Supreme Session 2009 – Richmond, Virginia

Report of the Grand Guardian

Supreme Session 2009 started on Friday, July 31^st for my husband, Mack and I.  We left very early out of the Kansas City airport and headed to Richmond.   Once we arrived at the Richmond airport, we jumped in our rental car and headed for Washington, DC so that I could attend the Job’s Daughters wreath laying ceremony on Saturday morning at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery. 

On Saturday morning, I meet up with several from Missouri at the wreath laying ceremony;  Kim and Craig Stratmann, Daniella and Patty Brand, Brianna and Barb Hall, Erin and Paula Howard, Becca, Karri and Tim Hairer and Richard and Nelda Kaiser.  The Changing of the Guard ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknowns is very impressive and having the opportunity to witness the wreath laying ceremony in which the Job’s Daughters colors and emblem where present was very touching.  

Following the wreath laying ceremony, Mack and I visited some sites in Washington, DC while waiting for my sister, Cindy Thompson to arrive.   Once Cindy T. arrived, we went back to Arlington National Cemetery as my sister had not seen the Changing of the Guards ceremony.  Later that afternoon, we left Washington, DC and headed back to Richmond where I checked into the Marriott which would be my home for the next week.

On Sunday morning, I tried to register for the session, but the individuals working the registration area were not ready and not very interested in helping me.  Mack, my sister, Cindy and I headed out for a visit to the Norfolk Naval Station.   This was really neat to see up close just how large the Navy ships are.   Since we were not able to register before we left, we cut our trip to Norfolk short so we could get back before 4:00 PM.   We didn’t expect the amount of traffic going back into Richmond and our 90 mile trip back to the hotel took over 3 hours.   We just barely made it before the registration area closed.   As we had so many Missouri attendees attending the Ghost Tour (later that evening) and it required a ticket, my sister and I ended up checking in or registering 14 people for the session.   Poor Cindy had session bags hanging off both of her arms as we made our way back to our room to unload and organize all of the stuff we picked up.

Late afternoon on Sunday, the Supreme Ritual Team, made up of Carolyn Kirchhoff, Erica Wallace, Tiffany Hudson, Brianna Hall, Katee Leonberger, Michelle Maevers and Amy Bush, all meet for team practice.   I would like to thank the adults that helped with coaching the girls on the team, those being; Crystal Burress, Donna Goede, Julia Wallace, Jaclyn Wallace, Barb Hall and Kim Underwood.

Finally on Sunday evening was the much anticipated Richmond Ghost tour.   Our Missouri delegation took up much of the bus.  The ghost tour was a walking tour which took us to many sites in which unexplained or ghostly happens have been reported to have happened.  During this tour, Paula Howard had the chance to scare me.

On Monday many of the girls participated in the Performing Arts competitions.  Monday afternoon was the Jobie Congress which was a chance for the girls to talk and give their opinions.  As each jurisdiction was only allowed to have two adults in attendance, I asked Mom Sandy Flanery, VGG and Miss Kim Underwood, Grand Guide to be the adult representatives from Missouri.  That evening several members of our Grand Line, along with representatives from Kansas and Oklahoma met with Shelly Cole, the Certified Adult Volunteer (CAV) Coordinator regarding our CAV implementations.   Some things came out of the meeting in which additional communication will follow once the Grand Line has had a chance to discuss the items and follow up with our jurisprudence committee.   Following the meeting, those in attendance we able to make it to the second half of the Dixieland review, which is where several of those that placed in the Performing Arts competition are able to showcase their talents.   Missouri had several girls that took away awards in the Performing Arts competition and Brianna Hall of Bethel #19 was able to perform that evening.   

Tuesday was Ritual competition day.   Due to some issues with the hotel, all of the times for the competitions had to be reconfirmed.   Our Ritual Team competed early in the morning and throughout the day the girls did their individual ritual competitions.  The robe judging was very strict this year and a special award was presented for those Daughters that had perfect robe scores.    I would like to thank all of the adults that pitched in and helped get the girls to their various competitions that day. 

Late Tuesday morning, Mack, Cindy and I were going back to our room so that they would get their stuff packed up since they were leaving and we saw 5 building maintenance/engineering staff standing near our room.  As we got closer to the room, I realized that were standing at the door to my room.  It turns out that the water line going to the toilet had come loose and flooded the bathroom floor in my room and it seeped out into the entryway and out to the carpeted area.   I had not planned on packing up all of my stuff, but I didn’t want to stay in a room with wet, squishy carpet, so the hotel was able to accommodate a move for me.   Meanwhile, Mack and Cindy packed up their stuff and headed to the airport to return to Kansas City.   

