Category: Grange News

Grange Today! 7-24-2026

The Newsletter of the National Grange

Articles in this edition include:

  • Raising the Flag, Honoring the Future: Sammamish Valley Grange celebrates America250 with Flag Day Event
  • NREA Partners with National Grange to Expand Collaboration Across Rural America
  • Is Your Grange Ready to Make a Difference?
  • Pave the “Route to the Future” at the 160th Annual National Grange Convention
  • Statement from National Grange Regarding Monroe Classic, Inc.
  • View from the Hill
  • The Countdown is On: One Year Until Grange Revival 2027!
  • Request Alzheimer’s materials for your local fairs
  • Reports and Contests Due Soon
  • Encouraging Creativity in the Age of AI
  • Recipes from the Heartland
  • Grange Member Benefit: Clouse Insurance
  • Grange Store: Good Day! July 2026

Click the button below to read and/or subscribe to Grange Today!

Read the Current Issue

Note that all recent issues are available on the National Grange Website. To save server space, we only post the table of contents on the MSG Website.

St George Grange Chair-ity Auction

Recycling at it’s best!

Members of the St. George Grange came up with the whimsical idea of having 17 local artists paint some of their vintage wooden chairs and chose Zero to School as the recipient of this CHAIR-ITY fundraiser auction.  These ONE-OF-A-KIND works of art represent both the talent and generosity of these artists.

Check out the amazing chairs and the auction, and learn more about Zero to School! Bidding closes on July 19, 2026 at 8:00 p.m.

Check ouT the Chairs!

Grange Today! 7-10-2026

The Newsletter of the National Grange

Articles in this edition include:

  • Calling All Granges: Help Give Rural Women a Voice in Health Research
  • Manson Grange Honors Seeds of Service
  • Grange Heirloom for July
  • Seeking Advocacy Wins
  • Publisher is going away… Now what?*
  • Opportunities at the 160th Annual National Grange Convention
  • Opinion: City Waste, Rural Soil: Discussing a Fair Share in Biosolids Planning
  • New President Elected in Oregon
  • Closing the Gap for Small Farm Labor
  • Hamp Watch: Where is our National Grange President?
  • Enter the “Best in Rural Writing” Contest
  • Recipes from the Heartland
  • Grange Store: Junior Grange Pins
  • Grange Member Benefit: Lands’ End

*This refers to Microsoft Publisher. I’ll be addressing in my next Communications Column as well.

Click the button below to read and/or subscribe to Grange Today!

Read the Current Issue

Note that all recent issues are available on the National Grange Website. To save server space, we only post the table of contents on the MSG Website.

Manchester Grange News

There’s Lots to Choose From!

Manchester Grange recently unveiled a Little Free Library® as a result of what might be described as a family project. Member Paige Tobie is determined to make the Manchester Grange more visible and relevant to their community. She notes that the hall’s location is an ideal location, adjacent to the elementary school playground, a Fielder’s Choice ice cream stand, and on a busy highway. She credits her husband, Forrest, with being the brains behind the project, adapting some online plans to make it bigger than normal models to provide more books for the community since Manchester does not have a public library. Daughters Olive and Margo helped with the painting, though they were disappointed with the choice of a “boring” color.

Keeping the Grange identity meant using a photo of an old Grange sign inside the building and attaching it to the library. The library is officially registered with the Little Free Library organization (Charter #226621) with the location mapped on the LFL site.

In addition to its global location, a brand-new Manchester Grange Website offers a “venue and community space to bring people together.” The site is clean, efficient, and easy to navigate. Family memberships are available!

But wait! There are more reasons to find your way to the Manchester Grange Hall. Recently added picnic tables are readily available and, on the first and third Mondays of the month, a coffee  open house welcomes visitors from 8 am – 10 am. (Hint: bring books for the Little Free Library!) You can get summertime reading materials, coffee, and a warm welcome that will help you discover the value of community and the Grange.

Paige enjoys the “work.”
Forest, Designer and Chief Carpenter
Great place to sit and read
Stop by! Bring Books!
The color may be boring, but Olive and Margo aren’t!

Big E Work Days- Help Needed

Flyer for Big E Work Days

Danville Junction Grange Yard Sale

Yard Sale Sign

Danville Junction Grange will be holding an indoor/outdoor yard sale on Saturday, July 25th from 9 to 1. Danville Grange is located at 15 Grange Street (off Rts. 202/100) in Danville.

The sale will feature a cooked food table, raffles, attic treasures, RADA cutlery, plants, books, and more. Outside tables are available for rent. For more information or to rent a table, please contact Norma at meserve1965@gmail.com or 583-7211.

Communication Shorts 07-17-2026

By Walter Boomsma,
MSG Communications Director
207 343-1842

Communication Shorts are brief (short) but important items posted for your information and use. Please send us your ideas and thoughts!

The Maine State Grange Office is located at 36 Anthony Avenue, Suite 102, Augusta, ME 04330.
 mainestategrange@gmail.com. For website matters, email webmaster@mainestategrange.org.

July Bulletin

The July Bulletin is complete and will be mailed soon. Recent issues of the Bulletin are available on the Program Books and Information Page in the communications section.

Manchester Grange Website

Manchester Grange recently completed its Facebook Page with a well-designed website. Check out both and see what they are up to!

Deadlines

Roster information is due NOW. Resolutions are due August 1, 2026.

What’s Going On?

Don’t forget to submit your special events and programs for our event calendar! We want people to know the Grange is thriving! Surely, there are lots of things happening in Maine, especially in the summer. We also love photos and reports of events that have happened.

