Mom Toni at the beautiful indoor pool
at the Hearst Castle

The Missouri Folks perform the Happy
Anniversary Song at the Hike Fajita Fiesta

We arose at the crack of dawn to catch the bus for the Hearst Castle Tour.  There was another group waiting for a different tour and after they went to their bus, I realized that I was all alone.  Yep, you guessed it, I was at the wrong door.  Mom Toni came and got me and we made it to the bus on time to hit the road for the long ride to San Simeon, California to see the Hearst Castle.

For those of you who don't know, the Hearst Castle was one of the many homes of William Randolph Hearst, who was a major newspaper publisher.  The Castle is an amazing conglomeration of styles, ancient furnishings and decorations, and massive scale.  It rests on the top of a mountain that requires a 5 mile bus ride from the visitor center to reach, and includes over 180 steps needed to reach the main house.  For those of you who know me, you know that my knees and back resemble a battleground where the home team didn't do so well, so you can well imagine what I thought about all of those steps.  Luckily we stopped and viewed several things along the way so it wasn't too bad.  We had a great time with all of our friends on the tour, which included fellow Missourians Phyllis and Charlie Boehme, Emily Schonaerts, John and Colleen Vezeau, Lon and Ginny Goede, and Donna Goede.

After we arrived back at the hotel, we saw Heather Reardon, who was the Supreme Bethel Honored Queen during Dad Bill Dinkmeyers year as Associate Supreme Guardian, and when I was Associate Supreme Bethel Guardian.  It was great catching up on things with her.  After that we headed to the HIKE Fajita Fiesta for dinner and some fun times.  They had a an auction for HIKE that did quite well, and some of the Missouri Folks led the entire room in a rousing rendition of Happy Anniversary in honor of the 20th Anniversary of the HIKE Fund.  It was quite fun.  To see a movie of this, Click Here.  Be mindful that this is a very large file and depending on your internet access speed, may take some time to download.  You must have quicktime to view this movie.

Following the dinner and program, we were talking to Mom Patti Brand, who informed us that Miss Missouri Daniella had slipped and fallen in the bathroom.  She was okay, but had still taken a bit of a bump.  Well, wouldn't you know it, but when we were all walking back to the main part of the hotel, guess who took a spill?  You guessed it, Mom Patti.  She was okay, but as had Daniella, she took quite a bump.  Dad Brand back hope better watch out, he might be next.

We talked for a while with Liz Alderson, who was our Supreme Bethel Senior Princess last year and her mom, who is the newly elected Grand Marshal of Nebraska.  We also talked with Sharon Schaeffer, who was one of our Supreme Officers last year.  That is one of the great things about Supreme Session, getting the chance to catch up with all of your friends from around the Job's Daughter world.  Unfortunately sometimes the news is not always good.  Bill Hickey, PAGG of Colorado told me that my good friend Randy Trullinger, PAGG of Colorado is under the weather.  Hey Randy, we are all pulling and praying for you, so get well soon.  We need you here at Supreme next year.

I finished the evening off by burning some tracks from Alice In Wonderland onto a CD for Charlotte Brunell of Maryland who is in charge of the Ladybug's Tea Party programs tomorrow.  These promise to be both entertaining and educational.

I have a special shout-out to Carmen Wilson Jenkinson who sent me an e-mail this evening.  She also sends shout-outs to all of her friends here at Session, as well as all of the Past Miss International Job's Daughters she misses at this time of year.

That's about it for now.  I'm going to head for bed and watch a little TV.  Good night folks.  TTYL

Hey everybody, how are things going?  Here they are going fine.  It's time to get up and at 'em.  We have the first Business Session of the SGC today, and then later the Men of Job Luncheon and this evening the Formal Opening, so it looks like it's going to be another full day.  Before I head out the door I have some shout-outs for some folks who have sent some very nice notes concerning the Supreme Diary.  Julie Emberson, PHQ & BG, #66 Illinois, who was the GBHQ at the same time my daughter Kim was GBHQ of Missouri: Ian Milne, ABG #4 Queensland, a very fine gentleman from down under who I was privileged to visit with when I was in Australia; Judy Dickson, PGG, GS of Kansas, my good friend from the great state of Kansas: and last but not least, Mom Linda Sinley, PGG-MO, who with her husband Randy, AGG-MO, will soon be moving to Phoenix, Arizona.  Our loss will be Arizona's gain, but we will always remain good friends.  Hello to all of them and thank you so much for your very nice notes.

