By Margaret Henderson, Director Committee on Women’s Activities 207 948-2762
Committee on Women’s Activities
Warm winter Greetings!!
What a crazy winter we have been having! Thank goodness there are only six weeks left of winter.
I had some meat and veggies given to me by some nice friends. So for the last couple of days, I have been cooking.
Making casseroles, meatloaf, and other comfort foods and sharing them with my grandsons and my neighbors. I feel really blessed that I can do this. A little kindness goes a very long way. All of these people really appreciate this.
The best part is that I really enjoy cooking. My Mom and Gram started teaching me when I was six on an old wood cook stove! They also taught me how to sew on an old Singer treadle sewing machine. Wonderful memories!!
I hope that you are all staying warm, safe, and healthy. Take care everyone.
Grange Heirlooms are snippets from the lessons of the Grange as taught in the Rituals and Declaration of Purposes.
Use the icons below to share this Grange Heirloom on social media and help others understand what the Grange stands for! If this heirloom has a particular meaning for you, click the “leave a comment” link at the left and share your comment with us!
For additional information and resources regarding the Heirloom Program, visit the Heirloom Resource Page on the Maine State Grange Website.
Ocean View Grange is located at 435 Port Clyde Road in St George Maine
By Larry Bailey, Master
Because of the really cold weather, we have some time to think about and plan for our upcoming year. You, as Grange members, can help our Grange by providing all of us with ideas and suggestions relating to:
Suppers etc. – Should we plan suppers? lunches? or brunches this year? While I find that the Bean Suppers are so characteristic of Granges all over, it might be good to change things up a bit. It is my opinion that, while we make some money at such activities, it is not the money that makes us do it. The real community gatherings and family friendship we see at these functions are worth more than money.
Community Help – I hope we can get back on the Road Clean-up program this year. It is one of those labors of love in which we can all participate. Why does this matter? Well, we help clean up the community roads, we get some good exercise while doing it, and we enjoy all the company of our fellow members and friends who come out to help. The question is…what else is there that we can lend our services to help our community. Think about it.
Let us plan to get back to upkeeping/repairing the Grange. We can, finish the paint job, clean the windows, and, one day, we can get someone in a hazmat suit to clean the attic at the Grange. Our windows need some attention; Let’s look at them and decide what needs to be done.
Would it be prudent to buy an inexpensive lawn mower and rotate members to mow our grass? Just food for thought?
We need to restart the Words for Thirds Program. I have a box of dictionaries here. If anyone is interested in helping with this, just let me know.
It was suggested by one of our members last year that we print the article entitled – “Maine History Trail – Ocean View Grange, Martinsville Maine” and distribute it to every visitor to our Grange. It provides a good history of the Ocean View Grange and might help with membership recruiting. We will need someone to be in charge of this.
What do we do with the Stair Lift? It has been a dismal failure since we bought it. Do we just dump it? Do we move our meetings to the first floor? Do we buy a new Stair Lift? This is an item for discussion. We will need a Grange member to look into this.
Bathroom toilet. Much like the Stair Lift and the kitchen sink, the leaky bathroom toilet is a failure and needs repair or replacement.
What other programs can we provide? For example, I would be willing to put on a watercolor painting class. What can you provide? Cooking class, Poetry session, etc, provide help with PC’s electronic problems, dance lessons, etc.?
These are just a few items that occurred to me. I know you have some thoughts and ideas too. Don’t think that one, two, or three members should jump in to do all of the repairs and upgrades for the foregoing. This is a group effort, and everybody needs to lend a hand and come up with thoughts and solutions. Let’s all join together and make our Grange a better, safer, and happier place than it has been!!!
Larry also distributed an Ocean View Grange Roster, requesting members make sure their information is accurate and updated.. There are some great ideas on this list. I’m sure Ocean View won’t mind if some other Granges “steal” them!
BRRR! There’s a little line before the temperature here in Abbot… and the forecast warns that it will go a lot lower over the next few days. The wind chill watch warns that temperatures could as low as 50 to 55 below zero. Are we ready?
Since this is our first winter with a heat pump, I researched it myself. One interesting recommendation I discovered is that you may want to run your “regular” heating system in the bitter cold to prevent it from freezing! (The temperature is colder inside the walls than inside the building.)
The National Weather Service is a bit more focused on people but no less thorough. There’s a chart explaining the impact of the windchill factor. If it’s -20¯ and the wind is blowing at 15 mph, frostbite can occur in as little as nine minutes! Maybe you should postpone that walk to the mailbox!
If your Grange decides to open as a warming center, send us the details (what time you’ll be open, etc.) and we’ll post the information on the website.
Keep an eye on each other. The next few days will reprove the value of community.
Reprinted, with permission, from an e-newsletter prepared by Stacey Guerin, Senator for District 4
The Maine Legislature annually recognizes one student from each county who is currently pursuing or planning to pursue education at a two- or four-year degree-granting Maine college or technical school. Administered through the Finance Authority of Maine (FAME), these awards are given to Maine resident high school seniors or full- or part-time postsecondary students accepted to or enrolled in accredited Maine colleges for graduate or undergraduate degrees.
