Patrons of Husbandry – a website dedicated to the Granges located in Maine
On Wednesday, October 8, 2025, Androscoggin Pomona will confer the Fifth Degree at Danville Junction. Grange, 15 Grange Street in Danville (Auburn). There will be a 6 pm bring-your-own supper / social hour at 6 pm. The meeting will begin at 7 pm. All are welcome to attend. If you have a candidate, please reach out beforehand to a member of the Pomona to discuss possibilities.
Grange Heirlooms are snippets from the lessons of the Grange as taught in the Rituals and Declaration of Purposes.
Use the icons below to share this Grange Heirloom on social media and help others understand what the Grange stands for! If this heirloom has a particular meaning for you, click the “leave a comment” link at the left and share your comment with us!
For additional information and resources regarding the Heirloom Program, visit the Heirloom Resource Page on the Maine State Grange Website.
If you’ve been following this column, you know that I’ve been “sort of” reading Charles Gardeners book Friend of the Farmer 1867-1947. I confess that it probably doesn’t qualify as a page turner, but it is a fascinating read.
In the past, I’ve raised a question about how we describe the action of new members and the degrees. Most of the current common language is quite passive. I often hear that new members should “take,” “get,” or “receive” the degrees. Of course, as a writer, I find that it feels incomplete and maybe an opportunity. Could the reader form a mental picture of a new member being handed something labeled “degrees” and then wondering where to put it and what to do with it. Wouldn’t that make a great editorial cartoon for a Grange publication? It might also lead to questions like, “Can I get the degrees online?”
That could lead to yet another discussion around the question of how engaged the candidates should be while “getting” the degrees. Are they available in the Grange Store? I can order my groceries online and pick them up without even getting out of the car. Is that possible with the Grange Degrees?
A few years ago, I made a plea for us to consider celebrating the degrees. They are worthy of celebration. But it seems that the founders (as is often the case) had an even more straightforward and accurate approach. According to Gardner’s book, they referred to the degrees as “classes.”
We could certainly discuss whether the lessons offered in the degrees are taught effectively when we “do” the ritual. One of the reasons for these columns and my resulting book is to increase the effectiveness of the lessons of the degrees. Studying those lessons can be revealing and thought-provoking.
We can also consider the impact of the Grange Heirlooms. Created by the National Grange from the degree work and other sources, these snippets offer bits of wisdom that are no less applicable than they were 150+ years ago. In today’s vocabulary, these might be thought of as “micro learning.” I don’t think it would hurt us if the Grange became known as an organization based on learning and discovery.
It’s an interesting distinction. What would happen if we stopped telling new members, “You should get the degrees?” How about instead, “Just wait until you learn the degrees?”
Yes, there will be a test. Life gives it.
***
The Kindle Edition of “Friend of the Farmer” is available from Amazon, currently priced at $2.99.
Any degree or ritual quotations are from the forty-seventh edition of the 2023 Subordinate Grange Manual or the most recent edition of the Pomona Grange Manual. The views and opinions expressed in “Exploring Traditions” are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official doctrine and policy of the Grange. Information about the book “Exploring Traditions—Celebrating the Grange Way of Life” can be found at http://abbotvillagepress.com, on Mr. Boomsma’s Amazon Author Page, or by contacting the author.
Grange Heirlooms are snippets from the lessons of the Grange as taught in the Rituals and Declaration of Purposes.
Use the icons below to share this Grange Heirloom on social media and help others understand what the Grange stands for! If this heirloom has a particular meaning for you, click the “leave a comment” link at the left and share your comment with us!
For additional information and resources regarding the Heirloom Program, visit the Heirloom Resource Page on the Maine State Grange Website.
Are you anticipating a Words for Thirds Dictionary Project this fall? If not, it’s a great community service project–or perhaps more accurately, a great kid service project.
According to a recent Dictionary Project Newsletter, “A study published in 2023 found that only about 67% of 3rd grade students in the US are reading at grade level. Children who don’t read proficiently by the end of third grade are four times more likely not to graduate high school on time. One contributing factor to the fall in children’s literacy is the rise in screen time, which often replaces quiet reading or meaningful conversation. Limiting screen time can help children develop stronger attention spans and focus on building their reading skills.”
