Grand Officers Travel Instalment #3

Wed July 5th: Travel day. We once again piled all our baggage into the car and off we went to New Brunswick.
Funny thing, Jacqui gave a large suitcase to her friend Margaret to take for us so we would have more room. Somehow we had even less room!

On route we went to Tidal Bore! OMG it was amazing. We see waves all the time but have you ever seen one wave that convers all the land. Nova Scotia has the highest tides in the world (up to 40 ft.). The tide changes every 6hrs. It goes out incredibly far and at a certain time the Bore comes in a single wave that’s height is dictated by the size of the cycle of the moon. It was so amazing that we decided that there would be a return visit after the full moon when the bore was higher.

The drive to New Brunswick was about 3 hours on a beautiful day. A bit cramped but a beautiful day nonetheless. A quick stop for lunch provided, yes you guessed, it more lobster. The route we took was along the St. John river valley.

Once checked into the hotel, we had time to get ready for the Grand Chapter barbeque. Cheryl noticed that she was missing a pair of shoes and must have left them in the last hotel. A day later it was noted that there were 3 pairs of shoes and a sweater that was left. Both Cheryl and Donna had sworn they rechecked the room.

The barbeque was held inside to avoid the very large New Brunswick flying in air force (think Mosquitos) ! We had a fabulous meal that we shared with friends we hade met in Nova Scotia (Barbara from Minnesota a GGCCM on registration and her companion Bob also a GGCCM). Of course, we believe that we have convinced her to attend our session next year in Nanaimo!

Registration came next: this time both Cheryl and Jacquie were without dues cards (Jacqui’s was with her bag that was left with Margaret. Our Worthy Grand Matron had to vouch for us to registration. Hmm she could have made a few bucks on that one, but no, she happily vouched. No examination. WHEW! Although, one would think that our grand Lecturer would be all over that.

Thursday am: No sessions until the evening, so the group went to King’s Landing for a tour. This old village on many, many acres was created in the 70’s. Old homes, I mean really old (think 1800s) were moved on to the site from land that was along the St John river.

The province of New Brunswick moved them before they flooded the area to build a ****. The first part of the village offered houses to browse through with many artefacts and hosts and hostesses to proved interesting information. This entire area was considered a museum.

A highlight was going in to an old house from the 1800s and trying on period clothes for portraits. We were not sure who had more fun; us, or the hostess taking pictures. You may see some of the pictures on the GC FB page.
The second part of King’s Landing was a working village. The inhabitants portrayed the people of the time and remained in character. One interesting program was visiting cousins (summer camp for kids). The children come and participate in all the activities that the children would do in that time period. We had a marvellous lunch at the “Kingshead Inn and were very pleased to find that they broke into the current century long enough to allow us to pay the bill (debit and credit machines.) Wendy was particularly captured by the buildings. It was a bit challenging to get her to leave! What a wonderful historical place and we all agreed that it was a highlight, as well.

Back to sessions. The vesper service began at 6:00 pm and was lovely. The woman minister gave an amazing talk about the Eastern Star and how we all should promote the good work that we do. Sessions opened informally afterwards. The session opened with an intricate march performed by the WGM and her offices. The march was specifically written for the WGM. There was a lovely ribbon ceremony and introductions, followed by more introductions, which were followed by more introductions. Each introduction was given a welcome and was followed by a response. Each one! Donna received special mention for perseverance and hanging in to the very end (5.5 hours) Way to go Donna you set the example.