Tag: Grange Advocacy

Shaking Hands with FFA

The Grange and FFA share many things in common and that means we have an opportunity to help each other. FFA member Delaney McKeen joined us to explore!

An interview with FFA member Delaney McKeen exploring some comparisons between it and the Grange. It’s not trite to say that “this is not your grandparents’ FFA.” You’ll be surprised at how and why the FFA continues to grow and develop–and in some ways, Granges and other organizations can both benefit and help.

Due to a bit of a snafu, this video truly features Delaney–my portions were not captured visually. I assure you I was there virtually! For more information, visit the FFA website or send us an email, and we’ll give you a hand.

A Dynamic Duo

Mill Stream Grange in Vienna has a dynamic duo of Junior Grangers! If you’ve been following recent posts, you may have noticed them.

Natalie proudly displays her well-deserved awards.

Natalie Heck recently received the Passion to Progress Award, bestowed through the Maine Academic Scholarship Pageant and presented by Rosie Haibon, USA Ambassador Miss.  The award is based on her essay regarding volunteering at the Mount Vernon Food Bank this past year. Natalie also earned the Crossroads Leadership Volunteer Service Award for completing 50+ hours of community service during her reign as 2025 Miss Western Maine Pre-Teen.

We were pleased to recently feature her as a guest columnist with her award-winning Passion to Progress Essay.

Caroline and Project Advisor Jill Sampson are collecting books.

Natalie’s sister Caroline is equally ambitious and community service-minded. Caroline is working on an outreach program to raise awareness of the importance of childhood literacy. The project includes building and placing a Little Free Library TM at the Mill Stream Grange Hall. Her outreach includes designing a bookmark with statistics and facts about the importance of reading to children. These will be printed and shared locally through her Girl Scout Troop and Service Unit, in the pre-K classrooms at Mount Vernon and Cape Cod Hill elementary schools, and in Mill Stream’s Words for Thirds.

She has already collected 203 books, a mix of board books, picture books, early chapter books, and middle-grade novels, all donated by the local community. If you’d like to support Caroline’s outreach program, contact her Mom, Kirstine Heck, or visit the Vienna, Maine, Mill Stream Grange Facebook Group.

Both girls demonstrate the value and power that come from collaborating with like-minded organizations. Energy creates energy. We are grateful and proud of their efforts and accomplishments.

A third Junior Granger, Sam Hanley, recently became an adult member and will surely continue to support his friends and the community. Earlier this summer, these Junior Grangers and another friend organized a Coastal Clean-Up that brought people together to clean the banks of the Mill Stream, which gives the Grange its name. They know how much fun Community Service can be! Maybe we should all find some kids to hang around with!

Valley Grange Dictionary Day Schedule

Valley Grange #144 of Guilford recently announced the schedule for its 2025 Words for Thirds Dictionary Project. The local Grange’s program is in its 21st year and has provided over 4,000 dictionaries to third-grade students in four area school districts. The presentations include some Grange history and an introduction to some basic dictionary skills.

Valley Grange Program Director Walter Boomsma notes, “In this age of technology, it’s inspiring to see the kids’ enthusiasm when getting their very own paper dictionary.” He also noted that a recent newsletter from the Dictionary Project reported that Sweden has shifted its emphasis from electronics back to “real” books, after seeing its fourth-grade reading scores tank.

“We’ve always said that third grade marks a critical difference. In earlier grades, students are learning to read. In third grade, they start reading to learn.”

Grange teams will be visiting SeDoMoCha Elementary in Dover Foxcroft on November 3rd, Ridgeview Elementary on November 5th, Brownville Elementary on November 10th, Harmony Elementary on November 12th, and Piscataquis Community Elementary on November 13th.

Boomsma notes that he particularly enjoys introducing the students to the word “steward” because it emphasizes the importance of making good use of resources, as well as the title of an officer in every Grange. “We challenge them to make good use of their new dictionaries and love hearing their ideas for how they will do that.”

