Tag: Grange Procedure

President’s Perspective – September 2025

By Sherry Harriman,
Maine State Grange President/Master
207 490-1029

The full election of officers for the Maine State Grange will take place on Saturday, October 18.

Any Grange member in good standing may be elected to a State Office. Your dues must be paid up to date in your own Subordinate Grange and Pomona Grange.

During the election process, one of the voting delegates must present the name of the prospective person for that particular office. You may not present your own name, and there will be no speeches or campaigning. The voting delegates then vote on their choice, by written ballot, from the names presented, or by writing another name on the ballot; the majority of the ballots cast elects the officer. If your name is presented for an office, you may decline without giving a reason if you choose to.

Who may vote at the Annual State Grange Session?

The Delegates are those members selected by the vote of their Subordinate or Pomona Granges to represent their Grange and vote on issues and elections. The Grange dues must be paid up to date at the time of the State session in order for your delegates to be entitled to vote. Each Grange may send two members as delegates and may select two alternates as well. The names of the two delegates and two alternates must be registered with the State Grange Secretary on a form provided. No other persons may be substituted to vote as delegates if they are not on the registration form. (Emergency changes may be made by phone or email prior to opening of the session.) A member may only represent one Subordinate Grange and/or one Pomona Grange.

Custodial Accounts held by Maine State Grange

We are holding funds for several Granges with our State Grange accounts. Also, several Granges have merged over the past few years, and the NET proceeds from the sale of the closed property are held in a “Custodial Account” on behalf of the consolidated Grange for their use for repairs and upgrades to their present hall and property. To get these funds for use, you must submit written estimates from a contractor, on their letterhead or billing invoice: describing the work to be done, listing materials, estimated hours, and terms of the contract – including deposit amount, payment expectations, and expected work dates, etc. This written estimate and information must be sent to the Maine State Grange office, either by email or standard mail, for my review and acceptance. Then it will be passed on to the State Treasurer for issue of the check(s). The check(s) will be made out to the contractor and mailed to the Secretary of the Grange or other designated person of the Grange. Upon completion of the work, the payment request must go through the Maine State Grange in the same manner. Each time you need more funds for repairs or work to be done, the same process must be followed. If these funds are in a CD, there may be a fee to withdraw funds before the maturity date of the CD.    Net Proceeds: After the sale of property there are charges taken out of the gross or total sale price: Realtor Commission(s) vary according to the contract; State closing costs; Attorney fees for deed transfers and other pertinent paperwork; State Corporation fees; insurance coverage; utilities, if applicable and any other costs associated with the property before and after the final sale. The Maine State Grange does not use your money except as it is associated with the property. Maine State Grange does not charge a custodial fee – even though we could. We are not trying to keep you from your funds, but ensuring they are used as intended and in accordance with the By-Laws of the National and State Granges.

Communication Shorts 9-1-2025

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!

September Bulletin

Deadline for this month’s Bulletin is September 14th. Recent issues of the Bulletin can be found on the Program Books and Information Page in the communications section.

An Annual Report?

It’s the end of the Grange Year. Certain State Officers and Directors are expected to file an annual report of their activities and accomplishments. (We’ll be publishing them on the site as they are received.) Have you considered putting one together for your Grange? You can think of your communities as your stockholders. Let them know what you have done this year!

Dates and Deadlines

Fall is coming. Some might say it’s already here. With the start of another Grange Fiscal Year, essential dates and deadlines abound! ODDs Note: Annual Reports and Program Books are due soon!

Annual Purge Continues

We’re removing dated information from the website. This includes documents, posts, and photos. While some things are considered timeless, a general policy is to remove items that are more than two years old.

Think About This!

“The more I want to get something done, the less I call it work.”

Richard Bach

An Idea for Your Grange

It’s time to start thinking about Words for Thirds! And it’s not too early to think about Holiday Craft Fairs.

Subscribe!

Remember, we don’t share your email address with anyone, and you get a weekly summary of what’s been posted. Subscribe here! Share that link with your members!

Online Directories Available 24-7

Thanks to those who help us keep these directories current by letting us know of changes!

  • 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 frequently consult these directories.
  • The ODD Directory features all state officers, directors, and deputies, along with their contact information.

