By: Peggy Stephan Keigler

“Owls flock to Fresno,” is the headline of volume 48, number 4 of the Pot of Gold newspaper published in April, 1979. In looking back over the paper it is hard to believe 45 years have passed since the Adorable Owls presided over Grand Assembly. Our colors for the year were violet and blue and our theme was “Fill your heart with Sunshine.”  We didn’t have many of the fun things you have today like talent, poetry, art, and ritual competition. But we did have plenty of enthusiasm and Grand Assembly was definitely the highlight of the year. 

We had 81 Adorable Owl Grand Officers and had 91 official visits. We visited Grand Assemblies in Nevada, Oregon and Washington/Idaho.  We attended Supreme Assembly in Kentucky and enjoyed a fun filled Supreme Tour that included Puerto Rico and St. Thomas. There was Grand Chapter, Grand Lodge, Grand Bethel, and NORCAL DeMolay Conclave. We also participated in the re-relaying of the cornerstone at the California State Capitol.

Our Grand Service Project was Children’s Village USA. (Now Childhelp USA. www.childhelp.org) The goal was to educate our members about the realities of child abuse in the hope that we could help prevent abuse in the future.  We also raised over $51,000 to upgrade and remodel a residential cottage at Childhelp’s Beaumont, CA facility. The completed cottage was cozy, comfortable and filled with rainbows and owls. 

California Rainbow had 250 assemblies and approximately 10,000 members.  While it is hard to imagine life without technology, 40 years ago things like computers and cell phones did not exist for personal use.  Our correspondence was done on a typewriter. This necessitated the lugging around of a portable typewriter wherever we traveled.  It also meant licking and stamping thousands of envelopes as well as visiting hundreds of post offices throughout the state. As for phone communication, well, that required 10 cents to be deposited into a pay phone if you wanted to call home. Now, if you wanted to take pictures that required an actual camera with film and flash bulbs. If you wanted to actually see the pictures you had to take them to be developed. And if that wasn’t enough, we had to remember to bring the maps and directions…..no GPS or navigation for us. Somehow we managed to make it to all of the official visits and events. There is little doubt that we won’t ever forget our gigantic hairpieces!  The hairpiece boxes were so large they took up half of the trunk and in order to keep them looking decent, they had to visit the beauty parlor on a regular basis.

Admittedly, many memories have faded over the last 45 years. However, what will never fade is the gratitude I have for the opportunity to have been a Rainbow Girl.  Not only did it afford me the opportunity to learn and live many important life lessons, it gave me the chance to come to know and love many extraordinary people……my Rainbow Sisters, my fellow Adorable Owls, and amazing adult leaders. Even now, I am blessed to have the love and guidance of our Supreme Deputy, Bernice Dyck and our Director of Grand Officers, Pat McBride.  Where would we be without these amazing ladies?  They have given so much to the success of California Rainbow as well as continued advice and counsel in our personal lives. They are true treasures in our pot of gold!

I wish you happiness, sunshine, rainbows and joy. But most of all, I wish you love!

By: Judi Hopper

Golden Realm was a brand new assembly in 1963 and we were so excited to be on our way to Grand Assembly. But that was then and this is now… Then – because of the number of members in California, every assembly was only allowed to send eleven girls to Grand Assembly. Now – we can bring our whole assembly to enjoy the week. Then – most assemblies joined with other assemblies in their District and came to Grand Assembly by bus. Each assembly had an assembly song that they sang all the way there and drove their chaperones wild. Now – assemblies come by car, van, bus and plane and still love to see the chaperones beg for mercy. Then – Grand Assembly always started with a Devotional service and every girl wore a suit, hat and gloves. Now – we start with an amazing Informal Opening planned by the Grand Drill Leaders. Then – we did not have an Informal Opening, but on Tuesday afternoon the Grandies were allowed to have a Theme March. Our Grand Worthy Advisor, Vickie Dennis, chose a bedtime theme and we all wore our hair curlers onto the Grand Assembly floor. Now – I don’t think that would go over very well! Then – the Grand Choir was made up of girls from the assemblies that were not yet fully constituted and were meeting under Letters Temporary. Now – each assembly has the opportunity to send one or two lucky girls to Grand Choir. Then – Revelations was one of the most exciting events at Grand Assembly. Now – “Ditto!” Then – a newly appointed Grandie got her mascot naked and dressed it herself. Now – the Grand Officers work for weeks planning a great outfit for a mascot they haven’t even met yet. Then – each new Grand Officer was whisked away on the night of Revelations to a party with just the new and ‘old’ Grandies. Now – everyone is invited to the Revelation Party. (Have you seen Mr. Hopper cookie scouting?) Then – the 1964 “Pink Ladies” were excited to be the first to wear traveling shifts. They were pink and white striped and were so short they would not meet today’s Dress Code. Now – one of the new Grand Worthy Advisor’s first decisions is to select the new travel outfit on Monday afternoon of Grand Assembly. Then – we voted on our Grand Service Project and were dedicated to our task of building up the Rainbow Scholarship fund. Now – it is a thrill every year to hear how many girls receive Rainbow scholarships and think we had a small part in that. Then – our Grand Officer dresses were mailed to us weeks before Grand Assembly and we were in charge of keeping it a secret and getting them altered if needed. Ours were a gorgeous bright pink with a pale pink overlay of embroidered eyelet. Now –the dresses are a secret to the Grand Officers until the weekend of the Grand Worthy Advisor’s reception. Then – Rainbow was a happy place in our lives where we worked together with dedicated adults, learned important lessons, had great fun and made life-long friends. Now, over fifty years later –well, some things never change!

