Communication Shorts 9-1-2023

By Walter Boomsma,
MSG Communications Director
207 343-1842

Communication Shorts are brief (short) but important items posted for your information and use. Send us your ideas and thoughts!

September Bulletin Reminder

Columns from ODDs (Officers, Directors, and Deputies) are due no later than September 14, 2023. Remember, you can always find recent issues of the Bulletin on the Program Books and Information Page.

Monroe Classic

As a reminder, the Grange Store by Monroe Classic, Inc. offers fundraising programs, custom printed apparel, promotional items, awards, signs, banners, and awards.

What Can You Say Other than “WOW!”

 Recently, one of the most visited posts was “High Season Market at Ocean View Grange! One thing that makes this especially interesting is that the post covers an event that already happened! Should Granges be doing more markets? Two others that stand out are Tunes at Tranquility and the post about Mill Stream Grange’s Tool Lending Library. Should Granges be sponsoring more concerts and creating more lending libraries?

Article About Grange and Other Halls in Maine

The Maine Monitor recently published an article entitled “Saving the Halls and Granges that House So Much of Our Heritage.” We’re particularly proud of the fact the author depended upon and quoted from the Maine State Grange Website!

Ideas for Granges

Why not publish an annual report of your Grange’s accomplishments? You could even offer them for inclusion in your town’s annual report! It could be based on either a calendar year, the Grange Year, or the school year.

2023-2024 Events Calendar

This is a great time to start planning your programs and events for the next Grange Year. Please submit the information for posting on the MSG Website Calendar.

Thought for You…

Let’s be honest; it’s rather easy to be busy. We all can think up a list of tasks that will overwhelm our schedules. Some might even think that their self-worth depends on the length of their to-do list. They flood the open spaces in their time with lists of meetings and minutia – even during times of stress and fatigue.

Dieter F. Uchdorf

Do You Love the Grange?

The world wants to hear about it! Fill out the simple I Love the Grange Form… it only takes a couple of minutes! Thanks to all who have shared so far!

Online Directories Available 24-7

  • The ODD Directory features all state officers, directors, and deputies with contact information.
  • The Directory of Granges features all Granges in the state with a contact person. Please make sure your listing is correct!

Do You Have FOMO?

“FOMO” is, of course, a Fear Of Missing Out. One strongly recommended treatment is to subscribe to the Maine State Grange Website. We’ll send you a daily summary whenever news and columns are posted, and we won’t share your email address with anyone!

Subscribe to the Maine State Grange Website

Valley Grange Is Going Nuts and Having Fun!

Valley Grange is located in Guilford, Maine.

Bangor Saving Bank has announced its annual Peanut Butter and Jelly Drive, encouraging folks to “go nuts and have fun! Valley Grangers have no problem with going nuts and having fun. In fact, we plan to support it!

In short, we’ll collect jars of peanut butter and jelly to contribute to the drive. As Bangor Savings explains, “Peanut butter, a protein-rich food item, is too often in short supply and high demand at local food insecurity programs. And what’s a more classic pair than peanut butter and jelly? Something as simple as donating a jar can make a big difference to a neighbor in need. And with school back in session, we can support our local schools and backpack programs by donating a jar of peanut butter or jelly!”

You can, of course, drop off your donations at any bank branch. For our part, we’ll have a collection box on the porch of the Valley Grange Hall (172 Guilford Center Road, corner of Butter Street). This worked well during last year’s “Sock it to us” collection. We’re also asking Grange Members to collect. We’ll complete the collection at our September 15th meeting and deliver what we’ve collected to the Dover Foxcroft Branch before the September 30th deadline.

Last year, we had a boxful! Will we need a bigger box this year?

Bangor Savings will be matching donations–for every jar received, one additional jar will be donated to local food insecurity programs. It’s a “two-fer!”

We have a few ideas for going nuts and having fun, so stay tuned!

Webmaster’s note: Since this is a statewide effort, perhaps some other Granges will consider “going nuts and having fun” by supporting it!

