. Wizard who has traveled several times before is that he already has a fair collection of wardrobe bits, so he shouldn't have to buy too many pieces to fit the various dress themes and evidently, a purple tie was already in his closet. Or if he ran out and bought one, he hasn't admitted it to me. :-) There were several great musical selections including some wonderful vocals and instrumental pieces and all of the Grand Officers wore plastic tiaras with little flashing lights on them. They probably looked better on the ladies than on the men, but what a bunch of good sports. Since Mr. Wizard has traveled before, I think he was not terribly surprised to find himself wearing this thing and that is good, because he'll wear a lot more weird things before our time is done.
Sunday afternoon brought us to a Rock and Roll BBQ reception, for which I wore black jeans and a white shirt and my black leather biker jacket. I have a funny feeling that I may be the only Grand Line Officer in Eastern Star history to own a black leather and chrome snap jacket, or if not, the only one who has dared to wear it to a reception. But we were told to dress rock and roll and I wore a pink hairband too, so there you go. It made the honoree happy, so everything else is moot. The honored member is part of a band and his band played lots of great songs for the entertainment. The totally best one of all is the one where our Grand Chaplain did the vocals himself. He told me that he was not a singer, just a guitarist, but his song was awesome. I wonder if we will ever be able to get him to repeat it. We had a great BBQ lunch too and it was a shame to get to the end of the program. I wish I had had the courage to yell encore, but the last time I did that, I ended up on a stage doing bad hula dancing, so I took a pass on that this time. :-)
Next weekend I am in Sacramento, Los Gatos and Vallejo.
We started Friday night with a gambling themed social reception. After the obligatory remarks and speeches time, we enjoyed a room that reminded me of a riverboat casino. There were gaming tables and dealers and when we walked in the door, everyone got a $10,000 chip to play the games. Too bad that there was no cashier, because I would have just cashed out and called it a great day. :-) But everyone had the chance to play the games for free and there is nothing with less stress than the fun of playing gambling games when none of the money on the table is yours. :-)
All of the Grand Officers had feathers or dealer visors to add ambiance to the day and I don't think I have seen that many feather boas in one room at the same time since I went to a Las Vegas drag queen show. It was quite colorful. As with all things Eastern Star, there were tasty snacks and finger foods to enjoy between rounds at the gaming tables. I think that I will have to get the receipe for these mozzarella and pepperoni pinwheels that they served. They were serious YUM!
Saturday night was the Wearing of the Purple and it was all about the Crown. We all wore purple shirts or blouses and some of the men also had purple ties. One of the nice things about choosing a Mr. Wizard who has traveled several times before is that he already has a fair collection of wardrobe bits, so he shouldn't have to buy too many pieces to fit the various dress themes and evidently, a purple tie was already in his closet. Or if he ran out and bought one, he hasn't admitted it to me. :-) There were several great musical selections including some wonderful vocals and instrumental pieces and all of the Grand Officers wore plastic tiaras with little flashing lights on them. They probably looked better on the ladies than on the men, but what a bunch of good sports. Since Mr. Wizard has traveled before, I think he was not terribly surprised to find himself wearing this thing and that is good, because he'll wear a lot more weird things before our time is done.
Sunday afternoon brought us to a Rock and Roll BBQ reception, for which I wore black jeans and a white shirt and my black leather biker jacket. I have a funny feeling that I may be the only Grand Line Officer in Eastern Star history to own a black leather and chrome snap jacket, or if not, the only one who has dared to wear it to a reception. But we were told to dress rock and roll and I wore a pink hairband too, so there you go. It made the honoree happy, so everything else is moot. The honored member is part of a band and his band played lots of great songs for the entertainment. The totally best one of all is the one where our Grand Chaplain did the vocals himself. He told me that he was not a singer, just a guitarist, but his song was awesome. I wonder if we will ever be able to get him to repeat it. We had a great BBQ lunch too and it was a shame to get to the end of the program. I wish I had had the courage to yell encore, but the last time I did that, I ended up on a stage doing bad hula dancing, so I took a pass on that this time. :-)
Next weekend I am in Sacramento, Los Gatos and Vallejo.
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Off To See The Wizard
This past weekend was so full of events and plans coming together that I had to come back to work to get some rest.
Saturday was my reception and the announcement of Mr. Wizard, the man I have asked to run for the office of Associate Grand Patron this October, who will, assuming we are both elected, serve with me as the co-head of the Order in 2013. I think sometimes that the Grand Conductress reception is the biggest event in the trip up the Grand Line because everyone wants to know who you have chosen and even those who think they know want confirmation.
