Last week I attended Supreme Assembly of the International Order of the Rainbow for Girls, a first time experience for myself and many others. Supreme Assembly is held every two years and in different locations throughout the country, depending on who is the current Supreme Worthy Advisor. For the past two years, the state of Maine has been honored having Mrs. Cora-Ellen Moody reign as Supreme Worthy Advisor, with the love and support of all of New England. The New England jurisdictions worked together over these two years to raise the funds and find the perfect place to host this international convention. Rainbow girls from around the world traveled to Providence, Rhode Island from July 31th to August 1st, many for the first time--like myself.

Supreme Assembly is an opportunity for Rainbow girls around the world to gather together as one organization. Jurisdictions are forgotten and the girls work together to perform ritual, the cavalcade of flags and get to know each other. Grand Representative counterparts are reunited or meet for the first time, current and past Grand Worthy Advisors share themes and girls hand out “swaps” to share information about their different jurisdictions. For this weekend, we are one.

Personally, I only attended on Tuesday August 2, where I witnessed seven girls become Rainbow Girls, two of whom were from the NH jurisdiction with one being from my home assembly. I watched our own Jr. Past Grand Worthy Advisor with poise on the Supreme Floor as a Page to the Supreme Worthy Advisor. I also listened to ritual presented beautifully by girls from around the world and saw the flags of our various jurisdictions paraded across the room with pride.

This was my first time attending a Supreme Assembly, and although I have my Majority and am no longer an active Rainbow Girl, it was an amazing experience. Being able to support my neighboring jurisdiction, as well as all active girls across the world, emphasized the amount of potential this organization has. I know I have talked in previous articles about the impact Rainbow has in a girl’s life, and Supreme is a whole new level. Girls of all ages and from so many different backgrounds unite together to fill in the roles of our Supreme Officers and support the organization. New friendships are made and old ones are rekindled as girls spend the days rehearsing, attending sessions, exploring the area and having fun.

New England was honored to host this event because as Mom Moody likes to say, “New England is one state with six counties.” We were able to unite as one to put together this fabulous weekend for our Supreme Worthy Advisor, her officers and the entirety of the International Order of the Rainbow for Girls.

Finally, I am proud to say over the weekend there were four new members inducted into the House of Gold, the highest honor a Supreme Deputy can achieve. These four new members include: Joan Smith from New Hampshire, Helen Snedden from Pennsylvania, Linda Jenkins from Virginia and Maureen Riley from Michigan, all well deserving of this high honor.

Although I was only able to attend for a day, Supreme Assembly is an event I would recommend to anyone involved in the organization. It does not matter if you are an active girl or an adult, Supreme is an event everyone should experience at least once in their lifetime.