Sherry Harriman,
Maine State Grange Master/President
207 490-1029

THANK YOU to Manchester Grange once again for allowing us to use your hall for our annual fundraising yard sale event. Thank you to all the folks who came to support us, and/or helped. We appreciate your participation, efforts, donations, and hard work. We had a wonderful day, and the weather cooperated.

ELECTIONS are at hand; June is the time for electing officers. Our State By-Laws require every Grange to have full elections every year and yes, we use paper ballots for each officer with names being presented for each, one officer at a time prior to the ballot. Please consider the officers/leaders of your Grange, are you ready for a change, what is best for your Grange, are there others who would make good officers, are you helping others learn the different duties of the offices, or are you pushing too hard?  Some offices are more involved than others. Some committees are more involved than others. 

After the election, the reelected or newly elected Master/President shall appoint/select the Committee Chairs and committee members for their Grange. This should be done right away; there is no need to wait for the installation of officers to get your committees set up. Some of the most common Committees in our Granges are: Legislative-Agriculture; Women’s Activities; Youth; Junior; Community Service; Family, Health & Hearing; Membership and Others. Committee terms begin upon installation of officers. Other Committees may be named as needed that may be specific to your Grange. Special Committees are established as needed for a special event or activity. Please tell your Secretary who the chairman will be, so they can report the roster information to the office.

ROSTER INFORMATION is to be sent to the State Grange office as soon as possible after your elections are completed. Grange Secretaries will receive the 2027 Roster forms next week. Please fill them out legibly and return them to the office as soon as possible. If you want to type the information out separately and mail or email it to us, that would be fine also. 

We will be looking for the following information to be provided to us for each Grange:  Grange Name and Number; Street Address and Town of Grange Hall; Meeting Day(s) and Time; Supper or Refreshments and Time.  (Maine State Grange By-Laws:  ARTICLE XXII – MEETINGS  Section 1.  The Bylaws of each Subordinate Grange should definitely fix the day and hour of all regular meetings.)  Plus the following information for Officers and chairmen.

• Master/President: Name; Address; Phone; (Cell if they want it listed); and e-mail address.
• Lecturer: Name: Address; Phone; (Cell if they want it listed); and e-mail address.
• Secretary: Name: Address; Phone; (Cell if they want it listed); and e-mail address.
• CWA Chairman: Name; Address; Phone; (Cell if they want it listed); and e-mail address.

RESOLUTIONS are due in the office August 15, 2026, either by email to mainestategrange@gmail.com or by standard mail to 36 Anthony Ave, Suite 102, Augusta, 04330. Submit both ways to ensure we receive them.  Resolutions must have a title provided by the Grange; we cannot assign one. The Title reflects the issue you are proposing, the “whereas” section(s) explains the issue and includes facts or information and the “resolved” section(s) explain how you propose to correct the issue. The entire resolution must be written out, if you use initials in your resolution, the words must also be written out. The resolution must be voted on & supported by the Grange to be submitted to the State Grange. Any resolutions to make changes to State or National Grange By-Laws must refer to the Article number, Section number, and sub-section number(s) and be written out in full as it currently appears in the State or National By-laws, then the new change written out in full with the change(s) to be made.  

We then have to print everything and mail all resolutions back to each Grange, after the August 15^th deadline. The Delegate Registration, Meal forms, Schedule, etc., also will be sent in August. This all takes time.  State Session is October 30 & 31 at Black Bear Inn in Orono.

Officer and Department Reports are due in the office no later than September 15th. (written or emailed to the office and to my email  SHarriman@twc.com).  I prefer emailed reports. These dates may seem early, but getting everything put together for the session takes time. 

Sherry Harriman,
Maine State Grange Master/President
207 490-1029

President’s Perspective

By Sherry Harriman, MSG Master and President

During Grange Month, I held a State Officers meeting & ice cream social (extra incentive) and met separately with Deputies & Committee Chairs, yes, they had ice cream too.  Thanks to Judy Meserve for making yummy homemade hot fudge sauce and homemade peanut butter sauce for our officers’ and directors’ meetings. Also, thank you, Roberta, for helping with the cleanup both days.

Attendees were assigned homework before they arrived then we discussed it at the meeting. Responses were quite varied, which I was hoping for, and the discussions were productive. Thank you, everyone, for attending and participating. I appreciate your input.  We met in two separate groups because we can only seat about 20 attendees at each meeting in our new office.

I gave each of them six questions to answer/think about on their own, related to the State level and the Subordinate level.

