Overheard at Ocean View Grange

Ocean View Grange is sporting its primer coat.

Thank Spinner Lee, for getting this going. Great leader! I think we need a vote to rent the lift for another day to finish coat the front and wash at least one side. The lift saves a huge amount of time setting up ladders/staging. And a lot of wear and tear in the old guys. I, for one, cannot climb ladders anymore.  I vote yes!

(There were lots of “yes” votes!)

What an undertaking!

It is hard work, but a labor of love and respect for our Grange hall. Thanks to everyone who has and is helping.

I’m glad we could get the ball rolling on the painting. We’d be remiss if we didn’t include Josh Coggeshall on the paint team. Not only was Josh a technical voice of reason, but he swang a mean scrapper. You’ll remember that Josh is always there to help. Puttying windows is a labor of love and time, and Josh did a great job there. He models a true Granger.

Don’t forget that Saturday, May 28th at 10 am is Flag Day at the Ridge Church… You are welcome to join us in honoring our fallen veterans. Bring some tall boots and gloves and anyone who wants to help!

(Ocean View Grangers are always busy! What do you suppose they are doing that requires tall boots and gloves?!)

Mill Stream Grange at Work

Mill Stream Grange members (l-r) Ingrid Grenon, Debbie Lavender, Lisa Goucher, Jill Sampson, Laurie Cunningham, Allan Harville, and Paul Lavender (taking photo) placed U.S. flags at three cemeteries on the Tower Road in Vienna to honor and remember veterans on Memorial Day.  Ray Anderson (on stone) was a long-time member of the Grange.   (If we have inadvertently missed your military loved one, please call 293-4408 or 293-4960, and we will make sure the flag is placed.)

Ocean View Painting Progress

If you can spare a few minutes… drive over to Ocean View Grange this morning–they could use some help with the painting! Sorry we couldn’t get this posted sooner!

According to Master Larry Bailey,

Thanks to Grange members Jim Lee and Ben Norton, the first step is well underway. Jim and Ben power washed the front facade in anticipation of painting it on Tuesday.  The bright and warm sun along with the steady winds are drying the shingles very quickly.  

Ben will not be available Tuesday so, we are looking for someone to step in and help.  Jim and Ben took turns doing the power wash. I think the painting will require more hands.

(Ocean View Grange is located at 435 Port Clyde Road, Martinsville.)

Eastern Regional Conference Deadline

By Samantha Wilkins, National Grange Operations Coordinator

This is just a reminder that the Eastern Regional Conference Registration closes June 1! Conference takes place June 17-19, 2022.

If you have not yet registered or shared the registration information within your states, please do so ASAP!

The Eastern Regional Conference is open to ALL Grange members in the following states: Connecticut, DC, Delaware, Florida, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Vermont, Virginia, and West Virginia.

Please remember that regional conferences are open to ALL Grange members, no matter their age or interests. There will be activities for Juniors and Youth as well as subordinate members interested in programming, communications, membership growth, and service. And as always, we plan on including a ton of fun and fellowship in the nation’s capital!

Public Speaking and Sign-A-Song contests will be open for ALL Youth and Junior Grange members to participate in. You do not have to be a state winner to compete for the best of show and a chance to move on to nationals. For those members in the Northeast Region who are unable to attend the contests in person, they may sign up as virtual contestants. Contestants will be judged against their regions only (Eastern and Northeast)

Registration and hotel information can be found here: Eastern Regional Conference – National Grange Youth

For any questions about the conference, please reach out to Samantha Wilkins, samantha@nationalgrange.org or 210-838-7892

Highland Lake Grange Marks Members

While placing American flags in Highland Lake Cemetery, the Grangers at Highland Lake Grange P of H No. 87 thought it would be nice to mark the graves of members interred at the cemetery. Kathy Gowen came up with a design, and we worked together to assemble them at our last meeting. We identified 16 headstones of members (including married couples or multiple members in a family with one headstone). Several were charter members of Highland Lake Grange in 1875. Here are photos of a few of them.

Browntail Moth Season Begins

MSG Comm Department Logo
This article is reprinted with permission from an e-newsletter published by Paul Davis, State Senator for District 4.

The Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention (Maine CDC), Maine Forest Service (MFS), and 211 Maine remind Maine residents and visitors to watch out for browntail moth caterpillars and to take steps to limit potential health risks caused by the caterpillars. The advisory comes on the heels of a bill recently enacted by the Maine Legislature to provide mitigation resources to communities suffering from severe browntail moth infestations.

