This past weekend I attended the last two receptions of the year for Appointive Grand Officers.
Saturday morning was supposed to be a rafting trip, but it got cancelled because they said that the water was too high and fast. I had really looked forward to going since I hadn't been on a rafting trip since 2007. Knowing that I was going to be a Grand Officer in 2008 (and thinking that it was only going to be one year, so I wanted to go to EVERYTHING), I figured that if I wanted a vacation in 2007-2008, I should go early. So in May 2007, I took a week off and rafted the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon, the whole way from Lee's Ferry to Lake Mead. The River Guide and my little note book of the days of the journey sit here in my office and occasionally I look at these mementos of the days when I could take a week's vacation and go somewhere that was not an Eastern Star event, ah, the good old days! :-)
Anyway, I had bought all new gear for the Grand Canyon, including water shoes and water socks and water pants and even water panties, an adventuring vest (that's a big vest with lots of pockets with velcro and zippers that is actually big enough to wear on the outside of your life vest so you can use the pockets), adventure pants (again lots of pockets/full length, but with zippers so you can turn them into knee shorts), a new Gortex hat and even new floats for my glasses. If you wear glasses and you go river rafting you want to have a string to hold them on that has little floats on it so if they do get knocked off you, they will float to the surface and you can usually find them.
So I spent all that money and haven't had a chance to use the gear since 2007, and here was this great opportunity, but I guess some of the people who signed up for the trip weren't quite as happy about faster, deeper water than some of us adreneline junkies appreciate and since they might actually get wet, they didn't want to go. Okay, maybe some of the ones who don't know how to swim might just have a teeny, tiny bit of basis for their fear, but if you are wearing a life vest, and you always should when white water rafting, then you really have to work at it to drown. Still, I suppose better safe than sorry, but my gear was not happy at being put away again unused. It's still growling at me from the drawer. :-)
So instead of rafting, I went to a Western wear shop near my house and got new Western boots and a new hat. I have riding boots, hiking boots, dress boots and even tall leather boots with spiky heels, a left over from my more wild and well spent youth (okay, I have two pairs, one in white and one in black, but who's counting? ), but until now have never owned a pair of Western boots since I am really not into the Western thing. Even when I go riding, whether horses or motorcycles, I wear my riding boots, which are tough and practical, tall enough and big enough that my pant legs can tuck in them without buying special book cut jeans.
But I was thinking about Western stuff because the Saturday reception was a Western theme and that got me to thinking about next year. See, next year's fun emblem is a horse and even though I think it is a race horse and not really an every day riding type horse and even though you don't wear Western wear to horse races (Western wear is for rodeos, bronco and bull riding and stuff like that, but horse races are more genteel), I have a funny feeling that there will be people next year inspired to do Western themed things next year, so I thought, what the heck, let's make a little costume investment here and buy the darn boots and hat. Of course, since I was spending money, it seemed only fair that my escort do likewise, so he had to get boots and a hat and Western shirt too, so that did make me feel better. :-)
So now I am all equipped for your basic Western event, already possessing a couple of shirts and skirts and some jeans. Of course, I also have leather for my hand guns, but they tend to frown on that level of authenticity. I had to explain that to my escort for next year. He got a sad face when I mentioned it. And I got to wear my new duds Saturday night. The reception was cool, but the room was HOT!!! I went to visit with members sitting outside a couple of times, just to cool off a bit before I completely melted. And at one point I scored an ice cold water bottle which felt great on the back of my neck. Of course I also drank the water, since I do believe that you should consume what you hunt. :-) The reception folk had made these totally awesome WANTED posters with the pictures of all the Grand Officers on them, so I got to take that home and I will have to find a great spot for it. It was a wonderful souvenir.
The next day, the reception had a sunset theme, partially because it was the last appointive's reception and it now feels like we are winding down towards the end of this year. We have only the WGM/WGP reception in a couple of weeks and then Grand Chapter as 2011 events and soon enough, we will know our 2012 family and, for those of us going on, have a bunch of 2012 things to do. I am trying to get everything that I can possibly get done early done so that the decks are more clear for after Grand Chapter, when the thousand things you can't do early, like sending letters asking the Past Grands for recommendations for Grand Officers and Deputies, have to be done and done quickly.
