Tag: Grange Heritage

Meandering Around the Grange Way of Life

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Playing Jenga Grange…

By Walter Boomsma, Guest Columnist

A while back, we created a “Valley Grange Busy Box” – a tote containing activities that might appeal to children of various ages. Nestled among the puzzles, play dough, coloring books, and crayons is a metal box containing a game called Jenga.

Depending on your perspective, it’s either a simple or complex game. It starts with a tower of 54 blocks. Players then take turns removing a block from the tower. The player then places the removed block on top of the tower. The tower grows taller but loses stability until it ultimately crashes.

We had two middle school-aged volunteers helping us during a recent event. Since there was some downtime, I dug out the busy box and offered them the Jenga Game. A small audience formed to watch the play.

The tension and drama that builds during the game is hard to appreciate until you’ve watched it played. Sometimes, the removal of a block creates a crash. Other times, placing the removed block on top creates it. You need a steady hand, good hand-eye coordination, precision, patience, concentration skills, and a strategic mindset while playing.

Of course, the primary objective of any game is “fun.” But I found myself wondering this: What is the objective? Is the objective to build the tallest unstable tower, or is the objective to hear the blocks come crashing down?

As each girl studied the tower and attempted to remove a block, many observers held their breaths. Many observers repeated this as she attempted to place the removed block on top. There was almost a collective sigh of relief when she succeeded.

Since I could not stay and watch the game, I found myself listening for the crash. When it came, there was a collective sigh of relief from the tension and drama that built as the players removed and added blocks.

And you thought Jenga was just about playing with wooden blocks.

We could play Jenga Grange. Or we are without realizing it. The Grange is built on many different blocks–more than 54. I think of things like “ritual” as a block. Or maybe there’s a “meeting ritual” block and a “joining” ritual block. Even those Granges maintaining the meeting ritual find it increasingly difficult to maintain the joining rituals (degree days). It’s easy to lose sight of the fact that the Grange is–or was–a learning organization. The rituals are the lessons of the Grange. Lecturer’s Programs are another block. You’ve removed a block if you have a meeting with no Lecturer’s Program. You’ve removed a block if you are not following the meeting ritual.

The Grange is a fraternal organization. Some additional blocks have been potluck and bean suppers. “Work parties” that benefit the Grange itself, community organizations, and individuals are blocks that also built the Grange. In years past, Pomona Meetings sometimes became a weekend affair. Plays and dances met the social needs and opportunities of the era.

You might see how we can compare our programming and practice to playing Jenga. If you find yourself using phrases like “Remember how we used to…?,” you’re describing a block that got removed. Chances are removing that block made the tower more wobbly.

That’s not to say that removing things is always wrong–it’s to say that removing things impacts the stability and structure of the organization–either positively or negatively.

It might be a different subject, but adding things also impacts the stability and structure of the organization, and not always in a positive way. Remember that sometimes the tower crashes when a block is removed, and sometimes it crashes when a block is added.

The early day founders and leaders of the Patrons of Husbandry were disciplined and thoughtful when building the organization. By design, every member, every community, Pomona, and state Grange builds and maintains the organization by removing and adding blocks–even those that may seem minor. A question we might consider is, “Will what we are about to do (or not do) make this tower taller and stronger?”

Any degree or ritual quotations are from the forty-sixth edition of the 2013 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.

Meandering Around the Grange Way of Life

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Changing the Grange…

By Walter Boomsma, Guest Columnist

I have written previously challenging members to realize that the Grange was created to create change. In fact, it could be said that the Grange has a history and tradition of causing change.

But what about changing the Grange itself?

We tend to see a bit of a disconnect here. For an organization that was formed to cause change, we tend to resist changing the organization itself. That wasn’t always the case. During the Grange’s growth years, many changes were made. So how is it that these years, when growth is the exception, we seem to be more focused on preservation? Could there be a correlation?

For starters, in order for change to take place, someone has to decide it’s their responsibility to worry about whether or not the change is necessary and potentially positive. One of the changes to consider is whether or not we’ve been too protective of the status quo and keeping things the way they’ve always been. No, I’m not suggesting change for the sake of change, but I am suggesting that it might be time for an organization with success in growth and permanence based in large part on change to consider how we’ve ended up with so much resistance to change.

While this article isn’t about change management, a basic premise is that change requires leadership. As noted, “someone has to decide it’s their responsibility.” We tend to think that the Grange was founded “all it once” when, in fact, many changes were made by the founders and early leaders during those formative years.

What if those leaders resisted making the necessary changes to create the explosive growth of the earliest Grange? We might, for example, still have separate degrees for men and women. It would also be very difficult for those associated with the business of alcohol to become part of the Grange. There would be no “National Grange,” the official “Patrons of Husbandry” would apply (technically, it still does) and the term “Grange” would more accurately apply to local halls.

There were undoubtedly some thorny debates many years ago. One was about adopting the term “Granger” to apply to members. Many argued against it. “The Grange is a place, not a person!” I suspect it would have been extremely interesting to sit in Grange meetings and listen to some of those discussions.

One problem with a fraternal organization is that it’s easy to become a bystander and simply enjoy the fraternity. It’s harder to become a leader who sees and acts on other priorities, such as keeping the organization relevant and exciting. A fraternity without clear purpose and relevance is ultimately doomed to non-existence.

It won’t be a debate, but this might be a great time of year for a lecturer’s program that includes a discussion of how much a family’s holiday traditions have changed over the years. Then, contrast that with how much your local Grange’s traditions have changed over the years. Or perhaps more appropriately, how much your local Grange’s traditions need to change.

When I was a young adult, everyone gathered at “Mom’s” house for at least part of the holiday. Mom made sure there was a filled stocking hanging on the wall for everyone–even the occasional girlfriends of the unmarried. (Sometimes, names on the stockings had to be switched at the last minute.) As the family grew, it became increasingly difficult to find room to hang them. She held out as long as she could but eventually admitted it was time to rethink that tradition. Truthfully, I think she was ready for a couple of years, but it took a while for her to work up the courage to announce the change. She’d been dropping some hints, and no doubt would have been thrilled if someone else had suggested it. It’s easier to be a bystander than a leader.

It’s easy to leave things as they are, but things rarely stay the way they are, especially when left alone. Other forces are at work. Mom’s Christmas budget was certainly a factor. It was a fun tradition, but I think she enjoyed it the most.

We survived the change. The family wasn’t destroyed, and no one suffered permanent psychological damage from not finding a stocking. Most importantly, we almost unconsciously realized that the stocking tradition was ultimately about inclusion. We didn’t need stockings to make everyone feel welcome to the holiday celebrations.

Sometimes, we lose sight of what we are actually trying to keep.

Any degree or ritual quotations are from the forty-sixth edition of the 2013 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.