By: Ranee M., Southern Pot of Gold Reporter

What’s up, California Rainbow.  I’ve got an amazing story to tell you and you’re never going to guess what it’s about.  I call it…..“Southern Rainbow Camp 2022!”  So put on your hat and sunscreen and take in the fresh air, chattering wildlife, trees, birds, the pool, the SMORES and (if you ask Mr. Mark Read) the often elusive BIG SHOWER SPIDER!, then you’re ready for camp.

This year’s camp theme was “STORYBOOK CAMP”, and it was unforgettable.  From the food, to the games, to the pool, to the amazing new activities.  Of course, there were old favorites too.  It wouldn’t be camp without a picture in the big chair or a night of Bingo.  Everyone had something fun to do and friends to hang out with – if you were bored, you must not have been in the same place as we all were that weekend.

Almost everyone arrived Friday night in time for dinner before starting our annual movie night.  This year we got to watch “Rise of the Guardians!” What a coincidence and very appropriate for our Camp theme, as the movie is based on the book series The Guardians of Childhood and the short film The Man in the Moon by William Joyce. Such an amazing movie, if I do say so myself.  Then it was lights out because tomorrow was going to be a busy day!

The next morning, after staying up late to create our posters everyone was a little slow getting down to the main hall.  I heard, there may have even been a visitor of the small, four-legged, long-tailed and whiskery type that visited a cabin or two and kept everyone up to the wee hours.  After breakfast, we had our annual Pantaloon Parade and Poster Parade.  These girls are all so creative and talented.  The day was spent Zip Lining – did you see Mrs. Garcia our State Mother Advisor for 2023 on the zip line??  There was also tree climbing and Grandie Pool Jumping.  Each of the California Grand Officers in attendance and Lexie Grand Rep to California from Nevada jumped off the diving board. Who did you think had the best form at the pool?  You certainly can’t forget the Grandie Auction on Saturday night.  The bidding was heated at times. Wow, there appeared to be a lot of purple, with purple wigs and purple boas and purple, purple, purple.  This year, Southern Rainbow Camp raised $3162.75 for the Grand Service Project – Pawsitive Teams, Service and Therapy Dogs.  Wow, that is amazing!  Mrs. Regier arrived to join us on Saturday too and we waited this year to have skits on Saturday instead of the normal Friday night, so Mrs. Regier could watch all the fun!  And BINGO happened.  Sydney did a bingotastic job of calling numbers and Lexie from Nevada got to call a few numbers too.

A big thank you to Ms. Jenni Orozco and her team for putting together a super camp experience.  We couldn’t do it without you.  You kept the activities going and the fun happening.  Thanks to Mr. Mark Read for some fabulous pictures.  

Hope you’ll all be able to join us next year for a super spectacular spooky “HAPPY HALLOWEEN CAMP”.  Until next year – make sure to keep the sunburns to a minimum, leave the place better than you found it and ..….Happy Camping!

By: Addy T., Northern Pot of Gold Reporter

What did you do this summer? Well, I can tell you this summer I got to go camping, now what is camping? Camping is the outdoor activity where you live outside your house in the wild with a tent, some other essential camping equipment, and gear. Camping is actually a great hobby and people love to go camping because of entertaining activities like hunting, fishing, boating, hiking and roasting marshmallows with a campfire

The California Rainbow Girls got the chance this summer to attend Northern summer camp for the weekend. This gave the girls the opportunity to gather around the campfire, sing campfire songs with some of the Pioneering Wolfpack’s Grand Officers, play games, swim in the lake, and they even got to watch some of the Grand Officers jump in the lake. Then the girls were given the opportunity to dress up the Grand Officers. Cloud 7 got to dress up Carley L. The next day the girls had a devotional led by San Jose Assembly and they did an amazing job! At the end of the day, everyone’s feet were dirty, their hair was messy, and the girls got to leave with memories for a lifetime. The highlight of the weekend was Mr. Whitten in his Superman costume and raising $3,100 for the Grand Service Project! The international Order of Rainbow for Girls is a nonprofit organization for girls between the ages of 11 and 20. Our organization prepares the girls of today to be the leaders of tomorrow through leadership, sisterhood, and service. If you are interested in supporting California Rainbow check out www.gocarainbow.org !

