One of my frustrations as Communication Director is being asked a question about Grange activities and not having the information! As organizations seeking members and supporters, we need to be “out there” with readily available information. Let me share one question I just received with you.
What’s cooking at your Grange?
I have an email from someone interested in attending “Grange bean suppers in October, in the general coastal Maine region.”
So we know what’s wanted for supper, but we don’t know when and where supper is!
If your Grange is planning ANY fundraiser, activity, or special event, please submit the details for posting on the MSG website. The easiest way to do this is through the “Submit Information” tab at the top of the website. If you have photos or flyers, attach them to an email addressed to webmaster@mainestategrange.org. Make sure you cover all the details, including how someone can get “more information.”
This website averages thousands of views every month. Some of those people are looking for the event you’re holding. Why not tell them about it?
Once you’ve submitted the event, it’s easy to share it on Facebook and other social media. The website is a great place to start!
We are fast approaching the time of year for craft fairs and holiday events. Don’t forget those, either!
It’s an exciting and busy time of year! I won’t be able to cover everything in this letter, so make sure you visit our website and/or Facebook Page. Are you receiving Valley Grange Grams by email? If you’re not on that list, send me your email address, and I’ll get you added!
First, make sure you add at least one jar of peanut butter and one jar of jelly to your shopping list. We are collecting on behalf of the Bangor Savings Bank PB & J Drive. Bring your donation to our next meeting on September 16, 2022 (potluck supper at 6 pm, meeting at 7 pm). There’s also a tote on the Grange Hall porch—you can leave donations there. Since this promotion only runs through September, please have your donations turned in by Monday, September 26!
We kicked off our Meat or Heat Raffle at River Festival but need to sell more tickets, so we’ve enclosed two books for you to sell or buy. (Tickets are $1 each or six for $5.) If you’d like more tickets to sell, contact Janice Boomsma (343-1496) or Pat Engstrom (564-8290). We’ll draw the winning tickets at our November 16th meeting, so please have all money and tickets turned in before then! You can mail tickets and checks to Janice at the address above.
Most have probably heard that Garland Grange has closed and returned its charter. While there aren’t too many, Valley Grange is inviting Garland Members to move their membership to us. While we certainly have our challenges, we continue to serve our communities and hope to keep our hall open through the winter months. Once we know who may join us from Garland, we will update our membership directory and make it available. Please make sure we have current information about you!
Dictionary Days are coming soon! We’ll soon be contacting the schools for third-grade census numbers so we can order dictionaries! It’s still a bit early to predict how deliveries will be accomplished this year—we’re hoping to be able to return to field trips to the hall and personal visits to the schools. I’d estimate that we’ll need at least nine cases of dictionaries this year. We all are familiar with inflation, so it’s not a surprise that the price has increased again this year, and we will likely need over $800 to continue the program. As a reminder, we typically supply over 200 third graders in Guilford, Harmony, Dexter, Dover Foxcroft, and Brownville.
Of course, in conjunction with delivering dictionaries, our Blistered Finger Knitters make hats and mittens, and we will continue the “Sock it to Us” program we started last year.
I’ve had several inquiries about our Bookworming Program at Piscataquis Community School in Guilford. We’re hopeful, but it’s too early to declare whether or not we’ll be able to schedule those important visits with second and third-graders.
They don’t mail well, but I hope you have your “I love Valley Grange” pin! Between River Festival and our booth at the Piscataquis Valley Fair, we don’t have a lot left! People do love Valley Grange, and that’s one reason we’re able to support our communities! While some of our programs have been temporarily suspended due to COVID mandates and restrictions, many continue, and we always seek opportunities to serve.
Please consider a pledge to attend at least one Valley Grange event or meeting before the calendar year-end. While we have financial challenges, our greatest need is participation in our events and meetings. Here are some potential opportunities. More may be added.
Friday, September 16, 2022, potluck supper at 6 pm and meeting/program at 7 pm. Don’t forget to bring PB & J. (I thought about PB & J sandwiches instead of a potluck, but we’ll want to get as much as possible for Bangor Savings Bank. By the way, the Bank matches donations, so for every jar we donate, they add one!) Our program this night will include a discussion of resolutions to be considered at the state session in October.
