Kansas' White Grand Assembly Floor

Altar at Kansas Grand Assembly

Some traditions are borne out of a practical necessity.  The white canvas floor used at every Kansas' Grand Assembly since 1939 is one such tradition.  Like many other jurisdictions in their early years of Rainbow, Kansas' Grand Assembly was held in high school gymnasiums.  In order to protect both the hardwood floors and the girls' dresses, a decision was made between Kansas' first Grand Assembly in 1938 and their second session to cover the gym floor with a white canvas.

By the time Kansas moved to different venues like hotel ballrooms the tradition was firmly ingrained and while it is quite a task for the many adult volunteers to lay the white canvas floor prior to sessions and wash it every few years, neither active girls nor Majority Members could imagine doing away with it.  In 1987, in honor of their own Mrs. McLeod's fiftieth anniversary as their Supreme Inspector, a collection was taken throughout the state to replace the by-then worn-out original canvas.

Kansas Grand Assembly floor

But this canvas isn't something that is to only be seen.  It needs to be experienced as the canvas muffles the sound of the girls' feet.  I don't know about you but I have difficulty imagining lovely Grand Assembly marches and floor work so quiet that one only hears the music and the speakers.  And so, yet another Grand Assembly that I'll be visiting when I win that elusive Powerball jackpot!

To see more pictures of this amazing Grand Assembly floor, check out Kansas Rainbow's Facebook page!