Neil T. Beaty, 32°
1614 Welton Street, Denver, Colorado 80202

Recently, I had the pleasure of attending the installation ceremony for Miss Colleen Sebastian as the new Honored Queen at the International Order of Job's Daughters, Bethel No. 2, in Denver, Colorado. The new Queen was well spoken and gracious, her Officers were chosen wisely, and everything during the installation went smoothly. Every Honored Queen has a theme. For the outgoing Queen it was rainbows, and everything was decorated in bright, beautiful colors throughout her reign. It was all about pursuing dreams and seeing the bright side of life. This time the theme was Disney, and "The Mouse" was everywhere. There were dolls, signs, cards, and even a couple of people dressed up in Disney costumes. The girls exchanged gifts of Disney stuff. They laughed and cried and laughed some more. Every girl went away with something, and the Honored Queen was showered with gifts. The Disney store at the local mall must have had a record week. Cake and punch followed the exchange of gifts, and everyone present—parents, grandparents, and various Masonic visitors—were pulled into the whirlwind of girls just being girls! There were no issues about work, or boys, or drugs. They weren't worrying about what they were wearing or who ate lunch with whom at school, and they weren't competing with each other to see who could be the "best" at something. Nobody was worrying about what college the girls would go to or how to pay for the orthodontist. It wasn't about what the girls will become when they grow up; it was about what they were already, girls. On that day, being a girl was the best thing in the world. Colleen was the Queen, but the Mouse was King. Everyone understood that because everybody in the room had also learned to love Mickey Mouse when they were kids.

At the end of this and every meeting of Job's Daughters, the girls take a moment to thank the Master Masons who make their Bethel possible. You, my Brothers, are how all of this started and why it continues. Job's Daughters is, after all, a Masonic group, and everyone is there to teach or learn the tenets of Masonry. The girls are learning in their Bethel the same lessons you are learning in your Lodges and Temples, and, like you, they take their lessons seriously. While they were thanking the men of the Craft for helping them to reach their full potential, I was thanking that mouse for helping to make them "the fairest in the land."

Colleen, thank you, and long live the King!

Neil T. Beaty is a Past Master of Denver Lodge No. 5, and a Life Member of the Valley of Denver, Orient of Colorado. His granddaughter, Samantha Westwood, was installed as the Librarian for Bethel No. 2 for the current term. Brother Beaty is a member of the York Rite and El Jebel Shrine in Denver.