- "Thank you for a lovely page to go to... I hope to use many of the ideas from your pages of information
for our Assembly... again...Thank You So Very Much..."
- "We read on the web site about having an "Ugly Gown Contest"... well, it worked!
I convinced our (first time visitor) Masonic District Deputy Grand Master to judge along with a Rainbow Mom who had not been to our Assembly before! Well, we now have a voice that will speak to Lodges about Rainbow and how beautiful it is to every Lodge in the District!!!! He has teenage daughters, and never really knew that a local Assembly could be fun to join!!! Thank you for the idea! Even our Supreme Inspector came in "a special gown"!
We are [name] Assembly [city, state].... and starting to grow!!! Next meeting reading a petition, if all goes well!!!!!!!
THANK YOU from an 40 yr old Assembly.*[note from Misha - "YAY! I'm so glad something on this site inspired you."]*
- "I enjoyed reading your website. It is definitely put together better than Supreme's.
I am a Majority Member from [state]. I am a PWA and a Past Grand Officer. Things sure have changed a lot here than when I was active...
I would love to be involved in Rainbow again as an advisor. My own assembly had a falling out with the Lodge where we were meeting a few years ago and now meets in the Scottish Rite Temple.
Rainbow was a very important part of my life growing up. I truly did make some lifelong friends and have memories that I still talk about."
- "I have been reading the comments posted on your board over the past few months and am horrified to see how widespread
the problems of Rainbow truly are. The main consensus is that the adults are causing problems, yet no one has offered
a solution in this forum. I am both a P.W.A. and a P.M.A. so I feel I have a pretty good background from which to
comment. Because the majority of assemblies are experiencing 13 and 14 year old Worthy Advisors, I can tell you first
hand that competent adults are needed to help run the assemblies. The girls are simply not ready to do it themselves at
that age. However, Advisory Boards have become a joke. The Mother Advisor does all the administrative work and the
'hands on" work with the girls. The Advisory Board, the majority of whom are parents of active girls, show up occasionally,
criticize, and make excuses about why they can't help do anything. (yes, I know there are exceptions out there!) My
biggest problem were parents who didn't "get" Rainbow, voting on Grand Officers, etc., especially if they happened to
have a daughter in the assembly. Why is this happening? Because there is a rule that there have to be at least 7 adults
on an Advisory Board, and with such small assemblies they'll take ANYONE who will agree to serve for a year.
We could learn a lot from the Girl Scout organization for a better way to operate. Each troop has an adult leader and an assistant chosen and screened by their local council. My suggestion is to have the Grand Deputy put a Mother Advisor and an Assistant in place and forget the Advisory Board. Have a Parents Club to help with chaperoning and driving, but not making decisions. They'll make their opinions known no matter what. And by all means, provide training to the Mother Advisor and Assistant! The state level of Rainbow is such a political cesspool that I couldn't begin to solve the problems there, but at least this would keep the local assemblies functioning.
So, if we are having problems with adults in authority, then eliminate all the adults except those who are actually working with the girls."
- "If you're going to request that we don't bash other groups, shouldn't you edit your own pages? The all about you
page really drones on quite a bit about the ritualistic superiority of Rainbow to both Job's Daughters and Demolay.
something about "reading in a monotone?" You could just say that you were always very proud of the competency of
your own ritual work, and leave the generalized comments out of it. As you said yourself, it really is the Grown-Ups
who make the difference. In my Bethel, we would've been kicked from there to next Tuesday, if we had even thought
about doing any of the [cr__] you described, and a good friend of mine, who is the Ritual Advisor for the local
Demolay, is currently working his tail off to get his boys in shape for the next term. Thanks."
