California Rainbow's Revelations

Photo courtesy Deborah Ratto Dash

Welcome! 

As California Grand Assembly 2015 comes to a close, this former California Rainbow Girl has been avidly following the wonderful live updating on their Facebook page.  Anyone who has had the chance to attend California's Grand Assembly will be certain to tell you, the most exciting part of their sessions is Revelations.  Of course, that is a strange word and anyone visiting California Grand Assembly for the first time will squint their eyes and ask "what's Revelations?"  As was explained to me as a wide-eyed, enthusiastic 13-year old attending my first Grand Assembly, Anaheim 1986, "Revelations are when the new Grand Officers are revealed."  Well, that made perfect sense but to most out-of-state visitors, this is quickly translated to "Grandie Announcements" or "Grand Officer Announcements" or something similar. 

No jurisdiction does Revelations quite like California.  The rest of the West Coast comes closest, with the retiring Grand Officers forming a circle around the perimeter of the assembly room, whether the convention is being held in an arena, a gymnasium, a theater, or a hotel ballroom.  The video clips from Revelations 2015 took me back to the last time I attended California Grand Assembly, and to every other year I was lucky enough to make it to Fresno, Anaheim or, once, Sacramento. 

Photo courtesy Deborah Ratto Dash

So, what makes them special?  Well, imagine a young woman wearing a floor-length formal, complete with a hoop and pantaloons underneath, capped by a rosette-shaped wiglet bun on her head, and a stuffed animal clasped in one hand, dressed to fit the office to which the new recipient was being appointed, bouncing up and down with unbridled excitement to meet another young woman who will be serving in that Grand Office for the next year.  When the new name is called, there are shouts of acclamation from around the arena, the young woman is mobbed by her own assembly before she is escorted down the arena's stairs to the floor where she is then allowed to run to meet her new Grandie.  And, if they collide with joy, especially if they are both jumping or sometimes manage to fall in a heap, the shouts from the audience only grow louder.  A visor is placed on the new appointee's head, they pose for pictures and then retire to the perimeter, sitting down on a sheet which has been embroidered or puff-painted with the names of that Grand Office's predecessors.

All of this is preceded by the Grand Officers Protest, which once upon a time, before 1990, was called the Grand Officers Farewell.  The retiring Grandies flood the arena wearing t-shirts of various colors and capes or boas to fit their office, chanting "No!  No!  We won't go!" all while holding up protest signs with cute phrases such as "Have you lost FAITH in me?" or "I would LOVE another year."  Once their pleas are acknowledged but ultimately disregarded by the Supreme Deputy or Inspector, they gather 'round barrels or boxes for the first reveal of the night - the new mascot.  Many in the arena will have, by this moment, successfully guessed what the animal is based off the clues delivered at the conclusion of the prior sessions of that year's Grand Assembly but it is still thrilling to finally see the cute stuffed animal the retiring Grand Worthy Advisor has selected for the next year's Grand Officers.

Photo courtesy Deborah Ratto Dash

And then, onto those bouncing, ecstatic Grandies, nearly thirty in all, repeating their scene, over and over, until there are only two offices left - Grand Worthy Associate Advisor and Grand Worthy Advisor.  At this point, the rest of the retiring and newly appointed Grandies form two lines, from East to West, about twenty feet apart.  Down this channel, the GWA and GWAA skip to the West, and there they wait, anxious to meet their new Grandies.  A name is called, hugs, a meeting, then the GWAAs skip to the East.  And then, the new Grand Worthy Advisor is revealed.  She has no idea, only her parents and the Supreme Deputy or Inspector know the name of that young woman about to be announced.  Shocked is an understatement any California PGWA will tell you, of her reaction to that fateful moment.  Once she makes her way to the floor, receives her visor and hugs her Grandie, they also make that run to the East but this time they dash up the ramps to the podium where she's asked "Do you accept the office of Grand Worthy Advisor?"  Never has a girl said no, and the arena always erupts in thunderous approval. 

Then, you might think, it's all over.  But it's not.  In days of old, the arena floor would be flooded with Past Grand Officers and assemblies eager to congratulate their new Grandies.  This is still the case but most of the congratulating takes place at the Grandie Party, which is held in an adjacent exhibit hall.  There are tables set up for each Grand Office, filled with goodies and gifts including a dress bag, a jacket and a customized box filled with hair bows that the Grandie will wear throughout the next year, tucked into that much-desired wiglet, the most easily recognizable badge of any California Grand Officer.

Past Grand Musicians, Past Grand NJs & Past Grand NYs
in attendance at the 2015 Grand Musician/NJ/NY Reception
Photo courtesy Deborah Ratto Dash

Part of what makes California Rainbow so unique are the bonds between not just any given year's Grand Family but also the Past Grand Officers Families.  Past Grand Officers eagerly wait to hear who their "new Grandie" is, and many who are still active with California Rainbow keep their eyes on girls as they develop into leaders worthy of a Grand Office and hope for one girl or another to become a part of their special Grandie family.   Even with the loss of membership and the resulting combination of many Grand Offices which used to be single appointments - ie Grand Musician and Grand Representative to New Jersey & New York counts all of the Past Grand Musicians, Past Grand New Jerseys, Past Grand New Yorks and Past Grand New Jersey/New Yorks as "her Grandies" - these networks are lasting and lifelong associations.  They don't celebrate reunions at Grand Assembly like the yearly Grand Families but often make an effort to attend their Grandie's Reception and feel a strong bond with one another.  They do, however, conduct a "Memory Walk" during the last session of Grand Assembly to welcome the new Past Grand Officers to their ranks.  This is one of the most memorable, tear-filled moments of any Grand Assembly as it really hits home, in those moments, that another group of Grandies are retiring from an unbelievable experience that started a year earlier with, for them, a life-altering California Revelations.