About
Every Grange Hall Honor their Past Masters. West Paris Grange has some great photos on their walls.
MAINE STATE GRANGE
ANNUAL CONVENTION
OCTOBER 23 – 25, 2008
ELLSWORTH HOLDAY INN
Even with all the snow, we have had a very busy winter with Grange activities. We had another successful Legislative Luncheon along with giving away fudge at the State House in observance of Ag Day at the Legislature in March.
Thank you to Somerset Pomona and all those involved in my reception. It was good to see so many of you who were able to be here.
This year’s Grange sponsored trip will be to Washington, D.C. from June 18th to June 23rd. Registration and deposit of $300 per person is due by April 25th. If you are in need of the information, call State Grange Headquarters before it is too late.
As I write this, the snow continues to fall. But spring must be just around the corner as I am receiving calls from Granges who are planning events for Grange Month and for other times. If you haven’t made plans for some activity in April, Grange Month, now is the time to do it. Some Granges are presenting Community Citizen Awards, others are honoring some of their own members for their accomplishments and inviting in the public. Some are holding an open house to acquaint themselves with their neighbors. Whatever you do, plan it in advance and publicize your activity.
The State Grange has a new e mail address. It is mainestategrange@verizon.net. It should be easy to remember as it is almost the same as our web site – www.mainestategrange.org.
MAINE GRANGE OFFICE 1-800-464-3421
146 STATE ST., AUGUSTA 04330
master@mainestategrange.org
www.mainestategrange.org
MASTER James A. Owens
567 Main Street, Madison, ME 04950
master@mainestategrange.org
OVERSEER Patrick Brewer
20 Harry/Thelma Rd, Jefferson 04348
overseer@mainestategrange.org
LECTURER SHERRY HARRIMAN Home -- (207) 490-1029, Fax -- (207) 490-0111
It is with please that I write my first column as your new State Master. I look forward to working with each of you as we strive to make our Granges grow and prosper.
Since State Grange I have attended National Grange in Reno, Nevada. Rick Grotton of the State Executive Committee went as a second delegate. We saw several new officers elected. Our new National Master is Brother Ed Luttrell of Oregon. Many of you met Brother Ed when he was in Maine as the National Membership Director.
I have appointed the following for the State Grange: Soloist – Debra Ivers, Musician – Ronald Dolloff, Historian – Stanley Howe, Memorial Fund – Ronald and Lillian Dolloff and New England Grange Building Trustees – Rick Grotton and Lewis Bryson. Committee Directors/Chairmen are: Agriculture – David and Jeanne Burnham, Women’s Activities – Diane Pinkham, Youth – Caroline and Dana Coffin, Legislative – James Rogers, Family, Health and Hearing – Florence Libby, Community Service – James and Karen Locke, Camp Study – Kay Khalvatti, Juniors – Sue Hackett, Good of the Order – Wayne Sherman and Publicity – Steven Haycock.
The Maine State Grange lost another member of its former pink sash family with the death of Roland Marriner. Roland will be remembered for his wit and his unmistakable laugh. He served the Grange in many capacities from State Youth Director to Overseer. It was sad that Roland was not able to serve as our State Master when his turn finally arrived due to poor health. He had labored faithfully in the Grange for decades and would have made a great Master.
Ed Luttrell, National Membership/Leadership Director was in Maine for four days in May and we had good attendance at three presentations. I was particularly pleased with the Washington County attendance. Ed’s message was that if we strive to meet the needs of our members and our communities, people will join the Grange. I hope that he was able to inspire some folks. I am convinced that all Grange’s can be successful if they think positively and have a true desire to make a difference in their communities.
The Maine Granger will be coming to all Maine Grange households starting in August; there will be no July issue. With that thought in mind I would like to mention some activities going on that Grangers might be interested in attending. Maine Farm Days will be August 17-18 at Misty Meadow Farm on the Hill Road in Clinton. It has been moved to the weekend with the intent of gaining a larger non-farmer attendance.
Going on at the same time will be the Outstanding Tree Farmer of the Year Field Day at the Joe Pierce Tree Farm in West Baldwin. See the article in this paper about this event. Joe is a Grange member at West Baldwin Grange. The State Grange will have a booth there.
The State Grange will again sponsor a Yankee Candle fundraiser this fall. Last year 31 Granges participated and had gross sales of $6200. If we could double the number of Granges participating, which should be easily attainable, we could double our sales. Subordinate Granges earn 25% of gross sales.
Grange Day is September 23 at the Big E in Springfield, MA. Grange members will be leading the parade that day around the fairgrounds which is about a mile. Each state is asked to have as many Grange members as possible march in the 5 PM parade and carry their states flag. We want to make a good showing for Maine, as the parade will be seen by thousands of fair goers. You will get free gate and parking passes that are good for the entire day. I am also looking into the possibility of a bus. If this is of interest to you please call State Headquarters at 1-800-464-3421 soon to reserve your tickets.
