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News and Notes from around |
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| the World of Job's Daughters |
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Prior to the Bethel meeting, we had dinner at Leroy
Selmon’s. We had a full
table and lots of laughter during the two hour meal.
Many of the girls were under the impression that it was
acceptable to have a Ritual open during the meeting and Aunt Denise put
her foot down that it would not be allowed.
Although the girls were worried, they opened the Bethel
beautifully! It was the
boost they needed to realize that they were more than capable to
complete the work without reading it from the Ritual.
I was able to protem 2nd Messenger, and Erin Nicole
was the protem for Junior Princess.
While the Daughters enjoyed refreshments afterward, the council
met with the Supreme Guardian. The Bethel opened under Honored Queen and Jr. Miss Florida Job’s Daughter, Heather. The meeting was great, especially reports. They are a very active group of Jobies who dedicate a lot of their time to helping out the Masonic bodies in their area. One young girl’s reports were quite entertaining and I was excited to see the Bethel’s enthusiasm. I was able to protem my favorite station, Chaplain, and happy I could help them out. We were presented with a Florida goodie-bag during the meeting complete with a graperine (grapefruit crossed with a tangerine) huge sunglasses, beach sand and other Florida trinkets. After the meeting we had an ice cream social. Some of the Daughters walked us out to the car promising to see us at the meeting at Melbourne and hopefully Supreme Session.
Bethel #9
Melbourne, Florida Since there were only five girls present from the Melbourne Bethel, the other Daughters at the meeting served as protems for various stations. I was impressed with the acting Honored Queen, who had just been installed Senior Princess. She did a great job running the meeting and the rest of the girls from Melbourne knew their opening parts as well. They are working to get new members and have a lot of work ahead of them. Refreshments following the meeting included meat and cheese trays. Since it was a school night, most of the Daughters had to go home shortly after. Fun at the Villages and Sightseeing Adventures During our trek to the Florida Bethels we stayed
with Linda and Darrell Veirling, Associate Supreme Bethel Guardian, at
Jim and Jan Reinhart’s, Assisting Supreme Deputy home in the Villages.
The home was just the right size and was much more accommodating
than motel rooms would have been. Our
down time included some sleeping in, home cooked meals, going swimming,
riding in the golf cart with Mr. Reinhart, and of course doing some
shopping. One memorable
evening was spent playing a card game called Tripoley with the Veirlings.
Great fun!
Of course no trip to Florida would be complete
without a tour of Sea World and the Walt Disney World parks. Aunt Denise, Veirlings, Erin Nicole and I enjoyed our day
trip to Sea World in Tampa, Florida.
We woke up super early to ensure a full day packed with Sea World
activities. One adventure
included feeding sting rays (the non-poisonous kind of course)!
Holding a small fish between my index and middle fingers and with
my hand flat on the two foot sandy pool, I was extremely nervous as the
sting ray swam over my hand. I
could feel his smooth skin and mouth flaps searching for the fish that
it smelled. Once it found
what it was looking for, it sucked the fish right out of my hand- what
an experience!! I found out
that Erin Nicole and Uncle Darrell are both hard core roller coaster
riders so we naturally hit every single one in the park.
We saw most of the exhibits and animals although my favorite was
getting to pet a dolphin and watch the Shamu show.
I was amazed at the connection between the animals and the
trainers and enjoyed every minute in the park. My first trip to Disney was… well, magical!
Thanks to Mr. Reinhart we were able to get into the park for
free. I felt like a little
kid all day as I attempted to ride and see everything humanly possible.
Accomplishing my goal was made a little easier since there
weren’t very many people at the park and because Mr. Reinhart was able
to get us to the front of any line longer than ten minutes.
Cinderella’s castle was enchanting as well as the shows and
parade that went through town. I
could write novels about all of the rides and characters that I
encountered! My favorite
section is a toss-up between Adventure Land and Frontier Land.
Despite the cold weather, some of us stuck around for the
fireworks over the castle. The
wait was worth it- the show was amazing! What an awesome way to end a magical day. While in Orlando, we also checked out Animal
Kingdom and took a quick walk through Epcot.