To Ponder…

“The sense of danger must not disappear:
The way is certainly both short and steep,
However gradual it looks from here;
Look if you like, but you will have to leap.”

W. H. Auden

An Idea for Your Grange

How about setting up a lemonade stand?

Subscribe!

Remember, we don’t share your email address with anyone, and you get a weekly summary of what’s been posted. Subscribe here! Share that link with your members and Grange friends!

Online Directories Available 24-7 ROSTER REMINDER

Thanks to those who help us keep these directories current by letting us know of changes!

  • The Directory of Granges features all Granges in the state with a contact person. Please make sure your listing is correct! Visitors to the site frequently consult these directories.
  • The ODD Directory features all state officers, directors, and deputies, along with their contact information. Updated January 16, 2026.

Grange Today! 6-26-2026

The Newsletter of the National Grange

Articles in this edition include:

  • Young Historians Bring the Granger Movement to Life at National History Day
  • Happy Junior Grange Month!
  • Grange Store: Junior Grange Pins
  • National Grange Receives Commendation
  • A New Detection Tool Could Narrow the Rural-Urban Cancer Divide
  • Seeking Advocacy Wins
  • Opportunities at the 160th Annual National Grange Convention
  • View from the Hill
  • Opinion: Data Centers and Rural America – Progress at What Price?
  • Alzheimer’s & Dementia Research Made Accessible – For All
  • 250th Celebration Quilt
  • Recipes from the Heartland
  • Grange Member Benefit: Choice Hotels

Click the button below to read and/or subscribe to Grange Today!

Read the Current Issue

Note that all recent issues are available on the National Grange Website. To save server space, we only post the table of contents on the MSG Website.

Communication Shorts 06-15-2026

By Walter Boomsma,
MSG Communications Director
207 343-1842

Communication Shorts are brief (short) but important items posted for your information and use. Please send us your ideas and thoughts!

The Maine State Grange Office is located at 36 Anthony Avenue, Suite 102, Augusta, ME 04330.
 mainestategrange@gmail.com. For website matters, email webmaster@mainestategrange.org.

June Bulletin

The June Bulletin is available for download and distribution. Recent issues of the Bulletin are available on the Program Books and Information Page in the communications section.

Valley Grange Resolution

Valley Grange is planning to submit a Resolution Supporting Consistency Between Citizen Initiative Petitions and Ballot Questions. If other Granges would like to consider supporting it, a copy is available on the Valley Grange Website. Remember, resolutions are due August 1, 2026.

Fair Season

It’s fair season! For more information about Maine’s Agricultural Fairs, visit the association’s website.

Monroe Grange Store

FYI: The Monroe Grange Store recently announced that it has been advised by National Grange that, effective August 26, 2026, the Uses License will not be renewed. This means Monroe Classic will no longer be able to operate a Grange Store or sell products containing the Grange name or logo.

What’s Going On?

Don’t forget to submit your special events and programs for our event calendar! We want people to know the Grange is thriving! Surely, there are lots of things happening in Maine, especially in the summer. We also love photos and reports of events that have happened. What’s your meeting magic?

To Ponder…

You can’t go into a bank with a mask on and expect to be treated as a valued customer.

Seth Godin

An Idea for Your Grange

We recently published contact information for a Speaker’s Bureau on the topic of elder abuse. Speakers’ bureaus and other civic organizations in your area are often sources of good programs. Many have a broad appeal and can help develop the public’s interest in your Grange.

Subscribe!

Remember, we don’t share your email address with anyone, and you get a weekly summary of what’s been posted. Subscribe here! Share that link with your members and Grange friends!

Online Directories Available 24-7 ROSTER REMINDER

Thanks to those who help us keep these directories current by letting us know of changes!

  • The Directory of Granges features all Granges in the state with a contact person. Please make sure your listing is correct! Visitors to the site frequently consult these directories.
  • The ODD Directory features all state officers, directors, and deputies, along with their contact information. Updated January 16, 2026.

This Granger is Tri-ing

Granger Vicki Huff Takes on Challenge

Vicki Huff, Master of Hollis Grange, is participating for the first time in the annual Tri for a Cure Triathlon, in a commitment to her own health and recovery. Vicki explains her motivation in this short video.

Maine Cancer Foundation (MCF) leads this statewide effort to reduce the impact of cancer in Maine, investing in the most promising and effective programs that:

  • Improve access to care for all Maine people;
  • Advance cancer prevention
  • Increase screening and early detection

The triathlon consists of three parts. Vicki has teamed up with her sister Veronica. Veronica will handle the swimming and biking portions, while Vicki handles the walking and running portions. The name of their team is VForce.

This year’s event happens on Sunday, July 12, 2026. Tri for a Cure has become the largest triathlon in the state of Maine, providing a gorgeous race course along the shores of Cape Elizabeth and South Portland.

“The Tri” certainly has many impacts on everyone who is somehow touched by it. We asked Vicki to comment on how the Grange might be affected and how the Grange might have an effect.

The Triathlon has a great fundraising approach with several components. First, participants are required to raise a minimum of $500 each to be eligible. The Maine Cancer Foundation (MCF) recruits sponsors for the event itself, so all of the money raised goes directly to the cause.

While the VForce Team has raised the minimum. Additional donations are certainly in order! Use the link below to show your support. 100% of funds raised stay in Maine to support cancer prevention, screening, and improved patient outcomes. The money you help us raise will make a difference in the lives of your neighbors and communities around Maine. Now, more than ever, cancer patients need our help!

Learn more about triforacure
Donate on behalf of Team V-Force
Volunteer to Help with TRIFORACURE
View Cancer Survivor’s Stories