The same newsletter (July 20, 2025) “Sweden went all-in on tablets in the classroom, then saw 4th grade reading scores tank. Now they’re spending 60M Euros to bring back real books, because screens weren’t helping. And here in the U.S., only 30% of 8th graders read at grade level, with writing scores just as bleak. If one of the most tech-savvy nations is pulling the plug, maybe America should start asking if screen time is quietly dumbing down a whole generation.“
We have lots of resources… let us know how the Communications Department can help you help our kids and communities! We’re Grangers. We help each other!
Project Wild is a series of activity guides that can be used as part of any class instruction designed for pre-K through 12th grade. The guides, which are part of the Maine Project Wild suite, are Project Wild (terrestrial) guide, Aquatic Wild, and Growing Up Wild. All of Project Wild is facilitated nationally by the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies and coordinated by an agency or organization in each state.
It is the mission of Project Wild to provide wildlife-based conservation and environmental education that fosters responsible actions toward wildlife and related natural resources. Each of the individual guides has its own focus, but all are designed with hands-on, inquisitive, student-led learning in mind, and are aligned with education standards.
Anyone can use Project Wild guides. Teachers, parents, scout leaders, and other organizations and community groups will find that these activity guides are useful and easy to use. To learn more and to view the Project Wild guides, please click here.
Webmaster’s Note: Could your Grange sponsor an outdoor activity? Project Wild is specific to children and youth, but the idea is also very adaptable. There’s an interesting potential program built around the idea that “Our Grange Gets Wild!”
In his June column, Phil Retberg offered, “The number of dairy farms in Maine has dropped from 5,100 in 1945 to 145 in 2023,” with the recommendation, “Ponder that.”
That is good advice.
Coincidentally, I’ve been exploring “The Grange: Friend of the Farmer, 1867 -1947” by Charles M. Gardner. It’s a difficult book to describe in a few sentences. I wouldn’t call it a “page turner,” because nearly every page offers something to ponder. Gardner offers insights not only into the organization but also encourages us to get inside the heads of early leaders. It truly qualifies as a “first-hand report” and includes information not often known by present-day members and leaders. Did you know, for example, that the order suffered a “near collapse in the late seventies?” (By the way, that refers to the 1870s. One of the errors of the founders was an over-estimation of the support the organization would receive.) An interesting theme develops around surviving and recovering from the near collapse. In a word, the Grange became about “usefulness.”
In that discussion, it is worth noting that the Grange “…proposed a way of life for the rural population (my bold), of unexplored but tremendous possibilities.”* (So now you know where the title of my book came from.)
One could conclude that the Grange achieved an apex in the mid-1940s, when this book was written. Since then, the number of dairy farms in Maine has “collapsed” substantially. In pondering that, it’s important to consider cause versus correlation. The tempting conclusion that the Grange’s decline is caused by the changes in agriculture and farming might be set aside to ponder “a way of life for the rural population.” How has rural life changed? And, perhaps more importantly, how has the Grange changed?
These are not easy questions to answer, but they are important. As an organization, we might do well to develop a better understanding of “the way of life” that the Grange has and continues to propose.
Another bit of trivia is found in “Friend of the Farmer” when you catch the fact that the Degrees are often referred to as “classes.” I have proposed membership with some orientation or catechism more than once. We have become too obsessed with the ritual, to the extent that we even claim it is a deterrent to membership. Creating an alternative “obligation ceremony” has made it easier and more convenient to join, but in so doing, we may have tossed out the baby with the bath water. We may be neglecting the proposed way of life and the tremendous opportunities it offers.
“Wise indeed were the Grange Founders who designed their new fraternity to meet this extreme need; with other objectives added in rapid succession, in response to the fast-changing demands of the times: some objectives no doubt undreamed of by that early band of wholehearted pioneers.
“Grange leaders may have partially missed this point, which appears to need firm implanting in the minds of all truly anxious to see the Order in its many-sided possibilities; certainly among those charged with present-day guidance of its affairs. The purposes of the Grange have not always been well expressed by its spokesmen; even at times maliciously misinterpreted by its enemies”*
We have plenty to ponder.