St George Grange September Public Supper

Public Supper at St. George Grange 32 Wileys Corner Road in St. George, ME, on Saturday, September 9, 2023, at 5 pm.
Enjoy lots of homemade food with Grange members, family, and friends. All welcome! We have public suppers on the second Saturday of each month until October.

Citizen Alert System

Maine has established a comprehensive way to inform the public of events and conditions impacting public health and safety. The system is based largely upon the Maine.gov home page, but you can also sign up for email or text notifications.

Sign up for email or text notices

When you sign up, you’ll be given a long list of topics available, ranging from Amber and kidnapping alerts to storm warnings. It’s a great way to stay informed!

Special note to FHH folks: Why not provide this information as part of your next report?

Tunes at Tranquility

By Walter Boomsma, MSG Communications Director

Like many Granges, Tranquility Grange is located in a somewhat “off the beaten path” rural area. Janice and I allowed the GPS to lead the way to through Lincolnville, Maine. While Grange Halls typically have some unique features, there’s always a comforting sense of familiarity when visiting. It’s not just the building itself; it’s also the people and the fraternal friendliness.

Despite those predictable features, Janice and I found ourselves surprised during our recent visit. No doubt this was because we were there for some “Sweet, Savory, and Song.” The sweet and savory included an opportunity to nibble on some very cosmopolitan finger foods. The song included a lively program of Grange music performed by Katherine Rhoda. Katherine’s program included her voice accompanied by keyboard, Marxophone and violin-guitar (play-by-number American fretless zither sold door to door in the early 1900s), Harpeleik, accordion… and a few I can’t remember the names of!

This program (it’s really much more than a concert) specifically featured Grange songs and shared some of the background and history of the Grange itself. Katherine’s knowledge of music is diverse and deep. But Grangers will quickly respect and admire her knowledge of the Grange. Her historical approach to the program clarified the Grange’s purpose and commitment to change, especially in the earliest days. There were moments when the audience wanted to find a pitchfork and start a march protesting or supporting something.

There were moments when the audience wanted to find a pitchfork and start a march protesting or supporting something.

Walter Boomsma
Katherine is an entertainer, a historian, a storyteller, and more.

One particularly memorable song told the story of Lucy, a young woman who wanted to marry a farmer and had us chuckling. (No spoiler alert-you have to hear it.) Her parents were not supportive because her future husband was… a Granger!

This performance was a joint venture supported by Tranquility Grange and the Lincolnville Historical Society. An even more ambitious goal is the preservation of the hall itself. Erected in 1908, the hall is listed on the National Register, and many members of the Historical Society have joined the Grange. This recent concert is evidence of the determination to preserve the hall, the Grange organization itself, and the history of the ongoing contributions.

Katherine explains, “My hope is that sharing this music and history helps in some small way to cultivate community and to build upon the Grange history of working together for the common good, in keeping with the Grange motto ‘In essentials, unity; in non-essentials, liberty; in all things, charity’” She ended her performance by explaining the origins of the Grange Motto and asking the audience to repeat that motto with her not once, but twice.

While the concert ended, working together for the common good to cultivate community continues. In some ways, it may just be getting started.

What I find fun/rewarding about playing in Grange halls is uplifting and celebrating the Grange history of rural people working together for the common good, connecting with folks who are actively involved in their communities, and continuing my own education.

Katherine Rhoda

Katherine has two upcoming concerts scheduled:

  • September 12, 2023, at 7 p.m. at the Conway Historical Society in Conway, NH
  • October 22, 2023, at 1 p.m. at the Arundel Historical Society in Arundel, ME

For information about upcoming concerts, visit Katherine’s Website or Facebook Page!

Maine at the National Convention

by Deb Ivers, Maine Host Coordinator

Maine will be co-hosting the Hospitality Room on Saturday, November 18, 2023, with Vermont. The hotel will allow us to bring in homemade goods such as cookies, bars, or snack food. All homemade items must be wrapped or packaged before being sent to NY. Pre-purchased individually packaged food or snack items would also be greatly appreciated. Please contact Rick Grotton if you or your Grange have items to donate.

We will need volunteers to work in shifts in the Hospitality Room that day, along with helping with Registration.

