Degree Days and Major Events
- October 30-31, 2026, Maine State Grange Annual Meeting in Orono.
The Maine State Grange Office is located at 36 Anthony Avenue, Suite 102, Augusta, ME 04330. The email address is mainestategrange@gmail.com.
Exploring Traditions – May, 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. For the next few issues, we’ll be sharing some of them!
Early in the First Degree, the Overseer explains to the candidates:
“Friends, 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. The first four Degrees of our Order are based upon the seasons of the year, each conveying its appropriate lesson. You are about to enter the mysteries of the First Degree, symbolic of springtime on the farm, when all Nature is bursting into newness of life. The wild flowers are making the woods and the hills glorious with their beauty; orchards are in bloom, and the air is redolent with their perfume; plowing the fields has begun and soon the sower will go forth to sow.
Additional Laborers and Maids are needed for work in field and household, and we accept you as willing workers, now in waiting for the tasks to which you will be assigned: For in our fraternity there is work for all, and the idler has no place among Patrons of Husbandry.”
Of course, the idea is to do more than simply hear (read) the words. With this, we have the opportunity to digest those words. It was not an accident that the Degree Work starts with the spring season, “when all Nature is bursting into newness of life.” Joining the Grange is also about newness in our lives as we commit to live differently, in accordance with the “precepts of our order.” There is work to be done on our farms, our communities, and ourselves. Joining the Grange was never meant to be a passive experience, and the “idler has no place among Patrons of Husbandry.”
Another advantage of reading and absorbing these words is that we’re allowed to drift off into visualization. We can take the time to see what the overseer is describing. Imagine standing at the gate to a farm, ready to enter and become responsible for what happens on it. There is no sense of dread. Perhaps some anxiety and tension, but a deep sense of excitement and possibility.
As the Lecturer accepts the candidates’ applications (signets), he explains, “An honest man is the noblest work of God… The first and highest object of our Order is to develop a better and higher manhood and womanhood.” That’s not just something we do to and for others. It’s something we do to and for ourselves.
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 – May 2026
By Walter Boomsma
207 343-1842
Communications Director
Website Update
“The only way to escape hardship is to keep moving forward.” Some will recognize this as a “family-friendly” paraphrasing of a quote attributed to Winston Churchill. Over the last month or so, I’ve found it necessary to keep reminding myself, “This too shall pass.”
We’re not quite out of the woods, but the clearing is in sight! (I seem to be full of metaphors and pithy sayings this morning.) There are probably some important lessons to be learned from the entire experience.
After nearly two decades of using the same host server, it became clear that things weren’t working. Well, it became clear to me. The host server folks didn’t see it that way!
I could probably make your eyes glaze over if I told the whole story and shared the many frustrations and roadblocks. The site is now fully migrated to a new server. Yay!
We can breathe easier, but we need to keep moving. It appears the major remaining difficulty is that a number of images disappeared during the move. Fortunately, I’m a bit of a packrat, so all is not lost. I will continue to replace them as I find them. If you experience any difficulties with the site, please let me know!
Forward momentum also demands that we continue to develop the site with news and resources. Thanks to the Granges who share news of events and accomplishments. Our future largely depends on what we do, not on what we say. If you can stand another pithy saying, society would tell us, “What you’re doing shouts so loudly we can’t hear what you’re saying.” Tell us what you’re doing! If local Granges don’t share their news, it’s the same as announcing that you’re not doing anything.
One thing I really like about the new server is that it is focused on WordPress, the platform we use to develop and maintain the site. This promises some great future developments and efficiency.
As a bit of an aside, I confess that A.I. (artificial intelligence) caused some frustration during the migration. But it was also profoundly helpful at times. So much of life is about stewardship and making good use of the tools we have available and the opportunities they create. Is there really such a thing as a “bad” tool?
The website itself is a tool. One way to use the site efficiently is to subscribe so you receive a weekly summary of posts. While site visits declined during the critical period of outages, the number of subscribers did not. In fact, our subscriber count continues to increase. Slow and steady wins the race. (Are you counting the pithy sayings?)
To so many, thanks for your support and patience! If you have ideas or needs, communicate them. Together we can do great things!
FACT: It didn’t take long to receive an email from the new server that we’d passed 500 site visits!