Grange Today! 8-22-2025

The Newsletter of the National Grange

Articles in this edition include:

  • National Grange Awards $40,000 in Rural Life Initiative Grants
  • 2025 National Grange Contest & Program Deadlines
  • Support Grange Youth and Juniors with a Custom Cruise Door Hanger!
  • View from the Hill
  • Saving a Slice of History
  • 7 Things Doctors Wish Families Knew This Back-to-School Season
  • Your Voice Matters: Help Protect Rural Kidney Patients
  • This National Immunization Awareness Month, Protect Your Health — So You Don’t Miss the Moments That Matter
  • Have you Registered?
  • You could be chosen to take part in the closing of National Grange session this November
  • Recipes from the Heartland
  • Be a Grange or State President in Action!
  • Grange Benefit: Wyndham Hotels
  • Grange Store

Click the button below to read and/or subscribe to Grange Today!

Read THE Current Issue
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.

Communication Shorts 8-16-2025

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!

August Bulletin

The August Bulletin is finished and will be mailed soon. Recent issues of the Bulletin can be found on the Program Books and Information Page in the communications section.

Having a Raffle?

Raffles (gambling) are heavily regulated, and licensing is required! That’s easy to forget when fundraising because Granges usually fall under some exceptions provided in Maine Law. One exception is raffles where the prizes are less than $2,500. A second exception involves “certain organizations,” including “an agricultural society.” It can get complicated, particularly if the raffle is conducted as an “internet raffle.” While we, MSG, will promote your raffle, we are not assuming responsibility for meeting these legal requirements.

Dates and Deadlines

Fall is coming. Some might say it’s already here. With the start of another Grange Fiscal Year, essential dates and deadlines abound! Just one example is that roster information is now due!

Annual Purge Begins

We’ve already started removing dated information from the website. This includes documents, posts, and photos. While some things are considered timeless, a general policy is to remove items that are more than two years old.

Think About This!

“Act as if what you do makes a difference. It does.”

William James

An Idea for Your Grange

We are currently drafting a resource and information page about establishing Little Free Libraries at Grange Halls. If you have one or are interested, please let us know!

Subscribe!

Remember, we don’t share your email address with anyone, and you get a weekly summary of what’s been posted. Subscribe here! Share that link with your members!

Online Directories Available 24-7

Thanks to those who help us keep these directories current by letting us know of changes!

  • 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.
  • The ODD Directory features all state officers, directors, and deputies with contact information.

Communications Column – August 2025

By Walter Boomsma
207 343-1842
Communications Director

How are you communicating?

A Grange “brother” recently reached out by email, and we had an interesting “conversation” with a series of back and forth. He admitted that he was not spending much time on Facebook as he was “tired of the rants and stuff and knowing that everything I wrote was data that Zuckerberg would sell.” We commiserated briefly.

Facebook is probably one of the least understood communication vehicles we have available. It, and social media in general, serve some useful purposes—one reason these platforms have been so readily adopted. Since this is about and for Grangers, I think it raises some important questions.

In  my not-scientific study, most Grangers I know who use social media do so to “stay in touch with family.” I might fall into this category. I try to ignore the “rants and stuff,” including the many ads, sponsored posts, and outright scam attempts. Given my role as MSG Communications Director and naturally curious nature, I wonder how many Grangers have social media accounts. Again, it’s not very scientific, but I know that most of Valley Grange’s members do not have a Facebook account. We (Valley Grange) do have a Facebook Page, but we do not rely on it to communicate. If we only communicated on Facebook, most of our members would be ignored.

My marketing mind would love objective demographic data, What percentage of Grangers are active on social media? A broader question would be, “What percentage of people likely to become members are active on social media?”

Given the rapid advances in technology, the data would almost immediately become somewhat obsolete. Nearly two years ago, Instagram introduced a feature called “threads” that allows users to create text-based conversations. This could make your eyes glaze over because Meta owns both Instagram and Facebook. Let’s not go there.

One important aspect of social media is that the platform tries to figure out your interests and decides what you should see. Equally important, you are the product, not the beneficiary. As my Grange brother noted, Zuckerberg is selling that data to advertisers and, more recently, using it in the runaway development of AI (artificial intelligence).

This is not an attack on social media. It is an attempt to encourage perspective among Granges and Grangers. I know posting events and information on Facebook is easy, and doing so can create a sense of accomplishment. But what have you truly accomplished?

Once a year, I “audit” any Facebook Pages or Groups I’m aware of or stumble upon. You might be surprised at how many of those are for Granges that no longer exist. You might also be surprised that, for some, where the Granges still exist, nothing has been posted for a year or two. The only action I can take is to eliminate any reference to the defunct page on the MSG Website. (I will advise the Grange involved.) I also occasionally discover inappropriate posts on individual pages and groups.

We could, and probably should, revisit the Grange’s social media policy. But for now, let’s get thinking about how we are communicating with members and potential members.