Next weekend I am going to Connecticut for my cousin's wedding, but I am going to try to have lunch with my counterpart there, the lady in my same spot for the Grand Chapter of Connecticut.
Monday, August 29, 2011
Thursday, August 25, 2011
Picnics and Picnic Food
This past weekend was Jam and Jelly Day at the Masonic Home again and I am very pleased to be able to say that they managed to put us inside the room this time so we could hear the introductory remarks and welcome speeches. We were packed like sardines, hip to hip, but at least we were in the room. Yay! The only tricky part was when you had to turn, back towards the door, for example, when the flag came in, or towards the stage to acknowledge the people being introduced up there. Since we were seated in chairs at the base of the stage facing out and packed tight enough that you could decide if you liked the texture of your neighbor's garments while you sat there, turning required that everyone do it at the same time and at the same rate. This is tricky when the people on either side of you are not in sync. I hope no one thought I was being too forward when I turned.
As always, my favorite part is the picnic style lunch with the members of the local area. Unfortunately, before we got to that stage, we had to get through the death of a thousand introductions. This time, being in the room, I was able to get some pretty good data on the amount of time spent on each part of the process. The self introductions were still pretty useless in terms of hearing and seeing, but they didn't take too long this time. However, the part where we introduce the Residents who were serving as our escorts for the day took almost forty-five minutes. That meant that from the time we were called to order until the time the first speaker started her remarks was an hour and a half. The remarks and closing were actually very nicely done, fun and short, so the program was over in a touch under two hours and then we could go find out people and set up to eat. That is not a terrible amount of time except that we are then expect to sit for another hour to hour and a half for the meal and added all up together, that's three to three and a half hours of sitting and that is way too much for a number of the Residents who were participating, let alone for those of us who just can't sit that long.
So I asked some of the people putting on the program what they thought about cutting out the Resident escort introductions and instead, having the Worthy Grand Matron introduce those Residents during her Special Introductions and then making sure that each Resident got to sit with her or his Grand Officer during the meal time so that they could have a nice chat and visit. I was told that the Residents just love the program and we couldn't possibly cut that part. But to me, it sounded like a bit of an automatic answer, the sort of answer that someone told this person who told that person, who is now telling it to me with no actual data.
So, to check on this, I asked some of the Residents who were at the lunch and they told me that the part they love was getting to sit with the Grand Officers and having lunch with them and that while they liked being introduced, they didn't like the length of the program at all. In fact, a couple of the residents had to go back to their rooms very shortly after we sat for lunch because they were so tired and just couldn't sit any longer. My own escort, who was a lovely lady of 94, felt bad because she wanted to go back to her room when we had just started eating because she was tired from all the sitting, but she didn't want me to feel slighted. I of course told her that she should go rest and that I was happiest if she did what made her feel the best and she went back to her room after a nice hug and goodbye. But there is no doubt in my mind that she would have rather skipped the introductions and then gotten to spend that forty-five minutes sitting with us and chatting at lunch with her visitors.
So I am wondering if we should try cutting the long intros, add the short intros, get the program down to an hour and then have more time for lunch and socializing. The funniest thing I noted about the conversations on this topic is that, on the next day, when we were at another event in the same area, I brought up the question of dropping the Resident introductions again with some of the other local members. I was again told that, because the Residents loved that part so much, we couldn't possibly drop that part. Then, these same members told me that they either don't attend the event at all, or in one case they only attend when they are in a leadership position in their Chapter out of a sense of duty, because it is so long and boring, so since it is no fun, they don't come. Sounds like a situation that needs a little reviewing to me.
The next day was an area event that was a picnic in the park. I had another day of fabulous food, which didn't help my scale any come Monday morning, but at least I gained the half pound in a good cause. There were some interesting picnic games and lots of wonderful fellowship.
Next weekend, I will be in Knight's Ferry, Oakdale and Sacramento.