Membership Moments, May 2026
By Rick Grotton,
Membership Committee Director
207 582-5915
One of the best parts of being on the State Membership Committee is the pleasure of awarding longevity certificates to members and certificates of appreciation to community individuals who have done outstanding work to improve the lives of those around them. The positive energies are felt throughout the room, and their imprints are embedded in the walls of the Grange Halls. Listening to the recipients as they give their acceptance speech and watching their faces as their eyes sparkle, their positive energies emerge from their voices, and feeling their gratitude as it flows freely from their person gives me a warm, happy, proud feeling. It makes me grateful and proud to be a Grange member. Whether the recipient is receiving a 25-year or an 80-year certificate (yes, it is true), the responses all resonate with the same happy feelings, with good memories of their Grange membership. You can tell that being a Grange member has had a grand impact on their lives and the lives of their family and friends. I certainly can relate to that reasoning. The family of the recipients who attend but are not Grange members also listen with awe and gratitude while their family recipient is truly immersed in good thoughts and projects, conveying such feelings to the audience.
Utilize your Halls to give awards to non-members who are outstanding in your communities. There are many people doing positive things, and they are mainly overlooked. Recognize them and offer your thanks and appreciation for what they have done for the community and for the Grange. This ceremony will bring people to the Grange building, and for many, it will be their first time in a Grange Hall. The families of those recipients will learn what the Grange does. Usually, when I host such an event for non-members only, I give them a brief history of the Grange before giving awards, so they become aware of their surroundings.
Rapid Program Resource
Submitted by Diane Pinkham
The Maine Council for Elder Abuse Prevention (MCEAP) has a Speakers Bureau with presenters who are available to give a 60-minute presentation on elder abuse. To raise awareness of the serious problem of elder abuse and the many valuable resources that are available in Maine to help those who are affected by it, the Council developed an Elder Abuse: A Community Problem with Community Solutions presentation.
MCEAP’s goal for this presentation is to provide an overview of the issue of elder abuse including statistics, general information about the different types of elder abuse, and where to go for help. This presentation does not provide profession-specific content, and it does not include information about legal reporting mandates.
For more information or to request a speaker for your event, please contact:
Jill Randall
Co-Chair, Maine Council for Elder Abuse Prevention
jrandall@mainelse.org
207-620-3114
Pride at Ocean View Grange
by Larry Bailey, Master
It is an understatement to say that our Monday night meeting was both a great experience and, more than that, a very sad and moving Grange matter. The matter that was so moving was the Draping of the Charter for our Sister Loa Lee Blake. Our team performed a very professional Ceremony. Loa Lee was an extremely talented person. She was an accomplished musician – piano and organ player, singer, member of many clubs and orders. Loa Lee was a very active, lively lady. She is missed by many of her relatives, friends, and fellow Grangers.
The item that was so uplifting was the surprise visit from two officers from the Maine State Grange who drove all the way here from Norway, Maine, to visit us. The two visitors were Sister Christine Hebert, the Maine State Grange Chaplain, and Sister Linda Allen, Oxford Pomona Deputy. Both are members of the Norway Grange. I made a phone call to Sister Hebert, whose Grange recently held a Charter Draping ceremony, to ask about proper procedures. She was a great help. They just wanted to take the ride to see our Grange in action. They both said, after the meeting, that they were very impressed with our Grange… specifically the Grange building, the members who were there, the proper procedure for Draping the Charter, and the large number of projects we were involved in. All of us at the Grange should feel proud that we were applauded by senior Grange officers.
A few of the other items discussed were:
- The damaged side door on the 1st floor will be replaced by Trip today. It is underway.
- Sister Gillie moved to donate $150 to the Maine Children’s Home and House in the Woods. Both are Grange Charities, which will split the donation. The vote approved the donation.
- There is a leak in the water tank piping that needs to be looked at.
- The 1st floor was cleaned, and the cleaner did a very good job of it.
View from the Farm – May, 2026
Webmaster’s note: The format of this column includes all of the Quill’s Endians participating at various times and in various ways! Phil writes this month’s column.
The Soft Start
Since early April, when the frost departed from the soil in the pastures, we have been privy to the scene that unfolds every spring. From 1/4″ clover leaves, cute as a kitten to a grass farmer, to the stout orchardgrass, bullying its way to the heavens, the season never yet disappoints. But the greens. They change every day just ever so. Under gray skies, the glow seems otherworldly. Sunny skies seem to make smiling green, bright and toothy as it blows gently in a breeze and receives its soundtrack from the newly arrived frenzy of birds.
The trees are starting to play along as well. The multitude of reds and yellows adding to the drama of yet another unfolding. They just frame the scene as the mist and clouds roll by, adding the promise of summer to the dreariness. Underneath the coming canopy they are all business, soaking up all the moisture they can bear to miraculously turn it into foliage.
The soft start. It is frustrating to us as we wait. Know that we might be the only ones waiting in nature. The rest are off to the races while we enjoy the view.