But the demographic of the event was very interesting. Usually, a lot of Past Grand Matrons and Past Grand Patrons show up to the reception because they've all been there themselves and want to know who is coming next. By a lot I mean usually a couple dozen, so I arranged for forty-eight chairs on the stage, twenty-four on the ladies side and twenty-four on the men's side, with an aisle down the middle, figuring that the front row of six on each side would be taken by the speakers and presiding officers and then the back three rows on the ladies side would be full and a row or two of men. Then I had almost four hundred chairs set up in the room theater style for the audience. Usually, the stage is full and ladies are sitting on the men's side because we run out of chairs on the ladies' side, and usually there are lots of empty chairs around the audience because people sit more on the ends and not in the middle or there are round tables and no one wants the chairs that you have to turn around.
Well, I may have had more empty chairs on the stage than in the audience. Almost every chair in the audience was taken, but I had twenty-five or so empty seats on the stage. If I had realized the numbers were going to fall that way, I would have moved the Grand Officers to the stage and freed up a row in the audience, but who knew. At least I can be happy that there was a great turn out and that I had the room sized correctly because there were just a few empty chairs, so everyone had a place to sit but we didn't feel like a really tiny nut in a really big shell.
Everything came out awesome! The photographer is a man who I know from my professional world, who had never been to an Eastern Star or Masonic event before and told me today that he never knew that I was a spiritual person before, and that he felt inspired by my speech at the reception. Maybe I have to get him a petition to a local Lodge. I wonder where he lives. He has offered to set up an on line file of pictures for me so I can send the link to my girls and they can print out pictures that they want and we are going to see if that works.
I should have the video in a week or so and then I can start to remember what people said and what happened. When you are in the midst of it, you are so busy being in the moment, that you hardly remenber anything! I remember just bits and flashes, but luckily the electronic memory can bring it all back!
Then, if that wasn't enough, we had our workshop on Sunday, with a hundred people for leadership and management training. That was a mixed group of my girls and their little sisters and their Associate Patrons to be and assorted guests and we had a great time presenting modules on strategic planning, budgeting, motivating volunteers and working with our Lodges along with interesting exercises and discussions. I am hopeful that we will help improve the leadership skills in our Chapters and be able to accomplish more with each year as we grow into the new Millenium! The attendees were enthusiastic and fun.
As is customary, I showed the girls the dress that I have chosen for them for our Worthy Matron year. However, I failed slightly in my intelligence gathering. I did not find out if the materials were all washable, so I have a task on my list and luckily my girls are forgiving because we had half the workshop still to go and they were kind enough to refrain from lynching me for not knowing this fact about the dress. Most seemed to like it, or if they didn't, they didn't say so to me. :-)
It was a tremendous amount of work and planning, but the results were spectacular and have proven one of my basic rules of Eastern Star - everything is more fun when it is over and you can look back and say Wow, I did that!
Next weekend I am going to three receptions, in Ridgecrest, Yorba Linda and San Pedro.
Saturday was my reception and the announcement of Mr. Wizard, the man I have asked to run for the office of Associate Grand Patron this October, who will, assuming we are both elected, serve with me as the co-head of the Order in 2013. I think sometimes that the Grand Conductress reception is the biggest event in the trip up the Grand Line because everyone wants to know who you have chosen and even those who think they know want confirmation.
But the demographic of the event was very interesting. Usually, a lot of Past Grand Matrons and Past Grand Patrons show up to the reception because they've all been there themselves and want to know who is coming next. By a lot I mean usually a couple dozen, so I arranged for forty-eight chairs on the stage, twenty-four on the ladies side and twenty-four on the men's side, with an aisle down the middle, figuring that the front row of six on each side would be taken by the speakers and presiding officers and then the back three rows on the ladies side would be full and a row or two of men. Then I had almost four hundred chairs set up in the room theater style for the audience. Usually, the stage is full and ladies are sitting on the men's side because we run out of chairs on the ladies' side, and usually there are lots of empty chairs around the audience because people sit more on the ends and not in the middle or there are round tables and no one wants the chairs that you have to turn around.
Well, I may have had more empty chairs on the stage than in the audience. Almost every chair in the audience was taken, but I had twenty-five or so empty seats on the stage. If I had realized the numbers were going to fall that way, I would have moved the Grand Officers to the stage and freed up a row in the audience, but who knew. At least I can be happy that there was a great turn out and that I had the room sized correctly because there were just a few empty chairs, so everyone had a place to sit but we didn't feel like a really tiny nut in a really big shell.
Everything came out awesome! The photographer is a man who I know from my professional world, who had never been to an Eastern Star or Masonic event before and told me today that he never knew that I was a spiritual person before, and that he felt inspired by my speech at the reception. Maybe I have to get him a petition to a local Lodge. I wonder where he lives. He has offered to set up an on line file of pictures for me so I can send the link to my girls and they can print out pictures that they want and we are going to see if that works.