Thursday, October 6, 2022, Piscataquis Pomona Meeting at 7 pm. We’ve discontinued the meal, but snacks and desserts are provided! You do not need to be a Pomona Member to attend… Pomona Lecturer Dave Pearson always has an interesting and fun program to offer!
Friday, October 21, 2022, potluck supper at 6 pm and meeting/program at 7 pm. Program to be announced, but we usually hear a short report of what happened at the MSG Convention, including new programs and contests.
Friday, November 16, 2022, potluck supper at 6 pm and meeting/program at 7 pm. Last chance to purchase raffle tickets (be sure to bring any you’ve sold to the meeting)! While plans are still being made, this will include something special in the form of an “open house” or the old-fashioned “booster night” when we celebrate the existence of our Grange! We also tend to extend a special invitation to the families of children receiving dictionaries.
Friday, December 2, 2022, fellowship breakfast for supper at 6 pm, holiday program at 7 pm. Neighboring Granges and friends are invited to join us for a warm evening of breakfast and fellowship. You can come in your jammies if you’d like!
And, by the way, dues are due in December! As postage costs continue to increase, reducing mailings becomes just one of the ways we try to be good stewards. Please ensure we have up-to-date contact information for you—especially an email address if you are actively using it!
As most of you know, I also serve as Communications Director for the Maine State Grange. I recently kicked off a program at the state level that collects “testimonials”— one or two sentences about why members love the Grange. If you’d like to participate, just go to the Maine State Grange website. There’s a link (red button) near the top that opens a simple form to collect your contribution. You actually don’t have to be a member to love the Grange!
However you’ve chosen to help Valley Grange and our communities, thank you! As always, if you have any questions, concerns or ideas, please let us know. Don’t underestimate your role and contribution. Everything and everyone helps!
Piscataquis Pomona and Valley Grange Show Their Stuff
Valley Grange DisplayPiscataquis Pomona Display
Folks attending the Piscataquis Valley Fair found two Grange Booths to admire and study. The Valley Grange Booth demonstrated what it takes to get wool from “sheep to shawl” and how members use those skills to benefit their communities. The Piscataquis Pomona Display focused on general Grange information such as who we are and what we are about. It included some of our Grange Heirlooms!
The Parkman Grange will be hosting a Daddy Daughter Dance on Friday, August 12, 2022, from 6-8 PM. Young ladies 13 and under are invited to come with their dad or an important adult in their life if their dad is unable to attend. Admission is $5 per person at the door. DJ Steve Brody will be spinning tunes and having dance contests, including the twist, funky chicken, and freestyle. Light refreshments will be served, door prizes given away, and a keepsake photo taken to remember the evening. Put on your dancing shoes and come enjoy a fun time!
Parkman Grange is located at the corner of State HWY 150 and North Dexter Road. For more info, call Sue Manchester 207 277-3942
Sunday, July 24, 2022 at 11:00 am 144 Oakland Road, Fairfield Center, Maine
Victor Grange is located in Fairfield, Maine
After 122 years, we are finally in a financial position to have all the first-level hardwood floors sanded and refinished! We need to move all tables and chairs into a box trailer for a week while this is being accomplished–the first time since 1899!
We would love to have 20 or so people to make things easier and faster. It shouldn’t take more than a couple of hours. In this heat and humidity, extra help will be critical. With enough help, we hope to form a line similar to a “bucket brigade” and pass the items along until finished. It sounds like a big task (you don’t want to count the number of chairs–although somebody probably will), but we can do it, and it certainly will be worth it in the end.
Got kids? Make it a family affair!
Call 453-9476 for more information.
Stay hydrated and take breaks!
