Porter Grange will confer the fist two degrees at their hall on January 18 starting at 7PM with their own officers in the chairs. All are welcome. Contact Dorothy Locke at 625-4667.

There will be an area meeting at Chesterville Grange, February 10 starting at 10AM. State Grange program Directors, State Lecturer and State Secretary will speak about their activities in the morning. Lunch will be served at noon for a nominal fee. After lunch Excelsior Pomona members will demonstrate Grange ritual. This meeting is open to all Grangers, especially new Grangers. Bring any questions that you might have about the Grange and any suggestions on ways to improve Grange. Please contact Jim Locke at 778-5845.

As I write this article on a rainy and icy New Year’s Day I look forward to a busy and productive Grange year. We should all be making plans to move or Grange’s forward and build our membership in 2007. We must compete with other activities for people’s time by making our Granges a place worthy of that precious time. Some Granges have realized this and are taking in members.
All Granges have the potential for growth. Take a good honest look at your Grange. What is your Grange doing in the community? Is your Grange leading the way in your town or does it let other groups lead? The Grange is still the only organization that men and women, children and seniors can come together for the common good. We are well poised for great things. People still have a desire for a sense of community. If the Grange tries to fill this need, by providing activities and opportunities for service, people will choose the Grange because of the fact that the whole family can participate. If we say let some other group meet this need, and do nothing, we will wither and die. So look with optimism to the future and make plans to compete.
Look to the National and State Grange for the tools needed to compete. April is again Grange month. Plan some public activity to celebrate it. The National Grange will provide the materials needed to plan a successful event. The State Grange will be doing statewide promotion of Grange month. The State Officers and Membership Committee are available to speak at public functions.
We have some great Grange posters that we purchased from a company in Oregon. These 18”x 24” professionally made posters are available for $1. each plus postage. They make great promotional tools.
The State Membership Committee is making plans to bring National Membership/Leadership Director Ed Luttrell back to Maine this spring, after the weather improves, to work with small Granges with 20 or fewer members. Watch for these workshops which will probably occur in early May.
There will be an area meeting February 10 at Chesterville Grange for all Grange members interested in learning about Grange programs, activities and ritual. It will start at 10 am with a paid lunch at noon. Other area meetings will be held other areas upon request.
New this month will be a trial newsletter that will be sent to all Grange households from the State Grange in an attempt to keep all members up to date on Grange activities.
We have received a new supply of Maine State Grange Cookbooks. If you would like some call State Headquarters.
At the request of the Maine State Grange Ag Committee we will again have the State Grange Raffle. This year the 1st prize will be a big screen television. Tickets will be mailed with the Community Service Grant applications later this winter.
Ag Day at the Legislature will be March 20th. We will again host the Legislative Luncheon and will need fudge to feed the Legislators at the State House that day. I hope everyone will support this effort as you have done in the past.
David Young from Danville Junction Grange is our new Webmaster. Anyone with information for the State Grange website can send info to Dave at DavidColbyYoung@aol.com
Or call Dave at 786-2129.
The Grange Roster is at the printers and should be out to everyone on time.
That’s all for this month.

The fair and installation season is winding down and thoughts turn to preparing for winter. There were many excellent Grange exhibits at the fairs this year. The exhibits are a lot of work but there is much satisfaction derived from the fruits of our labors. I would also like to thank all of the volunteer judges that have spent many hours traveling to the fairs to judge Grange exhibits, many times at their own expense.
So too should the new Grange officers be making plans for the coming year. Not only should we be planning to have interesting meetings, but we should also be planning events that involve members of the community, whether fun social activities or community service projects. The Masters installation charge states, “use due care that no time is lost on useless labor. Let all labor and all time tend toward improvement”. People are very busy today with many activities bidding for their time and they are looking things for activities that give them the satisfaction of time well spent. We should all heed this as we plan our Grange events for 2007.
We had a small but enthusiastic group of 13 people on the Grange Ag Tour. All were impressed by the diversity and size of farms in the southern Maine area. We all had a great time as well as learned a lot and hopefully we will have another tour next year. Three non-Grange members attended and two of them will be visiting my Grange in Poland with an interest in becoming members.
The new Grange cookbooks and Calendars have arrived. Both would make good Christmas gifts. The calendar has many Grange events listed and would be an asset in any Grange members’ home. I would like to thank both the Cookbook and Calendar committees for their diligence for completing their projects so that both the calendar and cookbook would be available for state convention.
Many Granges took advantage of the Yankee Candle project to raise money for their Granges. As of this writing it is too early to estimate how well we did. If there is enough interest we could run the project next year. Many thanks to State Secretary Yvette Herbert for coordinating this project.
National Grange will be in Springfield, Illinois this year. The land of Lincoln. Visit the National Grange website for more info. Tours at the convention will include the new Lincoln Museum.
That’s all for this month. Remember to vote November 7.

Oliver H. Kelley, one of the Seven Founders of the Grange, is being inducted into the Hall of Fame at the National Agricultural Center in Bonner Springs, Kansas, on Friday, October 27, 2006, at 3:00 P.M.

The Historical Society and the Friends of the Kelley Farm are planning a program for Saturday afternoon, October 28th at the Farm.

Take advantage of both and join us for the events.

Our "Package Deal" includes transportation on Friday from the Hilton Kansas City Hotel, to and from the Center for the Induction, to the Rodeo at the American Royal in Kansas City and back to the Hotel, and to Elk River and Minneapolis, Minnesota on Saturday. Return transportation to Kansas City is also available at no additional charge!

Pomona Lecturer's Report Form (downloadable) is attached.

No matter how small or large your Grange is, everyone can make a deifference in their community.

The key to any good community service project is planning. Determine how many people in your Grange are able to contribute to a project. This will give you an idea on the size project you may want to tackle. Be careful not to take on something too large for your Grange to handle. Some people may not be able to physically help with some of the heavier labor tasks but many people can help make advertising flyers, bake cookies, or sponsor a walker in a walk-a-thon. Remember, it is always best to include as many people as possible.