At Epcot, Erin Nicole, Mr. Reinhart and I rode a new coaster
called Mt. Everest- to put it in simple terms- I had such a phenomenal
time on the ride that not only did I ride it a second time, but
proceeded to lose my voice for the rest of my time in Florida.
Some other unique attractions included a safari ride and a
musical Lion King show. We
didn’t have much time to spend at Epcot so we just walked through the
park. I got just enough of
it to want to go back again someday. My trip to Florida would not have been nearly as
memorable or as fun had I not been able to spend time with Reinhardts
and Veirlings. Thank you
all for the laughter and giving me a second home on the road.
I hope we can do it again sometime! Home Sweet Home.
I’ll never know why we made a trip from sunny Florida to
Laramie, Wyoming. To say
that it was freezing in Laramie would be an understatement; the weather
was more along the lines of bone chilling with sub zero temperatures
that weekend. Despite the
cold however, I was anxious to bring Aunt Denise home to meet my family!
The evening was spent at an informal dinner
and dance at the Elk’s Lodge. The
cuisine was Italian and everyone was hungry after a long day on the ski
slopes. The Grand Guardian,
Liz Hepp, made some presentations and shortly after the dance began. It was a girls’ only dance and one of the most entertaining
dances I have been too. One
special memory includes the Supreme Guardian and my mom doing the
Macarena!! Great fun! I celebrated a monumental occasion on this trip:
It was the first time ever my luggage didn’t arrive at the same
time I did. I hope I
don’t encounter that again. J
The Grand Bethel meeting was fabulous. The officers, who were decked out in royal purple robes and lavender capes, marched in to bagpipes. After opening they did the Friendship Ceremony. Each one of the officers memorized a quote or saying about how friendship impacts our lives and then the entire audience read a friendship poem. One of the Jobies performed an enchanting dance that lead into closing. The Grand Bethel Officers marched out with the bagpipes. I appreciated that the meeting was short and to the point because the emphasis was on the ceremony. Dinner was formal and I was able to sit with some of the dignitaries from Idaho and Utah. We were seated in the back of the room and enjoyed each other’s company. The food was good and the green punch, the best kind that stains everything in your mouth, was the cause of some candid pictures. Aunt Denise and I were asked to give remarks about our adventures in Brazil and the status of Job’s Daughters there. I received a very special gift from the ABG in Idaho Falls, an opal necklace that matched my dress perfectly. I was also presented with some hilarious gifts from Holly and Megan that will always remind me of the fantastic visit to Idaho! Special thanks to Mrs. Musselman for taking us to and from the airport, for covering the expenses of our room and for your friendship. To Holly and Mary: thanks for taking me out on the town, you made my trip to Idaho so memorable! Also, to Mr. Gross for the generous donation. I had a ball in your state! While in Utah, we stayed with the Grand Guardian, Winnie Multon, and her family. We met some of the Utah dignitaries at dinner that night, including the Miss Utah Job’s Daughter, and their GBHQ and GBSP. Throughout the visit, the GG and her family took a great deal of time to show us the Salt Lake City area. The first full day was spent at the Great Salt Lake and Antelope Island. The lake was breathtaking! Picture this: (or just scroll down!) the light fog settling over a frozen lake with majestic mountains in the background. It was cold, okay frigid, but the tour of Antelope Island was very historical. The old farming equipment and furniture on the ranch house was designed to depict what life was like on the island when it was first explored and domesticated. After a majestic drive through the Ogden canyon, we toured the Masonic Temple in Salt Lake City. By far the most incredible lodge I have been in; there are several themed lodge rooms in the five story building including a Colonial Room, Gothic Room, Moorish Room, and Egyptian Room just to name a few. All of the detail work was hand painted and I was astounded at the intricacies of the building and its countless rooms. The guided tour was great as we got the lowdown on the building, movies that had been filmed there, the specifics of each room and the lodge’s ghost named Charlie. Charlie decided to play a trick on us while we were talking about him on the elevator. He took us to a different floor than the button we pushed and gave us all goose-bumps.
I also made my first trip to the Shriner’s
Hospital in Salt Lake City. Wow!
I had no idea the hospital was so state of the art.