In their caterpillar stage, browntail moths shed tiny hairs that can cause a skin reaction similar to poison ivy. Most individuals affected by the hairs develop a rash that lasts for a few hours up to several days.

Browntail moth caterpillars are easy to identify. They are dark brown with white stripes along the sides and two red-orange dots on the back. Younger caterpillars lack these white stripes. For more information, answers to frequently-asked questions and tips on how to protect yourself, visit the state’s browntail moth page.

Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow

Patrons of Husbandry

Hear Ye! Hear Ye! From the town crier to social media, the Grange has and continues to play an important role in Maine Communities and beyond.

Join Victoria Huff, past president of the Maine State Grange, and Walter Boomsma, author of the book “Exploring Traditions — Celebrating the Grange Way of Life,” for a lively discussion of the Grange’s contributions.

The program is sponsored and hosted by Waterboro Historical Society on June 1, 2022 starting at 7 pm. It is especially fitting that the WHS meets at the former Waterboro Grange Hall. The hall is now owned by the Society. It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2012. Located at 31 West Road in South Waterboro, it is used for business program meetings of the society and rented out for weddings, parties, and other programs.

All are welcome! It would be great to see some Grangers there!

Visit the Waterboro Historical Society Facebook Page

Exploring Traditions — May 2022

Meandering Around the Grange Way of Life

by Walter Boomsma

Nature’s Lessons Are There for the Taking

“Brothers and Sisters, my tribute is the seed corn. Have FAITH. Faith in the spring of the year and the springtime of life. Even as little children have faith in their parents, so should we have faith in the Great Provider. We prepare our fields and plant the seed having faith in its resurrection.” (Ceres’ charge to the candidates in the Fourth Degree.)

“I need not prompt you to nurture HOPE. Hope is the heavenly light that gilds our labors. Were we deprived of that source of consolation, life would indeed be dreary. When you see the blossoms open in the early summer, hope is there for the luscious fruit. The labors of the Husbandman and Matron encourage hope at every turn. Let the fruit blossoms be to you an emblem of hope.” (Pomona’s charge to the candidates in the Fourth Degree.)

“Let the flowers be to you an emblem of CHARITY. In kind words and deeds dispense charity, as freely as flowers do their perfume, and as generously as they cover all God’s footstool. Beautiful and adorn your homes with flowers. The home that is thus made fragrant and cheerful is prepared to be the abode of sweeter affections and more radiant virtues.” (Flora’s charge to the candidates in the Fourth Degree.)

As spring of 2022 unfolds, these three charges seem to have a special meaning and application for “Husbandmen and Matrons.” Or, perhaps more accurately, for everyone. As I pondered these three chargers, I found myself thinking it would be interesting to have the words on signs or painted rocks placed in our yards.

Even if we do not plant them ourselves, we have faith that seeds will become plants. Faith is not far removed from hope. Spring is perhaps the season of hope. Seeds become plants. Many of those plants develop buds that become flowers. And many of those flowers become fruit. How many times does this simple miracle take place each spring? We’ve come to depend on those miracles. We should also appreciate them.

”Resurrection” is an interesting word that I suspect Ceres chose quite intentionally. It means “rising from the dead” or “restoring to life.” I suppose we could debate whether or not a seed is “alive,” but we plant them in the sure hope that life will result. How amazing it is that all of the instructions and fundamental parts necessary are contained in that little seed.

If a tiny seed can create such life, how much can we create and accomplish?

We can certainly dispense charity. Flora’s suggestion recognizes the miracles we can be if we dispense charity as “freely as flowers do their perfume.” When we make our homes more fragrant and cheerful, we also make the world more fragrant and cheerful—not only with flowers but with the charity evidenced by our kind words and deeds.

“A good Patron places faith in God, nurtures hope, dispenses charity, and is noted for fidelity.” This salutation is included in the Master’s charge to the candidates and drives home previous lessons.

“Let the agate be to you an emblem of FIDELITY. May your principles… be as firmly impressed as the lasting colors in the stone, and may our friendship be as firm as the stone itself.”

Whether you are working in the garden or simply gazing out the window, nature’s lessons are there for the taking. Have faith, nurture hope, dispense charity, and be noted for fidelity. A tiny seed contributes much to our world. You can do the same.


Any degree or ritual quotations are from the forty-sixth edition of the 2013 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://abbotvillagepress.com, on Mr. Boomsma’s Amazon Author Page, or by contacting the author.