{"id":97231,"date":"2025-07-14T07:33:10","date_gmt":"2025-07-14T11:33:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mainestategrange.org\/?p=97231"},"modified":"2026-05-08T05:42:03","modified_gmt":"2026-05-08T09:42:03","slug":"exploring-traditions-meandering-around-the-grange-way-of-life-july-2017-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-3-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-3-2-2-3-3-2-3-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mainestategrange.org\/?p=97231","title":{"rendered":"Exploring Traditions – July, 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Meandering Around the Grange Way of Life<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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A Little Mind Boggling<\/em><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
By Walter Boomsma, Guest Columnist<\/em><\/h5>\n\n\n
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\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

In his June column<\/a>, Phil Retberg offered, \u201cThe number of dairy farms in Maine has dropped from 5,100 in 1945 to 145 in 2023,\u201d with the recommendation, \u201cPonder that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That is good advice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Coincidentally, I\u2019ve been exploring \u201cThe Grange: Friend of the Farmer, 1867 -1947\u201d by Charles M. Gardner. It\u2019s a difficult book to describe in a few sentences. I wouldn\u2019t call it a \u201cpage turner,\u201d because nearly every page offers something to ponder. Gardner offers insights not only into the organization but also encourages us to get inside the heads of early leaders. It truly qualifies as a \u201cfirst-hand report\u201d and includes information not often known by present-day members and leaders. Did you know, for example, that the order suffered a \u201cnear collapse in the late seventies?\u201d (By the way, that refers to the 1870s. One of the errors of the founders was an over-estimation of the support the organization would receive.) An interesting theme develops around surviving and recovering from the near collapse. In a word, the Grange became about \u201cusefulness.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In that discussion, it is worth noting that the Grange \u201c\u2026proposed a way of life for the rural population <\/strong><\/em>(my bold), of unexplored but tremendous possibilities.\u201d*<\/em> (So now you know where the title of my book came from.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One could conclude that the Grange achieved an apex in the mid-1940s, when this book was written. Since then, the number of dairy farms in Maine has \u201ccollapsed\u201d substantially. In pondering that, it\u2019s important to consider cause versus correlation. The tempting conclusion that the Grange\u2019s decline is caused by the changes in agriculture and farming might be set aside to ponder \u201ca way of life for the rural population.\u201d How has rural life changed? And, perhaps more importantly, how has the Grange changed?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These are not easy questions to answer, but they are important. As an organization, we might do well to develop a better understanding of \u201cthe way of life\u201d that the Grange has and continues to propose.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another bit of trivia is found in \u201cFriend of the Farmer\u201d when you catch the fact that the Degrees are often referred to as \u201cclasses.\u201d I have proposed membership with some orientation or catechism more than once. We have become too obsessed with the ritual, to the extent that we even claim it is a deterrent to membership. Creating an alternative \u201cobligation ceremony\u201d has made it easier and more convenient to join, but in so doing, we may have tossed out the baby with the bath water. We may be neglecting the proposed way of life and the tremendous opportunities it offers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWise indeed were the Grange Founders who designed their new fraternity to meet this extreme need; with other objectives added in rapid succession, in response to the fast-changing demands of the times: some objectives no doubt undreamed of by that early band of wholehearted pioneers.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cGrange leaders may have partially missed this point, which appears to need firm implanting in the minds of all truly anxious to see the Order in its many-sided possibilities; certainly among those charged with present-day guidance of its affairs. The purposes of the Grange have not always been well expressed by its spokesmen; even at times maliciously misinterpreted by its enemies\u201d*<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We have plenty to ponder.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

*Gardner, Charles M. Friend of the Farmer 1867-1947<\/em>. National Grange. Kindle Edition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Kindle Edition of  \u201cFriend of the Farmer\u201d is available from Amazon, currently priced at $2.99.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

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\u2014Celebrating the Grange Way of Life” can be found at <\/em>http:\/\/abbotvillagepress.com<\/em><\/a>,<\/em> on Mr. Boomsma’s Amazon Author Page<\/a>, or by contacting the author.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Meandering Around the Grange Way of Life A Little Mind Boggling By Walter Boomsma, Guest Columnist In his June column, Phil Retberg offered, \u201cThe number of dairy farms in Maine has dropped from 5,100 in 1945 to 145 in 2023,\u201d with the recommendation, \u201cPonder that.\u201d That is good advice. Coincidentally, I\u2019ve been exploring \u201cThe Grange: … Continue reading “Exploring Traditions – July, 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":[190],"tags":[34,176,25],"post_folder":[365],"class_list":["post-97231","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-grange-principle-and-practice","tag-grange-activities","tag-grange-degrees","tag-grange-heritage"],"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":"Meandering Around the Grange Way of Life A Little Mind Boggling By Walter Boomsma, Guest Columnist In his June column, Phil Retberg offered, \u201cThe number of dairy farms in Maine has dropped from 5,100 in 1945 to 145 in 2023,\u201d with the recommendation, \u201cPonder that.\u201d That is good advice. Coincidentally, I\u2019ve been exploring \u201cThe Grange:…","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1arC1-pif","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mainestategrange.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97231","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=97231"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mainestategrange.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97231\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":99348,"href":"https:\/\/mainestategrange.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97231\/revisions\/99348"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mainestategrange.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=97231"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mainestategrange.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=97231"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mainestategrange.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=97231"},{"taxonomy":"post_folder","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mainestategrange.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fpost_folder&post=97231"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}