On Tuesday evening the girls and several adults attended the HIKE dance, while those in the Grand Line and several Bethel council members attended the Long Range Planning Committee meeting where they discussed several items that was a result of the survey that was on the IOJD website back in February.   The meeting was very informative.  This group has done a lot of work in a short amount of time and will continue to work on ways to make Job’s Daughters better.  The topics discussed in the meeting included training for adults, marketing or branding Job’s Daughters as well as sharing survey results with the attendees.   Once the Long Range Planning meeting was over, the adults were able to attend the dance for a short time with the girls.  It was a fun having that opportunity with the girls.  We even tried to teach Dad Butch to dance!

Wednesday morning Dad Butch and I had breakfast with our counterparts across the Job’s Daughters world.  It was nice to have an opportunity to meet Mom Elaine Gray and Dad Dave Robblee, who were elected as Supreme Guardian and Associate Supreme Guardian.   Wednesday was the start of the business meetings which included introductions.  Several committee members gave their report.   One thing I thought funny was that each committee chair was given only 5 minutes to do their report, when 1 minute was left the parliamentarian would ring a bell letting the speaker know to wrap up the report. However, in most cases someone would make a motion to allow the committee chair to speak for an additional amount of time.  

During the business meetings on Wednesday, Thursday and ALL day on Friday the delegates voted on several bylaw changes.   Several proposed amendments all had to deal with the same underlying aspect and if the main source of the amendment passed, as part of housekeeping then all of the underlying proposed amendments passed, which did save time.   This involved several of the amendments including additional details regarding “and in conjunction with the YPP implementation schedule…”   Amendments that did pass include:

·       Allowing Vice Grand Guardians and Vice Associate Grand Guardians to become members of the Supreme Guardian Council

·       Filing a “Letter of Intent” for those wishing to aspire to the Office of Supreme Marshal or Supreme Outer Guard.  For those not aware, if you want to be Supreme Marshal or Supreme Outer Guard, you go to the microphone and state your name and jurisdiction and make it known that you are interested in being elected to the position. 

·       Moving the Fraternal relations responsibility to the Supreme Inner and Outer Guards.

·       Duties of the Board of Trustees regarding the trademark use

·       Lowering the number of members needed to organize a Grand Guardian Council, a Jurisdictional Guardian Council and maintaining a Grand Guardian Council.

Likewise, if a proposed amendment was defeated that had underlying amendments as part of housekeeping those all failed.  There were several proposed amendments on having one open meeting and one closed meeting a month.  The main amendment #35 failed, so all of the proposed amendments dealing with closed meeting then also failed. 

Amendment # 33 which was to add a section to the membership of allowing the signature of a Master Mason who is currently in good standing in his lodge, and who membership will be confirmed by the ABG was defeated.  Many individuals and Daughters are very passionate about their stand on this issue; it did bring about some lively discussion from both sides.

Several amendments were withdrawn or not able to be acted upon simply because the maker or a representative for the maker was not present to speak on them.   One of these involved lowering the age for floor officers to be selected for Supreme Bethel. 

For those interested in the complete list of the actions taken on each amendment – see below.  Amendments that passed included numbers 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 17, 18, 19, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 29, 30, 31, 32, 50, 51, 52, 80, 82, 83, 85, 86.

Amendments that failed included numbers 3, 15, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 53, 57, 59, 60, 62, 63, 66, 67, 68, 70, 73, 76 and 78.

Amendments that were withdrawn or not acted upon because the maker was not present were 13, 14, 20, 26, 27, 28, 54, 55, 56, 58, 61, 64, 65, 69, 71, 72, 74, 75, 77, 79, 81, 84 and 87.

Amendment #16 was not considered by vote of the body. 

While the business meetings were very long, the information being discussed is very important and I was proud to be a representative for Missouri.

Wednesday evening, following the business meetings, was the formal banquet and the Formal Opening of the Session.   Several girls from Missouri participated in various parts of the ceremony.   Lilly Flanery and Katie Karmeier were in the flag ceremony and Caitlyn Washington was in the bible ceremony.   Kelsey Moore was the escort for Momma Donna Goede, Supreme Treasurer and Jr. Miss MO Amy Bush was the escort for Mom Toni Underwood, Supreme Guide.   The Honored Queens and Princesses participated in the closing ceremony, in which we had GBHQ Jennifer Hallahan and GBJP Ashley Ray. The following Honored Queens participated;  Carolyn Kirchhofff  #4, Erin Howard #47, Becca Hairer #49, Brianna Hall #19 and Mary Johnson #43.  The following Princesses participated; Katee Leonberger #43 and Michelle Maevers #60.

