Communication Shorts 07-15-2026

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!

The Maine State Grange Office is located at 36 Anthony Avenue, Suite 102, Augusta, ME 04330.
 mainestategrange@gmail.com. For website matters, email webmaster@mainestategrange.org.

July Bulletin

The July Bulletin is complete and will be mailed soon. Recent issues of the Bulletin are available on the Program Books and Information Page in the communications section.

Manchester Grange Website

Manchester Grange recently completed its Facebook Page with a well-designed website. Check out both and see what they are up to!

Deadlines

Roster information is due NOW. Resolutions are due August 1, 2026.

What’s Going On?

Don’t forget to submit your special events and programs for our event calendar! We want people to know the Grange is thriving! Surely, there are lots of things happening in Maine, especially in the summer. We also love photos and reports of events that have happened.

To Ponder…

“The sense of danger must not disappear:
The way is certainly both short and steep,
However gradual it looks from here;
Look if you like, but you will have to leap.”

W. H. Auden

An Idea for Your Grange

How about setting up a lemonade stand?

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 and Grange friends!

Online Directories Available 24-7 ROSTER REMINDER

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.

Grange Today! 6-26-2026

The Newsletter of the National Grange

Articles in this edition include:

  • Young Historians Bring the Granger Movement to Life at National History Day
  • Happy Junior Grange Month!
  • Grange Store: Junior Grange Pins
  • National Grange Receives Commendation
  • A New Detection Tool Could Narrow the Rural-Urban Cancer Divide
  • Seeking Advocacy Wins
  • Opportunities at the 160th Annual National Grange Convention
  • View from the Hill
  • Opinion: Data Centers and Rural America – Progress at What Price?
  • Alzheimer’s & Dementia Research Made Accessible – For All
  • 250th Celebration Quilt
  • Recipes from the Heartland
  • Grange Member Benefit: Choice Hotels

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

Read the Current Issue

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.

Fraud Watch- Moving Scams

Reprinted with permission from AARP’s Fraud Watch Network.

Summer is peak moving season, and who you hire matters. Criminals often advertise low prices and provide unusually cheap estimates—sometimes without even seeing your belongings.

Once hired, they may demand a cash deposit or full payment up front, raise the price at the last minute, or hold your belongings hostage until you pay more. In some cases, they never show up at all.

To help avoid scams and find a reputable mover, get written estimates from multiple companies and research each one carefully. Check reviews and verify credentials before hiring. With so much to manage during a move, choosing the right moving company is one detail worth sweating.

More Topic Resources

Report scams to local law enforcement. For help from AARP, call 1-877-908-3360 or visit the AARP Fraud Watch Network at aarp.org/fraudwatchnetwork.

AARP Fraud Watch Network

Need a scam prevention speaker for your group? Click the link to fill out the AARP online form or email me@aarp.org.

Share this news!

Subscribe to the Maine State Grange Website

Fraud Watch- Protect Loved Ones

Reprinted with permission from AARP’s Fraud Watch Network.

Criminals often impersonate major brands with large audiences—and Amazon is one of them.

The impact of elder financial abuse is significant. While it can involve trusted individuals like caregivers or family members, scams by strangers are also a major threat. In 2024 alone, the Federal Trade Commission estimated that criminals stole as much as $81.5 billion from adults age 60 and over. With World Elder Abuse Awareness Day on June 15, it’s a reminder that small steps can help prevent financial exploitation.

Encourage older adults in your life to add a trusted contact to their financial accounts. This person can’t make transactions but can be alerted to suspicious activity or if the account holder can’t be reached.

Freezing credit can help prevent unauthorized accounts from being opened in their name. You can also reduce exposure to phone-based scams by setting up robocall and text blockers through mobile carriers or trusted apps. Small actions like these can make a big difference in protecting financial well-being.

More Topic Resources

Report scams to local law enforcement. For help from AARP, call 1-877-908-3360 or visit the AARP Fraud Watch Network at aarp.org/fraudwatchnetwork.

AARP Fraud Watch Network

Need a scam prevention speaker for your group? Click the link to fill out the AARP online form or email me@aarp.org.

Share this news!

Subscribe to the Maine State Grange Website

Communication Shorts 06-15-2026

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!

The Maine State Grange Office is located at 36 Anthony Avenue, Suite 102, Augusta, ME 04330.
 mainestategrange@gmail.com. For website matters, email webmaster@mainestategrange.org.

June Bulletin

The June Bulletin is available for download and distribution. Recent issues of the Bulletin are available on the Program Books and Information Page in the communications section.

Valley Grange Resolution

Valley Grange is planning to submit a Resolution Supporting Consistency Between Citizen Initiative Petitions and Ballot Questions. If other Granges would like to consider supporting it, a copy is available on the Valley Grange Website. Remember, resolutions are due August 1, 2026.

Fair Season

It’s fair season! For more information about Maine’s Agricultural Fairs, visit the association’s website.

Monroe Grange Store

FYI: The Monroe Grange Store recently announced that it has been advised by National Grange that, effective August 26, 2026, the Uses License will not be renewed. This means Monroe Classic will no longer be able to operate a Grange Store or sell products containing the Grange name or logo.