Valley Grange President Jim Annis says, “For many kids, getting their dictionary is a rite of passage.” He loves telling the story of meeting two third graders who explained to him that this is the year they get their dictionaries. Last year, a student at Ridgeview expressed surprise that he was receiving a gift, even though it wasn’t his birthday.

Happy Dictionary Day!

Veterans at State Session

submitted by Terry LaCombe Stevens

Veterans attending the 151st Maine State Grange Session were honored by Chaplain Christine Hebert and gathered for a photo.

Grange Libraries Take Different Forms

By Walter Boomsma, MSG Communications Director

Did you know that for many years, Granges often maintained a library of books available to members? I suspect some still do! Well, here are some ideas that will drive traffic to your Grange Hall and, more importantly, make your Grange more relevant to your community.

Little Fee Libraries (LFL)

The first is inspired by Caroline Heck, Junior Granger from Mill Stream Grange #574. Caroline is working on her Girl Scout Silver Award to raise awareness of the importance of childhood literacy. Her project includes building and placing a Little Fee Library™ (LFL) at the Grange and informing the community of the importance of access to books in early childhood. Master Jill Sampson is her Project Advisor. She has already collected 203 books, a mix of board books, picture books, early chapter books, and middle-grade novels, all donated by the local community. She’s scouted a location at the hall for placement: out front at the edge of the flower bed where it meets the parking lot, so it will be safe from the plow but always accessible.

Book Exchange Boxes (BEB)

Ocean View Grange’s “Book Exchange Box” is ready for action.

Ocean View Grange in Port Clyde went from an idea to completion quickly. The idea came from someone who has a bit of a hobby of filling area libraries, and she suggested the Grange would make a great location! The idea truly took on a life of its own. Interestingly, much of the work that went into the project was completed by folks who are not Grange members. Yet. The entire project was accomplished from start to finish in a matter of weeks!

(Just to clarify, an outside library cannot be considered an LFL until registered and assigned someone–a steward–to monitor and maintain the box.)

Granges in Maine Book Exchange Program

Several other Granges have different programs and approaches, and the MSG Communications Department wants to help! We’re pleased to announce that we’ve created a BEB Resource Section on the website for Granges who are interested in or operating a Book Exchange Program.

The section includes more information on creating a Little Fee Library™ or Book Exchange Box, a comprehensive list of potential sources of free books, document templates… it will always be under construction, so please share your ideas and experiences. And let us know how we can help!

CWA Report – October 2025

By Margaret Henderson, Director
Committee on Women’s Activities
207 948-2762

Committee on Women’s Activities

Here is a list of the winners from the contests that were judged in August:

  • Class A: Afghans: Hannah Bureood
  • Class B: Doilies: Sally Schofield
  • Class C: Embroidery: Gail  Butterfield
  • Class D: 3 Piece Baby Set: Rosanna Starks
  • Class E: Plastic Canvas: Elmira Collins
  • Class F: Counted Cross Stitch: Elmira Collins
  • Class G: Adult Garment: Rosanna Starks
  • Class I: Quilted Wall Hanging: Rachel Nelson
  • Class J: Stuffed Toy: Isabel Stinson
  • Class K: Baby Afghan: Elmira Collins
  • Class L: Children’s Garment: Ann Burns
  • Class M: Table Runner: Kathy Gowen
  • Class N: Miscellaneous: Rosanna Starks
  • Class O: Decorated Item: Rachel Nelson
  • Class P: Wooden Item: Phillip Parsons
  • Class Q: Sewing: Karen McCarrick
  • Quilts: Class B: Machine Quilted: Kathy Gowen
  • Quilts: Class C: Hand Tied: Grace O’Brien
  • Quilts: Class D: Pieced by Entrant, quilted by someone else: Karen McCarrick
  • Quilts: Class E: Baby Quilts: Jackie Morgan
  • Baking: Women: Anne Staples
  • Baking: Men: Clay Collins
  • Baking: Youth: Portia Zaccadelli

A big thank you to all of my committee members for all of their help. It was awesome to see all of the wonderful entries. Thank you to everyone who enters to keep these contests going. I hope to see many of you at State Grange Session.