At the Formal Opening Ceremony HIKE awards were presented.  Again, Missouri had several Daughters and adults recognized.   Daughters recognized for their HIKE contributions are Brooklyn Childs #12 and PGBHQ Daniella Brand #47 with $2,000.00.   While Cailtyn Washington #43, Caitlin Burress #60 and Jamie Marvin #29 all with $1,000.00.  The certificates and medallions for Brooklyn, Caitlin B. and Jamie will be presented to them.  Mom Nancy Knarr and Dad Craig Stratmann were recognized for HIKE Volunteer Awards.  CONGRATULATIONS!!!   You should be very proud of this accomplishment.  Missouri also had two girls; Daniella Brand and Kelsey Moore receive scholarships.   Good Luck girls in your education endeavors.

Following the formal opening was the pizza party to honor all of the girls that competed in all of the various competitions and to congratulate our Miss Missouri Job’s Daughter Tiffany Hudson.   Miss MO Tiffany was presented with several gifts and lots of hugs.   We were lucky to have several friends from Kansas attend as well.  All of the girls said what competitions they had competed in and what awards had been given out.    As it was already a very late night and we had to be up very early in the morning for the Supreme Bethel meeting, the girls played a few rounds of Apples to Apples and then everyone headed back to their respective hotels.   I would like to thank Mom Sandy, VGG; Dad Stan, VAGG; Miss Kim, Grand Guide and Mom Pam Johnson for planning and organizing the pizza party.   We had hoped to have the pizza party at the Marriott, but Donna Goede’s hotel, the Holiday Inn Express was much more accommodating to our need.

The Supreme Bethel meeting was on Thursday morning at 7:00 AM.  That sure did come early!  The SBHQ Jenna Larsen did a wonderful job of running the meeting which included some Daughter discussions of some of the proposed amendments.  Brianna Hall and Amy Bush, who were Supreme Bethel Representatives for 2008-2009, took part in the meeting.  Amy was recognized for her efforts in bringing in 4 new members during the Supreme Guardian Council year.  Great job, Amy! The new Supreme Bethel Honored Queen is Arielle Gordon from British Columbia.  Again Missouri was very lucky to have several girls selected to be Supreme Bethel Representatives.  

o       Michelle Maevers #60  - Representative to California 5 & 6

o       Mary Johnson #43 – Representative to Manitoba

o       Sarah Duing Davis #34 – Representative to Rio Grande do Sul  (Brazil)

o       Katee Leonberger # 43 – Representative to Wisconsin

Following the Supreme Bethel meeting was the All Job’s Daughters luncheon in which the awards for arts and crafts were handed out.  Again, our Missouri girls were collecting ribbons right and left. 

Thursday evening was the Missouri/Idaho dinner.   During dinner we congratulated our newly selected Supreme Bethel Representatives from Missouri and Idaho, and thanked Mom Linda Sinley for her work on the Supreme Bethel committee and to wish good luck to Mom Toni Underwood and Dad Rick Holloway (Toni’s Supreme Line partner) as they continue their journey in the Supreme Line.  Dad Ashley talked about Supreme Session 2011 which will be St. Louis.   Hopefully everyone is preparing to attend this session.     

I found that all of the banquets at Supreme Session had wonderful food.   If you followed Dad Ashley’s Supreme Diaries, which is a wonderful way to keep up with all of the session actives you will find that at the Formal Banquet our salad was basically a half a head of lettuce.  The desserts at the banquets were just delicious!

Following the Missouri/Idaho dinner on Thursday evening was the Miss International Job’s Daughters pageant.  Our Miss Missouri Tiffany Hudson was candidate number one.   Tiffany had on a beautiful dress and looked lovely!  And in my opinion she had one of the most heart-warming responses to the question of what was one of her favorite memories during her year as Miss Job’s Daughter.  Tiffany replied that one of her favorite memories was from this past Grand Session, in which her niece, Alexis Hudson, as selected as the State Queen Bee.  It is very refreshing to see that our Missouri girls are willing to share their spotlight with others. Tiffany represented Missouri well and everyone is very proud of her.  Our Grand Bethel Trio and Jr. Miss MO Amy both had signs for Tiffany and all of the Missouri girls cheered for Tiffany when she was presented on stage.   Keira Johnson of Queensland was selected with the Congeniality Award.  The new Miss International Job’s Daughter is Anastaiya Kryzhanivska of Alberta, Canada.   We should all be glad as she goes by Ana K.  

 It was really neat that several of the Past Miss International Job’s Daughters were present.   The ladies present include Ms. Holli Stone, who as Miss International when Doc Al Howe as Associate Supreme Guardian (1984-85).  Doc’s Supreme Session in Rapid City, SD was the first one that I attended as a daughter so it was neat to see some of the “has beens” still active with the Order.

