{"id":97928,"date":"2025-11-15T13:49:26","date_gmt":"2025-11-15T18:49:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mainestategrange.org\/?p=97928"},"modified":"2026-05-08T05:42:03","modified_gmt":"2026-05-08T09:42:03","slug":"exploring-traditions-meandering-around-the-grange-way-of-life-july-2017-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-3-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-3-2-2-3-3-2-3-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mainestategrange.org\/?p=97928","title":{"rendered":"Exploring Traditions – November, 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Meandering Around the Grange Way of Life<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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By Walter Boomsma, Guest Columnist<\/em><\/h5>\n\n\n\n

Words and Symbols<\/em><\/h3>\n\n\n
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\u201cFriends, 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.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Overseer to Candidates at the beginning of the First Degree<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

I recently completed a \u201cWords for Thirds\u201d presentation at five schools, with nearly 250 third graders. The presentation includes \u201ca little bit\u201d about the Grange and a lot about words and dictionaries. It all ties together by the integration of farmers, their tools, and words that apply to the Grange. One of our objectives is to introduce the word \u201csteward\u201d and get the kids thinking about taking good care of their tools, including the dictionary they are receiving.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The staves or staffs we use in Grange Ritual are incorporated, and the spud and pruning hook are tools that help us \u201cweed out\u201d things that don\u2019t belong. The shepherd\u2019s crook is a reminder that anyone can be a leader. The owl with his big, round eyes reminds us to keep our eyes open both for things that shouldn\u2019t be and for opportunities to be a leader.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s an interesting challenge to get the kids to transfer the purpose of the staffs into non-farming life. Since I\u2019ve been doing this for over twenty years, I\u2019m aware of changes. The transfer challenge seems to have increased. In the past, when I asked for examples of \u201cweeds\u201d (things we don\u2019t want in our classrooms) it didn\u2019t take long to get to things like \u201ctrash on the floor\u201d and \u201cmeanness.\u201d In one memorable group this year, it didn\u2019t come easy. Even the teachers were rolling their eyes when the kids started answering \u201cweeds\u201d and \u201cbugs.\u201d Finally, one of the teachers raised her hand, and when I called on her, she answered \u201cunkindness.\u201d That got us on track, and additional answers were more to the point. Since I believe in shared management when it comes to learning, I\u2019ve figured out that in the future, when I attempt the transition, I\u2019ll give a sample answer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Later, when we\u2019re working with the dictionaries, I\u2019ll find a kid who\u2019s helping a classmate find the assigned word. \u201cLook!\u201d I\u2019ll shout. I might even grab the shepherd\u2019s hook. \u201cThere\u2019s someone being a leader by being helpful to someone else. Anybody can be a leader!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the exercise does raise some interesting questions and consideration about the use of \u201csymbols\u201d and the lessons they can offer. Or maybe the questions are about our ability to find and adapt those lessons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Occasionally, we get thank-you notes from the kids. (Another observed change\u2014a few years ago I would have reported that we always get thank-you notes from the kids.) In kid form, the notes often include drawings. I\u2019m always pleased and a bit surprised when the drawings accurately represent the four staffs. I wonder if the artist remembers what they represent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, Patron of Husbandry, what are the four staffs? More importantly, what is the purpose of each, and what does it remind us of? There\u2019s often conversation about adapting the ritual and symbolism to today\u2019s society. It just might be more important for \u201csociety\u201d to adapt some of the symbolism to our daily lives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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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\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Meandering Around the Grange Way of Life By Walter Boomsma, Guest Columnist Words and Symbols \u201cFriends, 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.\u201d Overseer to Candidates at the beginning of the First Degree … Continue reading “Exploring Traditions – November, 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_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[190,19],"tags":[34,176,25],"post_folder":[365],"class_list":["post-97928","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-grange-principle-and-practice","category-history-and-trivia","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 By Walter Boomsma, Guest Columnist Words and Symbols \u201cFriends, 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.\u201d Overseer to Candidates at the beginning of the First Degree…","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1arC1-ptu","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mainestategrange.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97928","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=97928"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/mainestategrange.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97928\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":99352,"href":"https:\/\/mainestategrange.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97928\/revisions\/99352"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mainestategrange.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=97928"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mainestategrange.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=97928"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mainestategrange.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=97928"},{"taxonomy":"post_folder","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mainestategrange.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fpost_folder&post=97928"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}