The Grange roofing project at the Maine Conservation School in Bryant’s Pond has been completed. Money is still needed to pay the cost, which is around $2000. I would like to thank Richard Harriman for overseeing the project and making sure that everything was ready to go when the workers arrived. We gratefully had a good crew, Gary Nickerson from Porter Grange, Phil and Emily Parsons from Bangor Grange and Dan who volunteered from the school staff. I attended one day to help strip the old shingles off the roof. It was a lot of work and I am glad that I don’t have to shingle roofs everyday!
The Maine Grange Foundation is working on a new brochure to suggest ways for people to help their Grange financially after they pass on. Trusts can be set up that provide an individual a good income while they are living and provide income for their Grange after they pass. In the event that a Grange closes the funds could revert back to heirs. The brochure will be sent to Granges when completed. Estate planning seminars will be conducted by Central Maine Finacial Services at state session in Skowhegan.
Speaking of state session, just a reminder that resolutions are due at State Headquarters by September 15. It is closer than it seems!
Hope to see you at the Grange Family Campout July 27-28 at the KOA in Canaan.
We are pleased this month to bring to all our members the special edition of the Maine Granger, which is to promote our youth leadership camp and to acknowledge the Plum Creek Foundation for the grant received for last year’s camp. We have also included information about Grange activities and programs for members who are not able to attend many meetings in hopes that we can increase participation in these activities and programs. Pull out the page on programs and save it for future reference.
Members will also be receiving a State Grange newsletter periodically in an effort to keep members informed of Grange activities. Let us know whether you would prefer to receive the Maine Granger or the newsletter at no cost to you as part of your membership. We could provide either to our members with funds from our dormant reserve accounts. We need to improve communications in the Grange and this would be a good use of the reserve funds that have come to us from the assets of closed Granges. We would be improving the Grange.
Radio ads ran statewide for the last two weeks of March educating the public about Grange and informing them to look for Grange month activities locally. The publicity committee worked hard to encourage Granges to take advantage of this Grange month promotion. If your Grange hasn’t planned an activity yet there is still time. Send your info to the website for posting.
We had a very successful Legislative Luncheon on Ag Day, March 20. Thank you to all who made fudge for our booth at the Hall of Flags and Phil and Charlotte Young and Dolores Moore who manned the booth. Thank you to the State Officers, Legislative and Ag committee members who made pies and helped serve food. We fed about 250 people, which may be a record. Legislators look forward to this event every year.
A special thank you to Phil and Yvette Herbert who have come the day before this event to help prepare food for the past 6 years. Also a big thank you to Rhonda Cook from Maine Aquaculture for donating salmon, Ken Greenleaf from Borealis Breads for donating the Maine made bread, the Maine Dairy Promotion Board for dairy products and the Maine Wild Blueberry Commission for the blueberry juice and placemats.
We have had a busy month at the Legislature. The Grange sponsored, eminent domain bill limiting the taking of business property went nowhere despite a great effort by Rep. Jim Annis. The bill was similar to one last session that also was defeated. There were too many vague terms such as “no more than necessary” that would tie the courts up for years defining the intent of the law.
The Transportation Committee gave their enthusiastic blessings to a bill to create the Agricultural License Plate and the Maine Agriculture in the Classroom Council. They also designated it as an emergency bill so that the first plates would be out by the end of this summer. An amendment allows the plates to be used on farm and commercial vehicles.
The Grange presented testimony on the bond package before the Appropriations Committee. We stated that Roads and Bridges should receive the highest priority. We also supported a bond proposal by Rep. James Schatz from Blue Hill for a $2.5 million bond for Traditional Meeting Houses. This bond would make money available to Granges for hall renovations. It is expected that the total bond package will be around $395 million spread over a 3-4 year period.
We also presented testimony on tax reform. There are literally dozens of bills attempting to change all forms of taxes. We suggested that the taxing system we now have is not as unfair, except for the property tax, as some would have you believe. The problem is that we are spending too much money and any proposal that isn’t revenue neutral and in fact raises more money is just smoke and mirrors. Some are designed to confuse people to get more money out of them without them knowing it and is an injustice to taxpayers. The bottom line is that if you spend more money you have to tax for more and somebody must pay.
Ag Scholarships are due at State Headquarters by April 30. We should be able to give out three $500. scholarships again this year.
Ed Luttrell National Grange Membership/Leadership Director will be in Maine May 3-6. I hope every Grange will make an effort to send people. The cost is free including the meal. It is time to get serious about Grange membership, so please attend. Preregistration is required for meal planning purposes. Please read the details about the meetings in this issue of the Granger.
On the horizon we are looking to set up training sessions on the use of our website and grant writing, possibly in June.
Until next month.
Grange Month Poll
Committee Activities
Upcoming events
- Maine State Grange Annual Session(event)(45 days)
- 144th National Grange Convention(event)(64 days)
- Grange Family Camp Out Weekend 2011(event)(320 days)