What’s Going On?

Don’t forget to submit your special events and programs for our event calendar! We want people to know the Grange is thriving! Surely, there are lots of things happening in Maine, especially in the summer. We also love photos and reports of events that have happened. What’s your meeting magic?

To Ponder…

You can’t go into a bank with a mask on and expect to be treated as a valued customer.

Seth Godin

An Idea for Your Grange

We recently published contact information for a Speaker’s Bureau on the topic of elder abuse. Speakers’ bureaus and other civic organizations in your area are often sources of good programs. Many have a broad appeal and can help develop the public’s interest in your 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 and Grange friends!

Online Directories Available 24-7 ROSTER REMINDER

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.

This Granger is Tri-ing

Granger Vicki Huff Takes on Challenge

Vicki Huff, Master of Hollis Grange, is participating for the first time in the annual Tri for a Cure Triathlon, in a commitment to her own health and recovery. Vicki explains her motivation in this short video.

Maine Cancer Foundation (MCF) leads this statewide effort to reduce the impact of cancer in Maine, investing in the most promising and effective programs that:

  • Improve access to care for all Maine people;
  • Advance cancer prevention
  • Increase screening and early detection

The triathlon consists of three parts. Vicki has teamed up with her sister Veronica. Veronica will handle the swimming and biking portions, while Vicki handles the walking and running portions. The name of their team is VForce.

This year’s event happens on Sunday, July 12, 2026. Tri for a Cure has become the largest triathlon in the state of Maine, providing a gorgeous race course along the shores of Cape Elizabeth and South Portland.

“The Tri” certainly has many impacts on everyone who is somehow touched by it. We asked Vicki to comment on how the Grange might be affected and how the Grange might have an effect.

The Triathlon has a great fundraising approach with several components. First, participants are required to raise a minimum of $500 each to be eligible. The Maine Cancer Foundation (MCF) recruits sponsors for the event itself, so all of the money raised goes directly to the cause.

While the VForce Team has raised the minimum. Additional donations are certainly in order! Use the link below to show your support. 100% of funds raised stay in Maine to support cancer prevention, screening, and improved patient outcomes. The money you help us raise will make a difference in the lives of your neighbors and communities around Maine. Now, more than ever, cancer patients need our help!

Learn more about triforacure
Donate on behalf of Team V-Force
Volunteer to Help with TRIFORACURE
View Cancer Survivor’s Stories

Membership Moments, June 2026

Rick Grotton

By Rick Grotton,
Membership Committee Director
207 582-5915

There was a previous column where the Grange was compared to a four-story building. The Subordinate or Community Granges were on the bottom floor, followed by Pomona, State, and National Granges. However, there are many cracks in our foundation, which have a name: Membership. If our membership problems are not resolved soon, the foundation will give way to a big collapse. Granges that don’t improve their membership collapse first, and as your membership dwindles, there are no replacements.

Our Youth and Junior Granges are nonexistent, with scattered pockets of younger members around the state. How do we survive without this foundation? Who will replace us if we cannot continue or pass away? It is a scary thought, but in reality, it is true. We have no organized leadership among our younger members. Even within our total membership, not many want to lead, and there are “social Granges” that do not follow the rituals and traditions of the Grange. Those granges will, and have, dampened our reputation. They hide behind the Grange name with no respect. When they lose their meeting places, they will be the first to wonder what happened.

We all need to “repair” those gasping cracks in our foundation before it’s too late. Many Granges cannot meet since they cannot make their seven-member quorums. We need a state-wide revolution to work together and beef up our future before we don’t have one. Scared? Yes, I am scared, and you should be, too. I understand that it is difficult, but we need to try harder. Are you with me?

Exploring Traditions – June, 2026

Meandering Around the Grange Way of Life

By Walter Boomsma, Guest Columnist

From the First Degree

During our recent Degree Day, someone commented that they wished more people could hear the words from the Degree Work. We continue to share them.

In the First Degree, the Overseer explains to the candidates:

“I exhibit to you now a memorandum book, a knife, and a pencil. Note down the new and useful ideas that come to you that they be not lost; for new ideas are the material with which progress is made. The knife is used to prune a straggling branch, to cut off the nests of insects, or to cut a plant whose nature you may wish to study. In your intercourse with your fellow beings, correct an error kindly and with the smooth edge of affection, and do not bruise a wound you wish to heal.”

The ongoing references to agriculture and farming may be obvious to most. And, while these visual aids may seem a bit dated, they remain appropriate. “Record new and useful ideas in your smartphone…”When I am filling the Overseer’s role, I often take the liberty of changing the word “intercourse” to “dealings” and repeating the last sentence with emphasis. “In your dealings  with your fellow beings, correct an error kindly and with the smooth edge of affection, and do not bruise a wound you wish to heal.” It’s powerful advice. Read it again. “In your dealings with your fellow beings, correct an error kindly and with the smooth edge of affection, and do not bruise a wound you wish to heal.”