The first Business Session got underway about 9:00 a.m.  Mrs. Jeannine Hinman, SG, and Mr. Bob Thurman, ASG, and their corps of officers entered the room and took their places and the meeting began.  Basically there were some introductions as well as a few committee reports.  We broke for lunch a bit after 11:00.  Then I headed off to the Men of Job Luncheon.

We all boarded the bus and headed over to the Fresno Memorial Auditorium that housed the Hall of Valor, which is dedicated to the Armed Forces of the United States.  We all had a box lunch, and then the tour guides told us about the various exhibits in the building.  The setting was really inspirational, and you got a real feel of the various conflicts that the United States has been a part of.  There was a multimedia presentation on World War II that was very well done.  Then we all got a chance to wander around all of the exhibits and study them a bit closer.  Finally we all piled in the bus and headed back to the hotel.

Then we were off to the Formal Opening.  It was held at the Sellend Arena just across the street from the Radisson Hotel.  A lot of people thought it was a bit warm in the hall but I didn't think it was all that bad.  The Supreme Officers were all introduced and took their places.  The Grand Guardians and Associate Grand Guardians for 2005-2006 then paraded around the hall, and we all cheered as Mom Boehme and Dad Vezeau passed by.  Then the Past Supreme Guardians and Past Associate Supreme Guardians were introduced and escorted to the East.  We were all seated on the stage and viewed the rest of the opening from there.  Mom Shirley Bryngelson and I were seated together, and as you can see from the picture above, we had a fun evening.  The opening contained the usual events such as the Flag Ceremony and the Bible Ceremony.  Emily Schonaerts, #43 and Daniella Brand, #47 took part in the Flag Ceremony. 

The President of the HIKE Board, Mike James, gave his report and named the people (members and others) who raised $1000.00 or more.  Those from Missouri included Stephanie Crabtree, Kristen Goodman, Daniella Brand and Katie Underwood.  Then Janet Dryburgh gave the HIKE Canada Report and Melanie Strachan gave the HIKE Australia Report.  It was neat to hear about the HIKE Activities from other countries.

The Scholarship Chairman announced the Supreme Scholarships, and then the Necrology Ceremony was held.  Sara Glover, #19, Emily Schonaerts #43, and Lauren Mack, #43.  This was a very emotional ceremony as Missouri's Bill Dinkmeyer, Bob Hudson and Charles Chaney were named.

After that the Formal Opening came to a close and we all headed back to the hotel to watch the mad dash for the elevators.  I sat in the lobby and watched the devastation caused by 99,000 people trying to use 3 elevators.  Well, maybe there weren't that many, but it was still pretty impressive.  Kind of like trying to put 10 pounds of taters in a 5 pound sack.

Also at the formal opening, Colleen Vezeau ran into Heather Reardon, who was the Supreme Bethel Honored Queen the year that Dad Dinkmeyer was Associate Supreme Guardian and I was her Associate Supreme Bethel Guardian.  I will let her take it from here:

Thanks, Colleen.  Heather was, and still is, a very special young lady.  She will be getting married soon, and her fiancé is a very lucky fellow to be able to marry a girl like her.  She really loves Job's Daughters and was especially fond of Dad Dinkmeyer.

I have another shout-out for Mom Kathy Rodemacher, PBG #19, GT #1, who sent a very nice note about the Diaries.  She also sends us word that her daughter, Katie Rodemacher, GBSP-MO, has bronchitis.  Get well soon, Katie.

Well, that's about it for now.  We have the Missouri Breakfast tomorrow at 6:00 a.m. so I had better get to bed a bit earlier than last night.  TTYL.