The Northeast states, including Maine, are collecting new, unused socks, hats, and mittens as this Year’s Community Service project at the National Grange Convention. The collected hats, socks, and mittens or monetary donations will be donated to the Community Missions of Niagara, which serves a vulnerable population of individuals in the Niagara Falls community that, through a variety of circumstances, have been underserved, marginalized, overlooked, and challenging in their presentations and behaviors. The hats, socks, and mittens can be handmade or purchased but must be new and unused. These items can be brought to the Maine State Grange Convention in October or arrangements can be made to collect them before the National Grange Convention.

If you are planning to go to this year’s National Grange Convention and would like to volunteer to help on Saturday, please call or text me at (207) 450-0646 or email me. (Click on my name at the top of this post.)

Judi Olson Receives Jefferson’s Spirit of America Award

Submitted by Laurie McBurnie, Willow Grange

Willow Grange No. 366 President Ed Worthley presents Jefferson’s Spirit of America Award to Judi Olson on Thursday, July 27. (Paula Roberts photo, used with permission.)

Judi Olson, of Jefferson was honored with the Spirit of America Award on Thursday, July 27 at Willow Grange in Jefferson. Members of the public joined Grange members for a potluck supper and program to honor Olson on her much-deserved award.

Olson heads up the Jefferson Blessings in a Backpack chapter. She started the weekend meals project at Jefferson Village School in 2011 and has managed the program for the past 12 years. Over the years, her family members have helped with the program. When she first started the program, she had lots of volunteers, but now it is pretty much a one-woman show.

Olson fundraises, purchases food, bags it up, and delivers it to the school. The school puts the food in children’s backpacks in their lockers.

During the 2022-2023 school year, she delivered 37 bags of food a week to the school. The previous school year was her biggest, with 47 children served.

Her food bags contain two breakfast items, like cereal or granola bars, and two entrees, such as soup, canned spaghetti, mac and cheese, canned chicken, tuna or ham, peanut butter, or Vienna sausage. She also includes a couple of snacks like fresh or canned fruit, applesauce, crackers and cheese or peanut butter, and snack bars.

Olson keeps her inventory in a room in her basement. She has accounts at Walmart and Sam’s Club. All the money she raises goes into the Jefferson Village School Blessings in a Backpack account at the two businesses.

“It is quite convenient,” she said.

She raises $3,500 annually for the Blessings in a Backpack program at JVS.

During the program, Worthy Master Ed Worthley presented Olson with a plaque noting her award. Lecturer Paula Roberts gave her $238 raised from a  pie auction, lecturer’s march receipts, and donations.

The Blessings in a Backpack program is a nationwide project that feeds children throughout the United States. The program started in 2005, and there are now 1,000 programs throughout the United States. Since 2009, Blessings in a Backpack has grown from feeding 9,022 to 89,579 kids a year.

Olson said the most rewarding part of Blessings in a Backpack is feeding hungry children.

“When they go back to school on Monday, their brains will be working, and they will do well in school and go on to college and get a nice job,” Olson said.

Website Report

Website visitors may have noticed the MSG Website was “down” for a few hours late Monday night (8/21) through early Tuesday morning (8/22). This was an unanticipated “glitch” due to some miss-timed software updates. We are sorry for any inconvenience! All is restored and well!

Back to School…

Reprinted from an e-newsletter published by Maine Senator Stacey Guerin, District 4

As students, parents, and teachers are all gearing up for the start of another school year, it is a good time to remember to keep an eye out for students walking to and from school and students getting on and off school buses.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the school bus is one of the safest vehicles on the road; however, the risk is greatest when children are approaching or leaving a school bus.

Keep in mind these simple rules:

  • Yellow flashing lights on a school bus mean slow down because the bus is preparing to stop.
  • Red flashing lights mean stop. Students are getting on or off the school bus. Stay stopped until the red lights stop flashing, the extended stop arm is withdrawn, and the bus begins moving.
  • Be ready to stop for a school bus as they make frequent stops.
  • Watch and stop for children who cross in front of the bus when the bus is stopped.
  • Be prepared for school buses stopping at all railroad crossings.

Best wishes for a great school year!