[Please note: The above comment was written in response to the ideas I have for the message board, after this person had read my "personal bio" page (which is kind of hidden on this site, and not linked from the site map... people who read the fine print usually find the link, however). When I replied to this person to explain they were misinterpreting what I had written, and I had never said Rainbow was superior to Job's OR DeMolay... I got a response back along the lines of "Why are you sending me this; I have never heard of your website." I cross-referenced the numeric address of the original message, and the time it was sent with the system log, and found the writer of the comment arrived at my site using a search engine to look for "Rainbow Girls" "Sign of the Rainbow". Yet they allude to being a Job's Daughter -- how odd. However, I'm posting the comment here with this disclaimer; I am uncertain if this is a legit comment or something designed to be inflammatory, but I do wish to be fair and show any negative comments I receive along with the good. If I find out it is indeed a hoax of some sort, it will be removed at once. So, knowing the above information, take it with a grain of salt, please!]
- "Sad to say, but it's not just Rainbow that is being "Taken Over" by the adults. I was a Rainbow Girl in the 80's. I
have since moved to another state where Rainbow was not the chosen youth group. However, it is getting better, in the
past 3 years or so they have resurected 2 Assemblies within about 90 miles of my home. We are also trying to get an
assembly back up and running in the town I live in. Anyway, since there wasn't an active assembly here. I decided to
give back to the group that was available: Job's Daughters. Guess what? Same story there. The adults want to run
things and run things their way, right or wrong. I ended up resigning because I was taught that the rules are there
for a reason and they should be followed. Especially since most are made for the girls protection.
To those adults who are unhappy with the adult leadership in your daughters assembly: Why not volunteer yourself? I found that most of the parents of the girls I worked with weren't interested in being an Advisor. Mind you I don't have any daughters, I did it to give back to those who gave their time when I was young. I don't remember having the problems that others are speaking of (except one incident). But, if as parents you don't like the way things are...... do something about it!! Being active with your children is one of the GREATEST gifts you can ever give to them. They may not say it today or tomorrow but trust me they will remember."
- "I am so blown away by your wonderful display of what Rainbow is truly about. Even your own point of view is almost
the same as mine. I also thank you for you section on the horrific day 9/11/01 I live in NY and my first thought was
of all the lives that ended. I did not lose any immediate family but ... my husband lost a cousin down at the pentagon.
His office was hit by the plane and after the jet fuel blew 4 floors fell on him. We pray for all of us and remember
our lessons of Patriotism, Service, and Love. It is what holds us together. God Bless you for making a web site which
is worth it's weigh in gold."
- "I am the Mother Advisor of a very strong, and active assembly. I am very fortunate right now to have a lot of
girls that are active in my assembly. I think one of the keys to our current success is providing a variety of programs
that interest a variety of girls interests. We like to have a good time, but we also balance that with poise and
leadership skills by doing good ritual and organizing our meetings carefully. I think a major problem with our
organization right now has to do with our ritual and SECRET WORK. I feel there is no need for secret work. Show the
girls how to do the sign of Rainbow, give them the word and handshake, and you're done. I guess we could explain the
emblem, but that does not have to be part of the SECRET work. How about the treasurer or another office that has
nothing to do during initiation explaining the emblem. I see myself cringing during the secret work, because the
candidates are really wondering what is up with this. It is so outdated and confusing. I also think our method
of introductions should be modified, so that it doesn't take so long. And many times we walk around the room way
too much!"
- "Hello - I was not aware of your wonderful website - I am the person in charge of our website at RAINBOWS -
www.rainbows.org Thank you for listing us and letting people know where to find us. Your site is amazing - I had so
much fun during my visit there. I would like to be able to use some of the blue outlined graphics on our site - to
make it more colorful - I hope this is OK. I promise not to use any of yours - I realize how irritating that is...hope
you have continued success with your site. Thanks for all your inspiration."
- "If this site can help bring to the public what our organization is all about then I am all for it. It is time
that we shed our "cloak and dagger" appearance and show the world what who we are and what we are doing."