Good morning everybody.  How are y'all doing this grand and glorious day . . . Okay, is that chipper enough for 5:30 a.m.  We had our Missouri Breakfast this morning at 6:00 a.m. so of course that meant rolling out at 5:30.  That's not so bad . . . if you are a bird.  Anyway, the Missouri Delegation took over the restaurant in the hotel for our breakfast.  We had a wonderful selections of breakfast items, and everyone seemed hungry as they all chowed down.  Then our Grand Guardian, Mom Boehme, presented our GBHQ Andie with a clown doll, and then we all wished our Miss Missouri Daniella good luck in the Miss International Pageant, and Mom Boehme presented her with a Precious Moments Figurine.  After that we all talked for a while, and then most went back to their rooms, probably to catch a quick nap before the rest of the day's events start up.

I'm sending a shout-out to Amber Volner Marsolek, PHQ and Miss International Job's Daughter 1997-1998, who sent a nice note about the Supreme Diary.  She is a teacher, and is expecting a new addition to the family  in about 2 months.  Congratulations to her and her soon to be Jobie-To-Bee  I must also send shout-outs to Kim Underwood, BG #12, Laurie Lenhardt, GDoE #43 and Michele Karmeier, GS #44, who have been IM'ing me during the week.  Thanks a bunch, guys.

Following the morning Business Session, we went to the Past Grand's Luncheon.  Besides myself, those from Missouri in attendance were Doc Howe, Lon & Ginny Goede, John & Colleen Vezeau, Phyllis Boehme, and Toni Underwood.  We had a great time.  Poor Lon, he didn't get to eat any dessert as he is diabetic.  Marlene went ahead and ate hers anyway, while I managed to get a diabetic fruit plate for dessert.

Then it was back to the business session.  The 2008 Supreme Session Arrangements Committee gave a presentation on the 2008 Supreme Session (wasn't that a surprise :)  It will be in Madison, Wisconson from July 27 - August 2, 2008.  The presentation was a lot of fun and the Wisconsin-Maryland delegations did a fantastic job.

After the business session, Mom Toni and I came back to the room.  I was very tired and just crashed.  Man that felt good.  This always seems to happen when I am travelling to different time zones.  I run and run until I finally just wear out, then I crash and nap for a couple of hours and when I wake up, my body is on local time.  Whoopie, just in time to head back to CDT on Sunday.  Oh well, that's the way it goes.

Then it was on to the big event for the day, the Miss International Pageant.  It was a really cool pageant that had a Hollywood theme.  The Master of Ceremonies was Most Worshipful Brother Howard Kirkpatrick, Past Grand Master of California, and he did a wonderful job.  Retiring Miss IJD Teirnee Childers helped with the announcing chores, and she also did a great job.  Our own Miss Missouri Daniella Brand was contestant #3, and was very beautiful as she stepped into the spotlight.  She moved with charm and grace, and answered the question posed of her in fine fashion.  The introduction of the 33 candidates took well over an hour, so by the time the announcements of the Ritual & Essay winners and then the finalists were made, the audience and the contestants were more than ready.  Unfortunately the tabulation of the scores took quite a while, so MWB Kirkpatrick and Teirnee told jokes, and gave trivia tidbits for the next 15 minutes or so.  The winner of the Spoken Ritual Contest was Chelsey Galbraith of British Columbia, and the winner of the Written Ritual Contest was Angela Osburn of Illinois.  Angela also won the essay contest and read her extremely well-written work to a rousing round of applause.  Then Miss Congenialtiy was announced and it was Chelsey Galbraith again.

The 11 Semi-Finalists were announced, and they were Elizabethann de Leon-Maestas of Oklahoma, Ashley Newton of Minnesota, Sarah Deisz of Virginia, Jenny Oakes of Wisconsin, Melissa Bradshaw of Queensland, Laura Holley of California, Chelsey Galbraith of British Columbia, Breanna Wilbur of Washington, Allison Stains of Pennsylvania, Jessica Schollenberger of Ohio, and Angela Osburn of Illinois.  Then each one in turn was asked the final question and all gave fantastic answers.

Teirnee gave her retiring remarks and made her final walk as Miss International.  She was given a standing ovation.  Then it was time to name the 4 Runners-Up.  They were: 4th Runner-Up: Sarah Deisz of Virginia, 3rd Runner-Up: Jenny Oakes of Wisconsin, 2nd Runner-Up: Angela Osburn of Illinois, 1st Runner-Up: Laura Holley of California.  Then the new Miss International Job's Daughter was announced, and it was Chelsey Galbraith of British Columbia.  The crown erupted with applause and the Past Miss Internationals present came onstage to symbolically pass the crown to Chelsey.  Teirnee invested Chelsey with her sash, robe and crown, and then Chelsey made her first walk as Miss International, and she also was afforded a standing ovation.  The Vice Supreme Guardian, Louise Windbeil, also of BC, and the Vice Associate Supreme Guardian Ken Smiley of Michigan came onstage and hugged their soon to be traveling companion.

