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.
Click it or Ticket!
The Maine Bureau of Highway Safety (BHS) announced the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s “Click It or Ticket” seat belt education and enforcement campaign began May 11 and will run through Sunday, May 31. The campaign, which coincides with the Memorial Day holiday weekend, will involve Maine State Police and local agencies across the state.
There have been 23 motor vehicle occupant fatalities in Maine so far in 2026. Of those, 13 (57%) were unbelted. Nationally in 2024, 9,758 passenger vehicle occupants killed in crashes were not wearing seat belts. Among the young adult (18-34) passenger vehicle occupants killed in 2024, 59% were unbuckled— one of the highest percentages for all age groups.
Seat belt violations became a primary traffic infraction in Maine in 2007 and carry a fine of $50 for the first offense, $125 for the second offense and $250 for the third and subsequent offenses. BHS said participating law enforcement agencies are taking a no-excuses approach and will be writing citations day and night. BHS also reminds drivers that child passengers must be restrained with smaller children secured in a safety seat that fits their weight, height and the vehicle in which it is secured. For more information or tips on properly securing a child safety seat, visit their webpage
Grange Today! 5-22-2026
Articles in this edition include:
- Meeting Community Needs This Summer
- Volunteer at National Convention in Broken Arrow
- You Can Be Distinguished, Too!
- National Grange Releases New Report Highlighting Impact of 340B on Rural Hospitals
- View from the Hill
- Recognition Matters – welcoming and honoring members before it’s too late
- Removing stigma & Building mental wellness in Farm Communities – a Rural Minds Webinar
- Recipes from the Heartland
- Member Benefit: Start Hearing
- Grange Store: People, Pride & Progress
Click the button below to read and/or subscribe to Grange Today!
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.
Shady Contractors Can Hammer Away at Your Wallet
Home repairs are inevitable—whether from everyday wear and tear or unexpected damage. But when you’re looking for help, the wrong contractor can make matters worse. Some promise quick, low-cost fixes, then deliver poor work, damage your property, or disappear before the job is done.
Be cautious of contractors who show up uninvited and say they can start work right away, pressure you to make quick decisions, or ask for cash up front. After severe weather, shady contractors may also push you to sign over insurance payments or take out loans for payment.
Always take time to review your options before agreeing to any work. Get at least three bids, check references and reviews, and read contracts carefully before signing. Don’t agree to pay the full cost upfront. While a deposit may be required, it should not exceed a third of the total estimate.
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.
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Memorial Day, 2025
Enjoy this holiday weekend. But don’t forget to remember.
“Having fun honors them. They died so we could.”
Walter Boomsma, Memorials, Monuments, and Memories
A Strange Coincidence!
This is just too weird not to share. I have been working diligently on a book titled “Memorials, Monuments, and Memories” to release it in time for Memorial Day this year.
My cover illustrator is located in another country. It was interesting trying to describe to her what the cover image should look like. About the time she finished the front cover illustration, Jill Sampson of Mill Stream Grange submitted photos of their members placing flags on veterans’ graves in Vienna, Maine (in this country).
The similarities are a little uncanny. Maybe I should have waited and used the Mill Stream Photo!
There is a bit of a Grange connection. A huge thanks to Larry Bailey of Ocean View Grange for his generous permission to use his artwork on the back cover. It’s great to “bump into” good Grangers on “Main Street America!”
Memorials, Monuments, and Memories is a collection of personal essays and reflections spanning more than a decade of Memorial Days, Veterans Days, and moments of quiet civic remembrance. Drawing on childhood memories of small-town parades, a father’s honor guard, and the family cemetery plot, author Walter Boomsma weaves together the personal and the universal — exploring what it truly means to honor the fallen, keep faith with the past, and celebrate our shared humanity. From the red poppies of Flanders Fields to a weathered “Baby” gravestone in rural Maine, these pages remind us that remembrance is not about loss — it is about love, legacy, and the living obligation we carry forward.
The book is on sale! Ordering information is available here.
New England Fairs Memo
The Maine State Veterinarian’s office is sharing an important memo about animal health rules for the 2026 New England fair and show season. Please review the New England Fairs Memo (PDF).
This memo explains new guidance related to Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) and how it may affect animal exhibitions this year.
Key points include:
- Some poultry and waterfowl shows may be delayed, limited, or canceled.
- Cattle from states with HPAI cases should not attend New England fairs.
- Strong biosecurity practices are expected for all animals.
- Rules for Certificates of Veterinary Inspection (OCVIs) for the 2026 season.
For more information about animal health at fairs and events, visit the Animal Health program’s Fair Information webpage.
Highland Lake Grange Places Flags
Submitted by Dave Gowen
On May 16, 2026, eight members of Highland Lake Grange placed American flags on veterans’ graves at Highland Lake Cemetery for Memorial Day. The Grange has been placing flags for over ten years. Grange markers (made by the members) were placed next to the graves of past members of the Grange.
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.