Following the pageant several from Missouri headed to Denny’s before heading back to our rooms what would become another later night and early morning.   Friday morning brought another round of business meetings and the elections.   I mentioned earlier that if someone was interested in being elected into the Supreme Line, they aspire to the position which is being voted on.  Aspiring indicates you are willing to accept the position.  Elaine Gray of Queensland and Dave Robblee of Wyoming will be the new Supreme Guardian and Associate Supreme Guardian.   Our own, Mom Toni Underwood will be Vice Supreme Guardian and Rick Holloway of Idaho will be the Vice Associate Supreme Guardian.  The new Supreme Marshal is Rose Marie Short of California and the new Supreme Outer Guard is Ron Johnson of Michigan.  In addition to the election of Supreme Line Officers, we were to elect one member to the Board of Trustees.  The Board of Trustees is basically responsible for handling the business side of Job’s Daughters International and work very closely with those employees at the Office in Nebraska.  Shelly Cole of Utah was elected to the Board of Trustees. 

During an afternoon break on Friday, a presentation was made on Supreme Session 2010 which will be held in Colorado Springs.  Missouri Folks get ready for our presentation that will be made next year.   Information regarding Supreme Session 2010 is already on the IOJD website.   A presentation was made regarding the location of Supreme Session 2012, which will be in Baltimore, MD. 

Friday evening was the Supreme Bethel installation and then a dance followed.   Before the installation started, the ritual awards were presented.   Once again, our Missouri Daughters were picking up all sorts of awards.   All of the girls that participated in the various competitions should be proud.  In the next few weeks, a complete list of all of the awards given will be available on the IOJD website.  

The Supreme Bethel installation started. Again, it was great for Missouri to have the chance to have so many girls selected to be part of the Supreme Bethel.  I hope that Michelle, Mary, Katee and Sarah all have a chance to meet many new friends from their respective jurisdictions during the year and more importantly - have the chance to come back next year and participate in the Supreme Bethel meeting as a representative.

Saturday morning I had planned to go to the beach with Dad Butch and his crew, but after the many late nights and early mornings, I just needed sleep.   I pretty much sleep all day on Saturday. I did finally venture out in the afternoon and found Brianna and Barb Hall and Erin and Paula Howard who were getting ready to get something to eat and head down to the canal area.   They invited me to come along.  We had fish and chips, expect for Erin and she had Shepherd Pie and I’m not sure that she liked it. When you see Erin, ask her about it.  Following lunch/dinner the five of us headed down to the canal walk area and did the canal boat tour.  The canal boat tour was very relaxing and a lot of fun.  When the tour was over, our Captain let Erin and Brianna handle the wheel.   As it was getting late, we headed back to the hotel to get ready for the Supreme Guardian Council installation.

The Supreme Guardian Council installation is Saturday evening and several people had already headed home.  As many people are planning on going to Colorado Springs next year, please be sure to include Saturday evening as an event you will want to stay for.  As many of the major events started late at Supreme Session, Elaine, the new Supreme Guardian had the installation start on time and it was over in about 2 hours.  Mom Toni was installed as Vice Supreme Guardian and GBHQ Jennifer was her escort.   The Honored Queens participated in the closing ceremony. 

Following the installation, myself and Miss Kim went to Waffle House with GBHQ Jennifer, her mom Michele and sister Katie.    Our ride back to the hotel was cool, as Michele took us down a road that had some huge houses and they were all lit up.  

Doc Al Howe and Mom Marlene Frakes continue to work on the HIKE board and Mom Julia Wallace #7, was newly elected to the HIKE board.   We are very thankful for the work these adults do and will continue to do for HIKE.

Dad Stan Johnson and Miss Pam took me to the airport on Sunday morning so I could catch my flight home.    I was looking forward to getting home to see Mack and Joshua, as he (Joshua) has been with Mack’s parents since July 23^rd.  My flight home was uneventful.  I need to thank Mom Toni and Dad Ashley for taking the flags with them to Supreme Session and to Mom Sandy, Dad Dennis and Lilly for taking my garment bag and box of stuff.  Not having to worry about these couple of things is very much appreciated.

In all, Missouri had a huge number of attendees (Daughters and Adults).   I have attended Supreme Session several times as an adult and having the opportunity to represent Missouri was truly amazing.  I learned so much about the organization and it was wonderful to have spent a week with everyone.  I met new friends and was able to see old friends again.  It is a great opportunity to see Job’s Daughters from all across the World come together in one place and have all of those girls share in sisterhood.  I will treasure all of my memories and hundreds of pictures.      

Respectfully,

Joleyne Nelson, PHQ, PGBHQ
Grand Guardian 2009-2010