By: Carley L., Grand Charity, Assistant Grand Editor and Rep. to WA/ID

I was initiated into Rainbow at Grand Assembly on March 28th, 2018. After only two terms I was elected into the line as Faith. I was extremely excited and couldn’t wait to start planning my installation for when I became Worthy Advisor. I quickly knew I wanted to make it beach themed, as my favorite place to visit is the beach. After my mom and dad purchased all the decorations, dress material, and carry-ins, Covid said hello there! And decided to stay for a while. After my installation was delayed for a term, my Advisory Board decided it was time to move forward and start planning for our Assembly’s first Zoom installation. At first, I was devastated. I had seen all of my Rainbow sisters have their dream Worthy Advisor installation and mine was going to be virtual. After coming to terms with this decision, I decided to look at all the positives of having a virtual installation. My family and friends who wouldn’t have been able to travel to Sacramento for an in-person installation were now able to attend. My pets, who provide me with great joy and humor, were able to sit right next to me during the installation. My family and I decorated our living room which was super cool, delivered care packages to the girls & adults of the Assembly, and had delicious food and cupcakes delivered to our house to enjoy after the installation. Even our neighbors had an outdoor viewing party, so they could all watch the installation together. Overall, the day felt really special. 

During the early days of quarantining during the pandemic, my family and I tried to remain positive and enjoy events on Zoom, but just like many others, sometimes we struggled. Instead of staring at our computer screens all the time, we started taking trips in our RV and quarantining at various beaches. I hate to say this, but in some ways, Covid was a blessing. My sister and I were able to learn virtually while having a view of the ocean and beach. I remember I was supposed to have a really hard English test Sophomore year that I didn’t have to take due to “not having school for two weeks” which turned into a whole year. I was also able to make so many memories with my family that I would not have been able to make if it wasn’t for Covid. My family went on 12 different RV trips over Covid. Most of them were to beaches because we’re kind of a beach family. I found a love for the beach even more than I had before. All of those memories are ones I will have for a lifetime. I will always remember building unusual sand castles, seeing new places I had never seen before, and having ice cream daily… maybe more than once a day. Once school started I wished I could go back to the endless fun, the seagulls trying to take our food, making Tik Toks galore, and the hours of boogie boarding with my sister, Macey in the ocean. The memories we make with our family are some of the most important memories that you will ever make in your life. I will always cherish the memories I have with my family, not only through Covid but throughout my whole life. They are the ones I know I can always count on and who will always be there for me. They are my people and I will love them until the end of time.

By: Zoee S., Grand Editor

Ah, sorry you’ve caught me cooking some delicious ratatouille! Welcome back! Here for another story are you? What am I saying of course you are! Now let’s see which one to tell. Ah ha! I’ve got it! Let me tell you about the exciting origins of a chef I met in Paris. His name was Remy and he was the best chef ever to cook ratatouille! It all started one day when Remy and his family were kicked out of their home…

Remy became stranded in the middle of Paris until he came upon the sweet scent of cooking. The thing about Remy is that he wants to be a chef, now you might think, oh that is a fine profession, but Remy was no man, he was a rat! A rat that could cook, but still a rat! So you can imagine when Remy finds himself stuck in a restaurant he tries to flee. Seeing an open window Remy takes his chance to escape only to pass by a soup that Linguini, a garbage boy had ruined. Not willing to ignore this gross-smelling soup Remy runs to the scene and starts fixing up the soup by grabbing various spices and ingredients, freezing Remy finally notices the man from earlier staring at him. Seeing the chef approaching, asking for the soup, Linguini traps Remy under a straining bowl. Linguini gets mistaken for making the soup so he and Remy make a deal. Linguini protects Remy in the kitchen while Remy teaches Linguini how to remake the soup. Remy and Linguini proceed to have their ups and downs. Until Linguini reveals Remy to be the star chef rather than himself, almost everyone quits, so Remy’s family, despite his father’s disapproval of Remy being with humans at first, steps up and helps in the kitchen to save the restaurant just in time as a very famous food critique, Anton Argo, is coming. Anton loves the food Remy made, and gives back a positive review saying how he hated Gusteau’s motto, “anyone can cook” until just now realizing because of Remy what Gusteau really meant was, “Not everyone can become a great artist, but a great artist can come from anywhere.” 

I told you this story simply because of its ending. When Anton makes those remarks, “not everyone can become a great artist, but a great artist can come from anywhere.” I want you to understand that you might think you don’t have a talent for something or maybe you haven’t realized you do have a talent. It doesn’t matter where you come from, as long as you believe you have the skills you can do it. My last challenge to you is to go out and show off your talent no matter how small you think it is. Any talent is a welcomed talent. Who knows your talent just might help someone you never thought you’d be able to help just like Remy and Linguini.

I am sad to say this is the final story I will be telling; the last time I am hosting this storytelling corner as the narrator. I hope you have enjoyed it as much as I have. It was very fun. However, I must say adieu, I will miss telling you stories. I hope I have at least inspired you in some way to keep reading and spread the love and passion of storytelling. It’s not easy being a narrator but I’ve found I had a talent for it, so I shared it with the world, just as Remy did with his cooking. I hope you too can share your talents, everyone has one, you just might have to dig deep to find yours if you haven’t already. Goodbye.