The 2023-2024 application cycle will open on Wednesday, Feb. 1, 2023, and scholarship applications will be accepted until the deadline of May 1, 2023. Scholarship awards of $1,000 will be given to one student in each of Maine’s counties (16 total). Only complete applications will be considered, which should include the following:
A completed 2023-2024 Maine Legislative Memorial Scholarship application (available Feb. 1 here)
An essay (make sure the applicant’s name appears on all pages)
Submission of transcripts, recommendations, and a 2023-2024 Student Aid Report (SAR)
College students should include both college and high school transcripts
All transcripts should also indicate graduation date or anticipated graduation date
A copy of a high school diploma or equivalent
Recipients selected from applications submitted by the May 1, 2023 deadline will be selected and notified in the fall. Notifications are not sent to those applicants not selected.
It’s important that students submit the 2023-2024 free application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) in time to receive the Student Aid Report (SAR) back from the federal government. The SAR with Expected Family Contribution (EFC), income information, and number of family members must be sent to FAME and postmarked by the deadline during the application period.
Webmaster’s Note: This is also a great opportunity to remind Granges sponsoring scholarships to make sure we have your current information. Please check the About Scholarships Page and submit any corrections or changes with by using the submit tab at the top of the site or sending an email.
Gleaned from an email written by Phil Vonada, National Grange Communications Director
“I am working on Grange Month materials, though many of last year’s materials are still good, too, as we are in year 2 of the “Raised Right Here” theme. Make plans now to join us for “Grange Spirit Week” which will be held April 16-22nd, with a Zoom program in the works for EVERY night that week, but more on that soon! (April 16th also happens to be the founding date of Fredonia Grange #1, NY, which will celebrate its 155th birthday that day!).”
Social Media Calendar Available
Are you looking to add some spice to your Grange’s Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter pages? Check out our 2023 downloadable Social Media Calendar, which lists various “holidays” about which you can make posts or celebrations. Also included on the calendar are recurring National Grange meetings, holidays, events, and more. Feel free to pass this on to your Grange’s Lecturer, Secretary, social director, or anyone who helps plan events or activities for your Grange.
National Roster Available
The National Grange Roster lists, among other things, information about National Leadership and each state Grange with contact information. Download the National Grange Roster
Facebook Page Zoom-torial Recorded
As a reminder, Phil Vonado, National Grange Communications Director, led a Zoom-torial on “How to Create a Facebook Page,” which also included some information on the free design website Canva, as well as how to create a Facebook Event. This video is now available on the National Grange YouTube channel and can be viewed here: https://youtu.be/-F3iqXyN5Lo. (We’ll be adding this link/video to the Grange Resources Page.)
National Grange Heirloom Program
Grange Heirlooms are snippets from the lessons of the Grange as taught in the Ritual and Declaration of Purposes. Please share “success stories” about the use of the program with us or if you come up with other innovative ways to incorporate the Program in your Granges. Information and materials are now available on the National Grange Website.
“Notes from National” is based on a monthly email received from the National Grange Communications Department.
This may not be the most exciting and entertaining column I’ve written in a while, but it could be one of the more important. A few years ago a number of Granges in California got into some serious trouble due to copyrights and licensing. Not understanding and honoring copyright basics can get very expensive. There’s a lot of misinformation and misunderstanding. I’ll try to keep this short.
Copyright is about intellectual property. It literally establishes the ownership of a creative work (intellectual property). When I, for example, write a book copyright law establishes that I own the content and reserve the right to make copies of it. That’s why you’ll often see “All rights reserved,” as part of a copyright notice. As the owner, I can give (or sell) others the right to reproduce what I’ve written, but others can’t do so without my permission.
This affects the MSG website and Bulletin in a variety of ways. Let’s consider a few, but first let me say that social media in general and Facebook, in particular, are not good examples of copyright compliance. The comparison I would make is a friend who constantly speeds and somehow manages not to get caught. The reality is that they are still breaking the law and, if they do get caught, it may get quite expensive.
Example One: You have an event at your Grange. A local reporter shows up and writes a great article, takes some photos, and the article and photos are published in the newspaper. Generally, this is considered “work for hire,” and the newspaper owns the rights to that article. No one is supposed to “copy” it without permission—that’s the law. If you send me a copy, I can’t (won’t) post it.
Example Two: You write a press release about that same event. Pay attention to the word “release.” As the author, you have ownership of that article, and you are releasing it for publication—effectively giving the media permission to “copy” (print) it. We (in the media) like press releases. No fuss, no muss, no worries about posting or printing them.
Example Three: You write an article or column for the website. In it, you include a poem or quote from someone else’s book. This could be a problem—do you have the right to use it? If not, both you and I could be guilty of copyright infringement. This is not always an easy question to answer. There are some narrow exceptions to needing permission that include “fair use” (very difficult to determine) and public domain.
As Communications Director I tend to be ultra-conservative because a mistake or poor decision can create serious legal and financial liability for the Grange. It’s the same with photographs, especially of children. This can get complicated, but the short version is that we will not post photos that include children on the website unless we have written permission. (This is more about privacy than copyright.)
If you have questions or concerns about this, I’ll try to answer them, but please understand this can become a legal nightmare. Also, bear in mind that, while I’m happy to help, I cannot assume the responsibility for getting reprint permission for those submitting to the site. I am confident that, with a little common sense, we can all stay out of copyright jail!
► FACT: Your MSG website was viewed nearly 1500 times during December 2022–and over 20,000 times during the entire calendar year 2022.
I love the Grange because it gives me an opportunity to meet new people as I join others in creating and doing community events. It’s the giving and learning .