- "The one thing I have enjoyed the most is that this site is more with the times than the Supreme Assembly
Website. The Supreme Site offers very little, and it takes them forever to put things on it! This site offers
solutions to problems that assemblies have been having around the country. It is encouraging and helpful to many
I am sure. Supreme could learn a thing or two from this website. It also uses language that the Rainbow girls of
today can relate to."
- "I really like your ideas and comments ... I could spend hours on this page unlike the supreme page!! Its
great, people like yourself are what is going to get Rainbow going again!! This is wonderful I'm truly enlightened!!"
- "Oh how I wish I could send all of these comments to our area deputy and our board. Sometimes it is so
frustrating to see how the girls are being treated by the adult board members, and how the parents who try to help
the girls just get slapped in the face. Our board has a "Physco" board member, and she just loves to push people
around. She most recently tried to get [a line officer] to resign from the line -- such a tragedy, since this girl
has just recently lost [a parent] ... She tries as much as possible to be at every meeting, but hey, no one is
perfect. This board advisor gave this girl at least a 10 page document explaining why she is being asked to resign
... it seems to me that this is becoming way too "Political". As I have read through every single comment on your
web page -- I keep seeing the same problem -- its called "ADULTS" an more specifically "BOARD ADULTS".... When are
they going to wake up and realize that this is a YOUTH organization for girls -- and is suppose to be RUN by the
girls (with assistance from advisors -- the word is advisors not controllers)!?!?!?
The other problem in our assembly is our MA -- as I have been reading (again through your web page comments) most people feel that a Mother Advisor should be a "Role Model" for the girls....well have we a duzie of a MA -- she has been seen yelling at the younger girls, picking favorites (like PGO, or current GO) and has even been seen chatting about Board business (outside of a board meeting). Yet when ... parents try to say something to either the board or our deputy -- we are told "everyone needs to get along" Basically we are told that we need to support our board no matter if it is right or wrong. Our MA recently let the entire assembly down, when she didn't send in the reservations for "Rainbow Camp" and then at the next meeting -- telling the girls that she would try harder next year ... Rainbow Camp is the one event every year (besides GA) that our assembly looks forward too -- especially the newer girls! What is most interesting about our MA and the Board is that they set really high standards for the girls, but feel they don't have to hold the same standards for themselves. As a parent I feel so sad for the girls who try so hard to please the board members (advisors) and MA -- because inevitably they get shot down....
I just wish someone could do something about the adult board members/advisors who always feel they have to control everything -- Many of the parents are getting so fed-up that I think they will be writing a letter of complaint to Supreme, it's gotten to the point where they are so worried and concerned that the current board is trying to close-down the assembly.
I am hopeful that someday our assembly will be happy and content, and that both adults, girls and board/advisors members will all get along. Well, I can hope right?"
- "My oh my...there sure are a lot of people that all have the same problems as I. It seems like the International
Order of the Rainbow for GIRLS is now the International Order of the Rainbow for ADULTS!!! The adults have a hard
time grasping the reality that this is the 21st century and that we are not back in the 50's. I think the problem
with most adults is that they want to see rainbow like it was when they were in. They want the same dress code, the
same rules and the same numbers of girls that were involved back then (if thats how it should be put.) The main
(again) problem is that girls are now involved with sports, band, cheerleading, and church. Sometimes those have to
come first and when the adults hear about this they are furious with the girls for not living, eating, and breathing
rainbow. I think they need a major reality check. We need to move with the times people, come on now. Do we want a
boring organization??? I know I sure don't!!!
Along the same lines with the adults they don't know when to say things and when not to. I am a PWA and will be WA again soon. I have come from an assembly before and have had problems when my mother was MA. In this other assembly we had problems with adults "leaking" board business. The girls soon found out who was to be getting grand offices, grand crosses, and any other recognition. As a result my mother and I were blamed for it. My mother was accused with having told me and then I was accused of having told the girls. This was not true and by the time I was WAA I wanted to quit.
