While most of us were sleeping, something happened to the websites I manage Tuesday morning at approximately 1:30. In short, they became inaccessible. I discovered it at 5:00 am and went to work on the problem, ultimately contacting the company that hosts the sites, including this one. I could probably bore you to tears with a step-by-step explanation. Suffice it to explain that after an hour plus, I was assured that everything would be fixed within 24 hours and, hopefully, sooner. (While they didn’t acknowledge it, the problem was created by something that happened with or at the hosting company.)
Then I received a text message from a thoughtful Granger letting me know about the problem. (She checks the site first thing every morning! Wow! I’m impressed.) This started me thinking about what to do next.
A few days ago, I left the house to do a few quick errands. I was several miles away when I realized I hadn’t picked up my cell phone on the way out. I confess that my first instinct was to call home so Janice would know I didn’t have my phone. I gave myself a slap on the forehead and a “duh” for that idea.
Probably because of that experience–and the fact that even I could not access the site–I didn’t long consider posting a message on the site explaining it wasn’t available. But it did occur to me that I could contact our website subscribers with an announcement and explanation. Yay! After doing that, I (we all, really) were at the mercy of the “team” at the responsible company. Fidgeting wasn’t going to be helpful, so I got back to my schedule for the day.
A bit to my surprise, the escalation team solved the problem fairly quickly and had the sites online at approximately 9:30 am. We were “down” for approximately eight hours–at least half of that in the middle of the night here in Maine.
First, sorry for the inconvenience if you were affected. “Uptime” is a key indicator in the website business, and we take it seriously.
Second, one thing this experience demonstrates is the value of subscribing to the website. When you subscribe, we’ll send you a weekly email (usually Sunday Morning) summarizing what’s been posted. But, more importantly, we can contact you by email on those rare occasions when something unusual or important happens. We don’t share subscribers’ email addresses or any personal information with anyone without your permission. And, of course, you can “unsubscribe” at any time! This truly is a “no risk”offer! Why not give it a try!
If you have any questions about the recent outage or subscribing, send an me email. My goal is to answer email within 24-48 hours.
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!
By Walter Boomsma, MSG Communications Director 207 343-1842
Communication Shorts are brief (short) but important items posted for your information and use. Please send us your ideas and thoughts!
February Bulletin Is Coming Soon!
The deadline for posts and columns is February 14. If you’re planning to spend that day romantically, submit early! Recent issues of the Bulletin can be found on the Program Books and Information Page in the communications section.
Check out the Words for Thirds Resource Pages here. Grange Month in April would be a great time to sponsor a project, but you’ll need to get started soon! National Grange has not yet released any Grange Month material, but we can do a “Our Grange Celebrates Grange Month by Sponsoring a Dictionary Day!” feature!
Loving the Grange
One of my goals for this year is to post at least one reason to love the Grange each month in 2025. The easiest way for you to help make this happen is for you to fill out this simple form. You can answer more than once! Why do you love the Grange?
Community Matters More Voting
Bangor Savings just announced its grant program for this year. As a reminder, only 501(c)3 organizations are eligible. Subordinate Granges are, therefore, not eligible. It’s a great program but writing in a local Grange is a waste of your vote!
Form 5102 Scam
Farms and other businesses may receive an official-looking “Form 5102” requesting a $119.00 payment to register “Beneficial Ownership Interest.” This is a documented scam. (There are requirements regarding B.O.I, but this isn’t one.)
Consider this Idea!
We recently saw an organization announcing a “Muffin Morning.” (I love alliterations, if you haven’t noticed.) It sounded like fun and definitely an easy program because there is no program. All you need are muffins and drinks and give the opportunity for a Koffee Klatch. Simple!
Think about this!
Groundhog Day is the perfect instance of optimism — you either choose to believe the rodent or not. Both options can give you a fantastic outlook for the future.
Anonymous
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! Visitors to the site consult these directories often.