Heather and Phil Retberg and their three children run Quill’s End Farm, a 105-acre property in Penobscot that they bought in 2004. They use rotational grazing on their fifteen open acres and are renovating thirty more acres from woods to pasture to increase grazing for their pigs, grass-fed cattle, lambs, laying hens, and goats. Quill’s Endians are members of Halcyon Grange and publish a newsletter for their farm’s buying club of farmers in the area, and generously permit us to share some of their columns with Grangers. Visit the Quill’s End Farm Facebook Page for more information.
Gift Cards Are for Gifts
Gift cards are popular and convenient for consumers—and for criminals who favor them as easy and hard-to-trace forms of payment.
They may claim the fastest way to fix an urgent financial problem is to go to a store, load a specific amount of money onto one or more gift cards (sometimes called electronic vouchers), and then share the activation numbers from the back of the card. No legitimate government agency or business will ever accept payment this way.
If you or someone you love has experienced this financial crime, turn the card over and call the issuer at the number provided; they may be able to freeze the card before some or all of the funds are drained. You should also report this crime to law enforcement to document what happened should there be a means of restitution down the road.
Fraud affects every generation, and AARP Fraud Watch Network is helping people fight back—one community at a time. By learning together and sharing information, we can better protect one another.
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.
Share this news!
Legislative Report, May 2026
By Steven Haycock, Legislative Director
(207) 329-6835
Spring has sprung and Primary Elections are coming right up on June 9. Participating in the primary is important step in our election process. By participating in the primary process, you have the best opportunity to choose the candidate that best represents your personal point of view. As always, do your research and vote your conscience. I mentioned at a meeting one day during refreshments that we here in Maine politically are a purplish blue state, and one of the members didn’t understand what I was referring to. She had heard the terms “red” states and “blue” states, but didn’t understand what they meant. It started with the 2000 Presidential election, the major networks agreed when calling the various states in the Presidential elections that states won by a Republican candidate on the maps would be colored red, and those won by the Democratic candidate would be colored blue. Apparently, major networks had been using color-coded maps on Election night since the 1970’s, but in 2000 agreed that, across all networks, red would represent Republicans and blue Democrats. There are states that almost always vote Republican or Democratic during most elections. The other states, according to political commentators, are purple or swing states as they tend to change from election to election. We here in Maine are mostly in a blue state with a weird red streak, so we are purple(ish) in my view. What does this mean for every Mainer? We are going to spend the next six months or so getting bombarded by political ads, signs, and mailings. It is nice to have an independent streak, but it comes with a lot of political noise.
So, I hope everyone is thinking about and writing resolutions for the State Grange session this fall, the deadline for resolutions to be considered at theState Grange Session is August 15. As a reminder, the whereas sections of a resolution outline the problem or issue you want to address, and the resolved section more or less covers the solution to the problem. This is resolution writing in an extremely small nutshell. Please reach out if you need some help getting your ideas into resolution form. I have some significant experience with this. I might not necessarily agree with your resolution, but I promise to help you get the correct form for presentation to your Grange. All resolutions must be passed or adopted by a Subordinate or Pomona Grange to be submitted to the Maine State Grange for consideration. (Note: certain Maine State Grange committees can also submit resolutions.) I also wanted to note that hundreds of resolutions are submitted to the National Grange every year for consideration. Resolutions regarding public policy, not internal Grange policy, do not automatically become the policy of the Maine State Grange unless adopted by the delegates at a session of the Maine State Grange. Until next time….
Mill Stream Grange Honors Vets
This is the sort of community service that brings Grangers together and demonstrates purpose. Congratulations and thanks to Mill Stream Grange #574!
Fraternal Concern – Gladys Chapman
Submitted by MSG Secretary Sharon Morton
It is my sad duty to inform you that Sister Gladys Chapman, Past Chaplain of the Maine State Grange, wife of Chief Deputy Maynard Chapman, passed away on May 9, 2026.
All services will be held at the Auburn United Methodist Church on Park Avenue, Auburn. Visiting hours will be held on Friday, May 22, 2026, from 2-4 and 6-8. A Celebration of Life will be held on Saturday, May 23, 2026, at 2 pm.
Cards may be sent to Maynard Chapman at 84 Lisbon Street, Apartment 6, Lewiston, Maine 04240.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to: Danville Jct. Grange, 48 Pond Road, Raymond, ME 04071, United Methodist Church, 439 Park Avenue, Auburn, ME 04210, or The Hospice House, 236 Stetson Road, Auburn, ME 04210.