By: Rhea Burns

Where did you come from, where did you go, where did you come from Cotton Eyed Joe? Has it really been 15 long years ago? “A Boot Scootin Time in 2009,” The day was April 4^th, the location was Fresno, CA, the arena was rumbling with the sound excitement…and a few other surprises that California Rainbow was waiting for. There were forty of us grand officers that had come from across the great state of California, we represented thirty-one different assemblies. This was the time that we were supposed to float out from behind the curtains and amaze the Grand Assembly with our beauty, grace, and totally fabulous dresses. For those sitting (more like jumping hysterically) we were nowhere to be found, we had the biggest surprise. “We’re soarin’, flying’” and there we were, the Epic Eagles, we were soaring down the sides of the arena, we had changed the informal entrance forever, putting our own unique mark on Grand Assembly. There we were shimmering and gleaming in the light, our gold dresses just shined, and the deep orange waist and bow on the back of our dresses was beautiful. It picked up just the right amount of sparkle from the jewel encrusted lace bodice. As the grand officers twirled, two stepped, and kicked up them heals California realized that they had been completely transformed into an old Western town, every grand officer was playing the part wearing cowboy boots and stomping down the biggest line dance I had ever seen. Then the rumble came of another sort, Mrs. Martin was driving a John Deere tractor into the arena, and there I was praying that she wasn’t going to dump me off the back of it. Everyone was out of their seat cheering and completely entranced in that moment.

That day 15 years ago was one of the most amazing experiences of my life. I was surrounded by the most talented and beautiful girls (inside and out) in the world. We had become sisters that year, and truly bonded under the wings of our state Mom Mrs. Rita Smith, and our State Dad Mr. Dave Smith. We kept Mrs. Martin on her toes and interjected everything we could to make our week personal and special. We had the honor to dedicate the 79^th annual California Grand Assembly to Glenn & Sara Lee Martin, and they truly deserved it. They were always there laughing at our jokes and shenanigans, providing comfort when we were stressed or upset, and making us into the family that we are today. 

One honor of that week was to be able to present a check of $80,750.88 to Family Soup, our Grand Service Project. An organization that is dear to my heart and really makes a difference in the lives of families with children with disabilities. What are some things that Family Soup is up to now? Some of their current projects and new programs include: iCan Bike, Early Start Family Resource Center, Family Empowerment Center, Special Needs Project, and Disaster Preparedness Workshops. They are continuing to operate their Able Riders Therapeutic Horseback Riding Program and have seen a huge increase in involvement with it. Their iCan Bike Program uses adapted bicycles, a specialized instructional program, and trained staff to teach individuals with disabilities to learn to ride a two-wheel bike independently, a simple thing that many people don’t think about that gives individuals with disabilities independence and confidence. This February Family Soup is partnering up with the County of Sutter to provide classes to help families prepare for disasters by preparing an emergency evacuation plan. These classes are very important because they focus on the unexpected and can mean the difference between life and death. Family Soup is continuing to offer facilitated support groups for parents and caregivers targeting different special needs, activities to bring parents and siblings together, and training and partnerships in collaboration with community agencies. 

So where did we go Cotton Eyed Joe? The Epic Eagles have transformed, we have spread our wings, soared to new heights, and ventured around the world. Very literally! We have changed hair color, gained new wrinkles, visited new places, and accomplished some of the very best things that you can do in life. We have lived and enjoyed every day! We are now moms, spouses, and aunts. We are now college graduates with associate’s degrees, bachelor’s degrees, masters, and doctorates. We are now business owners, teachers, government workers, professors, therapist, counselors, engineers, caregivers, and volunteers. Many of us work every day to make the world a better place, to engage in humanity, and connect with people. We have taken the lessons of Rainbow and the wisdom of our majorities and placed them into our everyday lives. We love others and ourselves, we embrace religion and let it guide us, and we spend time with nature to connect to it. We sadly have felt the loss of life and have come together to remember it. We have expressed our patriotism and used our voices to stand up for what we believe. We have made promises and have kept them, we have served unselfishly in so many ways, never forgetting the lesson of service. We continue to have faith and hope, and believe in charity. I could not be any prouder of these Eagles! We are celebrating our 15-year anniversary this year, that is 3,652 days since our opening “Where did you come from, where did you go,” and I believe we came from a beautiful legacy of Past Grand Officers, and continue to represent that legacy as we continue to go along in this journey of life.