During this time I also had moved out of the area. I had started to visit the other assemblies around and had made a decision to move assemblies after my term as WA. I was planning on waiting a couple months to demit when out of the blue at one of our regular meetings the MA comes up to me to ask me for my demit. Since when did the adults have the right to ASK for the demit. If I wanted to demit I would do it on my own time. Well, I let them get to me and I turned in my demit. This was very hard for me. I had been around the girls since I was a pledge and we all had grown up together, followed each other up the line, and went to school together. We were best friends. Now, how can the adults break that bond up. It should be a girls decision if she wants to do it, NOT THE ADULTS! I have now been in my new assembly for quite some time now and have realized that it wasn't just one assembly that had adult problems but many. You see, we have adults that aren't even on our advisory board trying to run our meetings. They stand up at the meetings and make comments to the girls. Now, I may be old fashioned but when do adults stand up in the meetings and tell the girls what to do? This is not all the problems that have gone on, but if I kept going you would have to have a whole new site. So, you can write all of this or none of this on the site. But, somehow we need to let the adults know that what they are doing is not the right thing to be doing!"
- "I haven't thought about Rainbow in years! I was initiated in 197[X] at age 12 and have been all of the offices
except recorder, treasurer, and choir director. (I was musician twice, however.) I was WA in the summer of 197[X] in
my little hometown in [state]. I always knew my part and had poise. However ... I was passed over for a grand office
appointment ... so that a daughter of a Big Wheel could get ... a grand FLOOR office! She never knew her part, had no
poise, and rarely traveled to other assemblies ... No one from our district had ever had a grand floor office, except
grand page or something ... [she] got it because of who her parents (especially mother) were! YOU ARE RIGHT: ADULTS
HAVE RUINED RAINBOW! ... Because of the obvious nepotism, I got my Grand Cross of Color and dropped out of Rainbow
after getting my majority. Had Rainbow been willing to prove that they were not like worldly organizations ... I
would have considered being Mother Advisor or on the board. Rainbow gave me a lot for which I am grateful, but it is
definitely flawed at the core and does not deserve to thrive UNLESS it can give it back to the girls and not be like
the world. The girls are going to get enough of the world when they are in it! ... Rainbow proved to me it was a fraud
that summer. I hope those of you who see this too can redirect it. Rainbow can be so much, with the right focus.
Focus on God and the girls. If my state had back in 197[X], we wouldn't have had to close so many assemblies. None
of them in my district even exist anymore ... The same leadership that gave [that girl] an undeserved honor also
killed the small town assemblies around here. Not long after I got uninvolved in Rainbow, they started dropping like
flies. Coincidence? Not when the leadership is focused on worldly things! I wish you luck. I did have a lot of fun
prior to the 197[X] [State] Grand Assembly, and learned a lot, too. Actually, even the bitter disappointment made me
a stronger and more realistic and idealistic person. I am now a teacher studying to become a principal, and I make a
point to let the unpopular kids who do not have the "right" parents feel good about themselves! I try not to behave
in such a way that gives others the idea that I am playing favorites because I have been there so I know what it feels
like. Thank you for allowing me to get this off my chest after [all these] years!"
- "OH MY GOSH! I have been looking around your site, and I had to write to you!! I want to let you know that
your page struck a chord with me. You say so many things that need to be said about Rainbow - unfortunately, the people
who need it most probably won't see it. I am a ... Majority Member who has probably ruffled a few feathers herself.
:) But SOMEbody has to speak for the girls.
Where do I begin agreeeing with your comments? I think the number one biggest reason Rainbow has declined is that in so many places, it is more for the adults than the girls...and the adults are grandparent age! Rainbow has utterly and completely failed to modernize itself. Girls are unhappy with the way things are run, both locally and in general (I know I was), but are afraid to speak up for fear of getting in trouble (ie losing Grand Office or not getting one at all). And up until recently in my state, there has been no place for the adults that girls can relate to better - the 20 - 35 year olds. You majoritied, and you knew you had to be a member of AARP before they'd give you and Adult Grand Office or put you on the Board, so there you were.
