Patrons of Husbandry – a website dedicated to the Granges located in Maine
Craft fairs may be an untapped market for Granges–not just to sell crafts but to “sell” the Grange! People interested in crafting are great candidates for getting involved in a Grange! Mill Stream’s participation in the Mount Vernon Craft Fair gets a lot of things right! Remember, fundraising in any form is also an opportunity to promote the good work you are doing as a Grange. It’s possible to raise money and members. Congratulations, Mill Stream Grange!
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!
The December Bulletin is finished! Remember, you can always find recent issues of the Bulletin on the Program Books and Information Page.
Just a reminder to be cautious and suspicious of emails and phone calls you receive.
Don’t forget to submit the details for a website post and event calendar listing!
The National Grange Contest Guide is available for download. Before printing, note that it is over 100 pages long!
We believe all updates are completed! The correct information is listed in the online directory, the print directory (a copy will be mailed with the Bulletin), on the Bulletin, and on the Program Books and Information Page! Please let us know if you encounter any errors!
Could your Grange host a librarian from your local library? The librarian could bring some of the latest releases as well as other media resources.
“You know how I always dread the whole year? Well this time I’m only going to dread one day at a time.”
Charlie Brown
The world wants to hear about it! Fill out the simple I Love the Grange Form… it only takes a couple of minutes! Thanks to all who have shared so far!
“FOMO” is, of course, a Fear Of Missing Out. One strongly recommended treatment is to subscribe to the Maine State Grange Website. We’ll send you a daily summary whenever news and columns are posted, and we won’t share your email address with anyone!
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.
By Roberta Meserve, MSG Ag Director
(207) 998-3857
The raffle, drawn at State Session, earned over $600.00. The winner of the Visa gift card was South Sangerville Grange; Harriet Spencer won the basket of goodies. Thank you to Agnes and Bob Nelson for taking care of the raffle table during the convention.
In my 55 years of Subordinate Grange Membership, this is my first time on the Ag Committee at any level, and I’m still learning the ins and outs and expectations. I look forward to discovering more.
I hope to see some of you at the Trade Show in Augusta in January. Stay safe on the snow and ice!
By Brenda Dyer, MSG Community Service/FHH Director
(207) 608-9193
May the spirit of the season be with you.
Community Service opportunities are endless during the Christmas season. Visiting a person who lives alone, shoveling a pathway or driveway for a neighbor or fellow Granger, inviting community members to a coffee/tea social and share time together, calling a friend on the phone, sending a note to a shut-in, volunteering at a local facility and talking to residents, and become Christmas Carolers for the community are a few suggestions.
Family, Health & Hearing
December A Grange Holiday Season – display what it is to be in Grange and not only during the holidays but all year round.
January 4 – National Buffet Day
January 9 – National Law Enforcement Appreciation Day
January 28 – National Lego Day
These are suggestions, and your Grange may add to these. It is not too early to be thinking about submitting “Granger of the Year,” Police, Firefighter/EMT of the Year.
Merry Christmas and a Healthy, Happy New Year!
The Northeast Leaders Conference is scheduled for January 12 – 14, 2024, in Concord, NH.
Hotel reservations must be made by December 20, 2023, and Conference reservations must be made by January 4, 2024.
All are welcome at your own expense, and everyone must make their own hotel and conference reservations. All information and a schedule is available in this online packet.
You are welcome to share rooms and transportation. Contact Sherry with questions at my email SHarriman@twc.com or call my cell phone listed in the roster and web.
By Margaret Henderson, Director
Committee on Women’s Activities
207 948-2762
I hope some of you are starting to plan activities for next year. My Grange is planning to make lap robes for Veterans. I believe this will be a great project for us. I am sure there are many wonderful projects across the state that we can participate in.
I hope that you all will have a very Merry Christmas, enjoying time with your families and friends. Stay healthy and safe.
Submitted by David Gowen
By Rick Grotton,
Membership Committee Director
207 582-5915
All the Mainers who attended the National Grange in November had a great time in Niagara Falls and were greeted with great weather. It was great to be reacquainted with friends from across the country who I haven’t seen in a few years. It was wonderful to find out that a number of State Granges had overall increases in net membership this past year! Maine can do the same if we focus and let people know we exist!! Thanks to those Maine Granges who did have net gains; keep up the great work!
Let’s make a group resolution for the upcoming year to increase our memberships. At State Grange in October, during the Memorial Service, the Grange was described as a four-story home with the Subordinate/Community Grange as the main floor with Pomona, State, and National as the upper floors, consecutively. Everyone enters the ground floor and climbs up to the upper floors, where more lessons await. Thus, without the ground floor, there would be no house. That is why it is important for us to bring in new members; if not, the house collapses. Our Grange “house” has existed for all of these years so repairs are needed and upgrades necessary. We have gone through periods of change, and more are needed today. Please be an integral part of our growth and continue to contribute as you have over the course of your membership. We all need to support one another to help keep our “house” sturdy and functioning. A little TLC (tender loving care) helps tremendously.
Over this holiday season, please reflect on how grateful we are in so many areas. How can we improve ourselves? How can we help others? How can we increase our Grange membership? What needs to be changed? All of these questions are vital and extremely important and require an answer. Let us get a head start and start to make resolutions for the new year so these questions can be answered.
The State Membership Committee wishes all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Stay safe, stay positive, and stay grateful.