Patrons of Husbandry – a website dedicated to the Granges located in Maine
By Marilyn Stinson
207 380-3901
Sagadahoc Pomona will NOT be doing the Fifth Degree at Enterprise in Richmond on April 29, 2026.
There will be a regular meeting, and other Grangers are welcome. We will be able to do the New Alternative Welcome Ceremony.
Potluck supper at 6:00, meeting at 7:00.
Volunteers will create blankets for children in need
Valley Grange of Guilford is sponsoring a blanket-making event on Saturday, May 2, 2026, from 9:00 a.m. until noon, and volunteers are needed! Organizer Pat Engstrom notes, “No sewing skills are needed. If you can measure, cut a straight line with scissors, or tie a simple knot, you can become a ‘blanketeer’ and help support Project Linus. We’ll show you how!”
Project Linus, a non-profit organization, provides handmade blankets to children who are seriously ill, traumatized, or otherwise in need. Last year’s event resulted in more than 100 blankets being completed. Since the need isn’t decreasing, Engstrom hopes to see the number of blankets made increase again this year.
“We have a great time doing this, and truly just about anyone can help. We create quite a production line, and it sometimes gets quite competitive! It’s exciting to realize we’re providing love in the form of ‘blankies’ that represent security, warmth, and comfort for kids. We consider them fabric hugs.”
While supplies will be provided, volunteers are encouraged to bring scissors, rulers, and masking tape. Light refreshments will be served.
For additional information, contact Pat Enstrom at 564-8290 or visit the Valley Grange Website at http://valleygrange.com. Valley Grange is located at 172 Guilford Center Road, at the corner of Butter Street.
By Webmaster Walter
We have mostly good news! Here’s a fairly complete report that’s not too technical. We’re covering several different areas and accomplishments, so read on.
Recent Site Outages
Thankfully, these have become minimal. The last reported outage occurred on Sunday and lasted only three minutes! It could be a long story, but I’m now convinced these outages were not caused by the site but were a host server problem. I’ll continue to monitor and research alternative providers.
Online Grange Directory
I’ve updated the online directory of Granges based primarily on the 2025-26 Roster Information. I also made several “under the hood” changes to make it more flexible. Your help in keeping this current and accurate is appreciated!
Your Websites and Facebook Pages
Your Grange’s online presence is becoming increasingly important! One future project under consideration is to make links available within the online directory. An obvious challenge is keeping those links accurate. If your Grange maintains an active website or Facebook page/group, please let me know! If you need assistance, let me know!
Website Subscription Program
We continue to welcome new subscribers! Yay! I’m currently emailing a summary of posts from the previous week. Subscribers can then choose which posts to view and avoid FOMO (fear of missing out). Thanks for promoting and supporting this! One important way to support subscribing is to share your news and events.
AI (Artificial Intelligence)
AI is proving to be a great tool when used properly! Currently, I’m using it sparingly on this site. Some of the images are AI-created, but they are not “faked” or misrepresentations. For quite some time, I’ve used it to correct spelling and grammar of submissions. Any use of AI and automation is deliberate and reviewed. We’ll continue to make haste slowly. Think of it as good stewardship.
If you have any questions or concerns about any of this, please let me know. In my view, this is your website. I’m just the gatekeeper and overseer. Our “labors of the day” are never really finished. Together, we can make it great!
Submitted by Steven Haycock
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Articles in this edition include:
Click the button below to read and/or subscribe to Grange Today!
Note that all recent issues are available on the National Grange Website. To save server space, we only post the table of contents on the MSG Website.
Every Saturday, 10 AM-4 PM, Kennebec Valley Grange hosts a flea market that fills two floors. Details here or call Diane Pinkham at 207 314-5135 FMI.
Note the recent addition of a workshop and Ice Cream Social for ODDs on April 25, 2026!
State Session is planned for October 30-31, 2026. Mark your calendar!
The St. George Grange is starting its 2026 Public Supper season! We have a Public Supper on the 2nd Saturday of each month, April through October. The fun always starts at 5 pm. Thank you, and hope to see you at the St. George Grange.
Our April 11 supper will feature a variety of homemade food, fresh-baked bread, desserts, coffee, and cold drinks with neighbors, friends, and family. Adults $10.00 Children $5.00 (under 10 yrs. free)
Cooked food donations for our supper are welcome (casseroles, salads, desserts, etc.) Part of the proceeds will be donated to the First Baptist Church of St. George, ME 04860
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It’s knitting, crocheting, and quilting season at Valley Grange in Guilford! Mary Annis, Joyce Flanders, Pat Engstrom, and Janice Boomsma had fun sorting recent donations at our March Meeting, including a large bag from Linda Kain.
These handcrafted products are distributed through many different local outlets. Hats and mittens go to our local schools, including Piscataquis Elementary, SeDoMoCha, Brownville Elementary, Ridgeview Elementary, and Harmony Elementary. Lap robes are available to local nursing homes, and we supply the Hospice Program’s Operation Gratitude for Veterans.
Help is always needed and welcomed! If you are interested, contact Mary Annis (564-0820) or Pat Engstrom (564-8290).
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by Walter Boomsma, MSG Communications Director
The recent website outages we’ve been experiencing appear to be over! We are now fully available on the new servers. We are sorry for the inconvenience and appreciate your patience!
It might be my imagination, but it seems the site now loads faster! We’ll continue to monitor our uptime and keep you informed. If you have any questions or concerns, let me know!
We are aware that the MSG Website has recently experienced outages lasting from a few minutes to half an hour. Most seem to be happening overnight and early in the morning.
Our website host has announced a scheduled period of server updates between March 20 at 12:00 AM Eastern time and March 20 at 7:00 AM Eastern time. During this time, we may experience a brief loss of connectivity to our website hosting and associated services as our environment is being moved.
Hopefully, this move will resolve these temporary outages. We will continue to monitor the situation and take further action if necessary. Our apologies for any inconvenience, and thanks for your patience!