I am glad to say that that at least is starting to change a little. A few 20 and 30-somethings actually have AGO's, and I and some of my comtemporaries serve on Advisory Boards. I find the girls are more willing to talk to me and tell me what is bothering them. Too many adults fall into the 'I am right, you are not' category, and are afraid of change. They have forgotten Rainbow is FOR THE GIRLS! And they wonder why membership is declining. We tout that the girls 'run the meetings,' but the really have little to no say in big picture things that the really care about, such as dress code, what happens at Grand, state projects, the ritual and ceremonies, or just what they want from Rainbow in general. I have high hopes that the Task Force can remedy this. I STRONGLY BELIEVE that what we really need is a comprehensive, ANONYMOUS survey where girls can express their true opinions without fear of reprisal.
On that note, the other biggest problem with Rainbow's decline is that NOBODY HAS ANY CLUE WE EXIST. Girl Scouts and other groups have modern, widespread publicity - eveeryone has at least heard of them. But girls can't join a group they have never heard of!! Even some members of our sponsoring orders don't know we exist - how can we expect the general public to? We have failed to present ourselves as a vital organization for today's girl - in fact, we have failed to present ourselves at all. We have also failed to target minorities. These girls make up a large portion of today's youth, yet up until recently it was an unspoken feeling that minorities were not really welcome - African-Americans especially. I got the impression that it was our sponsoring bodies largely responsible for this (older people with old prejudices). This is starting to change too, Supreme finally issues things saying 'all races welcome,' but change is slow. I know that was one of the things that broke my heart as a Rainbow girl - I loved Rainbow so much, but was saddened and embarrased by our exclusionary slant. I have high hopes we will reach out to the vast population of minority girls in the future, so they too may reap the benefits of Rainbow.
I agree the Supreme site is kind of sad - it has improved greatly, but it could be so much more! And that yellow really WAS awful - I think I actially told them that once :) I wonder how old the webmaster is... your site rocks!"
-
"It's been years since I've even thought about my days in Rainbow; a comment from my mother made me think of it and
go in search of where Rainbow is today. I spent some time reading the comment page and I agree, without a doubt, adults
lead the decline in Rainbow. From the local Advisory Board to the state level, adults with an agenda do more damage to
the organization that anything else. Rainbow had a huge impact on making me the person that I am today and it's sad to
see that other girls that need that type of direction and support are not able to find it. I love that the dress code
has changed (we had to wear the most vile dresses for Grand Assembly...I never want to see dotted swiss material again!)
One of the silliest things I remember is not being able to cross my legs during a meeting, which drove me crazy. And
the phrase "brag rag" brought back memories of having to flip part of it over my shoulder because it was too long to
hang just on the front of my dresses."
-
"WOW!!! Even though I am 50 years old I agree totally with what you are saying about the adults. This is for the
girls...I have 2 daughters in Rainbow and am the Mother advisor of our assembly. Our board firmly believes in
recommending different girls for Grand Offices instead of recycling the other girls. Some assemblies recommend the
same girl over and over and over. Give all a chance. Instead of leaving Grand Reps open let us recomend more than
2. Rainbow must change with the times. Another problem is the Name....the asociation with gay and lesbian groups
is a problem...I love this website...have you gotten any flak from supreme...their site is awful......keep this
going its wonderful!!!!"
- "One of my assembly's majority members was telling me about this site, and I knew that I had to see it.
Wow. I'm almost speechless, and ... that very rarely happens. I'm [blank] years old and am the Worthy Adviser in my
assembly right now. Most of our line is my age, which is horrible, because I know that I'm not ready to be doing this
right now, and my mom is a PWA, so I have a lot of help, while they don't necessarily have that. So many of the
problems that people have mentioned on your site are *way* to familiar to me.