As always, my favorite part is the picnic style lunch with the members of the local area. Unfortunately, before we got to that stage, we had to get through the death of a thousand introductions. This time, being in the room, I was able to get some pretty good data on the amount of time spent on each part of the process. The self introductions were still pretty useless in terms of hearing and seeing, but they didn't take too long this time. However, the part where we introduce the Residents who were serving as our escorts for the day took almost forty-five minutes. That meant that from the time we were called to order until the time the first speaker started her remarks was an hour and a half. The remarks and closing were actually very nicely done, fun and short, so the program was over in a touch under two hours and then we could go find out people and set up to eat. That is not a terrible amount of time except that we are then expect to sit for another hour to hour and a half for the meal and added all up together, that's three to three and a half hours of sitting and that is way too much for a number of the Residents who were participating, let alone for those of us who just can't sit that long.
So I asked some of the people putting on the program what they thought about cutting out the Resident escort introductions and instead, having the Worthy Grand Matron introduce those Residents during her Special Introductions and then making sure that each Resident got to sit with her or his Grand Officer during the meal time so that they could have a nice chat and visit. I was told that the Residents just love the program and we couldn't possibly cut that part. But to me, it sounded like a bit of an automatic answer, the sort of answer that someone told this person who told that person, who is now telling it to me with no actual data.
So, to check on this, I asked some of the Residents who were at the lunch and they told me that the part they love was getting to sit with the Grand Officers and having lunch with them and that while they liked being introduced, they didn't like the length of the program at all. In fact, a couple of the residents had to go back to their rooms very shortly after we sat for lunch because they were so tired and just couldn't sit any longer. My own escort, who was a lovely lady of 94, felt bad because she wanted to go back to her room when we had just started eating because she was tired from all the sitting, but she didn't want me to feel slighted. I of course told her that she should go rest and that I was happiest if she did what made her feel the best and she went back to her room after a nice hug and goodbye. But there is no doubt in my mind that she would have rather skipped the introductions and then gotten to spend that forty-five minutes sitting with us and chatting at lunch with her visitors.
So I am wondering if we should try cutting the long intros, add the short intros, get the program down to an hour and then have more time for lunch and socializing. The funniest thing I noted about the conversations on this topic is that, on the next day, when we were at another event in the same area, I brought up the question of dropping the Resident introductions again with some of the other local members. I was again told that, because the Residents loved that part so much, we couldn't possibly drop that part. Then, these same members told me that they either don't attend the event at all, or in one case they only attend when they are in a leadership position in their Chapter out of a sense of duty, because it is so long and boring, so since it is no fun, they don't come. Sounds like a situation that needs a little reviewing to me.
The next day was an area event that was a picnic in the park. I had another day of fabulous food, which didn't help my scale any come Monday morning, but at least I gained the half pound in a good cause. There were some interesting picnic games and lots of wonderful fellowship.
Next weekend, I will be in Knight's Ferry, Oakdale and Sacramento.
Monday, August 15, 2011
Stuck In Committee
This past weekend, I attended two more receptions and during the drives, worked on committee letters.
The Committee letters are turning out to be a lot of work, which would seem surprising when all of these committees have been in existences for years and you would think that their duties and the expectations for their members would be well established. But I have discovered that it is not that simple.
To begin with, over the years, some committees have come up with pretty good ways of fulfilling their duties to make their work and their interactions with other members and the Grand Chapter session smooth and relatively pain free. Unfortunately, those processes are not written down anywhere, so sometimes when the composition of the committee turns over (since some committees only serve for one year and can be replaced in their entirety if the WGM so desires) the new people don't know how anything is done and then they are left floundering around and the results are seriously less than satisfactory.
Then there are some committees where they used to have a stated purpose and/or process, but over the years, the committee stopped doing its purpose so when people come on the committee, they seem to have no idea what to do or what is expected of them. Some of these committees are simply obsolete and should be cut down to little or nothing, but since it takes legislation to do that, Associate Grand Matrons keep having to find people to fill the slots required by our Constitution and Laws, even though the people appointed have nothing to do.