Passion to Progress

By Mill Stream Junior Granger Natalie Heck

My Girl Scout troop, 2096, makes birthday bags every year for Juliette Gordon Low’s birthday. This is a project we have been doing for eight years. We make birthday bags for people who don’t have enough money to have a nice birthday party for a loved one. We put cake mix, frosting, sprinkles, candles, paper plates, and napkins in the bags. Then we take them to the food bank. The people who volunteer at the food bank say that their customers really appreciate the birthday bags. It makes me happy to know that maybe a little girl or boy is having a nice birthday when they might not have been able to otherwise. This project inspired me to volunteer in person.

On March 15, 2025, I spent my morning working in the food bank at the First Baptist Church in Mount Vernon, Maine. The food bank serves my neighbors here in Vienna and Mount Vernon, as well as the surrounding communities. My mama helped me reach out to food bank volunteers and get permission to come in and help. We arrived at 8:00AM and helped carry all the fresh food into the building that had been donated by Hannaford. I helped sort fruits and vegetables and baked goods onto tables, and some canned goods onto shelves. When the food bank opened, I helped people find what they needed and packed it into bags for them.

In between customers, I interacted with the other volunteers and talked about my pageant experience. I helped make toiletry bags, and split bulk toilet paper packages into smaller bundles. At one point, I saw one of our Girl Scout birthday bags go home with a family. I felt really proud that I was helping people, and that I knew our kits were being taken.

I completed over fifty hours of community service this year, but this was my favorite because I felt active in my community. I was sad that so many people need help but felt happy that I was able to make a difference. I think the Mount Vernon Food Bank is very important to the people in this area. A lot of the community seems to rely on it.

I would like to be able to give my time to work there again in the future. My whole Girl Scout troop is going to volunteer at the food bank in November to help with Thanksgiving boxes, and I hope to be able to help independently again soon.

Natalie Heck is an active Junior 1+ Granger from Mill Stream Grange in Vienna.  She recently received the Passion to Progress Award for this essay, which describes her volunteering experience at the Mount Vernon Food Bank. While it focuses on her work with her Girl Scout Troop, she and her sister, Caroline, are amazing Junior 1+ Grangers who certainly have a passion for progress in community service.

Citizens’ Guide to November Referendum

Reprinted with permission from an enewsletter published by Maine Senator Stacey Guerin.

On Nov 4, 2025, voters will have the opportunity to decide on local candidates seeking public office and the fate of two questions appearing on this year’s ballot

For each referendum election, the Department of the Secretary of State (SOS) publishes a voter guide with the full text of the laws proposed in the referenda.

The full citizens’ guide can be found here.

Elections will be held for various city, town and school board officials. Ballots in some municipalities may also have questions regarding county or local initiatives. Absentee voting across the state began on Monday, Oct.6. To obtain an absentee ballot or for more information about early voting, you can contact your local town office or request an absentee ballot online. If you need information regarding Maine Election Law or have election-related questions, please visit the Secretary of State’s website or contact them by phone at 207-624-7736. 

What’s Your Sign?

Where’s your sign? What condition is it in? So many possible questions! Signs are a form of communication that we often overlook or fail to notice. Here’s one situation where that’s not the case!

Trenton Grange #550 is seeking quotes for a new sign. Since Grangers help each other, they are seeking recommendations and leads to signmakers who might be interested. You can comment on this post or contact Emily at Trenton Grange for further details or your suggestions. Or, better yet, if you’re in the area, Trenton Grange meets on the third Thursday of each month at 7 pm. The hall is located at 1136 Bar Harbor Road.

Words for Thirds Recognition

The Dictionary Project recently recognized Valley Grange‘s Words for Thirds Project in their “Word of the Day” newsletter. The Word of the Day was “excel.” We strive to do so, and we encourage our students to do the same.

By the way, the dictionaries for this year are arriving today! Dictionary Days are coming soon to Brownville, Harmony, Piscataquis Community, Ridgeview, and SeDoMoCha Elementary Schools.

Photo and quotes from a WABI-TV 5 News Report.

Visit the MSG Words for Thirds Resource Page to learn how your Grange can do this!