I am so happy to be able to speak with you as the New State Representative of the Organization of Triangles.
We all know that shoes are a girl’s best friend and I am no different, so I thought I would start with a fact about them! Did you know? Men were the first to wear heels! For centuries, heels signified a high social standing rather than gender. It was also crucial for men riding horses to have a heel on their boot in order to stay in their stirrups. Now I told you this fact about shoes because shoes are a part of my theme this year! My theme is, “These boots are made for walkin’, watch where we will go.” To go with this theme I will be traveling across the state wearing boots under all of my gowns at all of the visitations I will be attending.
As you may know, one of our angles has to deal with charity. We also all know that Triangle girls love their food and I am no exception! With this in mind, I have decided to make my charity this year, No Kid Left Hungry. This charity’s goal is to end child hunger in America. They aim to do this by gaining donations with every dollar giving a child up to 10 meals. I plan to help raise money for this charity by selling pens throughout my term.
Now I would like to take a walk in my boots, specifically my Triangle boots, and tell you a little about how I got here today! I was first introduced to this wonderful organization by great family friends, the Kriese family. They were all involved in Triangle and told us about it at church one Sunday morning. Now, at the time I was a very shy soft spoken 12-year-old who had never heard about this organization. However, my mom thought it was a good idea to get her girls involved. So one night being dressed in street dress we went to the Masonic temple in Liverpool to a prospect meeting where of course we had spaghetti and were thrown with all sorts of information about the organization and how it works! There I also got to meet Kelly Walker and Ms. Madison for the first time and thought that these people were different than others I have met before. There is a bond between them like family even though none of them are related. This is when I realized this is a place I want to be. Just like that, my sisters and I were initiated into Bal-On-Sen Triangle on a cold February night. Finally, Bal-On-Sen were able to hold meetings and were getting themselves back on the map! That night I gained more sisters than just my biological ones.
Fast forward four years and I found myself becoming Beloved Queen of Bal-On-Sen Triangle! I knew this position was like no other. After I got over the sparkle fact of the crown, I realized that Bal-On-Sen girls would be looking up to me. I am the one with the crown and gavel to choose the future of Bal-On-Sen Triangle and help in any way I can to make our Triangle be successful. We all know success comes in numbers so my goal for Beloved Queen was to gain membership! Throughout my term I initiated 13 girls into Bal-On-Sen. This is what I view is my greatest accomplishment as Beloved Queen.
Then fast forward again to 2013 and I’m again taking on a leadership position, but this time it is at the State level. I became Junior Advisor of the Onondaga-Oswego District. With this position again Triangle girls would be looking up to me for advice on how to memorize a part or the correct way to escort a person in to a room or which way we are walking in or out. Throughout my Junior Advisor term, I along with Annie Parks had to plan a District Convention. The A&A Awards went off without a hitch and even the other “A” was installed as State Representative along with myself being installed as Chairman of the Junior Advisory Council. With this title I now get to organize and preside over all of the Jr. Advisory council meetings. This was a big responsibility with the success resting in my hands. I hope that I have done this position well as I pass it on to my successor. Now I come to today. The highest position in this amazing organization is passed on to me. I hope that I will carry this out well and do the organization proud.
With gaining this position I wouldn’t be here without many people who have gotten me this far and at this time I would like to thank them. First, I would like to thank my biggest fan and support system my mom. Mom, you have always told me to be the bird that I am and spread my wings and fly! This is just another way for my wings to become bigger and take me farther in life. I would like to thank you for always being there for me, to bounce ideas off of and just vent to you about things that probably weren’t as big as they seemed to me. I appreciate everything you have done for me and will continue to do for me.
Next, I want to thank my womb-mate, partner in crime, and twin sister Krista. Krista, you have been there for me from literally the beginning and I couldn’t have asked for a better person to call my twin. Thank you in advance for being that person I can call 24/7 with anything I need whether it is someone to just listen or to give me a reality check. Mary-Margaret what can I say. You literally make me laugh even when I don’t want to and of course the person I ask for a real opinion on how my dress looks which you will tell me, “No, that’s hideous try on another.” Thanks for being that person for me.
Next I want to thank Aunt Martha. You have stepped up to help mom raise us and I can’t thank you more for it. I know that if I need anything crafty done or an idea I can come to you and we will always come up with something amazing.
Ms. Madison, I hope you are ready for some more crazy car rides! I can’t wait to travel the state with you and of course get more pictures of the princess that brighten my day just a little more. Thank you for always being a person that will listen to my crazy ideas and help me see them through!
And Danielle [NY Rainbow Grand Worthy Advisor] and Zach [NY DeMolay State Master Councilor], I hope you are ready for some crazy and fun times we are going to have this year!
I want to thank now, all of my Triangle sisters! Without you all I would be missing a part of my family. Each of you are truly a sister to me. I thank you for supporting me and being the truly awesome people that you are! Finally, I would like to thank all of our concordant bodies. Without your support Triangle wouldn’t be the organization that it is and I thank you all so much for continuing your support and showing us what it means to be a Masonic family.
I’m looking forward to the year to coming to and getting to attend as many events as I can. I can’t wait to share and treasure the memories I will make with everyone throughout my visitations. Now with that being said, let’s start these boots walkin’. Thank you.
Alison Wright
State Representative 2015-2016