How long did Conventions used to be? (page 2)

tenyearsafter

Yep Designs...the Rose Bowl was quite the adventure! My Mom, brother and I worked in the fruit stands in the tents (remember those?!)...lots of flies and bees as we cut up endless cantaloupes, oranges, etc....strangely enough, it seemed like fun at the time. Now that I look back, it wasn't much different than children working as pickers in the fields!

ShirleyW

I was there at Yankee Stadium in 1969 too JRK, remember the first day it was pouring rain all day, my mother bought her study with her and the line for food at the assembly cafeteria was so long we went to a restaurant nearby the Stadium and we had to wait on a long line there too !

JRK

ShirleyW,

I remember them running out of food, so they had to improvise, We had Spaghetti sauce and meatballs over cottage cheese, as they ran out of noodles.

JK

tenyearsafter

Yummy JRK...LOL

tenyearsafter

DOC, you really bring back memories...I remember the numerous first aid stations all over the Rose Bowl primarily equipped with surplus military stretchers. I remember the constant movement of people (mostly elderly) on stretchers due to heat and sun exposure. There was even an ambulance or two stationed at the Rose Bowl to transport those too far gone to be "treated" at the main first aid area. It seemed more like a MASH unit than a convention at times. Intersperse that with interminably long talks and prayers, and you had the makings of good times!

mouthy

I was at the Montreal 8 day assembly we were poor so we had to sleep in tents,
me & my daughter>>>Also I took a woman & her baby that I was studying with.
Unfortunalty I set up the cots against the tent....And the rain came while we were
having our ears & hearts molested, it soaked every thing in the tent .
I didnt know nothing must rest against the tent wall/.
So I had to go buy nappies for my studies baby as hers were soaked.
The little baby was cold wet, & cried all night.
We had no where to heat her bottle,
so I wandered through the grounds until I found a couple "necking"
I told them my plight & they were kind enough to set up there stove
& heat the water to heat the bottle.Then you must remember ,when it was
all over ( 8 days) I used to go home to my hubby,who beat the hell out
of me for spending to much .......nappies,food I paid for us all. But i knew
it was for Jehovah....who was gonna pay me back in Paradise.

clarity

Oh Grace, the tales that could be told eh, remember how the sick ones(near death) would be brought in on gurneys ... and stuck in the little alcoves around the convention building? Just so they could hear the life saving message as they died(so encouraging)

There were lawn chairs and play pens and strollers and wheelchairs all over the place!

We had the brothers and sisters playing live music in those days. Pretty good orchestras!

Mealtimes meant hot cooked food, prepared and served cafeteria style. Yes, mostly we all had to stand as we ate, but the food was great. Sunday supper after the finish was a delicious TURKEY dinner! With pie and cake for dessert!

Yes, the really long 8dayer was 1967 or 68(should have googled it), missed parts of it but still it seemed so loooonng! Being an International assembly, many were dressed in their national garb. Lot of laying about on the lawn outside, just to grab a bit of fresh air and cool off.

As far as learning anything of importance, can't remember a darn thing! Can you?

clarity

Wasanelder Once

Candlestick 1966, frozen in the morning, cooked alive in the sun during the day and huddled under blankets to avoid freezing in the night. Couldn't make out a thing due to the echo. Wondered why we were there. I was 9. It was at least 5 days.

DesirousOfChange

Mealtimes meant hot cooked food, prepared and served cafeteria style.

Which meant that if you volunteered in Food Service you did not have to sit in the heat and listen to the dribble go on and on.

Attendant Dept even better, you didn't have to work.

Administration Dept, Chairman's Office or Auditing Dept. was best. Air conditioned offices. But you had to know someone or be pretty high up the Corporation Ladder to land that.

DOC

ScenicViewer

It seems downsizing became organizational practice sometime after 1975. Lots of cuts began to happen (for financial reasons?) that continue to happen to this day.

No more food service at assemblies, Less new literature being released, Recycling books for the book study (Revelation book studied at least 4 times?), No more magazine subscriptions, Awake magazine reduced to one issue per month, Hardcover books, including bound volumes, are now soft cover (paper or plastic), Calendars were discontinued, then came back half-sized, Book Study merged into Theocratic School/Service Meeting nite, Branch offices being closed around the world, Gilead Missionary School closed, Brooklyn headquarters properties being sold.

Along the way, assemblies and conventions have also been shortened. District Conventions went from 8 days to 7, then 5, then 3 or 4 depending on whether it was "International", then just down to 3 days. Circuit Assemblies were cut from 3 days (they used to start on Friday afternoon) to 2 days, then one of them was reduced to an Assembly Day.

How long did Conventions used to be?

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