By Sherry Harriman, Maine State Grange President/Master 207 490-1029
Procedures and NE Leaders’ Conference
The Ritual, bylaws, rules, and regulations of the Grange MUST MUST be followed by everyone, not just a select few. Every regular Grange meeting must be opened in full form to conduct any business, whether voting on finances, changing your by-laws, conferring degrees, conducting the obligation ceremony, or discussing activities, etc. The Grange Ritual (the set pattern that we do things at each meeting), opening the Bible, the Prayer, the Grange Salutation, and the Salute to the Flag must be done at every regular meeting, even if you are meeting in homes or by Zoom. It may seem outdated or unnecessary to some, but it is part of this Fraternal Organization and to be considered a Grange, to use the term “Grange” certain requirements must be carried out. Some things have been modernized and simplified, but the basics are still there. If you are a longtime or new member and want changes to be made, there are set processes in place to make that possible. The Manual, National & State Bylaws and Guidelines are available to help you with the process. Let’s make the effort to be part of it whether in person or by use of technology.
To request funds being held in custodial accounts by Maine State Grange, mail or email your request to the State Office. The State Master/President approves it; then it will be forwarded to the State Treasurer for the issue of a check. Invoices and/or estimates must be included with the request. Checks for building repairs, etc., will be made out to the contractor and mailed to the Secretary of the Grange requesting the funds. Remember, mail does take time; you can’t expect to get the check the same day you request it.
The Maine Grange Foundation, Inc., is a 501c3. It can be the fiscal sponsor for grants when requested and can receive tax-deductible donations on behalf of a Grange. (After the grant/donation check clears, we will issue a check to the appropriate Grange.) The Maine Grange Foundation, Inc. is a separate financial entity from the Maine State Grange, which does not have the 501c3 status. There is definitely a difference between the two.
The Northeast Leaders Conference was hosted by Massachusetts early in January and attended by 65 enthusiastic members. Maine was represented by Missy Baldwin, MSG Lecturer; Brenda Dyer, MSG Community Service & Family Health & Hearing Director; Brenda’s husband, Joe Fallo; Past MSG Master Vicki Huff; and myself. The Northeast State Masters/Presidents & Overseers/Vice Presidents (the Northeast Connection group) and New England Grange Building Trustees met several times during the weekend. As the weekend progressed, interesting and helpful workshops were presented to the group. Finding Hidden Potential and Empowering Members and Aligning Your Strategic Plan to Your Core Values. Also included in the weekend was a wonder-ful tour of the Essex North Shore Agricultural & Technical School located close to the conference center. Everyone attending could sit in on whichever meeting or break-out group they chose. State Lecturers, Youth, and Chaplains groups started planning their respective Northeast Conferences and Activities. Community Service, Family Activities, Women’s Activities, Agriculture, Membership, Information/IT, and others met as a large group, having good discussions on activities for their states and ideas all could try. Junior Directors and interested members met to discuss the craft for display at the Big-E in September at the New Eng-land Grange Building. The Junior craft for 2025 will be Egg Carton Craft and for 2026 will be Bird Houses. Next year’s conference will be hosted by Vermont.
Every Grange should have a copy of these! Find the answers to your “Can I? Should I?” questions.
The National Digest of Laws is an easy-to-reference digest (book) of Grange Law and Rule. It is updated every year following the National Convention. This link is to the 2025 edition. Printed copies can be ordered from the National Grange Supply Store, but you can download this pdf for free by clicking the image. (It’s also offered on the Program Books and Information Page.)
Similar but much shorter is a booklet containing the Grange Bylaws specifically adopted by and applying to Granges in Maine. It is updated every year following the State Convention (assuming there are changes). This link is to the 2024 edition. You can download this PDF for free by clicking the image. (It’s also offered on the Program Books and Information Page.)
Quick tips from Granges and Grangers are always welcome… on any topic that might improve or make things easier for other Granges. Use the submission form or email yours to the webmaster for consideration!
Reprinted with permission from AARP’s Fraud Watch Network.
Receiving a call from an unknown number may seem harmless, but it could be the start a scam. Criminals are using increasingly sophisticated tactics to deceive you into revealing personal information or making payments. Here are three tips to protect yourself from unknown callers.
Let it ring. The easiest thing to do is not answer the call. If it is important, the caller will leave a message or call back again.
Let the caller speak first. Most scammers use an auto dialer – an automated system that calls a bunch of random numbers at the same time and connects to a live person when someone answers the phone. That brief pause or delay before the caller speaks is a red flag that the call could be a scam.