Webmaster’s note: As I was preparing this for posting, for some reason, I thought of “This sounds like a job for…” (I think that’s from some superhero show or cartoon.) Some may remember a time when this would have been a Pomona Project–Granges helping each other. That’s still valid and possible, but this is also a community event! Are there some other community organizations in the area that can rally with a 24-hour notice? A softball team? fire department auxilary? book club? motorcycle club? Call somebody you know and show up tomorrow at the Victor Grange Hall! Be part of the “we” in “we can do it.”
The Parkman Grange is pleased to announce its 2022 Minnie Welts Bridge Scholarship winners. They are Mercy Harper, Sangerville, a Criminal Justice major at Husson University, and Eben Cooley, Parkman, a Marine Engineering Technology major at Maine Maritime Academy. Both will receive awards of $500. Although the Grange normally announces and awards winners at the Annual Scholarship Supper, this year the awards will be presented at the Parkman Grange Bean Supper on Saturday, July 23, 2022, in conjunction with the Parkman Bicentennial Celebration. The Supper runs from 4:00 to 5:30 or when the food runs out. The meal is by donation. Please come and enjoy the good food and good fun.
Minnie Bridge (1909-2011) was a lifelong resident of Parkman, a retired schoolteacher, and a life member of the Parkman Grange. In her memory, the Grange established the Minnie Welts Bridge Memorial Scholarship Fund to benefit deserving Parkman students continuing their education beyond high school. The Grange annually awards one or more scholarships funded through donations and the proceeds from an annual Supper in Minnie’s name. Last year, at the height of the Pandemic, there were no applicants and no awards made. This year applications were opened to all residents of MSAD#4. With these new awards, the Grange has awarded $13,000 since 2012.
Note that the next big Parkman Grange event will be the annual Daddy-Daughter Dance at the Grange Hall on Friday, August 12, 2022, from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. All Daddies, with their young ladies, age 13 and under, are invited. DJ Steve Boddy will be spinning the tunes. There will be dance contests, door prizes, light refreshments, and a keepsake photo. Young ladies whose dads are unable to come are encouraged to come with an important adult in their life. The cost is $5 per person, at the door. Plans are being discussed for a mother-son and/or family dance in the future.
Both the Supper and the Dance are at the Grange Hall located at the corner of State Hwy 150 and North Dexter Rd. For more information about these or any other Parkman Grange events, please contact Sue Manchester at 277-3942.
The Fourth of July – also known as Independence Day or July 4th – has been a federal holiday in the United States since 1941, but the tradition of Independence Day celebrations goes back to the 18th century and the American Revolutionary War.
On July 2nd, 1776, the Second Continental Congress voted in favor of independence, and two days later delegates from the 13 colonies adopted the Declaration of Independence, a historic document drafted by Thomas Jefferson.
The Declaration of Independence allowed Congress to seek alliances with foreign countries, and the fledgling U.S. formed its most important alliance early in 1778 with France. Without France’s support, America might well have lost the Revolutionary War. The war waged by the American colonies against Britain, which began more than a year earlier in April 1775 at Lexington and Concord near Boston and ended at Yorktown, Virginia in 1781 when British forces surrendered, had far-reaching effects around the globe as other nations saw a small novel nation win its freedom from the greatest military force of its time.
From 1776 to the present day, July 4th has been celebrated as the birth of American independence, with festivities ranging from fireworks, parades and concerts to more casual family gatherings and barbecues.
This article is reprinted with permission from an e-newsletter published by Paul Davis, State Senator for District 4.
The members of the Seaside Grange #567 of Corea will hold their annual Rummage & Bake Sale on Saturday, July 9, 2022, from 9 AM to Noon at the Grange Hall, 64 Crowley Island Road, Corea, Maine.
In addition to scrumptious baked goods, this year’s sale includes lots of great furniture, household items, artwork, antiques, craft supplies, toys, puzzles, and plants, plus a clothing boutique and a Silent Auction of special treasures! Proceeds from the sale help to cover Grange expenses and a portion will be reserved to support local charities. Inquiries to Seasidegrange@gmail.com
Some may remember that we posted this story in the past… “Taps Across America” started in 2020 and continues to grow… a short opportunity to remember and reflect!
What are you doing on Monday, May 30, 2022, at 3 pm?
