Yes, we have produced an October Bulletin — it is a reduced edition and will be snail-mailed late due to the State Session, but it’s important to maintain the practice, especially for those who do not attend the State Session. Recent issues of the Bulletin are available on the Program Books and Information Page in the communications section.
Bogus Email
Remember to keep your radar on! Here’s an example of a different type of bogus email you might receive claiming some of your email wasn’t delivered. Just delete it!
Breaking News Icon/Logo
Congratulations to Manchester Grange for being the first to be assigned our new “Breaking News” Icon! When a Grange submits news about their programs or events, we’ll be using it to identify the post as a “developing story.” Is that too subtle a hint that you should be sharing your news for posting?
Submitting Events Is Easier
Remember, we now have a specific form for submitting events on the site, and we’re using it! Keep submitting! Ideally, submit event announcements at least thirty days in advance. Then send us a “breaking news” update two weeks before the event. Remember, people are visiting the site from all over Maine and beyond!
Craft Fairs/Sales
Sendus your plans! We’ve created a special page on the site listing the ones we know about! Make sure we know about yours!
“If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.”
John Quincy Adams
An Idea for Your Grange
Check out this month’s Communications Column for several ideas, including the idea of sending an annual report of your activities and accomplishments to your Town Office for inclusion in your Town’s Annual Report.
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 and Grange friends!
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. Updated January 16, 2026.
Seth Godin recently posted about how easy it is to win the race to the bottom. “We can justify most moves to the bottom while they’re happening, but the problem with this race is that you might win.” Even doing nothing contributes to winning the race to the bottom. The opposite is not necessarily a race to the top. As Seth points out, if we resolve not to continue the race to the bottom, we’re committing to a climb, not a race.
We have a few things to help you on your climb.
Your New Communications Handbook… Recently completely updated, it replaces the former annual additions and includes a lot of resources to help you improve your messages to members and your communities. It’s an easy download from the website and the pdf includes a number of clickable links to even more resources. The price is right. It’s free for the taking. If your Grange is still not comfortable with technology, you can request a printed copy from the Maine State Grange office.
Your Local Grange Library… A number of Granges have established Little Free Libraries or Box Exchange Boxes. (How are you maintaining them during the winter months?) Your Grange should also maintain a self-serving library of forms, program books, etc. that ideally is available to your members. Many of the suggested contents are available on the Maine State Grange Website, but having them readily available locally makes sense!
Your Annual Reports and Program Book… Don’t skip over this one! While we often apply these to state directors and officers, your local Grange can do both. Some Granges write a report and submit it to the town clerk for inclusion in the town’s annual report. We are, after all, community Granges! A program book might summarize your work and include a directory of officers and members.
Your Publication of Events… We’re still working to make this easier and more effective! Submitting events to and through the website is now easier than ever. The format will also help you ensure you are including complete details. We’ve also developing a new “breaking news” logo we can use to further your public awareness. Don’t forget my decades old truism. “It’s easier to make news than it is to write press releases.” (See the Communications Handbook!)
And speaking of climbing, consider this poem by Edgar Guest, published in the Detroit Free Press (March 4, 1921) and now in the public domain.
When things go wrong, as they sometimes will, And the road you’re trudging seems all uphill, When the funds are low and the debts are high, And you want to smile, but you have to sigh, When care is pressing you down a bit, Rest if you must, but don’t you quit.
Life is queer with its twists and turns, As every one of us sometimes learns. And many a failure turns about When he might have won had he stuck it out. Don’t give up though the pace seems slow, You may succeed with another blow.
Often the goal is nearer than it seems To a faint and faltering man. Often the struggler has given up when he Might have captured the victor’s cup, And he learned too late when the night slipped down, How close he was to the golden crown.
Success is failure turned inside out, The silver tint of the clouds of doubt, And you never can tell how close you are. It may be near when it seems afar. So stick to the fight when you’re hardest hit. It’s when things seem worst that You musn’t quit.
FACT: Nearly one-third of visits to the MSG website happen as the result of a Google Search!
Sherry Harriman, Maine State Grange Master/President 207 490-1029
State Session October 30 & 31. Black Bear Inn in Orono. You or Your Delegates may pick up new Department Program Books Agriculture, Lecturers, Women’s Activities, Community Service, Communications and the Annual Reports will be in the Delegate materials. If you did not have delegates at the session, you may download the programs and reports from the web under “Program Books,” or if you want a printed copy, email or call the office or me, and we will send them to you. You may request all or just select certain ones. Agricultural Scholarship, Educational Aid & Howes Nurses Scholarship requirements and applications can also be found on the website or requested from the office. We need to promote these scholarships and awards in our communities; each is a wonderful opportunity for our young folks.
2027 Roster information is past due. Another reminder, a few more than half of you have provided your info. Even if there were no changes, a report needs to be sent.
Successful Granges are Led by People
Willing to make trade-offs.
Who work for the goals.
Who are effective communicators.
Who are sensitive to the group.
Good at integrating various interests and priorities.
Communicate the Grange story with confidence. The Maine State Grange Communications Handbook offers practical guidance for connecting with local media, writing news and event announcements, sharing photos, and keeping members informed. From press releases and branding to websites and social media, it’s a useful resource for Grangers who want to share their work clearly and effectively.