Of course, it’s not limited to correcting errors. Patrons of Husbandry should be known for treating others kindly. In simple form, it means to be gentle and considerate. While shopping recently, I was passing a woman riding one of those electric shopping carts. She dropped a credit card, and I said, “I’ll get that for you,” and did. A child caught up to us. After thanking me, the shopper (Grandma?) said to the child, “He helped me. You’re supposed to be helping me.”

Read that last sentence from the Overseer again. “Do not bruise a wound you wish to heal.” Grandma’s response wasn’t especially mean, but did she “bruise the wound she wished to heal?”

As it happened, I had noticed the child a few seconds earlier, stretched on tiptoe, trying to reach something on a high shelf for someone else in their shopping party. I redirected Grandma’s directions. “I almost stopped to help you get that item on the top shelf but you did it yourself.” I was tempted to add, “Being kind and helpful isn’t always easy, but it’s always good.”

By the way, before the Degree Police come after me, I think it’s okay to occasionally expand or emphasize aspects of the teachings of the Ritual. Yes, there are some hazards, and I’m not suggesting long editorial comments. In this example, I’m suggesting deliberately repeating one sentence. We need to guard against robotic repetition of the written words. Remember, the Degrees are ultimately about learning.

In the same conversation with the candidates, the Overseer concludes, “In this Degree—your Spring season in our Order—begin anew the acquisition of knowledge.”

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://wboomsma.com, on Mr. Boomsma’s Amazon Author Page, or by contacting the author.

Communications Column – June 2026

By Walter Boomsma
207 343-1842
Communications Director

AI-generated image

Summertime Communications and Thinking

That it’s summertime affects communication in both positive and negative ways. longer days and vacations promote casual, authentic connections, extreme heat often reduces language complexity and lowers frustration tolerance, which can quickly lead to irritability and conflict. As is often the case, we have some “good news, bad news.”

Summer may encourage a shift from rigid, formal routines and habits. In non-professional (work) environments, productivity may decrease as people are inclined to take extended breaks or at least become more focused on time off. It’s simply more challenging to get things done, particularly where collaboration is necessary. Just scheduling meetings can become challenging.

On a personal level, communication may become more relaxed and personal. I admit that I’d much rather be writing about my fall travel plans than work topics or Grange business.

A secondary point is how the environment influences communication. When I was working in organizational design and development, one CEO required executives to keep a pair of fuzzy bunny slippers and pajamas at the office. The dress code for many meetings required wearing them. He suggested, “It’ll be difficult to take ourselves too seriously if we’re all dressed like that.” He thought it would help them take the agenda seriously. He wasn’t as crazy as he sounded at first.

The summer weather is certainly part of the environment. Studies show that prolonged exposure to heat and dehydration causes physical discomfort, which lowers frustration thresholds and increases the likelihood of anger or miscommunication. Bear that in mind when you’re meeting on the second floor of your unairconditioned Grange hall.

Maybe we should move the meeting to a picnic table at the local ice cream stand. A change of environment not only improves communication, but it also changes thinking and experience. Perhaps instead of fixing the broken pencil sharpener, we might ignore it and look for a different way to sharpen a pencil

Don’t be threatened by the idea of questioning assumptions, breaking conventions, and exploring unconventional perspectives to solve problems. While the fraternal and ritualistic aspects of our Order have huge, almost immeasurable value, even the founders saw the value of breaking out of traditional thought patterns. If we look at the major accomplishments of the early Grange, they reflect creative thinking for their time. If we remember the lessons of the first four degrees, they align with the seasons. The common thread  is change and growth. The farmer’s life adapts to the seasons.

Our thinking, communication, and activity are deeply intertwined. We can’t always control the change of environment (whether it’s the season or something else). Someone wisely said, “The best thing to do when it rains is to let it.” By being aware of the changes happening around us, we can make life more interesting and enjoyable.

FACT: In the past twelve months, there have been over 20,000 views of the MSG Website.

From the Deacon’s Bench

By Clay Collins, Guest Columnist
207 837-0564

And Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every disease and every affliction. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them , because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. The he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few, therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”                             

  John 14:15-17

June is here in all its glory, bringing with it new life and very warm weather. I hope you have the right cup while you enjoy the fine weather we are having.

I heard a story once about a man who was driving through a quiet neighborhood when he came upon some children selling Kool-Aid for 25 cents a cup. He stopped to buy a cup. He gave them a dollar, and they gave him back his change with his cup of Kool-Aid.

The child stood there in front of him while he drank his Kool-Aid. The man was asked if he wanted another drink, and when he said no, the child asked the man for the cup back, for that was the only cup they had, and it was needed for them to continue in business.

It is difficult to operate a Kool-Aid business with only one cup. Are you running your lives with only one cup, attending church services once a week, and thinking that is all it takes to be a good Christian? Just go to church on Sunday, and that is all that it takes.

We need more cups to do God’s work every day.

Until the next time, remember, “Be well, do good work, and keep in touch.”

Benediction: Gracious Father, help us to remember that it takes more than one cup to do your work.   Amen. 

Thought for the month:

“May you live as long as you want. And never want as long as you live!” [Irish Blessing]

While Chaplain Christine is burdened with technology challenges, she has invited Past MSG Chaplain Clay to share some spiritual thoughts with our Grange Flock.