I was interested to learn how much time the staff takes in each
patient’s over all care, including a tutoring/school system, living
quarters for family members, and providing recreational opportunities
for patients of all ages. We got a back stage pass to the casting and prosthetics
department where individual needs of the patients are met.
If you have never been to a Shriner’s Hospital, it would be
well worth your visit to check one out. I would like to thank the Multon family for opening up their home to us during our stay in Utah, and for taking so much time to show is Salt Lake City. Thank you, Mark for making us breakfast every morning. Also to the GGC for the wonderful chocolate gift basket and for covering our hotel cost the night before we flew out. We arrived in Tucson with no problem and were
picked up at the airport. Aunt
Denise went with Bob Kincaid, PGG and Erin Nicole and I went with Teila
Childers, GG. I was
introduced to the Childers’ dogs and fell in love with there dachshund
named Charlie. We met up with Teirnee Childers, MIJD 2004-05 and Laureen
Stadle SBHQ 2004-05 at Pinnacle Peak.
The festivities included an old western show complete with a live
fight, incredible stunts and more puns that you could shake a stick at. Erin and I got sent to jail before dinner at steak house.
We were very entertained by our waiter, Jesse James, and since
there were no neckties allowed, they were cut off before we could eat! During our trip, we stayed with Laureen and her
grandma, Grace. They were
very hospitable, Laureen made us Oreo pancakes one morning and breakfast
burritos the next. On
Thursday we toured the Desert Museum outside of Tucson.
It was a cross between a zoo and a museum with indoor and outdoor
exhibits. I could have
passed the reptile exhibit, but thoroughly enjoyed the scenery and other
animals: puma, bobcats, beavers, otters, mountain goats and a variety of
birds just to name a few. That
night we enjoyed a Tucson specialty called Egee’s for chili-cheese
fries and an icy.
Teila drove us up to the camp which is up in the
mountains near Prescott. We arrived after dark making it a little
difficult to find my cabin but soon Bethel 11 arrived and I bunked up
with them. Once we settled
in, we walked to the cafeteria to decorate our table.
The tables were all decorated by Bethels according to the theme
of their Honored Queen’s term. Our
Dalmatian creations were all over the place! At breakfast the next morning, I quickly picked up
on the cafeteria songs. Everyone
was singing, running around the table and having a great time. I was impressed with how the Grand Bethel functions in
Arizona. The Daughters are
responsible for many of the committees and competitions at Grand Session
with the help of an adult. I
was interested as the Daughters stood up during the casual Grand Bethel
meeting to report on their various activities that they had planned
themselves. Kudos, Arizona! I
was honored to be presented with a Member of Honor Certificate to the
Grand Bethel of Arizona. Naturally
the afternoon was packed with games.
My group rotated to a landmine game, capture the flag, a
scavenger hunt (we won!), and a team building game involving a marble
rolling down a paper tube held up by about 13 girls.
We had a blast J
Skits that night we equally entertaining.
Each Bethel had a fun skit along with the adults and the Demolay
present that night. The
Miss Arizona Job’s Daughter, Jodi Phillips, took advantage of a HIKE
fund raising opportunity by selling tickets to have someone arrested for
a minimal fee. The person
arrested then had to pay to be released and collectively we raised a lot
of money for HIKE! Of
course, no camp experience would be complete without singing camp songs
and roasting s’mores before we called it a night. Apparently there were some pranks going on during the wee hours of the morning, because we woke up to a van full of packing peanuts (do I smell a payback?). Church service wrapped up camp as we gathered to sing songs and listen to some inspiring words about friendship. The entire delegation squished together for a group photo before cleaning and packing up to head home. As per custom, Bethel 11 met at Pizza Hut for lunch. I will miss those girls- Thanks for making me feel welcome in your Bethel! We stayed at Laureen’s house again, and her family treated us to Japanese cuisine. I enjoyed the sushi and the live cooking right before my eyes, the chef even made an onion volcano on the grill! It was delightful way to end the trip. I would like to thank Teila for taking me to and from the airport and all the way to camp out. Also thanks to Teirnee and Laureen for their friendship and hospitality, I really look up to you two! To Bethel 11, I am so glad to have met you, thanks for making me a part of your group. Jobie Love, Published as received
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