Following the pageant, we all came back to the hotel and talked for a bit.  Then we all headed for our rooms, tired but enthused about Job's Daughters after that wonderful pageant.  Congratulation To Chelsey, and congratulations to our own Daniella for doing such a wonderful job.

 I'm sending some special shout-outs to Tawnya Schultz, PGBHQ-Oregon, Donna Koyn, GT #32, and Carrie Curry, PGBHQ of Illinois for sending very nice notes about the Supreme Diary.  Thanks a bunch.  It really helps to have such encouraging response.  I truly appreciate it.

It think that I am going to hit the sack, although after my nap this afternoon I am not really all that tired.  Oh well, I reckon I'll watch a move for a while before I finally go down for the night.  Thanks for reading.  I'll talk to you guys tomorrow.

G'day folks.  Shout-outs this morning go to Ruth Turpin, PBG #29, Marci Key, PGG, and Leslie Goodyear, PGG-KS for their very nice e-mails regarding the Supreme Diaries.  Thanks to them and to all who are reading and enjoying Supreme Session through my eyes . . . my nearsighted eyes that can't see very well because I lost my reading glasses.  Oh well, it wouldn't be Supreme Session if I didn't lose something.

We are up and at em', and are headed to the business session for the Election of Officers and Trustees.  I will try to report back around midday with the names of the new kids on the block.  If I don't manage to do that, I will check in this evening.  Talk to you later.

Hey guys, just a quick check in with some results for you.  In the Supreme Bethel Drawing, Meghan Garibay of Nevada was selected as the new SBHQ.  Sara Glover of Bethel #19 was selected as Supreme Bethel Representative to Sao Paulo, Sarah Duing-Davis of Bethel #36 was selected as Supreme Bethel Representative to New Mexico and Emily Schonaerts of Bethel #43 was selected as the Supreme Bethel Representative to California.  In the Supreme Council Elections, the results were as follows:

Mom Toni is off to the Pacific Coast today with some of the other members of the Missouri Delegation while another group is heading for the Hearst Castle.  I am here at the hotel getting ready for the rest of the day.  I have the Alumni Luncheon at noon, and I am providing the entertainment.  I don't know how entertaining it will be, but what the heck, I'll give it the old college try anyway.  Following that is the rehearsal for the SGC Installation.  I have the honor of being the Associate Installing Officer.  Hopefully I won't mess it up too much.  Anyway, that is the agenda for today.  I will be checking back in later with a couple of pictures and another update.  Thanks for reading, I'll TTYL.

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Hey there folks.  Well, it's the end of a long day, and I am just sort of sitting back and thinking about the day's activities.  The Alumni Luncheon was a lot of fun.  There was a good group of people and I was honored to be the entertainment for the luncheon.  I began by leading a brief discussion about what makes you a Jobie.  Then I segued into a take of on the "You might be a redneck" joke by Jeff Foxworthy by giving some funny examples of Jobie life and then saying, "You might be a Jobie."  Then I led the crowd in a song honoring the 85th Anniversary entitled the Jobie Bunch, which was sung to the tune of The Brady Bunch.  Several people have asked me to put the program on the web, so here it is:

We had a lot of fun, and everybody was very energetic when they joined in the singing.

Following the luncheon, it was time to head over the the practice for the Supreme Council Installation.  Mom Marilee Smiley was in charge of the practice and things ran very well.  We got through the practice without any difficulty and then broke for the rest of the afternoon.

We had a couple of hours before we were due back for pictures, so I went back to the room to watch a little TV and then change into my tux.  The two hours flew by quickly and then I found myself back at the ballroom smiling and trying to look distinguished for the photographer.  Well, I tried, but I'm only gonna look so distinguished and then I just look silly.

