Mill Stream Grange members attended the North Vienna United Methodist Church on Sunday, April 28, as part of Grange Month activities. Following the service, refreshments and fellowship were enjoyed.
Mill Stream Grange Celebrates
Tag: Grange Activities
Mill Stream Grange Raises Flags
On Monday, May 20, Mill Stream Grange members met to place Memorial Day flags at the Franklin Cemetery in Vienna and two other cemeteries on Tower Road. While at the Franklin Cemetery, they also raised the U.S. Flag and POW/MIA on the new flag pole donated by Gordon Webber.
Lecturer’s Column – May 2024
By Melissa Baldwin, Maine State Grange Lecturer
207 324-4661
Time is running out to get those registrations for the Northeast Lecturers’ Conference in Norwich CT. The good news is the early bird registration for the conference and hotel has been extended to May 30, 2024. After that, the conference price will be increased by $15 from $30.00 to $45.00 for just the conference. There are meal options that are extra. The hotel is $139.00 per night until May 30, 2024. Then it will increase significantly.
For those who have already registered I will be contacting you soon with additional information for Maine’s portion of the fun.
Communication Shorts 05-15-2024
By Walter Boomsma,
MSG Communications Director
207 343-1842
Communication Shorts are brief (short) but important items posted for your information and use. Send us your ideas and thoughts!
May Bulletin Is Now Available!
The May Bulletin is complete and available. You can find recent issues of the Bulletin on the Program Books and Information Page.
Take the National Grange Survey!
National Grange has announced a goal of increasing overall member satisfaction by 20% within the next year, as measured by an annual member feedback survey. They are asking members to complete a survey (about ten minutes of your time) regarding current feelings and attitudes toward the Grange. Please take the survey by June 30.
National Convention Registration Available
Registration for the 158th Annual National Grange Convention is now available. Register and submit your payment by July 31 and save $5 on registration.
Website Outages
We are getting reports of brief outages of the Maine State Grange Website. These usually only last a minute or two and are caused by the host server. We are monitoring their frequency and will request action if the situation doesn’t improve soon.
Consider this Idea!
Raise money on your anniversary? If you’re having an anniversary celebration, could you do a fundraiser and raise money based on the number of years?
Think about this!
“We delight in the beauty of the butterfly, but rarely admit the changes it has gone through to achieve that beauty.”Online Grange Directory CHANGE?
Maya Angelou
Submit News! Be “famous”
Submitting news can be as simple as a photo and “cutline.” A cutline is a brief description–longer than a caption–to accompany the photo. Let’s prove that the Grange is alive and well in Maine! (Photos should be submitted as an attachment to an email.) We get inquiries from people looking for active Granges!
Online Directories Available 24-7
- The ODD Directory features all state officers, directors, and deputies with contact information.
- The Directory of Granges features all Granges in the state with a contact person. Please make sure your listing is correct!
CWA Report – May 2024
By Margaret Henderson, Director
Committee on Women’s Activities
207 948-2762
The CWA Committee met last month. We planned the program booklet for next year and chose the items for the baking contest and craft projects. This was a very productive meeting. I am so thankful for the ladies who are on this committee with me.
Just a reminder that contest entries are due at Headquarters on August 20th. I will be there from 9-3 that day. If you can not bring them that day, please call me or headquarters and make arrangements with either Sharon or myself to make sure that your entries will be there to be logged in on the 20th and judged on the 23rd. Sharon is there on Tuesday and Thursday every week, and if you can not do one of those days, call me, and I will find a day that works to make sure that your entries will be judged.
I hope that everyone is doing well. I am looking forward to some warm, sunny days and many Grange activities.
Exploring Traditions – Low hanging fruit
Meandering Around the Grange Way of Life
Harvesting the low-hanging fruit
By Walter Boomsma, Guest Columnist
We are kept from our goal not by obstacles but by a clear path to a lesser goal.
