Ohio Rainbow COVID Guidelines for all attendees of all Ohio Rainbow events as of September 15, 2021 through November 30, 2021 or until the Grand Executive Committee declares otherwise - whichever comes first:
Masks are required while indoors for all attendees of Ohio Rainbow sanctioned events.
Individuals who answer yes to any of the questions contained within the COVID Screening Questions are not permitted to attend.
Any COVID protocols issued by the meeting location should be followed in addition to these guidelines outlined herein.
Social Distancing must be observed indoors:
Maintain 6 feet of distance between you and others from outside your household.
Hosts of events should cap attendance to a number that will allow for distancing to be observed throughout the event. Collecting RSVPs is encouraged; Google Forms or Eventbrite are helpful tools to do so.
Below is some information about how to socially distance during ritualistic work.
Seated dining is discouraged.
Refreshments, if offered, should be designed for grab-and-go consumption while commuting from the event.
If seated dining is necessary (ie: a meal for grand officers between the practice and statewide initiation) then people must be distanced while seated and only remove their masks while actively eating. Mask should be on while socializing, even while seated at the table, when not actively taking bites of food.
Rainbow Members and Advisors participating in or at Rainbow sanctioned events held in venues beyond the control of Rainbow must wear masks indoors, avoid seated dining, and observe social distancing.
The following is likewise implied:
Vaccine cards will not be required to be shown as proof of vaccination.
Obedience to the COVID Screening Questions operates on an honor system.
The liability waiver from Supreme Assembly is still in place and is required for all persons in attendance at a Rainbow function to submit prior to attending/upon arrival. This form will be required with registration at Grand Assembly.
Guidance for Socially Distanced Ritualistic Work:
· Marching: should be 6 feet apart so you might want to skip this if that's too tedious for a simple meeting
· Sitting: No one should be sitting closer than 6 feet from each other (unless they're in their own household together anyways) so audience members and station chairs should be placed accordingly
· Passing: It's ok for members to come within 6 feet of each other when passing for ritualistic floor work
· Talking: When an office is talking to another office, they should be 6 feet apart (ie: when Hope and Charity meet at the altar - 6 ft apart. When Drill Leader comes to escort in the officers, she stops 6 feet prior to them...)
· Touching: No touching.
o No transferring of objects. Just go without/mock the part. Some of this might look a little silly. It's ok.
o No arm-led escorting, ideally the escort is having the escorted person follow 6ft behind her
· Singing: No singing. Either have the song played instrumentally, from a recording, or by 1 designated person/a soloist
· No collecting of the traditional word - have adults be able to vouch for a girl should there ever be question
· Praying: Ensure that WA and MA step back from Chaplain while she speaks into the microphone, if using
· Balloting:
o Spray/clean the balls/cubes prior to putting into the container
o Have sanitizer available from Charity upon departing the alter - girls to sanitize their hands after casting their ballot
· Initiation in Person:
o Be sure your candidate is aware of what will be happening and how you're preparing to maintain social distancing. It's important that they are comfortable - otherwise, do not proceed. There are a few ways you can go about this:
§ The closest to normal: Have the candidate follow Faith, 6ft back. Faith may need to give more cues about where the sister should ultimately stop or otherwise - it is ok for Faith to audibly make such statements like "Go stand 6 ft away from the Yellow pedestal there"
§ The next closest: Have the candidate(s) sit on the sidelines, 6 ft apart, and have a current member act in the above described "closest to normal" situation.
§ The third situation: see your Grand Deputy.
§ The route you choose should be based on the comfort level of all initiation participants. Regardless of what you choose, you could host another complete initiation for these initiates once we are able to return to normal initiatory work.
o No grip of the order - they'll learn it later!
o Ribbons should be carried by the station's officer and placed thereon. The candidate should stand 6 ft clear of this act.
o No traditional word - we'll share it at a later time!
o Lambskin Aprons should be picked up by each initiate and just held in their hands rather than Charity picking them up and placing on candidate
o If rose ceremony, initiates pick up the rose from the pile/vase rather than Faith picking up the rose and handing to initiate .
o Signing the bylaws - offer sanitizer on the desk for girls to use after using the pen to sign