Mom Toni and her crew had returned to the hotel from the coast about 7:00 p.m.  She then packed most of the luggage for our return trip tomorrow and then came down to the Installation.  The ceremony got underway about 7:30.  The East was decorated with Sunflowers and some other vegetation (I am not nearly an expert on flowers, so I really don't know what all of them were).  Mom Marilee Smiley was the Installing Officer and I was the Associate Installing Officer.  I had to tell the audience that I really wished that I could have been anyplace but in that spot as the Associate Installing Officer.  Not because I didn't enjoy the experience or like any of the people I was Installing, but because Dad Bill Dinkmeyer was supposed to have been in that slot, but due to his untimely passing, Dad Smiley asked me to be his replacement.  Although I was filling the spot, I could never replace Dad Dinkmeyer because he was irreplaceable.  As many of you know, Dad Dinkmeyer lived in Kansas City, which is known as the Heart of America.  There is a saying that, "All roads lead to the Heart of America."  Well Dad Dinkmeyer's heart led him to Job's Daughters, and he will always live in our hearts.

The Installation went well, and we installed our new Supreme Guardian, Louise Windbiel of British Columbia, and our new Associate Supreme Guardian, Ken Smiley of Michigan, as well as the entire corps of officers.  Our own Ginny Goede was installed as the Supreme Librarian, and one of our good friends from Wyoming, Kathy Winders, was Installed as one of the Supreme Messengers.  It was a very lovely ceremony and everyone had a wonderful time.

Afterwards we congratulated the new officers, and then came back to the room.  I caught up on my e-mail and then sat down to write this update.  It was quite a day.

I am sending some shout-outs to Nancy Spraker, PHQ #97-IL, Ron Zimmer, GDoE #19-MO and Nelda Kaeser, PGG-MO, for their nice notes regarding the Supreme Diary.  I appreciate all of the encouragement.  Thanks a bunch.  Dad Zimmer also sends his own shout-outs to the entire Missouri Delegation here at Supreme Session.  I also have a shout-out for Chantay Nieber, PHQ #96-CA.  She has an acting career going on and she is currently a stand-in for one of the actresses on Related on the WB Network.  She is also compiling material about famous Job's Daughters.  Way to go Chantay.

Well, technically the session is over.  Tomorrow is a travel day.  I will check in in the morning, and then once more when I get home.  I will also gather my thoughts about the session and try to give an overall impressing of the weeks activities.  That's about it for now.  I'll talk to you later.

Okay folks, it about 9:00 a.m. here and we are getting ready to hit the road, although we really don't leave California until later this afternoon.  It has been a fun week and while I will miss all of my friends that I only get to see once a year at Supreme Session, it will be good to get back home.  I will check in either tonight (probably not) or tomorrow (more likely) with a final wrap-up.  I'll TTYL.  In the meantime, Colleen Vezeau weighs in again with some info about Art, the bellman at our hotel:

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Well, my Supreme Session Travel Curse returned in rare form for the trip back to St. Louis.  It all started out innocently enough.  After checking out of the hotel, we said our goodbyes to Mom and Dad Smiley and their traveling companions, as well as numerous other friends from around the Job's Daughters World.  Then we went off in search of a restaurant to have breakfast/lunch.  One of our travel rules (not etched in stone, but one we try to adhere to) is to find restaurants that we do not have in St. Louis.  I mean, why travel thousands of miles just to eat in a McDonalds or Taco Bell?  As a last resort, that's fine, but otherwise, search for something new and different.  Anyway, we were lucky and found the Fresno Breakfast House, were we had a delicious breakfast that made the search worthwhile.

