{"id":96993,"date":"2025-05-15T06:45:37","date_gmt":"2025-05-15T10:45:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mainestategrange.org\/?p=96993"},"modified":"2025-05-15T06:45:37","modified_gmt":"2025-05-15T10:45:37","slug":"__trashed-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mainestategrange.org\/?p=96993","title":{"rendered":"Communications Column – May 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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By Walter Boomsma<\/a><\/em><\/strong>
207 343-1842
Communications Directo<\/em><\/strong>r<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Doing is communicating…<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

As I worked on the program for Valley Grange\u2019s Community Celebration, I was reminded of the old platitude that, \u201cwhat you\u2019re doing shouts so loud, I can\u2019t hear what you\u2019re saying.\u201d Often attributed to kids when we think they\u2019re not listening, it reminds us that perhaps they are listening to what we are doing and perhaps what we are doing (or not doing) is more telling than what we\u2019re saying.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Like many Granges this time of year, we\u2019ll honor a local \u201cCitizen of the Year\u201d for her \u201cboots on the ground\u201d efforts to build strength in our communities. As is often the case, I learned more about what she does after we\u2019d selected her. I knew we\u2019d made a good choice when people stopped me in the grocery store to ask about her honor and our Community Night Celebration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another aspect of that celebration is a short two-part presentation entitled \u201cJust Five Minutes<\/em>.\u201d It looks at the value of volunteering with photo examples and some basic math showing the dollar value of those efforts. (Both will ultimately be available on the MSG website and YouTube Channel.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As I worked on the photo examples portion, a light bulb went off. Historically, the photo examples have been from our Grange Programs like Words for Thirds, Blanketeering, and the Blistered Finger Knitters. These programs are well-known in our area because we say (publicize) them well. It is common for them to be covered by local television stations and newspapers. I like to think of it as a marriage between saying and doing. You might even hear me say, \u201cIt\u2019s easier to make news than it is to write press releases.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But there\u2019s more, and I was inspired by the number of different things our Community Citizen is involved in and does. It started me thinking about individual Grangers and the possibility that we aren\u2019t saying enough about their actions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After a discussion with Valley Grange\u2019s community service chair, we agreed that we aren\u2019t \u201csaying\u201d enough about the individual members’ efforts that aren\u2019t necessarily directly connected or part of a formal Grange program. Those efforts and that time count, and they do represent Grange values. Examples are endless\u2014many times we don\u2019t even know about them. One of our members has served as president of her community\u2019s historical society for years. Another member supports her local volunteer fire department in several ways. I volunteer with 4-H and FFA and participate in a group cleaning headstones in our local cemetery. Valley Grange is anything but unique. I recently added an event to the MSG website calendar. Members of Ocean View Grange will be joining their local Legionnaires to help place flags on veterans\u2019 graves. If you can stand another platitude, \u201cYou\u2019re known by the company you keep.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But someone who keeps an eye on a neighbor serves their community equally well. I live on a dead-end gravel road, and we joke that we have an informal road association that keeps us tuned into what is happening with each other. We never have meetings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Community service is not just a program. And it goes beyond \u201cdoing\u201d to a state of mind. We may not always make the connection consciously, but we often say a patron \u201chas faith in God, nurtures hope, dispenses charity, and is noted for fidelity.\u201d We\u2019re about a lot more than ritual and meetings. The Grange is people. We shout it by the way we live. We come together to strengthen our efforts and find support for the things we do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u25ba FACT: Year to date, the Directory of Granges<\/a> is the most viewed page on the website. People are looking for you!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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By Walter Boomsma207 343-1842 Communications Director Doing is communicating… As I worked on the program for Valley Grange\u2019s Community Celebration, I was reminded of the old platitude that, \u201cwhat you\u2019re doing shouts so loud, I can\u2019t hear what you\u2019re saying.\u201d Often attributed to kids when we think they\u2019re not listening, it reminds us that perhaps … Continue reading “Communications Column – May 2025”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2122,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[165,14,218,15],"tags":[206,272,202,233,29],"post_folder":[505],"class_list":["post-96993","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-communication-2","category-publicity-posts","category-resources-for-granges-and-grangers","category-web-site-information","tag-grange-advocacy","tag-grange-communication","tag-grange-events","tag-grange-policy","tag-grange-procedure"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":false,"thumbnail":false,"medium":false,"medium_large":false,"large":false,"1536x1536":false,"2048x2048":false,"post-thumbnail":false},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"Walter Boomsma","author_link":"https:\/\/mainestategrange.org\/?author=2122"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"By Walter Boomsma207 343-1842 Communications Director Doing is communicating… As I worked on the program for Valley Grange\u2019s Community Celebration, I was reminded of the old platitude that, \u201cwhat you\u2019re doing shouts so loud, I can\u2019t hear what you\u2019re saying.\u201d Often attributed to kids when we think they\u2019re not listening, it reminds us that perhaps…","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1arC1-pep","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mainestategrange.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96993","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mainestategrange.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mainestategrange.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mainestategrange.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2122"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mainestategrange.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=96993"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mainestategrange.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96993\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mainestategrange.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=96993"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mainestategrange.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=96993"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mainestategrange.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=96993"},{"taxonomy":"post_folder","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mainestategrange.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fpost_folder&post=96993"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}