And then there are some committees where their work for the year is supposed to be chosen by the Worthy Grand Matron, but to be able to tell the committee members what that work will be at the time that they are asked to join the committee requires knowing what you are going to want a year later, since it is a strict rule that committee members are only asked in the year before their service begins. This year, for example, I have asked a dozen or so people to serve because their service starts in 2012 as Co-Chairs and then they will be my Chairs in 2013. But I will not be asking people whose service starts with my Grand Installation until next spring/summer. However, that is no reason that I can't get the meat of the letters done now, when I have just a teensy, tiny bit less to do than the mountain of work that occurs in the AGM year, doing the calendar, getting Grand Officers and getting Deputies lined up. So for those committees, you are evidently expected to dream up projects for them so they have something to do.
So as we spend hours and hours driving down the road, my AGP to be and I have been discussing what we will want various committees to do in addition to their stated duties in our Constitution and trying to put that discussion into writing. On a few of the Committees that has been relatively easy because one of us has served on them and have a clear idea of how we would like to see them operate. But on some of them, especially the ones where we are supposed to make up our own projects for them, it can be quite the challenge. It is also hard sometimes to try to put it in writing in a way that will make sense to the people that will be getting the letters with these inserts in them. I am glad that we've gotten started on talking all this out because I have a feeling that it is going to take us all winter to get these done so that they will be ready to go out next year when they should.
Of course, discussing these committee things also leads my AGP and me to discussions about lots of other topics, so it also seems that for every task we complete, three more pop up. I never knew that the job was such a Hydra. I guess we are going to have to find someone with a handy torch, to keep the heads from continuing to multiply.
Next weekend, I will be in Union City and Danville.
The Committee letters are turning out to be a lot of work, which would seem surprising when all of these committees have been in existences for years and you would think that their duties and the expectations for their members would be well established. But I have discovered that it is not that simple.
To begin with, over the years, some committees have come up with pretty good ways of fulfilling their duties to make their work and their interactions with other members and the Grand Chapter session smooth and relatively pain free. Unfortunately, those processes are not written down anywhere, so sometimes when the composition of the committee turns over (since some committees only serve for one year and can be replaced in their entirety if the WGM so desires) the new people don't know how anything is done and then they are left floundering around and the results are seriously less than satisfactory.
Then there are some committees where they used to have a stated purpose and/or process, but over the years, the committee stopped doing its purpose so when people come on the committee, they seem to have no idea what to do or what is expected of them. Some of these committees are simply obsolete and should be cut down to little or nothing, but since it takes legislation to do that, Associate Grand Matrons keep having to find people to fill the slots required by our Constitution and Laws, even though the people appointed have nothing to do.
And then there are some committees where their work for the year is supposed to be chosen by the Worthy Grand Matron, but to be able to tell the committee members what that work will be at the time that they are asked to join the committee requires knowing what you are going to want a year later, since it is a strict rule that committee members are only asked in the year before their service begins. This year, for example, I have asked a dozen or so people to serve because their service starts in 2012 as Co-Chairs and then they will be my Chairs in 2013. But I will not be asking people whose service starts with my Grand Installation until next spring/summer. However, that is no reason that I can't get the meat of the letters done now, when I have just a teensy, tiny bit less to do than the mountain of work that occurs in the AGM year, doing the calendar, getting Grand Officers and getting Deputies lined up. So for those committees, you are evidently expected to dream up projects for them so they have something to do.
So as we spend hours and hours driving down the road, my AGP to be and I have been discussing what we will want various committees to do in addition to their stated duties in our Constitution and trying to put that discussion into writing. On a few of the Committees that has been relatively easy because one of us has served on them and have a clear idea of how we would like to see them operate. But on some of them, especially the ones where we are supposed to make up our own projects for them, it can be quite the challenge. It is also hard sometimes to try to put it in writing in a way that will make sense to the people that will be getting the letters with these inserts in them. I am glad that we've gotten started on talking all this out because I have a feeling that it is going to take us all winter to get these done so that they will be ready to go out next year when they should.
Of course, discussing these committee things also leads my AGP and me to discussions about lots of other topics, so it also seems that for every task we complete, three more pop up. I never knew that the job was such a Hydra. I guess we are going to have to find someone with a handy torch, to keep the heads from continuing to multiply.