An important reality is that it is relatively easy to move information from the MSG Website to Social Media. Moving in the other direction is almost impossible. (And, remember, Facebook decides whether or not I get to see the information you have posted.) There are several methods for submitting your news and information to the site. More about that later. Once we have it on the site, you can share it on Facebook with a couple of mouse clicks.

A secondary reality is that when you submit events and news to the website, we offer a degree of quality control. I recently stumbled on a Grange Facebook post full of spelling and grammatical errors, not exactly an example of putting our best foot forward. Perhaps even more importantly, we check for missing information. In fact, if you submit using the website itself, you fill out a form that asks for the specific details. If time permits, I will also assist with flyers, etc. We’re Grangers. We help each other!

Enjoy social media, just keep it in perspective. When you’re planning an event (or have had one and want to share the news) make sure someone is assigned the task of submitting them to your MSG website!

► FACT: The Communications Department of one has a goal that email and voice mail will be replied to within 24-48 hours.

Communication Short – Secretary’s Report

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!

Addition, Secretary’s Report

For some reason, (Grange Gremlins?) a portion of the August Secretary’s Report was missing from the post! It has been corrected and is included here.

Clear and timely communication with Grange members, officers, and committees is essential.  Sending out meeting notices, reminders, and reports ensures that everyone stays informed.

The secretary is responsible for preparing and submitting Quarterly reports to the State Grange on time. (September 30th, December 31st , March 31st and June 30th )  Your report will not be considered late if postmarked on or before the 15th of the month following the quarter it is due.  Remember that there is a $5.00 late fee to be included with such report if postmarked after the 15th.  It is extremely important that you keep the State Grange informed of any changes in membership, addresses, phone numbers and email addresses.

As your State Secretary I appreciate your dedication to being secretary in your Community/Subordinate and Pomona Granges. 

Have a safe and enjoyable remainder of the summer season and will see you all soon.

Our apologies! You can also read the entire report here!

Grange Today! 8-8-2025

The Newsletter of the National Grange

Articles in this edition include:

  • Long Branch Community Grange hosts “Touch-A-Truck” Kids’ Day
  • Grange Heirloom for August
  • Commentary: Let No One Underestimate the Value of a Rural Story
  • Are you a Grange in Action?
  • State Presidents urged to take “Action”
  • Your Voice Matters: Help Protect Rural Kidney Patients
  • 2025 National Grange Contest & Program Deadlines
  • Support Grange Youth and Juniors with a Custom Cruise Door Hanger!
  • Donate to the Grange Foundation for a special opportunity
  • Recipes from the Heartland
  • Grange Member Benefit: Pharmacy Discounts
  • Grange Store: Junior Grange Pin

Click the button below to read and/or subscribe to Grange Today!

Read THE Current Issue
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.

Secretary’s Corner – August, 2025

By Sharon Morton
MSG Secretary
207 485-6197

August is the beginning of our late summer months before our State Grange Convention in October.

I am reminding all Secretaries that resolutions to be considered at our Annual Convention must be received at the State Grange postmarked no later than August 15th. 

Delegate credentials and updated State Grange Banquet information will be arriving in August with a return date no later than October 1, 2025. The delegates who will be representing your Grange must be voted on at a regular Grange meeting. The delegate credential may be mailed (preferably) to me prior to the State Session or brought to the State Session in October. Remember that your September Quarterly dues must be in the office prior to October 15th for your Grange to have representation at State Session.

The Maine State Grange currently has 76 active Community/Subordinate Granges. I have received  64 June Quarterly reports, with two of the 64 not providing a quarterly report.  There are still 12 outstanding June Quarterly Reports which I will be notifying of the lateness of their reports. As you can see, it is very hard for me to give the National Grange an accurate number of members for the State of Maine when I don’t have that information.  My report must be at National Grange no later than August 31st.  

I also need the Pomona annual reports, of which I have received 8 out of the 12 remaining Pomonas. I will note that one Pomona just elected their secretary, and I have forwarded the report to the new secretary. I am also notifying the Pomona secretary that the annual report is now due.

You may also receive a notification from the IRS regarding the filing of your 990N. Please do not respond to this letter, as I am working on the filing of all 990Ns as quickly as I can. If you would like to know how to file your own, please contact me and I will gladly try to help you navigate the IRS filing system.

The role of a Grange Secretary is vital to the success of your Grange. As the keeper of records and administrative backbone, a secretary ensures that meetings run smoothly and that members remain informed.

A Grange Secretary is responsible for keeping precise minutes of meetings, recording membership details, and preserving historical documents.

Clear and timely communication with Grange members, officers, and committees is essential.  Sending out meeting notices, reminders, and reports ensures that everyone stays informed.