Then it was over to the airport to return our rental car and to check in.  There were lots of Jobie-Folk at the airport, including good friends from Wyoming, Pennsylvania, Illinois and of course, Missouri.  Going back on the same plane that Mom Toni and I were on were Marlene Frakes, Doc Howe, Sara Glover and Jan Glover.  In addition, there were Jobies from several other delegations on the plane.  Since we were at the airport in plenty of time, we sat with Mom Shirley Bryngelson for quite a while and reminisced about last year as well as the just completed session.  Then we went to our gate and sat with the Missouri Delegation to wait for our 2:30 p.m. flight.  That's when it all started.  I received a call on my cell phone.  It was American Airlines.  I am an American Airlines AAvantage Club Member, and they will call members with updates regarding travel plans.  I was told that our flight was not leaving at 3:30 instead of 2:30.  I actually receive 4 calls to this effect (they will call you twice for each ticket you have for that particular trip).  When I informed my traveling companions of this, they were hesitant to believe me, but when Mom Frakes went to the travel desk to check, sure enough, they had just received the call, so I actually knew before the airline people did.  By the time Mom Frakes returned to the waiting area, I had received another 4 calls telling me that our flight was now 3:40 p.m.  About 10 minutes later, they made an announcement to that effect over the p.a. system.  Of course by that point, I had received yet another 4 calls telling my that our plane would now be departing at 3:50 p.m.  Once again, about 10 minutes later they made an announcement to that effect.  It seems that the cause for the delays had been bad weather in our midpoint destination, Dallas.

We finally boarded the plane and got underway around 4:00.   That leg of the trip was fairly uneventful, and we landed in Dallas ready to make the dash to get to our connecting flights once they let us off the plane.  However, the plane must have been tired because we stayed out on the runway for quite a bit.  They also made announcements that we would be catching later flights (even though we had actually landed in time to have caught our original connections).  We finally made it to the gate and departed the plane.  Our flight was now to leave at 10:30 p.m., so we had time to get a bite to eat.  In the meantime I received another 4 calls that the plane was now delayed until 11:30, although I didn't know that I had received the calls because I still had my phone off from the first leg of the trip.  However, when Mom Toni and I saw several folks dashing away from our gate, we thought that possibly our departure gate had changed, so we went to one of the "convenient" TV screens that displayed the flight information.  I guess that placing these screens every 5 miles is convenient . . . for a horse.  Anyway, we saw that our flight was now scheduled for 11:30, but that there was a 10:15 flight to St. Louis as well.  When we inquired about getting on that flight, the airline people told us that even if we could get on that flight, our luggage would still be on the 11:30 flight.  We figured that we would just stay on our scheduled plane in order to get to St. Louis at the same time as our luggage.  Then, of course, they made an announcement that the flight would now be delayed until 11:50.  Well, we finally boarded the plane, but we sat and sat.  The pilot said it was because we were waiting on some luggage from an international flight.  He said that they weren't exactly sure where the baggage was, and that it could actually be on the plane.  Hmm, that's when I started to get a bit suspicious.  He went on to praise the baggage handlers, and the hard work that they did.  While I don't doubt this, I did look over at the plane next to us and saw that there, in the baggage compartment, was a baggage handler . . . taking a nap.  I tried to get a picture, but it was too far away and too dark.  Anyway, about 1:00 a.m. a couple of people boarded the plane and we then taxied onto the runway.  I guess the baggage they were waiting on was people.

We flew on to St. Louis and landed around 2:20 a.m. and made our way to the baggage claim and what did we discover . . . No, it's probably not what you are thinking.  Our bags were not missing.  In fact, they were there waiting for us.  I thought, "Wow, the St. Louis baggage handlers really have their stuff together tonight, our bags beat us from the plane to the pick-up."  Then I wondered why the baggage was just sitting on the carousel, but it wasn't moving.  Then it hit me, our bags were waiting for us because they were on the 10:15 flight, and they had been waiting for us for 3 hours.  Yes, the plane that they could have put us on, but told us our luggage would be coming on the later plane.  Our luggage went on that plane and we followed on the later plane.  Go figure.

Anyway, my daughter, Kim picked us up at the airport and we got home about 3:00 a.m.  While the trip home was frustrating, it couldn't dampen the warm memories of the just completed session.  We had a wonderful time and came away re-charged and full of Job's Daughter vim and vigor.  The chance to mingle with friends, both old and new, to see the spirit and enthusiasm of the the Jobies from around the world, and especially to be present on the evening where the entire hotel was filled with the voices of Job's Daughters from across the globe singing Nearer My God To Thee, gave us memories that will last a lifetime.  To the California and Oregon people, congratulations on a fine Session.  To Louise Windbiel, Ken Smiley, and the British Columbia and Michigan delegations,  good luck in the coming year.  You will do a great job, and we look forward to Supreme Session in Vancouver in 2006.  We'll BC'ing you in BC.