Tag: Grange Activities

Communication Shorts 3-30-2025

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!

April Bulletin Coming Soon!

The April Bulletin deadline is April 14, 2025. Submit those posts and columns now! Recent issues of the Bulletin can be found on the Program Books and Information Page in the communications section.

Scholarships Are a Hot Item

Our scholarship page continues to get hit pretty hard! One reason might be that we’ve arranged for the Ag Scholarships to be listed on the FFA (Future Farmers Association) website!

990 Filing Scams

In the most recent issue of Grange Today! The Connecticut State Master alerted us to scams relative to filing 990s. This is most often handled by State Secretaries, and any questions and concerns should be addressed to MaineStateGrange@my fairpoint.net.

Degree Day, April 27, 2025

Have you made your arrangements? Don’t forget to work with Maynard Chapman (207) 312-5591 if you have questions or are bringing candidates.

State Convention, October 17-18, 2025

A very preliminary page of information is now available on the website….it includes location and general information. This page will grow as additional information becomes available!

Consider this Idea!

Are you thinking of spring cleaning? Would the community help with raking and landscaping? Make it a party! Don’t forget to make sure your 911 address number is visible. It’s also to list some emergency contact phone number, usually with a card in the window of the door.

Think about this!

“The only reason for time is so that everything doesn’t happen at once.”

 Albert Einstein

Online Directories Available 24-7

  • 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.

Mill Stream Grange Supports Education

Mill Stream Grange members (back row l-r) Paula Hanley, Lisa Goucher, and Jill Sampson presented dictionaries to the two third-grade classes at Cape Cod Elementary School on March 7.  The students had fun learning about all the different ways to use the dictionary, and each spelled their name using the sign language chart.  The school is very supportive of Mill Stream’s effort and wholeheartedly welcomes us back every year. We’re honored to help support education in our area.

Reminder! Be cautious!

By Walter Boomsma, MSG Communications Director

We’re again getting reports of people receiving an email that appears to be from Master Sherry. At first glance, this one appears to be legitimate and includes “I could really count on you to help with this important project. Maine State Grange need some gift cards for donate to Veterans in Hospice and care units. I will personally handle reimbursement.” [sic] (Grammar errors are also a clue.)

If you are thinking, “that doesn’t sound right,” you are correct. Here’s another important clue:

Your best practice is to ignore ANY email requesting gift cards. Do not click any links in it, and do not reply to it. If you are concerned about the request, contact the sender directly by some other method.

If you’ll forgive (or at least tolerate) an attempt at humor… “A patron places faith in God, nurtures hope, dispenses charity but is also cautious!”

Fifth Degree Offered in Richmond

Sagadahoc Pomona will have our annual Fifth Degree at Enterprise Grange #48, on Wednesday, April 29, 2025, with a potluck supper at 6:00 pm and a meeting at 7:00 pm. Candidates from other Pomonas are welcome. Please bring your entry form signed by your master or secretary. For more information, contact Marilyn Stinson at 207-737-2611 or marilynstinson41@gmail.com. Enterprise Grange is located at 15 Alexander Reed Road in Richmond, Maine.

Communication Shorts 3-16-2025

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!

March Bulletin Available!

The March Bulletin deadline is now available. Submit those posts and columns now! Recent issues of the Bulletin can be found on the Program Books and Information Page in the communications section.

National Grange Contest Updates

In a recent issue of Grange Today! (see page 8), National Grange announced a number of changes to contests, including some that are dropped altogether. Directors and Chairs in Maine will be reviewing these to see what impact there might be on Maine Contests.

Degree Day, April 27, 2025

It is possible that a few flyers/posters were distributed with an incorrect start time! The correct start time is 1:00 p.m. Sorry for any inconvenience!

State Convention, October 17-18, 2025

You should know that it became necessary to change the dates for MSG State Session due to conflicting events at UMaine. Make sure your calendars are correct!

Consider this Idea!

How about a “swap meet?” These are gaining popularity–in simplest form, they are topical with an opportunity for like-minded folks to exchange excess supplies. Use your imagination: craft and sewing supplies, gardening things, music and instruments…

Think about this!

“Spring is nature’s way of saying, ‘Let’s party!'”

 Robin Williams

Online Directories Available 24-7

  • 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.

Exploring Traditions – March, 2025

Meandering Around the Grange Way of Life

What do you want to be?

By Walter Boomsma, Guest Columnist

One of the dichotomies we see in the Grange is a sometimes disconnect between the definition of membership as found in the ritual of the Grange and the everyday life of the Grange.

I suspect that was much less true in the earlier days of the Grange when members more accurately called themselves “Patrons of Husbandry.” (Did you know there was intense resistance to adopting the term “Granger?” Many noted the Grange was a building. Patrons of Husbandry met in that building and it was therefore inaccurate to call members Grangers.)

