With all of the craziness that 2020 and Covid has brought into our world and into our Rainbow world, there are a few events and a few fundraisers going on throughout the state. Check out the Event Calendar for more details!
Clickable link (or copy/paste) to meeting: loopreturns.zoom.us/j/94458304254
Congratulations to the 2020 Ohio Rainbow Scholarship Winners!
First things first…
Our GWA, Celine, was FANTASTIC all weekend as Acting Supreme Worthy Advisor for this virtual Supreme Assembly.
Also, Micaela represented us in the Calvacade and Kelly represented us during the Supreme Seminar Presentations (“the one Yankee of Region 4”) and both were wonderful
Our bow team from Logan/BSM/Columbus/Xenia won 2nd place in the Awesome 7 competition and Micaela won 1st place in the Senior division doing the Installing Officer part!
To see a picture recap - click here!
From the SWA:
Dear Rainbow Girls, Adult Workers, Parents and Guests:
The Supreme Assembly, International Order of the Rainbow for Girls, cordially invites you to attend our 48th “Friendships Bloom Where Rainbow Is Planted” Supreme Assembly Session from July 25 through 27, 2020.
Given the health and travel concerns of our world-wide COVID-19 pandemic, being together this summer is simply impossible – however new horizons and opportunities have opened for us and our membership and we are looking forward to an outstanding virtual session. I look forward to this unique opportunity for each of you to “attend” Supreme Assembly. It will be a unique experience and it will never have been easier, less expensive, or perhaps more fun than to join us in July.
Our Acting Supreme Officers, the Grand Cross of Color Team, the Cavalcade Team, and the Flag Bearers/Supreme Pages are working together in unique groups to expand their interactions with girls around the world. These groups are organizing activities for Fun Night and to be shared during “screen/nutrition” breaks. They are also working on their individual presentations about the offices they hold during Supreme Assembly.
With COVID on the rise in Ohio and upon receipt of the Grand Master’s latest Edict issued July 17, 2020, Ohio Grand Assembly and all subordinate Assemblies will proceed, effective immediately, under the leadership displayed by our Grand Master and will transcend his directive to Ohio Grand Assembly and all subordinate Assemblies with additional precautions as necessary for youth protection.
If your Assembly or an event is located in a county that is:
Yellow/Level 1 or Orange/Level 2: You may meet per the standing COVID guidance previously issued (see below).
Red/Level 3: You may only meet in groups of less than 20, with masks on, outside, for less than 2 hours.
Purple/Level 4: You may not meet in person for any reason. You may meet virtually. Please consult with me if you have questions about how to proceed with business critical items during this time.
You can check the current status of the county here. These status' change regularly so please check frequently. Due to this constant change, all Assemblies are advised to always have a backup plan in place for any in-person gatherings they are planning in order to preserve the continuity of their Assembly.
This protocol will be in place until at least 10.23.2020.
Requirements:
Masks are required to be worn at all indoor Rainbow functions and are highly encouraged at outdoor functions
No singing in groups.
No touching.
Guidance for Ritualistic Challenges:
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.
No transferring of objects. Just go without/mock the part. Some of this might look a little silly. It's ok.
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:
Spray/clean the balls/cubes prior to putting into the container
Have sanitizer available from Charity upon departing the alter - girls to sanitize their hands after casting their ballot
Initiation in Person:
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.
No grip of the order - they'll learn it later!
Ribbons should be carried by the station's officer and placed thereon. The candidate should stand 6 ft clear of this act.
No traditional word - we'll share it at a later time!
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
If rose ceremony, initiates pick up the rose from the pile/vase rather than Faith picking up the rose and handing to initiate .
Signing the bylaws - offer sanitizer on the desk for girls to use after using the pen to sign
The following guidelines have been issued by Supreme Deputy Whitney Poma upon receipt of the Grand Master’s latest edict:
Restrictions for Gathering:
1. Adhere to your Lodge’s Guidelines: Assemblies are asked to reach out to their lodge to get more information about their potential to re-open and to ensure that they're able to meet the requirements of their lodge during their planned gatherings.
2. Be smart about whether or not you should attend:
Do not come if you have been in contact with COVID, had been diagnosed with, recovered from, or suspected to have had COVID (in absence of an official test to confirm) within the last 14 days.
Do not come if you have or have had a fever above 100 or any other symptom of COVID in the last 24 hours.
3. Members and advisors are entirely welcome to elect to not attend, with complete sympathy that they may not feel comfortable in social settings for the foreseeable future.
There are no mandatory events at this time.
Do not incentive members to attend any gathering. Members are not incentivized to attend by a merit system or any other reward or recognition.
There is no penalty for Members and Advisors who do not attend.
5. Gathering Size:
In general, everyday life, gatherings of no more than 10 is the rule of thumb until at least July 1st.
For gatherings at a facility where social distancing restrictions as I have outlined above and as are outlined on coronavirus.ohio.gov are being followed are permitted up to 300.
Important:
Should you be having an event and a complaint is filed, the complaint will go to your county health department and they will be responsibility to come take a look and issue any charges. The Ohio Department of Health encourages you to call your County Department of Health to ask them about what you're planning to do, take note of their name, and then use their guidance for reference when planning your event and, should a complaint be filed, you could reference the name and guidance received from their department prior to proceeding with the event during their inspection.
Thus - the following recommendation is in place until 7/1 or until these restrictions are amended by our ODH, whichever comes sooner.
Assemblies are welcome to meet regularly in small groups - extra visitors from our sponsoring bodies are discouraged at this time. Limit to just members, advisors, and parents. Prospects and their parents/guardians are welcome for prospect friendly events.