*Gardner, Charles M. Friend of the Farmer 1867-1947. National Grange. Kindle Edition.
The Kindle Edition of “Friend of the Farmer” is available from Amazon, currently priced at $2.99.
Any degree or ritual quotations are from the forty-seventh edition of the 2023 Subordinate Grange Manual or the most recent edition of the Pomona Grange Manual. The views and opinions expressed in “Exploring Traditions” are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official doctrine and policy of the Grange. Information about the book “Exploring Traditions—Celebrating the Grange Way of Life” can be found at http://abbotvillagepress.com, on Mr. Boomsma’s Amazon Author Page, or by contacting the author.
Many years ago, one of my consulting assignments included auditing the hiring process of a manufacturing company. That process included giving prospective employees a tour of the plant. I followed one of those tours, staying at the end of the line and observing.
One of those prospective employees would often reach down and pick up stray pieces of paper and trash on the floor. Based on my observation and recommendation, at the end of the tour, he was pulled from the group and hired on the spot.
Wherever you go, whatever your calling, aim to do good. Good deeds are ever fruitful of yet more good.
Lecturer to Candidates, Second Degree
It didn’t occur to me to ask if he was a Grange Member, but he could have been!
The second sentence of the lecturer’s instruction is a bit obtuse. Just prior to this advice, she asks the Assistant Steward if the candidates have been furnished with seed. The reply is that Ceres has provided corn and “enjoined” them to save the best for planting. The Lecturer notes that the candidates have been “guided by the lesson of faith.”
If we save the best seed for replanting, the harvest will increase. Doing good is much like planting seeds. Doing the most good produces even more good and that’s true regardless of who we are and where we are.
A candidate for employment picks up trash. He does some good and gets hired. He demonstrated that he aims to do good. His simple act demonstrates his potential as a good employee.
A candidate for membership in the Grange gets some good but simple advice. “Aim to do good.” It might be interesting if the lecturer were to ask each candidate to share an example of something good they have done. It shouldn’t be an intimidating question, although for some, doing good is instinctive and unconscious. The job candidate didn’t call attention to himself.
After receiving the Lecturer’s instruction, the Grange candidates move on to the Chaplain. The Chaplain reminds us “the springing seed teaches us to increase goodness…” and to “Do good, hoping for nothing in return, and your reward shall be great.”
This is not so complex or controversial. But in today’s society, where there is much complexity and controversy, a value of the Grange and Grangers is the demonstration of “doing good.”
A demonstration doesn’t have to be a protest.
Any degree or ritual quotations are from the forty-seventh edition of the 2023 Subordinate Grange Manual or the most recent edition of the Pomona Grange Manual. The views and opinions expressed in “Exploring Traditions” are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official doctrine and policy of the Grange. Information about the book “Exploring Traditions—Celebrating the Grange Way of Life” can be found at http://abbotvillagepress.com, on Mr. Boomsma’s Amazon Author Page, or by contacting the author.
Grange Heirlooms are snippets from the lessons of the Grange as taught in the Rituals and Declaration of Purposes.
Use the icons below to share this Grange Heirloom on social media and help others understand what the Grange stands for! If this heirloom has a particular meaning for you, click the “leave a comment” link at the left and share your comment with us!
For additional information and resources regarding the Heirloom Program, visit the Heirloom Resource Page on the Maine State Grange Website.
June 21, 2025, at 4:00 p.m.
by Sherry Harriman, MSG Master
There will be a Ritualistic Instruction Meeting on June 21, held at Excelsior Grange #5, 446 Harris Hill Road, Poland, ME, starting at 4:00 p.m. Supper will be served at 6:00 p.m., followed by the Excelsior Grange’s regular meeting at 7:00 p.m.
All are welcome to attend, no matter what Grange you are a member of or if you are an Officer or not.
We will cover Opening, Closing, Presenting the Flag, Balloting for candidates, other instructions and information that are part of our Grange work.
Please let Cynthia Maxwell (207 740-2741) know how many will be coming so they can plan for supper.