Next weekend, I will be in Union City and Danville.
Monday, August 8, 2011
Roses and Togas
This past weekend were two more receptions for appointive officers and they were truly diverse.
We started on Saturday with a trip to the Grand Ole Opry, a formal reception with a lovely barbecue dinner and a country western band for entertainment. It turns out that the last trip the honored member took with her husband before he died was to the Grand Ole Opry and having that theme was a tribute. There was no doubt that it was very important and meaningful for the honoree, but I must admit that it is hard to watch your honoree cry when you're trying to please them. You just have to remember that even happy memories can be bittersweet sometimes. But there were many more and plenty of happy moments and surprises too.
One thing that caused an interesting conversation for me later was that the singers did a heavy gospel number when the Bible was brought in for the prayer. Ironically, this particular song, heavy on the saviour and the saving stuff, didn't bother me in the slightest, because it was a reception for a particular person and I feel very strongly that as long as we stay this side of good taste and decency, the music at a reception should be what the honored member wants. Like a wedding, the bride should have what she wants, within reasonable boundaries of common sense and good taste. So this song was meaning neutral for me because while it carried no particular meaningfulness for me, I was glad for the honoree if she was getting what she wanted.
(As a side note, when the Bible was carried in for my reception, the song coming in was a Jewish High Holiday song that is the favorite of a dear friend of mine and the going out song for the Bible was Adon Olam, which is my favorite song from the Sabbath liturgy. I am sure that few if any people recognized the songs, played without words, but I liked them and they are great pieces of music.)
So the irony was that after the reception was over, a gentleman that I do not know, but who I assume was Jewish because he was wearing a Chai, which means Life in Hebrew, was unhappy and confused because he thought that Masonic principles were more ecumenical and he was made uncomfortable by the VERY Christian song. But he was comforted by reassurances that this particular song was done just for this special member, for her special day and that the Order as a whole is supposed to be following Masonic principles of embracing a belief in the existence of a Supreme Being without requiring or affiliating to a particular religious denomination or sect.
This was weird for me because I am not comfortable with some things that happen at OVs, which are supposed to be Chapter meetings, like gospel songs heavy on the saving, groups that form a cross to carry the Bible and/or emblems in and out, escorting a Christian flag, and so on. There are some Chapters that do these things and I generally just don't visit those. I totally respect the right of the members to do those things in their own Chapter meeting and I always encourage people to check out two or three Chapters if they can, to find the right one for them. But at the Official Visit, when you have lots of people from all over and they are all different religious beliefs, I prefer sticking to the ecumenical, non-sectarian stuff.
After the formality and solemnity of Saturday night, we all got a little whiplash attending Sunday's reception with its Delta House/Animal House/Toga Party theme. The members of the honored member's Chapter were dressed up in all variety of Roman wear, some tunics, some togas, some dresses, oh my! Since this reception was for a wild and crazy guy, it was a wild and crazy reception. I must say that I hope no one actually drank all the cheap Coors Light and Budweiser beer that came out of the cans they put up for decorations because there were lots of cans on strings around the room. The speeches were funny and the music cute too. We were treated to a lovely lip sync rendition of Shout, complete with dancing and jumping and if in my entire life, I never see another guy in a brightly colored plaid jacket with pink pants and a pink tie, I think that will be okay because some things should only be experienced once. :-)
Next weekend, I am in Santa Rosa and Napa.
We started on Saturday with a trip to the Grand Ole Opry, a formal reception with a lovely barbecue dinner and a country western band for entertainment. It turns out that the last trip the honored member took with her husband before he died was to the Grand Ole Opry and having that theme was a tribute. There was no doubt that it was very important and meaningful for the honoree, but I must admit that it is hard to watch your honoree cry when you're trying to please them. You just have to remember that even happy memories can be bittersweet sometimes. But there were many more and plenty of happy moments and surprises too.