1. Write down at least 2 (two) suggestions to improve the Grange. Or something you would like to see in the Grange. What should/could the Grange be doing? (Any subject – any level – constructive, not snide or nasty.)
2. Write down at least 1 (one) positive thing your Grange has done or accomplished.
3. Write down at least 1 (one) reply. What is the purpose of your Grange?
4. Write down at least 2 (two) replies. Why do you belong to / attend Grange?
5. Are you an Officer or Committee person? Which one(s)? Give a general description of your duties, or what should they be? If you are neither, pick one and describe what you feel should be the duties.
6. We would like to create a Maine State Grange Mission Statement. Any thoughts or suggestions?

We also discussed Granges who are NOT following proper procedures and ongoing personal conflicts among our members. Both are still very concerning. How do we resolve these issues? What solutions can we utilize? Will it make a difference? Will the right person(s) hear, accept, and adhere to the rules and rulings? I have been reviewing the Grange Manual, State Bylaws, and National Grange Digest of Laws to identify specific sections that define my options and authority as State Master/President. Additionally, and just as importantly, what are the Subordinate/Community Masters/Presidents options and authority? All had pertinent information. I even consulted Robert’s Rules of Order® and found several pieces of advice to deal with disruptions in the meeting.

In the Obligation of the Grange at all levels, we are reminded of our duties to the Order and each other. “…I will not knowingly wrong or defraud a Brother or Sister of the Order or allow it to be done by another if within my power to prevent it. I will endeavor to be a true and faithful Patron of Husbandry, perform the duties enjoined in this Order, and aid others in the performance of the same. Should I knowingly or willfully violate this pledge, I will invoke upon myself suspension or expulsion from the Order.”

Applications & Balloting for Candidates for membership MUST ONLY be done at a regular meeting open in full form with a seven (7) member quorum present. The vote cannot be taken with fewer than seven members from that Grange. The Executive Committee cannot declare the persons to be members.  Balloting is done by standard ballot box using balls and cubes, balls elect & cubes reject. 

State Grange Session is again at the Black Bear Inn in Orono – October 30 & 31, with a very similar schedule as last year except it is not a full election year. The setup will be on Thursday, October 29. Reservations can be made with the front desk  207-962-2708 mention State Grange.  Most of those participating were in agreement to return here again, and liked having everything in one place. First reminder: resolutions for the 2026 State Grange Session are due in the office by August 15, standard mail and/or email.

The facility and other date conflicts directly effects which date(s) we choose for our meeting. In our Maine State Bylaws – “ARTICLE III – MEETINGS  Section 1. This Grange shall hold its annual meeting on any consecutive Thursday, Friday and Saturday in October.  These meetings shall be scheduled at least 12 twelve months in advance.”  You may not remember but, many, many years ago the State Grange session was held the last full weekend of October, oftentimes that included Halloween. When we started going to Skowhegan, we were asked after a couple of years if we could move it to the weekend before Halloween so the Community Center could have other activities and events for Halloween. So we changed our dates to accommodate them. When we moved to Auburn, we adjusted our dates to their schedule. When we changed again to Bangor, we selected appropriate dates to meet our needs and we found out that was homecoming weekend, so we changed our date to accommodate any conflict for the hotel, this put us even earlier in the month. This year I checked the UMO football schedule and found the dates they would not be playing at home. One weekend was very early in the month, the other was the last weekend. I chose the latter.

WINNING WAYS

• Positive Attitude:  Liking what you do and showing it and being willing to try new things, keeps the job fun and interesting. Learn to be enthusiastic. Successful people are the type of person that has learned to persevere. 
• Performance:  Consistently producing and encouraging top quality work. Pay attention to details and the little things. It says that you care about what you do, have pride in your work, and care about those around you.
• Supporting your Grange:  Make your Grange a vital part of your community. Let people know that not only have they been heard, but their words have inspired action and remember to support their projects.
• Strategies:  Knowing where you want to go and develop your plan to get there. Courtesy and speed are two attributes of a good role model.
• Dependability:  Meeting deadlines, following through on projects, being on time. Learn how to find the answer and show that you can be depended on to get the answer.
• Team Playing: Work as part of a team. Learn to get along with people above, below and alongside you –Working with them as a team will accomplish a lot more than each group working on their own agenda. participating in Grange projects, cooperating with others, expecting the best, and then helping them achieve it.  Learn to acknowledge the help you get — That’s the only way you’ll get it.
• Self Development:  Set realistic goals to achieve the level of expertise you want to reach by obtaining your own training, and developing special skills.
• Visibility:  Get your members achievements and projects noticed, volunteering for special projects. Take on projects that promote a positive image, but be careful not to ignore the necessary, but less glamorous tasks. 
• Political Skills:  Knowing and responding to what’s going on around you. Learn to be familiar with organization policies, know what are permitted activities and the procedures for undertaking new projects. 
• Appearance:  Showing neatness and taste, looking the part. Learn that your and your Granges appearance does count.

                                                              Reprinted in part from National Grange Team Speak