The secretary is responsible for preparing and submitting Quarterly reports to the State Grange on time. (September 30th, December 31st , March 31st and June 30th )  Your report will not be considered late if postmarked on or before the 15th of the month following the quarter it is due.  Remember that there is a $5.00 late fee to be included with such report if postmarked after the 15th.  It is extremely important that you keep the State Grange informed of any changes in membership, addresses, phone numbers and email addresses.

As your State Secretary I appreciate your dedication to being secretary in your Community/Subordinate and Pomona Granges. 

Have a safe and enjoyable remainder of the summer season and will see you all soon.

President’s Perspective – August 2025

By Sherry Harriman,
Maine State Grange President/Master
207 490-1029

Roster Information is now due.

Resolutions – The August 15 deadline has arrived for resolutions to be at the office. After the 15th, delegate registration forms, meal forms, and resolutions will be mailed to each Grange.  The delegate registration form will not be posted on the website. Other State Session items have been posted. By vote of each Subordinate and Pomona Grange, you are entitled to name two Delegates and two Alternates to represent your Grange at State Session.  You must be a member of that Grange to be a delegate for them. The Grange dues must be paid up to date, through the Sept 2025 quarter, to be qualified to have delegates. An individual may only represent ONE Subordinate Grange, and may also be a delegate for their Pomona, but again, they must be voted on by the Grange.

Installation of Officers – The Installation Ceremony may be handled by each Grange on their own. Granges are required to install their officers annually, usually in September.

Annual Audit

“It shall be the duty of the Executive Committee of each Subordinate Grange to see that the books of the Secretary and Treasurer and any other funds of the Grange are audited at the end of the fiscal year.“

Maine State Grange By-Laws:  Article XXI – Subordinate Officers and Their Duties   Section 8.1

You will need the  Secretary’s Records and Secretary’s Order Book, the Treasurer’s books, checkbook, bank statements, savings book, etc., and receipt book (for funds received from the Secretary).  You compare the Secretary’s minutes and Order Book with the Treasurer’s checkbook and statements for receipts and expenditures.  All items should match between the Secretary and the Treasurer.  All Committees of the Grange, that handle funds, should also keep written records to be audited at the end of the Grange year.

Grange Behavior – There is no place in the Grange for the use of foul language, no matter what you feel the circumstances are; it is not acceptable behavior. I must stress again your Obligation you took when you joined the Grange. It states in part…  “ I will not knowingly wrong or defraud a Brother or Sister of the Order or allow it to be done by another if within my power to prevent it…”  I have had more calls from members in different areas to complain about the use of profanity during meetings and public events. Whether in a meeting, around the kitchen, or at an event, you may feel it is just words, but it is offensive to others.  Maybe you normally talk that way, or you don’t think about the words you are using.  If you feel the need to talk like that, I would suggest you go to the bar or sporting event where you will fit right in. But even those places have rules and limits, and even those places, where that talk is common, you would be asked to leave! I am sorry if you are offended by this message but it needed to said. Sadly, those who do the cursing, won’t be the ones to heed the comment.  The Master/President of the Grange has the right to ask you to leave if you are being disruptive and offensive. They also can ask you not to return.    

Communication Shorts 8-3-2025

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!

August Bulletin

Information for the August Bulletin must be submitted by Thursday, August 14, 2025. Recent issues of the Bulletin can be found on the Program Books and Information Page in the communications section.

2026 = 250

In 2026, the United States celebrates the 250th anniversary of our founding– also known as the Sesquicentennial. Will your Grange participate in some way? The Grange has certainly contributed to the growth and development of our country!

Dates and Deadlines

Fall is coming. Some might say it’s already here. With the start of another Grange Fiscal Year, essential dates and deadlines abound! Just one example is that roster information is now due!

Think About This!

“Adopt the pace of nature: Her secret is patience.”

Ralph Waldo Emerson

An Idea for Your Grange

At one time, Granges often scheduled a “Booster Night” program in the fall with an emphasis on membership growth. While the term may be passe, the idea certainly isn’t. An “open house” program might be just the ticket. It could include tours of the hall and presentations about its history. Time it for October and call it “Ghosts of the Grange.”

Subscribe!

Remember, we don’t share your email address with anyone, and you get a weekly summary of what’s been posted. Subscribe here! Share that link with your members!

Online Directories Available 24-7

Thanks to those who help us keep these directories current by letting us know of changes! With the election of officers coming up, don’t forget!

  • 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.
  • The ODD Directory features all state officers, directors, and deputies with contact information.