One thing that caused an interesting conversation for me later was that the singers did a heavy gospel number when the Bible was brought in for the prayer. Ironically, this particular song, heavy on the saviour and the saving stuff, didn't bother me in the slightest, because it was a reception for a particular person and I feel very strongly that as long as we stay this side of good taste and decency, the music at a reception should be what the honored member wants. Like a wedding, the bride should have what she wants, within reasonable boundaries of common sense and good taste. So this song was meaning neutral for me because while it carried no particular meaningfulness for me, I was glad for the honoree if she was getting what she wanted.
(As a side note, when the Bible was carried in for my reception, the song coming in was a Jewish High Holiday song that is the favorite of a dear friend of mine and the going out song for the Bible was Adon Olam, which is my favorite song from the Sabbath liturgy. I am sure that few if any people recognized the songs, played without words, but I liked them and they are great pieces of music.)
So the irony was that after the reception was over, a gentleman that I do not know, but who I assume was Jewish because he was wearing a Chai, which means Life in Hebrew, was unhappy and confused because he thought that Masonic principles were more ecumenical and he was made uncomfortable by the VERY Christian song. But he was comforted by reassurances that this particular song was done just for this special member, for her special day and that the Order as a whole is supposed to be following Masonic principles of embracing a belief in the existence of a Supreme Being without requiring or affiliating to a particular religious denomination or sect.
This was weird for me because I am not comfortable with some things that happen at OVs, which are supposed to be Chapter meetings, like gospel songs heavy on the saving, groups that form a cross to carry the Bible and/or emblems in and out, escorting a Christian flag, and so on. There are some Chapters that do these things and I generally just don't visit those. I totally respect the right of the members to do those things in their own Chapter meeting and I always encourage people to check out two or three Chapters if they can, to find the right one for them. But at the Official Visit, when you have lots of people from all over and they are all different religious beliefs, I prefer sticking to the ecumenical, non-sectarian stuff.
After the formality and solemnity of Saturday night, we all got a little whiplash attending Sunday's reception with its Delta House/Animal House/Toga Party theme. The members of the honored member's Chapter were dressed up in all variety of Roman wear, some tunics, some togas, some dresses, oh my! Since this reception was for a wild and crazy guy, it was a wild and crazy reception. I must say that I hope no one actually drank all the cheap Coors Light and Budweiser beer that came out of the cans they put up for decorations because there were lots of cans on strings around the room. The speeches were funny and the music cute too. We were treated to a lovely lip sync rendition of Shout, complete with dancing and jumping and if in my entire life, I never see another guy in a brightly colored plaid jacket with pink pants and a pink tie, I think that will be okay because some things should only be experienced once. :-)
Next weekend, I am in Santa Rosa and Napa.
Monday, August 1, 2011
A Dog and Pony Show
This past weekend was the traditional Associate Matron/Associate Patron workshop. This workshop is held every year by the Associate Grand Matron and Associate Grand Patron for their local officers as an opportunity to provide helpful information for the members who are soon to be the leaders in their Chapters and for the AGM and the AGP to roll out their plans and programs for the coming year.
This year it was held at a hotel, with a social on Friday night, and the program on Saturday and Sunday until just before lunch time. The social was a fun event with some lovely ice breakers and fun games. After I checked into the hotel, I wandered down to find registration and the social. When I walked in the room where the social was going on, I was mobbed by people, all of whom were trying to hand me green pieces of paper and writing implements. At first I wondered if in the dim light, I resembled somebody famous because I have never walked in a room and been mobbed for my autograph before. It was very exciting in a claustrophobic sort of way. But it turns out that one of the party games was one of those "Find a person who . . . " things with prizes for getting all the boxes filled and the middle box of the bottom row was "a person with a pilot's license" which most of the members know includes me. I know that there were at least two other people in the room with pilot's licenses, but evidently they have kept it quieter than me because they weren't mobbed. So I spent the first fifteen minutes of the social signing pieces of green paper. One of my friends suggested as a joke that since going up the Grand Line is so expensive, I should have charged for my autograph. After all, the famous people do. :-)
The next morning, I attended the workshop sessions to see what was presented and make some notes about what I might want to repeat next year and what I might want to change a bit. It was great to see the material and get some ideas on paper. There were a couple of bits that I had seen before, but some of them you always enjoy anyway, like seeing the FISH video. And there were a couple of bits that were lengthened or shortened from what I had seen before and it was very useful to see those other versions and get a sense of some of the available options.