Robert Brault
An apple picker often works with a bag slung over his shoulder. Experienced pickers always begin at the top of the tree. Typically, the fruit is “better” because it gets more sun. The bag gets heavier as the work progresses. Starting at the top puts gravity to work on the picker’s side.
Until insurance regulations required us to remove a wood stove, the foyer of our Grange hall included a non-working woodstove with several chairs around it. One day, during a quick stop, I found my companion sitting in one of the chairs, staring into space.
He explained that he was visualizing a scene from a century earlier. He pictured a few farmers sitting there, absorbing the warmth and discussing their challenges. I joined him in his reverie.
While the past is behind us, sometimes it’s worthy of a visit. When considering those early Grangers, we should explorre how difficult their lives were as farmers and as early organizers of the Patrons of Husbandry. Consciously or not, they didn’t just focus on the low-hanging fruit in their farming practice and in growing the Grange.
Perhaps we should sit by the stove virtually and discuss continuing the Grange. I recall a conversation (electronic, not by the stove) several years ago with a member who passionately suggested that the Grange should be open and welcoming to everyone. He wasn’t wrong. But the hazard we may create is forgetting the lessons of agriculture. Culling livestock, selective breeding, and many other practices are necessary to maintain the health of the herd. Weeding the garden removes unwanted plants. The word “contribution” comes to mind.
This is certainly not to say that the low-hanging fruit has no value. Even the drops (fruit that falls to the ground) serve a purpose. But most know how “one rotten apple will spoil the barrel.”
I worked with a management team years ago that had a team member affectionately referred to as “good ole number 32.” In football terms, John got the ball when the team needed a yard because the team could count on him to get it. Sometimes, you win by a yard.
But the players who can advance the ball further down the field are just as important and can’t be overlooked.
In our drives to increase membership, we must remember it’s not just about increasing membership, it’s really about increasing the reach, relevance, and resilience of our organization. Find some members who can make an end run or go up the middle. We also need and want some number 32’s.
Whether we use the lessons of farming or a sports analogy, we must remember the goal of membership is not simply increasing the roster. Remember: we are increasing our reach, relevance, and resilience.
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 TraditionsâCelebrating the Grange Way of Life” can be found at http://abbotvillagepress.com, on Mr. Boomsma’s Amazon Author Page, or by contacting the author.
Quick Tip — Community Events!
One of the software providers for our website recently blogged some ideas for community events that will draw people in.
- Game night
- Food festival
- Farmers market
- Community cleanup
- Arts and crafts exhibit
- Seasonal or holiday events
- Marathons
- Wellness and fitness
- Movie night
- Hobbies and how-to workshops
- Swap meets
- Guides and tours
- Sports
- Talent show
- Unique, community oriented festivals
What are you going to do this summer? Don’t forget to submit your events to the MSG website calendar!
Danville Junction Grange Yard Sale
Saturday, May 25, 2024 – 9:00 am until 1:00 pm
Attic treasures, books, RADA cutlery, baked goods, beans and chili (to go), pick your prize raffle, 50/50, plants and more.
Tables are available for rent, $20 each. For more information or to rent a table, contact Maynard Chapman at 207 312-5591.
Danville Junction Grange is located at 15 Grange Street, right off Route 202 in Danville.
Ag Committee Report – May 2024
By Roberta Meserve, MSG Ag Director
(207) 998-3857
A big Thank-you for those who provided fudge in March for the Legislators. They loved it.
The Agriculture Committee met in Augusta on May 10, 2024 to discuss Agricultural Scholarship applications. We awarded scholarships to these applicants:
- Samantha Bissell, Palmyra, Nokomis H.S.
- Hannah Dean, Ripley, Dexter H.S.
- Cooper Dellarma, Solon, Carrabec H.S.
- June Foyt, Monmouth, Monmouth Academy
- Madison Shaw, Saco, Old Orchard Beach H.S.