Example A: the "psycho" adult, in our assembly also known as the "grandie groupie". This adult ... is so obsessed with rainbow. ... She is always trying to take over girls' projects. If you ask her to do one thing, then she takes over. Now this wouldn't be quite as bad, except that she isn't very good at it. She latches on to Grandies the second that they get their office. She travels with them, does their reception, tells them what to do, and drives them crazy all the while.
Example B: Board Members. For a long time, our board was all the same people who did not support us. I feel that for the most part, we now have a good board who supports us, but not everyone. One of our board members is constantly just plain causing trouble.
Example C: Favorites. [One] girl who was WA ... was a total flake. Throughout the line, she kept on not learning her ritual work, but would get signed off any ways. For WA ... she didn't know it. In the end, our board chairman said, "well, she sort of knows it" and signed her off, as long as she 'prommised to keep working on it'. Now if I had tried to pull that off, no one would've let me get away with it. Plus, during Installation, she had the new MA read her a line, and then she repeated it. Yet she still got her designation as PWA, even though I know that lately our Grand Deputy has been pretty insistent that the girls know the work and quite a few girls haven't gotten their designation because of it. So why should it be different for her?
I read somewhere on your site that someone said that you need a MA who is a good role model. Our MA right now is so disorganized. When I ask her for information, no matter how simple the question, she says, "Oh. I have that somewhere. I'll look it up." By the time that she returns to me, I have already asked either our Grand Deputy or another MA in our district. Plus, the info that she gives me is usually wrong, or not complete.
The same person who was talking about that a MA needs to be a role model also mentioned that she should be fair. At Grand Assembly this year, our MA yelled at two of our newest members for "picking" on another girl. In actuality, this girl had been hitting them, and making fun of them and other girls. ... our MA automatically took her side without finding out the facts. These two girls quit as soon as they got back from GA.
Also ... Girls kept on getting left behind. On the last day, I went over to where my assembly had been seated, only to see that they were gone. Luckily, my stuff was put in the car of someone who was seated somewhere else and was still there, but as far as I knew, I had no ride home. They had left me and that other girl there, and we were lucky that her mom had been a driver.
Last person type: People who can't except change. All of our adults and older girls hate the new changes. If I try to do something even remotely different, which happens a lot because my mom was a WA in another state where they did things differently and I'm trying to put some of their traditions into my term, they all go crazy. They all say, "But we've always done it like this". There is a large age gap between our older girls and our younger girls, and so the two groups have very different ideas about how the assembly should be run. The Older girls want everything to be the same, and the younger girls want to change it so that it's more fun, but we keep on getting turned down.
Even though it doesn't sound like it, I really do like Rainbow. I love the friends that I've made, and the things that I've learned. ... My only complaint about Rainbow is adults. There have been so many meetings and events that I have gone home from crying, because of something that someone said or did. I'm sad to say that I will probably become inactive after my term, but I know that I will remember the things that I have learned and the friends that I have made forever. I don't really care if you post some of this, or all of it, or none of it, but I needed to rant, and this seemed to be as good of a place as any. It was nice for me to see that other people have seen these things though, and in other assemblies, not just mine."
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Over the past four years, I've gotten quite a bit of email from current and Majority Rainbow girls (including MANY Grand Reps and Officers) and their parents, Masons, Eastern Star members, even from DeMolay members! I thought I would post some commentary from them here, anonymously, and with any details I consider "identifying" blanked out. Maybe you can get inspiration, encouragement, or reassurance from one of these people. Who knows; maybe some of the "in charge" persons would read these and clue in! Hey, anything's possible, right?
All spelling and punctuation are "as-is", and are listed newest to oldest. If you recognize your own words and do not wish for them to be up here, please contact me, tell me which is yours, and I will remove it from the site.
added new comments on 03-08-02
This is Comments, Page One - the newest comments from email.
View Comments, Page Two for comments from before 07/2001.