The hardest part, it seems to me, is that there is so much to cover and so little time to get to it all. You can't make people sit and listen for too long without losing them completely, but at the same time, you have all this stuff that they are going to need and all this other stuff that you want them to have and you just have to find a way to balance it all out.
On Saturday night, there was a Masonic education segment that was facilitated by my AGP-designee. Of course, he had volunteered to do this before everyone knew that he was going to be my guy. He has a lot of experience at this and always does a great job, but I am pretty certain that the discussion did not go quite the way that he was expecting it to go. In fact, I am pretty sure that you would have needed a serious four wheel drive to follow that twisty, convoluted conversation path. Yep, a serious four wheel drive with monster shocks and a raised cab because that session went seriously off the beaten path. I suspect that there will never again be a Masonic education discussion quite like that one EVER!
Sunday morning, we got to find out the project that was chosen for next year and enjoyed an explanation of the cause and how we can help disabled veterans, which sounds very cool and I can't wait to see how it goes next year. There are also going to be some fundraiser evenings that will be put on like USO shows and I am looking forward to attending those. Because I love my Sisters and Brothers, I will not be a participant because we don't want to scare off the members.
Next weekend, I am in San Diego and Thousand Oaks.
This year it was held at a hotel, with a social on Friday night, and the program on Saturday and Sunday until just before lunch time. The social was a fun event with some lovely ice breakers and fun games. After I checked into the hotel, I wandered down to find registration and the social. When I walked in the room where the social was going on, I was mobbed by people, all of whom were trying to hand me green pieces of paper and writing implements. At first I wondered if in the dim light, I resembled somebody famous because I have never walked in a room and been mobbed for my autograph before. It was very exciting in a claustrophobic sort of way. But it turns out that one of the party games was one of those "Find a person who . . . " things with prizes for getting all the boxes filled and the middle box of the bottom row was "a person with a pilot's license" which most of the members know includes me. I know that there were at least two other people in the room with pilot's licenses, but evidently they have kept it quieter than me because they weren't mobbed. So I spent the first fifteen minutes of the social signing pieces of green paper. One of my friends suggested as a joke that since going up the Grand Line is so expensive, I should have charged for my autograph. After all, the famous people do. :-)
The next morning, I attended the workshop sessions to see what was presented and make some notes about what I might want to repeat next year and what I might want to change a bit. It was great to see the material and get some ideas on paper. There were a couple of bits that I had seen before, but some of them you always enjoy anyway, like seeing the FISH video. And there were a couple of bits that were lengthened or shortened from what I had seen before and it was very useful to see those other versions and get a sense of some of the available options.
The hardest part, it seems to me, is that there is so much to cover and so little time to get to it all. You can't make people sit and listen for too long without losing them completely, but at the same time, you have all this stuff that they are going to need and all this other stuff that you want them to have and you just have to find a way to balance it all out.
On Saturday night, there was a Masonic education segment that was facilitated by my AGP-designee. Of course, he had volunteered to do this before everyone knew that he was going to be my guy. He has a lot of experience at this and always does a great job, but I am pretty certain that the discussion did not go quite the way that he was expecting it to go. In fact, I am pretty sure that you would have needed a serious four wheel drive to follow that twisty, convoluted conversation path. Yep, a serious four wheel drive with monster shocks and a raised cab because that session went seriously off the beaten path. I suspect that there will never again be a Masonic education discussion quite like that one EVER!
Sunday morning, we got to find out the project that was chosen for next year and enjoyed an explanation of the cause and how we can help disabled veterans, which sounds very cool and I can't wait to see how it goes next year. There are also going to be some fundraiser evenings that will be put on like USO shows and I am looking forward to attending those. Because I love my Sisters and Brothers, I will not be a participant because we don't want to scare off the members.
Next weekend, I am in San Diego and Thousand Oaks.
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