Scholarship season is fast approaching! As you may know, we have a whole page of Grange Scholarship information in Maine on the website. It’s time to update that information and confirm everything is accurate. The page offers information about state-level scholarships as well as local.
We’ll start by inviting any Granges offering scholarships to submit their information if they haven’t already. Visit the page to see the format. We try to keep things simple. If you have information and an application available as a document, we can host and link to it-a new service we’re offering this year. Thanks to Mill Stream Grange for getting us started!
I recently met and talked with some Maine representatives of FFA (Future Farmers of America) about mutual interests. They were very interested in ag-related scholarships for obvious reasons. Let’s get the word out there!
“Many a small thing has been made large by the right kind of advertising.”
The picture doesn’t do it justice! It barely fit in the scanner. It came from fifth-grade students and teachers at Ridgeview Community School in Dexter. The inside was filled with signatures, hearts, and the message, “Thank you for donating warm gear for us to wear outside this winter.”
We love our kids!
And we thank our Blistered Finger Knitters for making it possible to do this in our area schools. Remember, you don’t have to be a Grange Member to help! We’ll even provide the yarn, thanks to the donations we’ve received from our supporters. Contact Mary Annis (564-0820) or Pat Engstrom (564-8290) for more information.
I want to put out a big thank you on behalf of everyone at the ENSO recovery sober living houses. We were without one of the most popular AA meetings in the area. The church that held a very important Saturday night meeting was sold, and the AA community was having trouble finding a place to hold that meeting. All of us here at Enso were pretty bummed when the meeting was closed. We found out this week that the Grange Building in Augusta would be the new spot for Saturday night serenity. It is a wonderful spot and within walking distance. Our first meeting at the Grange was wonderful. I want to thank you all who made this possible by allowing the AA community to use your building. Thank you so very much.
Chris
What about you?
Do you love the Grange? Can you explain what’s great about being a member? It only takes a minute to click the button and tell the world!
Our resource pages are officially available! We’d hoped to have an interview available but experienced some complications and didn’t want to wait!
There are still a few items we’re finishing up, but you’ll find plenty you can use. We have sample labels, helpful documents such as press releases and parent letters, emails you can use with teachers, and an easy way to get your customized Words for Thirds Logo.
There’s still time! Ocean View Grange in Port Clyde is planning to visit their third graders next week! Master Larry Bailey and Chaplain Terry Bomba have the distinct honor of handing out the dictionaries and seeing the kids get “wound up.”
We’re working on more resources and ideas. If you need or want something that we haven’t thought of, let me know. I’d love to help your Grange put some dictionaries and all the words in them in the hands of your local third-graders!
Our state is in for some bitterly cold temperatures early next week. In some areas, wind chill factors will reach 20 – 30 degrees below zero. Stay safe!
If your Grange plans to open your hall as a warming center, PLEASE let us know. You can use the submit information tab on the website or send me an email. I will get the information posted quickly in a “Facebook Friendly” way that will make it easy for the information to be shared.
At a minimum, include your Grange’s name, location (street address and/or directions), and any details such as the hours open, etc.
By Brenda Dyer, MSG Community Service/FHH Director (207) 608-9193
Happy 2025! Attending the 2025 Northeast Leaders Conference was very informative and educational. There are some changes being made to the Community Service Notebooks for this year.
Notebooks will be a maximum of ten pages. This means five sheets of paper double-sided.
Pages 1&2 Grange picture and Grange #, brief description of Community Service
Pages 3&4, 5&6 will include the top three projects
Pages 7&8, 9 are included if needed
Page 10 should be a summary page.
Remember, only five pages total. Use both sides. Less pages is fine. Use both sides. Judging is on content, not appearance.
The National Grange Community Service Project is Conservation. More information, including ideas for projects, will be coming soon!
You’re probably aware of our new resource page(s) for the Words for Thirds Program. We’ll officially release on January 18, 2025, but it is a work in progress. Some resources, such as label templates and sample press releases, have already been accessed and used. There are still a few things “coming soon,” including an interview with Mary French, Director of the Dictionary Project. In addition to making life easier for Granges participating in Words for Thirds, we are determined to get more Granges in-terested in the program. As most know, I have been directing Valley Grange’s program for close to twenty years and I’m excited and happy to work with and assist Granges who are interested!
I’ve recently been working with the AARP Fraud Watch Network to add another resource to the MSG Website. We’ll post a weekly Fraud Watch Alert on specific types of fraud and scams. These will serve a dual purpose. First, Grangers will have access to concise information for their use. Second, the information can be used in lecturer’s programs and as FHH reports. As a bonus, these posts will have buttons at the bottom, making it easy to share them on social media or by email. Links are also provided, giving access to an AARP speakers’ bureau.
(Speaking of scams, stay suspicious! I’ve personally been getting hit with a lot of phony emails that look like they are from companies like United Health Care, Bitdefender Support, PayPal, Delta Airlines, FedEx, etc. They often are identified as “FW” (forwarded) in the subject line. Most have an attachment (which I do not open) and an offer of something free. When in doubt, don’t!)
The underlying development for the Words for Thirds Resources and AARP Fraud Watch Alerts is a more structured editorial plan for the website. We want the site to be resource-rich, engaging, and useful. As a reminder, every member is a reporter and potential contributor. Submit your news and events, but don’t hesitate to go beyond that. If you’re a lecturer, consider submitting your program ideas and tips. Tell us about your Community Service activities or how your Grange is improving Family Health and Hearing. Thanks to several “reporters,” we’re now working on some information regarding Grange Hall insurance that will be shared soon. I can’t do these things alone. That’s one reason I’ve adopted the slogan, “We’re Grangers. We help each other.”
► FACT: In the past week, the most visited posts and pages were the Grange Directory, Program Books and Information, Words for Thirds Resource Page, and Grange Scholarships.
The Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation, and Forestry is reaching out to businesses for help completing a survey. They intend to use the results to advocate for disaster aid to address weather-related challenges.
“In late December 2024, Congress allocated $220 million in disaster relief funds for New England states, in addition to Alaska, and Hawaii, to offset some of the losses experienced by agriculture and timber producers due to extreme weather events in 2023 and 2024. The USDA will determine how these funds are distributed, and Maine’s share will depend on estimated losses.”
The survey is described as entirely anonymous. For more information and to complete the survey:
Going forward in the new year, let us remember to be kind to one another, spreading love, joy, happiness, and faith. Let us have faith enough so we can hope for anything we want. Why not hope for kindness, joy, happiness, and love?
Being kind to one another is showing love.
“And now abideth faith, hope, and love, but the greatest of these is love.”
