Sad News - Bill Saunders

William "Bill" Saunders died on Wednesday, July 29th. Survivors are his wife, Joan and two children, Karen (Brian) Wells of Toppenish and David Saunders of Yakima as well as three brothers and four sisters and three grandchildren. Visitation will be from 3-6 pm on Sunday, August 2nd at Colonial Funeral Home, 228 S Alder St, Toppenish. The funeral will be at 10:00 am on Monday, August 3rd also at Colonial Funeral Home. Interment will follow in the Zillah City Cemetery.

Most Washington OES members will remember Bill as the “go to” person when getting things done in the Yakima area for Grand Chapter. He knew who to contact to get whatever it was that we needed. The cherries and/or apples that we enjoyed at Grand Chapter for many years were there because of Bill. He will be sorely missed.

Pop Tabs for Ronald McDonald House - Update!

Jr. PGM Diane Osborne announced at the 1st OV on Saturday, July 18th that there were 1,739 pounds of pull tabs taken to the recycling center after our 2009 Grand Chapter. That’s 739 pounds over the goal. Way to go!

WGM Marge and WGP Dennis accepted the challenge for the coming year of 100 pounds more than 2009. So…that means 1,839 pounds for 2010.

Continue saving those pop tabs everyone! And don't forget, they don't just have to be from pop cans. Soup cans, vegetable cans, Spam - anything with a pop tab works. All proceeds go to support the wonderful Ronald McDonald House.

Picture of Jr. PGM Diane Osborne and Jr. PGP Roy Sharp courtesy of Dan Voorhees!

OV Report - Stanwood - July 27th

(Unofficial count) 93 people braved the heat to enjoy the Official Visit of WGM Marge Ramsdell and WGP Dennis Okicich at Stanwood Chapter. Before the meeting there was a wonderful dinner in honor of the Grand Officers. As usual, the members of Stanwood Chapter outdid themselves with the delicious food and even late arrivals were treated.

WM Jean Ballard and WP (and Deputy Instructor) Ben Merrill did a superb job of leading the Chapter. WM Jean's theme is "Scatter Kindness" and her greetings to all the visitors were about being kind and the benefits it brings. The Chapter officers did a great job of the opening Ritualistic work.

The members of Stanwood Chapter came out in force to support the Chapter and everyone was impressed with the recent renovations the Masons made to the Masonic Center. It was very well done and the new East was especially beautiful and functional.

WM Jean has surgery on Tuesday, July 28th and we're all wishing her success and a very speedy recovery. She can certainly be proud of her Chapter for the great work, wonderful dinner and refreshing cake and Dreamsicles afterwards.

OV Report - Analia OV & 100th Birthday - July 23rd

(Unofficial Count) 115 people attended the Official Visit of WGM Marge and WGP Dennis and helped Analia Chapter celebrate its 100th birthday. 10 Grand Officers visited with the warm crowd - although not as warm as the last OV. The weather was a little cooler and the breeze off the Sound helped keep the temperature down.

WM Jean Pennington and WP Bob Benish presided over a meeting filled with interesting tidbits about Analia's first 100 years. Did you know that John Rex Thompson was Worthy Grand Patron when Analia was constituted and he was at the ceremony? The officers did a beautiful job of opening the Chapter.

Thirty-eight members of Analia Chapter attended including many 50 year members. As a special treat, Cathy Cook, Analia's Associate Conductress, did the AC lecture to the candidates for us. Cathy was the Ritual Competition winner for that lecture and it's easy to see why. The members of analia were very proud.

WM Jean and WP Bob were proud to introduce Virginia Harvey and Harry Warnock and give their 50 year pins. WGM Marge was delighted to present their certificates. They were given grand honors in the East.

WGM Marge also had the pleasure of presenting Associate Matron Sheila Shreve with her life membership. Afterwards, the Chapter presented a Centennial Tea downstairs with homemade cookies, sandwiches, fresh fruit and cool drinks. It was a wonderful evening.

OV Report - Guiding Star and Crystal - July 21st

(An unofficial count) 102 people attended the Official Visit for Guiding Star and Crystal Chapters held in Enumclaw. Including the WGM and WGP - there were 11 Grand Officers.
Eastern Star fans were out in force - electric fans, battery operated fans and hand held fans - because the room was very warm! Sisters Linda Ogren and Karen McCamant made most of the hand held fans and the buffalos and dragonflys on the fans got quite a workout. The Chapters also provided plenty of cold water for everyone.

WGM Marge is honoring veterans this year and there were many in attendance who were thanked for their service to our country.

WM Tracy Williams and WP Bill Hammontree presided over the opening and introductions and the members of Guiding Star did an exemplary job. Crystal's WM Jeannette Carroll and WP Gil Carroll took over and lead their chapter in the examination of a visitor.

Afterwards we were treated to ice cream, yummy cookies and cold drinks. Another wonderful OV!

Publishing invitations to events

We now have the capability of attaching a copy of invitations to your receptions, honor nights, fundraisers, special events or any other OES related events to the calendar. To do this we need you to email us a copy of the invitation as a Word document.

Send the documents to our email account at oeswashingtonblog@gmail.com and we'll get them onto the calendar for you.

The First OV at Vida Chapter

The first Official Visit of Worthy Grand Matron Marge Ramsdell and Worthy Grand Patron Dennis Okicich was held on Saturday, July 18th at Vida Chapter in Tacoma. The room was packed with people to the point that some members had to sit just outside the open doors and the Sentinel moved his station farther out into the hall.

All 18 American Emerald Grand Officers attended and 29 Deputy Instructors. Worthy Matron Barbara Burleigh and Worthy Patron Larry Burleigh did a great job of keeping everything moving and Vida Chapter put on a skit with participation from many in the audience.

Worthy Grand Matron Marge had the honor of presenting Sister Judy Troyer with her 50 year pin - her first such presentation. Then WM Barbara surprised WGM Marge with a box of very special chocolates - it contained WGM Marge's new Life Membership certificate. The WGM was almost speechless.

It was a beautiful, sunny day filled with fun, friends, fellowship and hugs! What better way to start the year.

Tell us what you think

We are working diligently on the new blog to enter all the information into the calendar. Let us know what you think of it and, if you have any suggestions, let us know by commenting to this post.

Hugs!
The Blogkeepers

Welcome

Welcome to the OES Washington blogspot - an additional resource for news about our members and for information about events going on around the state and our surrounding jurisdictions.

This is a happy place, so if you want to leave a comment please be respectful. No soliciting and no derogatory comments will be allowed.

If you have news, information or photos you would like to post, please contact one of the blogkeepers and we'll be happy to assist you.