I should have the video in a week or so and then I can start to remember what people said and what happened. When you are in the midst of it, you are so busy being in the moment, that you hardly remenber anything! I remember just bits and flashes, but luckily the electronic memory can bring it all back!
Then, if that wasn't enough, we had our workshop on Sunday, with a hundred people for leadership and management training. That was a mixed group of my girls and their little sisters and their Associate Patrons to be and assorted guests and we had a great time presenting modules on strategic planning, budgeting, motivating volunteers and working with our Lodges along with interesting exercises and discussions. I am hopeful that we will help improve the leadership skills in our Chapters and be able to accomplish more with each year as we grow into the new Millenium! The attendees were enthusiastic and fun.
As is customary, I showed the girls the dress that I have chosen for them for our Worthy Matron year. However, I failed slightly in my intelligence gathering. I did not find out if the materials were all washable, so I have a task on my list and luckily my girls are forgiving because we had half the workshop still to go and they were kind enough to refrain from lynching me for not knowing this fact about the dress. Most seemed to like it, or if they didn't, they didn't say so to me. :-)
It was a tremendous amount of work and planning, but the results were spectacular and have proven one of my basic rules of Eastern Star - everything is more fun when it is over and you can look back and say Wow, I did that!
Next weekend I am going to three receptions, in Ridgecrest, Yorba Linda and San Pedro.
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Fun and Not So Fun
This past weekend was the final big push in getting ready for the Reception and Workshop this weekend. I am truly blessed to have lots of wonderful support and helpers from my Chapter and from all over my area to truly show that many hands make light work. Two work parties later, we are all ready to go, at least on all the things that can be done ahead of time. The "day of" tasks and the thousand and one "punch list" items is still a little daunting. Still, we've got four evenings to get the punch list done, well, okay really three because I have my nail appointment on Thursday, well okay, really two because we may have a practice or run through on one of those, okay, really one because Friday has already been eaten by "day of" tasks . . .well, maybe I can get stuff done during my lunch hours. :-)
Of course, the rest of the Eastern Star world isn't holding still while I get through this count down either. There are other receptions for other Grand Officers on the weekends that follow my weekend of events and so I also owe some people scrapbook pages for those, but on the other hand, there are loads of empty evenings after this weekend to do that, five whole evenings, well, okay, maybe four because I fly out on that Friday, and well, maybe three because I have to pack on that Thursday, well, okay, maybe two because my Chapter meeting is that Wednesday, well, okay, maybe one because I have to work late one of those nights to make up for leaving early on Friday, so okay, yeah, one night, three scrapbook pages. That can be done, right? I mean who needs to buy groceries or clean house or any of those other silly things, yes? I can eat fast food and do scrapbook pages, sure!
So maybe I've gotten to the point where nothing gets to get on my task list without a time estimate and yes, sleep is highly overrated anyway!
So, honestly, the preparation part is stressful but it can be fun too. Having a great bunch of people help you get great things done is awesome! So while sleeping every now and then would be nice, I will just have to catch up on that another month.
What is not so fun is the number of people who keep telling me that they "know" who I've chosen to go with me and that they've "known" since last year or they go to some guy that they think it might be and tell him that they "know" it is him and how much they will enjoy his year. I keep reminding myself that it would not be polite to say a bad word to these people.
If people want to guess on their own, or even in their Association or social group, that's fine and that can be fun as a game. I have one group who told me that they discussed it at an Association meeting and wrote down their guess in an envelope and they are going to bring the envelope to the reception and see if they guessed right. That sounds like great fun as long as they are happy whether they are right or wrong.
But people telling me that they knew last year, when I didn't even know last year is just annoying. And teasing one of the eligible men is just plain mean. It hurts people's feelings A LOT! If they are the guy, then you force them to lie to you, which is awkward and embarrassing, and if they are not the guy, how much more embarrassing to be thought of that way and then to have everyone find out that it isn't you. I don't want to spoil people's fun of guessing, but if anyone out there thinks it is fun to be teased "I know who you've chosen, I know who you've chosen, ha ha ha-ha ha, neeener, neener, neeener" then they have a very weird sense of humor.
It also causes hurt feelings because there are rules for the timing of asking people to do certain things and breaking the timing makes it look like you don't care about others. A Grand Line lady is not supposed to ask a man to serve with her until she is Grand Conductress. Has the rule been broken in the past? Yes. Is that good? No. Did I ask my guy before the proper time? No. So anyone who "knew" when I was Associate Grand Conductress must be precognitive, since even I didn't know.
