Maine State Grange

By Walter Boomsma
207 343-1842
Communications Director

An Introduction and the Value of Anger

One of the often unstated benefits of Grange membership is the opportunity to network and collaborate, and I have an excellent example. Our Bulletin and website will benefit from Sean McCart and me “meeting” each other. Sean runs Farm Country Hubs, part of Great Outdoor Hubs, a small company in Winter Springs, Florida. It doesn’t take long to discover that Sean’s a knowledgeable guy. When we agreed to an article about the Hub here in Maine, He immediately found and read the Guest Author’s Guidelines. And then he followed them!

Since I’m always seeking resources for our members, we’re exploring some additional articles. Sean’s working on a post about operating a farm stand or store. Granges that operate farmers’ markets will be interested! We’ve hooked in Mark, who operates an unmanned, community-focused neighborhood store designed to support local Maine makers, bakers, farmers, and artisans right here in Abbot, Maine! How does he do it?

While our focus will be farmers and farm markets, you won’t have to think too far outside the box to benefit. We may be “At the Farm Gate,” but some of the thinking can easily transfer to the Grange Hall Door.  If you have ideas and questions, you can certainly reach out to Sean or me!

On another note, the conflict resolution workshop at State Session triggered some thoughts. (A friend says she can tell when my brain is having fun. This may qualify as one of those times.) The word “anger” often comes up when we talk about conflict. Anger is an emotion. So is passion. They are both raw psychological “fuel.” The anger tends to be explosive, while passion burns like a steady fire. Both have value and can serve a purpose.

Imagine, for a moment, a group of Grangers who become truly angry because attendance at meetings is dismal. They care! That’s good news. They still care. Their anger is telling us (and them, if they’ll listen) something, but we have to listen carefully. That’s hard to do when we’re angry. We can work through the anger and move towards passion. A cooler head might ask “What should our meetings be like?”

When we outlaw and suppress anger, the result is likely going to be either more anger or, at the other end of the spectrum, apathy. The founders of the Grange were really angry about some of the things that were happening to farmers. After all, that was a driving force in the very creation of the Grange. To their credit, they welcomed healthy, honest debate. And they saw that it was possible to transform anger into motivation and proactivity.

Many years ago I worked an “inside” job as a director of training and organizational development. My secretary and I were quite a team. We would occasionally “stage” encounters for the benefit of the entire department! One of us might proclaim angrily, “We can’t let that happen!” The other might counter, “You’re right! Let’s get to work on a plan…” We wanted people to know we cared deeply.

Anger is often evidence of buried passion. We manage the anger to release the passion.

 I occasionally joke,”There’s a lot of apathy these days, but who cares.” I’d rather attend that meeting where there’s frustration and anger than one where folks are half-asleep and looking forward to going home. How about you?

FACT: In the past thirty days, 24 visitors to the site clicked on links to Grange Facebook Pages. Is yours listed and current?