Category: Membership

By Rick Grotton,
Membership Committee Director
207 582-5915

This is a busy month for all Granges. April is Grange month, so there will be many activities going on at various times throughout the State of Maine. Open houses, giving membership certificates for longevity and degree days are happening. As you may have heard, there will be a degree day at 1 pm on Sunday, April 27, at State Grange Headquarters in Augusta performed by Androscoggin Pomona. If you have any candidates (including those who have been obligated but have not viewed the degrees), please bring them. This may be the only degree day scheduled. Last year was a success, so let’s attend and meet seasoned and new friends. I am pleased to hear positive things concerning Granges having taken in new members recently. Is your Grange one of those?

I will remind all Granges to please read the membership columns at your meetings. Please assign or volunteer a member to do that task. It is important that the information contained in the columns reach all members so that all of us know what is happening. Pomona Masters/Presidents, since all of you are part of the State Membership Committee, I would like you to place a bigger emphasis on increasing membership for Subordinate/Community and Pomona Granges. The more we all emphasize increasing membership as a priority in our Granges, the more likely it is to happen. There are many who would join if we just asked or shared information with them. Members of all ages are
welcomed with younger members especially needed. Who is going to take over when we have passed? Do you have youth in your Grange? I am not talking about young at heart, seasoned members, but those who are 14 to 35 years old. Not many of us do, which is scary. However, we CAN attract members if we put our minds to it. I have proposed to my own Grange a membership competition, the winner to receive a cash prize. What are your ideas? Please share them!!! Let’s all work together to rebuild our membership base.

By Rick Grotton,
Membership Committee Director
207 582-5915

Grange month is here again which is a perfect time to boost your membership drives. Many events are happening all over the state; don’t be left behind!!! What are your plans to boost membership? Is everyone on board in your Grange on how to increase membership? Make it a contest. Challenge each member of your Grange to bring in one new member! Last year, there were a number of Granges who ended the membership year with a net gain (meaning the new members less death and demits). Let’s strive to beat the record of last year. It isn’t hard to do. Use your Grange projects to attract new members. Ask your community and various other organizations to help with the projects you have planned. For example, we advertised on social media to have the community children help make May baskets in the past, and some did show up and had a great time. We even got a few new members from our projects.

Community, cooperation and communication are the three C’s we should follow. Community is important for us to carry out our duties as Grangers. If there is no community, who will attend our suppers, craft fairs, farmers markets, etc. Then what would be our purpose? Cooperation makes the projects go smoothly and makes our Grange meetings run smoothly. We need cooperation to carry on the projects, to fill our Grange offices, to spawn ideas for future projects. Every member is unique and has their own ideas and thoughts. Every member is important, regardless of title or office. Let us all help one another and be there when needed. Not only your own Grange, but others, which is the purpose of the idea of a “sister” Grange. We would open up a new world of cooperation and learn from others as they will learn from us. Fresh ideas and new faces will give us a new perspective on how we view things on the outside and a new routine. Communication is a big deal. Everyone should be on the same page and all members be notified of events, projects, and meetings. Granges are not “social clubs” and must follow the rules of being a Grange. The social clubs are only interested in using a hall for their events and ruin the reputation of the Grange. They are subject to be shut down. Advertising is big because who will attend our events if no one knows about them. Miscommunication or no communication brings confusion, misunderstandings and bad blood. It has destroyed many Granges over the years and still does today. No one person “owns ” their Grange or is entitled to “own” a specific project. So many times we have heard or seen this happen. No good comes from it. Selfishness has no place in our Granges. We are there for a purpose. What is yours?

On April 27 at the State Grange Headquarters, a Degree Day will be held beginning at 1 pm. The first four degrees will be performed so anyone who has new members who have not seen the degrees are encouraged to attend.