In a sense, that argument was never resolved. As is often the case, everyday use of the words has changed. Most members now think of themselves as Grangers and would so identify. For one thing, it’s much easier to say “I’m a Granger” than “I’m a Patron of Husbandry.”

At the outset of the First Degree Ritual, the assistant steward announces to the overseer, “…these friends of ours seek initiation into the Order of Patrons of Husbandry, and desire instruction.” Nowhere in the ritual is it said, “They want to become Grangers.” It’s an interesting distinction, particularly when we note the importance of “instruction” throughout all the degrees.

The overseer responds with, “Friends, the Grange is a great fraternity, and the lessons of its ritual are expressed by the use of symbols drawn from the field, the farm, and the farm home.” An overview of the ritual compares the seasons on the farm, and it doesn’t take long to establish that joining this fraternity means being a willing worker. “…there is work for all, and the idler has no place among Patrons of Husbandry.”

The themes of instruction and work continue throughout. I suspect it was “easier” for farmers to follow and understand that. A farmer, by nature of his way of life, is a Patron of Husbandry. The teaching of the degrees is, for the most part, helping the farmer see the connection between his life as a farmer and his life as a member of society.

The lecturer has already explained, “the first and highest object of our Order is ‘to develop a higher manhood and womanhood.'” Nature (agriculture, farming) offers us a plethora of lessons or examples of how to achieve a higher personhood. While a “degree day” may seem long and arduous, it only scratches the surface of the possibilities for a Patron of Husbandry. Or a Granger.

I’m not suggesting that we debate these terms. I am suggesting that, whatever words we use, let’s not forget the simple meaning. “I joined the Grange to become a better person.”

Any degree or ritual quotations are from the forty-seventh edition of the 2023 Subordinate Grange Manual or the most recent edition of the Pomona Grange Manual. The views and opinions expressed in “Exploring Traditions” are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official doctrine and policy of the Grange. Information about the book “Exploring Traditions—Celebrating the Grange Way of Life” can be found at http://abbotvillagepress.com, on Mr. Boomsma’s Amazon Author Page, or by contacting the author.

Community Service/FHH – March 2025

By Brenda Dyer, MSG Community Service/FHH Director
(207) 608-9193

Just to update you on the State Community Service Contest. Changes are being made on the State level and will be posted and sent to Granges soon. 

One major change will be no notebooks and the report will be limited to 10 (ten) double sided sheets. This is to be a report of your projects answering specific questions about your project(s) – I will get that off to you by next month and mailed  to the Granges.

I have included a message from the National Community Service co-directors. 

Message from National

The 2025 National Grange Community Service Program is now posted on the National Grange website (nationalgrange.org).

We have found that not all PCs/Laptops/smartphones show the same format but under Community Service, you will find a page with the CS logo describing the 2025 National Grange Community Service Program. 

Also included are the National Grange Community Service Report Form and a “Share Your Project’s Story” Form and Program Ideas. 

In 2025, the focus of Community Service will not be a contest, but a celebration of good works. As such, there will be no judging on the National level. No notebooks are to be taken to National Convention or sent electronically prior to Convention to the community service email address.  

Likewise, “Of the Year” Nominations for Fireman, Teacher and Policeman will not be judged on the National level but can be recognized on the local and State levels.  

We encourage each State to receive the Subordinate Grange reports/notebooks and “Of the Year” nominations in the format that best serves your State.  The option to judge or don’t judge is yours.    As State Director, you have the responsibility to work with your State President and others as necessary to determine what is best for your State and get it communicated to your Subordinate Granges.  

The 2025 National Grange Community Service Report Form must be completed by the State Community Service Director or State President and emailed to communityservice@grange.org 

In order to receive the monetary $250 award from National, States must meet the required 25% of their total Subordinate Granges submitting reports to the State level.

The Report form must be sent to us in the current calendar year.

Please note that the hours expended for Project Sustenance, the newly launched National Grange Program, is to be included on the CS Report Form.  Details for this program can be found on the Project Sustenance page on the National Grange 

Any Subordinate Grange can submit a “Share Your Project’s Story” Form.  

We know there are changes announced here from what some of you had been told previously and we apologize for any inconvenience.  We do trust, however, that you have been making a difference in your communities and now we can finally all move forward together with the 2025 National Grange Community Service Program.

As National Co-Directors, we are committed to helping you be successful.  Please contact us at communityservice@grange.org and we will try our best to assist.  Best wishes.

Bonnie Mitson & Randee Farmer
NG Community Service Co-Directors

Mystic Valley Grange

Rummage, Craft, & Bake Sale

April 26, 2025 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Grange is located on Route 17 in East Dixfield next to the East Dixfield Fire Department. For more information, contact Nancy Farrington, (207) 623-0395.