The same is true with asking people to serve as Grand Officers. You aren't supposed to ask anyone until you are Associate Grand Matron, but I've got people starting rumors that I've asked a Grand Marshal already. Reality - I haven't asked anyone and won't until the right time and truthfully, I haven't even made a final decision on who I am going to ask, so anyone who says they know is three steps ahead of me. And the discomfort of teasing people is just as bad for the Grand Officer appointees. They aren't supposed to say anything until they are announced and so asking people forces them to either lie or get their feelings really hurt because if they say no and they really aren't one of the ones chosen, how hurtful!
So if I could make one wish, not only for myself, but for those still before me and for those that come after and for every person that some day may find themselves considered for any Grand Officer position, it would be for people to spread the word that asking ahead or teasing ahead is just not fun. Guess among yourselves all you want, but don't tell me or any other Grand Line officer that you "know" their choices for AGP or Grand Officer and please, if you have any mercy at all, don't ask people if or tell people that they are one of the "chosen".
Next weekend, I am here in San Jose for the Conductresses Reception and the combined Conductress/Associate Conductress/Associate Patron designee Workshop. It promises to be an amazingly fun weekend and I will probably be the happiest person on the planet next Sunday afternoon.
Of course, the rest of the Eastern Star world isn't holding still while I get through this count down either. There are other receptions for other Grand Officers on the weekends that follow my weekend of events and so I also owe some people scrapbook pages for those, but on the other hand, there are loads of empty evenings after this weekend to do that, five whole evenings, well, okay, maybe four because I fly out on that Friday, and well, maybe three because I have to pack on that Thursday, well, okay, maybe two because my Chapter meeting is that Wednesday, well, okay, maybe one because I have to work late one of those nights to make up for leaving early on Friday, so okay, yeah, one night, three scrapbook pages. That can be done, right? I mean who needs to buy groceries or clean house or any of those other silly things, yes? I can eat fast food and do scrapbook pages, sure!
So maybe I've gotten to the point where nothing gets to get on my task list without a time estimate and yes, sleep is highly overrated anyway!
So, honestly, the preparation part is stressful but it can be fun too. Having a great bunch of people help you get great things done is awesome! So while sleeping every now and then would be nice, I will just have to catch up on that another month.
What is not so fun is the number of people who keep telling me that they "know" who I've chosen to go with me and that they've "known" since last year or they go to some guy that they think it might be and tell him that they "know" it is him and how much they will enjoy his year. I keep reminding myself that it would not be polite to say a bad word to these people.
If people want to guess on their own, or even in their Association or social group, that's fine and that can be fun as a game. I have one group who told me that they discussed it at an Association meeting and wrote down their guess in an envelope and they are going to bring the envelope to the reception and see if they guessed right. That sounds like great fun as long as they are happy whether they are right or wrong.
But people telling me that they knew last year, when I didn't even know last year is just annoying. And teasing one of the eligible men is just plain mean. It hurts people's feelings A LOT! If they are the guy, then you force them to lie to you, which is awkward and embarrassing, and if they are not the guy, how much more embarrassing to be thought of that way and then to have everyone find out that it isn't you. I don't want to spoil people's fun of guessing, but if anyone out there thinks it is fun to be teased "I know who you've chosen, I know who you've chosen, ha ha ha-ha ha, neeener, neener, neeener" then they have a very weird sense of humor.
It also causes hurt feelings because there are rules for the timing of asking people to do certain things and breaking the timing makes it look like you don't care about others. A Grand Line lady is not supposed to ask a man to serve with her until she is Grand Conductress. Has the rule been broken in the past? Yes. Is that good? No. Did I ask my guy before the proper time? No. So anyone who "knew" when I was Associate Grand Conductress must be precognitive, since even I didn't know.
The same is true with asking people to serve as Grand Officers. You aren't supposed to ask anyone until you are Associate Grand Matron, but I've got people starting rumors that I've asked a Grand Marshal already. Reality - I haven't asked anyone and won't until the right time and truthfully, I haven't even made a final decision on who I am going to ask, so anyone who says they know is three steps ahead of me. And the discomfort of teasing people is just as bad for the Grand Officer appointees. They aren't supposed to say anything until they are announced and so asking people forces them to either lie or get their feelings really hurt because if they say no and they really aren't one of the ones chosen, how hurtful!
So if I could make one wish, not only for myself, but for those still before me and for those that come after and for every person that some day may find themselves considered for any Grand Officer position, it would be for people to spread the word that asking ahead or teasing ahead is just not fun. Guess among yourselves all you want, but don't tell me or any other Grand Line officer that you "know" their choices for AGP or Grand Officer and please, if you have any mercy at all, don't ask people if or tell people that they are one of the "chosen".
Next weekend, I am here in San Jose for the Conductresses Reception and the combined Conductress/Associate Conductress/Associate Patron designee Workshop. It promises to be an amazingly fun weekend and I will probably be the happiest person on the planet next Sunday afternoon.
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