Block suspicious calls. Check with your service provider to learn about options to block spam and scam calls.
Be a fraud fighter! If you can spot a scam, you can stop a scam.
It gives me a great amount of pleasure to tell you that Terry Bomba and I had a very enjoyable and rewarding trip to third-grade classrooms at St George School to present dictionaries to the students. Both rooms combined, and thus, we had 24 students to present the books to. This presentation of dictionaries is our annual Words for Thirds program. As in the past, the students seemed anxious to find out what we had to offer and really appeared to be very happy to get the books. After briefly explaining what the Grange is and what we do for our community, they asked some good questions.
One of the young girls said, “My grandmother works at the Grange.” I asked who is her grandmother and she said “Brenda Armstrong.” Brenda, while not a Grange member, has been voluntarily tending the trimming of the grass and weeds around the Grange and the beautiful flowers in the front of the Grange Hall for years. She is a gem.
I want to thank the two third-grade teachers, Lauren Wilgus and Sierra Beal, for arranging the gathering along with Mr. Felton, the School Superintendent. We hope to be there every year in the future.
Larry and Terry also received this note and permission to share it from Superintendent Felton:
I want to thank both of you for visiting the school and providing the 3rd graders with dictionaries. You all did a great job sharing the Grange’s mission and work – the kids were engaged and curious throughout your visit. And they were certainly excited about the dictionaries!
Thank you for offering this program and all you do to support our students. As a school district, our mission is to do whatever it takes to ensure that every single student thrives and to contribute to the vitality and resiliency of our town. The only way we can realize this mission is with the support of our community, of organizations like the Grange.
With sincere thanks, Mike, Superintendent, MSAD 50
For more information about the Words for Thirds Program and how your Grange, community, students, and teachers can reap these benefits, visit the Words for Thirds Resource Page.
If you’re tired of hearing about scams, I get it. I am, too. But you might find this story interesting because of the coincidences and how good the attempt is! The perp gets an “A” for effort.
In what is undoubtedly a strange irony, I have a personal Capital One account. One thing I appreciate about it is that Capital One does an excellent job of spotting questionable transactions. Even more ironic, I made a transaction last Saturday that was legitimate but a bit weird (because I split a dinner check, it looked like I had given a 300% tip). I received an email and text message from Capital One asking me if I did make it. The system worked. Quite well, actually.
Today I received another Fraud Alert that looked like it came from Capital One. At first, I thought it was related. The first clue that something was wrong is that it was addressed to me as the webmaster of the Maine State Grange Website. As far as I know, MSG doesn’t have an account, and if it did, I wouldn’t be the contact. But the appearance of the email was almost identical to the one I’d received questioning the huge tip. (I’ve marked a few of the giveaways on the screenshot at the bottom.)
I’m sharing this because it does involve an attempt to scam the Grange. But there’s another important reason to share it. We don’t have to live in fear of being scammed. We do have to be disciplined and learn to trust ourselves when attempts are made. A simple motto is “Don’t.” A slightly longer one is “Curiosity killed the cat.” I admit, I was tempted to see where this was going. Instead, I reported it to Capital One.
Reprinted with permission from an e-newsletter published by Maine Senator Stacey Guerin.
The Maine Legislature annually grants a scholarship to one student from each county who is currently pursuing or planning to pursue an education at a two- or four-year degree-granting Maine college or technical school. Administered through the Finance Authority of Maine (FAME), 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 2025-2026 application will become available on Feb. 1, 2025; and applications will be accepted until the May 1, 2025 deadline. Scholarship awards of $1,000 will be given to one student in each of Maine’s counties (16 total). Applications must include:
Completed 2025-2026 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 2025-2026 FAFSA Submission Summary (FSS)*;
College students should include both college and high school transcripts;
All transcripts should also indicate graduation date or anticipated graduation date;
A copy of the student’s high school diploma or equivalent or expected graduation date.
Recipients selected from applications submitted by the May 1, 2025, deadline will be selected and notified in the Fall of 2025. Notifications are not sent to those applicants not selected.
*Students should submit the 2025-2026 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) in time to receive the 2025-2026 FAFSA Submission Summary (FSS) back from the federal government. The FSS with Student Aid Index (SAI) must be included with the application.