"First let me start out by saying that the site is wonderful. I have enjoyed browsing through the many sections and I look forward to the periodic updates. Now please allow me the chance to make a comment: I was a member of both Rainbow and Jobs Daughters; was a DeMolay Chapter Sweetheart for 2 different chapters and am currently a member of OES. I have also been involved in other youth organizations not affiliated with the Masonic family. The problems discussed are not isolated to the youth organizations of the Masonic family, but can be found in every organization at every level. Throughout my years involved in youth organizations, I have encountered adult leadership that runs from adults who are truly participating to help the youth grow and develop into strong, well balanced adults; to advisors who are present because they feel it is their duty; to advisors who are involved only to pursue their own self centered political goals. It is unfortunate when the latter two types are in the majority of advisors as this causes the organizations to lose. As I have reached adulthood, I can only hope that my own involvement in my children's activities does not become one of the latter two descriptions. We as adults have to constantly review why we are participating and make sure it is for the right reason."
"A piece of trivia for your organization
"My grandmother, Helen Marie (Sheppard) Ambrose typed the first ritual for the Rainbow Girls. She was Mrs. Kenneth E. Ambrose Sr., 32nd--Degree Mason. I'm not sure, but I believe that his father (Wesley Sinclair Ambrose), too, was a 32-Degree Mason.
"Also, for my grandmother, Mr. Saxon wrote a note to me telling me when I became of age that I could join the Rainbow Girls.
"In the 1950s, I became old enough to join the Rainbow Girls but was denied membership for reasons that I do no know. They did not know that I had a note from Mr. Saxon. I was so hurt at the time that I didn't tell them about the note and that if they didn't want me on my own merits that I didn't want them.
"However, I still have the note from Mr. Saxon..
"Helen (Ambrose) McCall"
One problem I've noticed here is that the "adults" on the advisory board think that us 'just graduated' Rainbow Girls are too young and naive to know how to do anything right. So they basically push (or, in my case, TRY to push) us away, and for the most part, unfortunately, it has worked. They have got it ALL WRONG! We can relate to the girls, especially the ones we were girls with. Since us 'just graduated' gals are from the same generation (basically) we can understand where they are coming from.
Anyway, just wanted to tell you that your site is cool. ... Keep up the good work!"
I am a Past Grand Officer from 30 years ago, and Rainbow has, and always will be, special to me however, if I had a daughter, I might think twice about joining an organization that covertly promotes segregation in a society that can no longer, or should no longer, function with that mind set.
What is being done is perhaps too little, too late.
I hope to go to Supreme next year,and I hope to see diversity."*[note from Misha - "I responded to this person and assured her that times HAVE changed, and for the better. Her response:"]*
"The state was [state],and it was on the news. I also served as a Mother Advisor, and the Masonic Lodge had an annual Christmas party for 'underprivileged' children. They were given a list of kids from the welfare dept. and they were mostly black. The Mason in charge of the function told them to omit those kids and only give names of white children, though hispanic was okay. The girls in my assembly were appalled.
Our District Deputy, [name], who also was on the Grand Exec. Committee, told me that she prevented a girl from any grand appt because at a School of Instruction, the girl stood up and asked why black girls were not allowed. She held it against that girl forever! I do not know her response. I wanted to say I wondered too, but I was afraid to because I feared my Assembly might get held back. That was about 1980.
Perhaps there needs to be more public presence and recruitment for girls. When I was involved, parents were not allowed to attend unless affiliated, so at least that has changed...my mom would have loved to have been able to attend!
There is no reason Rainbow cannot survive if barriers to membership have been torn down and there is more allowable parental involvement for girls without masonic affiliation.
I've had tons more in my in-box, but I don't need to post all the compliments; someone would think I'm having an ego trip! But thank you to everyone who enjoys my site, either for the content, or the 'pretty' graphics. I promise to try and make this website worthwhile!
Got something to add, good or bad? (ooh, it rhymes!) Then email me! Again, please remember I value your privacy and mine. Names, locations, and other information I think could be identifying will be [bracketed] or ...'ed out of any comments I post on this site.
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