The Communications Handbook is brand new for 2026, and it’s much more than the traditional program book. Journalists probably know the Associated Press Stylebook has 504 pages. While this Handbook incorporates some AP practices, it’s much shorter at 35 pages and still quite inclusive. It’s free! Give it a try!
Yes, we will produce an October Bulletin — it will be a reduced edition and will be snail-mailed late due to the State Session, but it’s important to maintain the practice, especially for those who do not attend the State Session. Recent issues of the Bulletin are available on the Program Books and Information Page in the communications section.
New Communications Handbook!
Communicate the Grange story with confidence. The Maine State Grange Communications Handbook offers practical guidance for connecting with local media, writing news and event announcements, sharing photos, and keeping members informed. From press releases and branding to websites and social media, it’s a useful resource for Grangers who want to share their work clearly and effectively.
Submitting Events Is Easier
Remember, we now have a specific form for submitting events on the site, and it’s being used! Keep submitting!
State Convention Banquet
There’s still time to make your reservation — the deadline is October 10, 2026.
To Ponder…
“An eye for an eye only ends up making the whole world blind.”.
Mahatma Gandhi
An Idea for Your Grange
Choose a future event and start organizing promotion, including a telephone tree or mailing personal notes or postcards. (A telephone tree is an informal communication network. For example, one person calls three people who each in turn call three people, who…)
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 and Grange friends!
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. Updated January 16, 2026.
I left the topic the same as last month because it seems appropriate to share a few things from my Annual Report of how the Communications Department is doing just that.
This is the fifteenth year the website has been in place. Site views have increased significantly. This Grange year, the site has been viewed at least 22,000 times—an average of 1800 times per month and a 25% increase over the previous year.
Several significant accomplishments this year include:
A significant purging of the site in conjunction with arranging the migration of the site to a new host provider. After fourteen years with our provider, we began suffering severe outages and increased costs. The preparation and execution took many hours, but the change has been beneficial.
Added a number of “Resources for Grangers,” including logos for the most common Grange events and programs, a special Communications Column on the subject of non-profits, and further development of “Rapid Resources” on a variety of topics.
Continued to streamline the site by purging dated material. This makes the site much more manageable, reduces confusion, and saves server space.
Completed interviews with media representatives and researchers.
As time permits, I continue to work with local Granges who want assistance with communication and “semi-technical” support.
Created a distinct form and method for submitting events and programs being sponsored or hosted by local community Granges. The resulting posts are easily accessible and can be shared on social media with little effort. These events are also added to the MSG Events Page which is among the most visited pages on the site.
Started work on a revised Communications Handbook for 2026-27 that will integrate the current website handbook. Technology is changing rapidly, and we cannot ignore many of those changes.
Continued to facilitate an outbound email service that allows information to be sent directly to officers, directors, and deputies on short notice. This service also enables website subscriptions. Website subscribers grow slowly, and I consistently send subscribers a weekly summary of posts.
Looking ahead to 2026-2027, some objectives include:
Continuing to keep communication positive, helpful, and engaging.
Add a simple privacy policy explaining how the site handles information.
Complete and expand the resource pages for Book Exchange Programs and Words for Thirds.
Promote the posting of Subordinate Grange events and news to the site.
Continue searching for resources, including additional guest columnists and regular topical information that can be reposted with attribution.
Update the online directories of Granges and Officers as the roster information becomes available.
On a personal level, I’ve become more focused on my writing efforts. I’m writing for a monthly local magazine, The Guilford Register. (One column was about the Granges in Maine!) I recently published “Memorials, Monuments, and Memories,” a book that takes readers from Flanders Fields to Main Street America. “Cows, Corn, and Calm” will document what happens when a Maine writer with a lifelong love of bovines loads up his pickup truck, points it toward Amish Country, and signs up to learn how to drive a team of oxen. Also on the list is a sequel to Exploring Traditions that includes Reflections on the Grange Way of Life. If “idle hands are the devil’s workshop,” I’m on good ground.
My complete report is available on the website and will be included in the delegate’s packet at State Session. Please let me know if I can do anything to help you and your Grange.
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!
Lecturers’ Conference
The date of this year’s Lecturers’ Conference was originally submitted for the wrong month. The Maine State Grange Lecturers’ Conference will be held on Saturday, September 26, 2026, from 9:00 am until noon. The conference will include a workshop and distribution of the 2026-27 Program Booklet. It takes place at Maine State Grange Headquarters, 36 Anthony Avenue, Suite 102, Augusta, ME 04330. Corrections have been made!
Deadlines
September 10, 2026, Deadline for claimingMemorial Bricks available from former headquarters. That’s today!
September 14, 2026, Bulletin Columns are due by the end of the day. That’s four days away!
September 15, 2026, Educational Aid Scholarships Deadline
September 15, 2026, Annual Officer and Department Reports are due.
October 1, 2026, Program Books are due. Please send a copy of Program Books to the webmaster.
October 1, 2026, Delegate Registration Forms are due.
October 10, 2026, Deadline for banquet reservations at State Grange Session.