If you're interested in hosting a larger, formal event (or should you just have a large assembly in general), then the capacity should limited to a number that allows social distancing within your facility or Lodge, but not to exceed 300.
The following guidelines are highly encouraged:
Social gatherings are outside/in open air if possible. Gatherings indoors are optimized for ventilation or otherwise will not last longer than a few hours.
Soap & sinks and/or sanitizer are readily available to all. Attendees should be cleaning their hands upon arrival and departure.
Masks should be worn.
If food is served then it should not be served as a self-serve buffet. The serving platters are to have proper serving utensils so that no "finger food" is necessary. Food items are served by masked and clean-handed servers. Disposable plates, utensils, and napkins are used to avoid spreading germs to those that would otherwise be cleaning reusable serve ware.
Your assembly is welcome to add to these guidelines as they see fit for any unique situations your Assembly may require in order to help everyone feel comfortable and to ensure safety.
FAQ: Ritualistic work
The Grand Master has outlined some guidance for ritualistic work within the above mentioned edict. The goal is to be socially distanced and to make sure each participant, especially initiatory candidates, feel comfortable for the agenda of the work. That said - talking through the ceremony with your candidates to make sure they're comfortable and feel safe is good. If they don't feel safe then make changes to accommodate.
Each Assembly room is unique, thus blanket amendments to the ritualistic work are not applicable. Each Assembly’s Advisory Board and members should meet to discuss challenges and how you can overcome them. It may be nice to add an announcement to the beginning of your meetings (either prior to the MA walking in or after ritualistic opening) that revisions to the ritualistic work have been made to ensure social distancing. This type of announcement would fit nicely into wherever you include other "housekeeping" type words like "no cell phones".
The Grand Master’s latest letter below:
June 2, 2020
To My Rainbow Family,
The murder of George Floyd and the events in its wake have been heavy on my heart. The youth in our country watches as its adults, role models, and elected officials reach the brink of maintaining their humanity. I fear for what witnessing such acts may instill in Gen Z as they are molded into tomorrow’s adults, role models, and elected officials.
As a mother, I possess a deep sense of accountability in raising my daughter to love in a way that binds creation together, rather than divides it. Until recently, I naively believed that I could successfully raise her to be colorblind. Recognizing that I do not fully understand the depth of my white privilege, I have been listening to black indigenous people of color (BIPOC) during these last few days. While I still have much to learn, I at least now realize that the only way for my daughter to grow to love as God intended is to actively talk with her about race in America.
As a Majority Rainbow girl, I hold dear my lessons of Love and Patriotism during these times. I seek to convey love that’s “a silken cord, strong as a chain of steel, binding creation together” and I seek to uphold my dedication to my “country and its Flag, the stars and stripes, symbol of American civilization, enlightenment, and liberty.” Today, I maintain my commitment to my initiatory vows by speaking out against the recent violations to the very freedoms and rights protected by the constitution upon which our founding fathers (many of whom were Masonic) built this country.
To my sisters and brothers of color: I stand with you. I seek to become an ally in combating the systemic racism that stands in the way of your American freedoms and God-given rights.
I encourage every member of Ohio Rainbow to listen, reflect, and open-mindedly engage in uncomfortable conversations about race. Demonstrating such vulnerability is hard, but I can personally say that you won’t regret having done so. You may say the wrong thing along the way, you may unintendedly solicit a negative reaction, but these moments merely present an opportunity to better yourself. Stepping outside of your comfort zone is necessary to grow. And growth is exactly what this nation needs right now.
With humility and love,
Whitney Poma
Supreme Deputy, Ohio
From the Supreme Worthy Advisor:
Dear Supreme Family.
I want you to be the first to know, and please feel free to share with your jurisdiction, that given our COVID-19 pandemic situation, Supreme Assembly 2020 will be held virtually this summer.
The Nevada 2020 Committee has agonized over the potential of this decision since March 17, hoping and praying our situation would not be as it is now, but, it is. The Peppermill has acknowledged they cannot host us at this time and has released us from our contract and all penalties. Many of you have expressed concerns about your own ability to travel as well as the potential of an additional 14 day quarantine upon your return home, as well as concerns about traveling with your girls, housing girls together, social distancing, flights, costs with parents who have been out of work for months, etc. These are the same concerns we are hearing throughout our Rainbow world regarding Grand Assemblies.
My heart breaks for our newly appointed Acting Supreme Officers, but please assure them “I have a plan” and we will incorporate them, in their new dresses, in every way possible in July.
There is much information to be released over the course of the next few days, but it is important to share this now as the Peppermill will begin cancelling our rooms and will send guests an email notification of that cancellation beginning tomorrow. We will also be working with Cvent to have registration, meals, etc., refunded, AND will establish the new registration fee and whatever other items (such as the Supreme t-shirt, proceedings, etc.) will be available. We will establish a new registration date, etc.
I appreciate each of you who have joined us in prayerful support and in your patience as we approach this new adventure.
Rainbow Love,
Joanie Jacka,
Supreme Worthy Advisor, 2018-2020
Things to check out!
If you click on the years on Past Grand Worthy Advisor Page you’ll find term information for what is known about each of our Past GWAs (grouped by decade)
I finally remembered to link pictures on the Grand Assembly Photos Page (The sad part was I had the pages for months, just forgot to link them)
All Ohio Rainbow events shall remained cancelled through June 12th, an extension of the previous date. The Grand Master’s letter is attached below.
