Bethels 14 & 277

Monday night we visited Bethel No 14 in Pleasanton, home of the Grand Bethel Honored Queen. Unfortunately she was unable to make it to the meeting, but she sent Jennifer a nice present. Pleasanton does not currently have a Marshal, so Jennifer was able to robe down with the other Daughters. Pleasanton is also home to two Supreme Bethel Officers, the Representatives to Missouri and Wyoming, who are sisters and the Jr and Sr Princesses of Bethel 14. Jennifer also won the coin march prize.

We made visiting Pleasanton a priority, because we lived there until Jennifer was 5, and Bethel 14 would have been her bethel if we had not moved to Oregon. One of the Daughters was a former neighbor of ours. After the meeting, we had a nice long conversation with the Bethel Guardian. It ended up being longer than expected, because Jennifer locked the keys in the RV when she went to change, and we had to wait for a tow truck to open the door.

Our last stop was Stockton, where we attended a non-regalia meeting of Bethel 277, and Jennifer visited with the Grand Bethel Representative to Washington, Oregon, and Idaho. The Guardian gave us a tour of the Masonic Temple, which is in downtown Stockton and has several Lodge rooms.

Grand Receptions

Saturday evening we attended the Reception for the Associate Grand Guardian of California, which was hosted by Hayward Bethel 261. Many of the California Grand Bethel officers were there.

Jennifer was able to sit with and was introduced with the California Grand Bethel Girls.

Jennifer with the AGG, Miss California Job's Daughters, and the Grand Bethel Rep to Oregon, Idaho, and Washington.

Today we attended the reception for the Grand Bethel officer from Bethel 129 San Jose. She is the Representative to Brazil, North Carolina, and Ohio. The reception was held at the Santa Clara Lodge, and was hosted by Bethel 129, who did a great job. Jennifer did the Ohio Flag Tribute during the ceremony and again had fun spending time with the California Grand Bethel girls. The theme of the reception was Jungle Fun and they sang Jungle songs and had a scavenger hunt.

More Bethel Visits

On Thursday, we drove northeast on I-8O to Auburn, for the official visit of California's Grand Guardian and Associate Grand Guardian to Bethel 148 of Auburn and 102 of Grass Valley. A Member of Honor Ceremony was done during the Meeting to make both the GG and AGG MOH's of both participating Bethels. The GG and AGG gave bracelets to all of the girls that had signed a petition for a new member and praised the girls on a nice meeting. Jennifer will treasure her bracelet and it will forever remind her of this meeting with the GG.

Before the Offical Visit we had dinner in the dining room where we met many people. Following dinner and clean-up, the GG and AGG met alone with all of the girls and had a friendly question and answer session. Some of the questions were: What is your favorite state besides CA, what is your favorite ice cream, and which historic person would you most like to meet? The GG had not thought of her answer yet, when Jennifer said Ethel T Wead Mick. That was definitely the answer she was looking for. 

Jennifer was 5th Messenger at the Official Visit and afterwards she was interviewed and photographed for the California Job's Daughter Newspaper. We will be waiting to see her in print in the next issue. The evening closed with make your own sundaes and a presentation to the HQ's and GG from Jennifer.

We also met the CA Grand Bethel 2nd Messenger, and the Grass Valley HQ who was the Supreme Rep to Colorado. 

This morning we attended a meeting of Bethel 129 in San Jose. It was a non-regalia meeting, followed by a practice for the reception of their Grand Bethel Representative.

Visiting California Bethels

From Sacramento, we drove south to Fresno, and on Monday night attended the meeting of Bethel 49 in Fresno, which was Susan's Bethel as a girl. It was the 80th anniversary of the Bethel, and several PHQ's and PBG's were in attendance, as well as a Past Supreme Guardian. We had heard it was one of the stronger Bethels in California, so were disappointed when there were only 8 girls there for the meeting. Still, Jennifer enjoyed visiting them at refreshment after the meeting.

Tuesday we drove to Selma to attend the meeting of Bethel 151. We arrived at the Lodge a few hours before the scheduled meeting, and when an adjacent business owner asked if he could help us, we asked him if he knew whether the Job's Daughters were meeting that night. He made a few calls, and a few minutes later, the Bethel Guardian came by and invited us to dinner with her husband and youngest daughter, a Past Honored Queen. Selma is a fairly small Bethel, and was just placed under reorganization, although the Bethel Guardian hopes they will emerge from it shortly. Many of their members are busy with sports, and were unable to make it to the meeting, so they opened with four daughters and Jennifer. The good news was they had two Jobies-to-be come to watch some of the opening and closing and submit petitions. The girls will be initiated next meeting. Afterward the Bethel Guardian invited us to come by her house, and we visited for an hour or so, and promised to keep in touch.

Today, we drove north to Citrus Heights, a suburb of Sacramento, and attended the meeting of Bethel 292. They have a large Bethel, with almost all their chairs filled. They even have a musician. Bethel 292 has a Grand Bethel officer, the Representative to Alaska, Montana, and Canada. It was very impressive seeing so many girls and such good ritual work. Afterwards, we had rootbeer floats.

California Trip

Jennifer had been named a Grand Bethel Representative to California at Grand Session. In August, she sent letters out to all the Bethels in California. Soon after, we began getting responses. Bethel No 185 in Napa sent us an email containing their schedule for the fall. When we saw that they were having an initiation and official visit today, we decided to pay them a visit. We drove down Friday night in our RV, and on Saturday morning Jennifer recited the 1st, 2nd and 5th Messenger parts for their initiation. They initiated 3 new girls into their Bethel, The Deputy of the Grand Guardian was very impressed with Jennifer's performance.  

Following the initiation, we went to Vallejo to help the Napa daughters at a car wash. They were raising money for the travel fund for their Grand Bethel officer, the California Representative to Arizona, Nevada, and Utah. At the end of the car wash, the daughters presented Jennifer with a t-shirt they had signed, and designated her an honorary member of their Bethel.

Today we went with Bethel 185 on a Mystery Trip. We drove east of Sacramento, and floated down the American River. About a dozen girls went, along with a few DeMolay and Bethel Council members. Before and afterward we had picnic lunch and dinner. It was a lot of fun.

WOFAB

This weekend, we drove the RV down to a Masonic park near Roseburg for DeMolay Weekend of Friendship and Brotherhood. The kids camped and played games, and Bryan helped with a degree. Jennifer got to hang out with the Sweethearts.