- Ryleigh Turgeon, Buxton, Bonny Eagle H.S.
Each recipient will receive $500.00.
Grange Agricultural Enterprise Award Application deadline date August 1.
Applicants must earn at least a portion of their income from their Agricultural Enterprise.
The application form approved by the Maine State Grange Agriculture Committee must be used. The form is available here.
Awards: The winner will receive $100 cash prize and will be invited to showcase their enterprise at the State Grange Annual Session in October of that year, and share display space with the MSG Agriculture committee at the Agricultural Trade Show the following January at the Augusta Civic Center, at no expense.  The sponsoring Grange will also receive a $100 cash award.    Â
President’s Perspective – May 2024
By Sherry Harriman,
Maine State Grange President/Master
207 490-1029
WELCOME to our 37 new members who received their degrees at last monthâs Degree Days. The first held at North Scarborough Grange conferring all four degrees on ten candidates from North Scarborough, Deering, St. George, Hollis and White Rock. Thank you, officers from Cumberland and Androscoggin Pomonas for filling the chairs, nice job everyone. Thank you, Yvonne Johnson for putting things together. The second held on Maine State Grangeâs 150th Anniversary April 21 at the State Grange Home in Augusta. Candidates were from Danville Junction, Excelsior, Mill Stream, Farmington, Androscoggin, Cambridge Valley, St. George, Victor, and Merriconeag. Thank you to the officers from Androscoggin and Cumberland Pomonas for taking the office parts, super job everyone. Thank you to Maynard Chapman, Chief Deputy for getting things organized. Thank you to the folks who attended the two meetings just to view the Degrees.
Reminder dates:
June 1, 2024 Maine State Grange Yard Sale at Manchester Grange
June 21 -23, 2024 North East Lecturers Conference hosted in Norwich, Connecticut
RESOLUTIONS are due to the State Grange office by August 15 — email or standard mail.
MAINE STATE GRANGE ANNUAL SESSION dates set for October 18 and 19 at the Auburn Masonic Lodge in Auburn. Details coming out soon.
PROCEDURE FOR ELECTION OF OFFICERS. Maine still uses paper ballots for each officer and should be held in June. The committees are named by the elected Master ASAP after elections.
- The Master will appoint tellers to count the ballots.
- Master will say: âThe Chair awaits presentations of names for the office ofâĤ..â and will repeat the name presented and ask, âAre there any others?,â asking a total of three times, repeating the list of names for that office each time. A person may decline or withdraw their name for the office, if they wish to, at the time their name is presented and does not have to give a reason for declining.
- The Master will repeat the names and say âYou will prepare your ballots for the office of ….â After a brief pause, the Master will instruct the Assistants to collect the ballots and may excuse the Assistants from carrying their staves. You do not have to ballot if you do not wish to.  If you want to cast your ballot, but do not want to vote for one of those names presented or any other name, you must write the word âBlankâ on the ballot to be counted in the total.
- After the Assistants have collected the ballots, the Master will declare the ballot closed. The ballot is then given to the tellers and the Assistants return to their seats.
- The tellers will count the ballots and make the report to the Master.Â
- The final choice is announced by the Master, âBy your ballot, you have elected ___________ to the office of ____________.â and the results are recorded. Once a majority has been reached, the Master will ask the person âBrother or Sister ____________, do you accept the office of ______________.  If they decline or if there is no majority of the ballots cast, the Master will say, âSince we have no majority, you will prepare your ballot for the office of _____________,â repeating all names listed. You will proceed to ballot once again on the same office until a majority is reached. The ballots are then thrown away after the result is given by the Master.  The same procedure is followed for each office.
- Upon completion of the election, the tellers are excused with thanks. Â
- After the election of the Subordinate or Pomona Grange, the Secretary will provide Roster info for the meeting day and time, the Grange address, and name, address, phone & email for the Master, Lecturer, Secretary & CWA Chairman to the State Grange as soon as possible.    Â