HOULTON, Maine — A return of The International Order of the Rainbow for Girls may soon be coming to the Shiretown.
Temple Assembly No. 18 hosted a meet and greet in Houlton Monday, Nov. 18, for interested youngsters and their families. The Grand Master of Masons in Maine is scheduled to attend the official reopening celebration Saturday, Nov. 30, at Monument Lodge No. 96 above the Temple Cinema in downtown Houlton.Organizers are planning for about 150 guests from around the state for this formal ceremony.
Founded in 1922 as a place for daughters of Masons, the Rainbow Girls was once a prominent group in Houlton and other parts of Aroostook County. The group was available for girls ages 6-19.
According to Roxanne Bruce, organizer of the Rainbow Girls resurgence, youngsters between ages 6-9 were first welcomed as pledge members and at age 10 were welcomed as full members. This organization focused on helping young ladies become more confident and care for those in their communities.
Houlton closed its Rainbow Girls chapter in 1996, while the final chapter in Aroostook County was in Presque Isle and it closed in 2009.
“Rainbow Girls is a non-profit character-building service-oriented organization, whose main goal is to help its members become more than they dreamed possible,” Bruce said. “Involvement in Rainbow teaches girls three basic virtues: to have faith in other people and themselves; to have hope in all that they do; and to be charitable, to live a life of service is the most rewarding life.”
Some of the things learned by the Rainbow girls are how to present themselves with grace and poise by wearing formal dresses for certain meetings and church-like attire for other meetings. Rainbow offers girls a safe and fun environment where youngsters can learn poise and self-confidence, leadership development, ethics and good citizenship.
Rainbow Girls participate in charity and service projects such as Make-A-Wish, the Shriners Burn Hospital and Habitat for Humanity, along with local fundraisers to help offset the cost of travel to visit other Assemblies and to attend the annual state meeting in Biddeford in May.
“Rainbow is an organization that has helped me personally form lifelong relationships with my fellow Rainbow sisters, our adult supporters and our extended Masonic family,” Bruce said. “As a Majority Rainbow girl, I am excited to be helping Houlton revive their Rainbow Assembly and to be able to repay the wonderful organization that helped shape me into the adult I am today.”
All applications turned in Monday, Nov. 18, have no charge to join. Meetings will be held the first and third Monday of each month, with the exception of Nov. 30. To learn more about the organization, email houltonrainbowgirls@gmail.com or call 207-267-5878.
