Patrons of Husbandry – a website dedicated to the Granges located in Maine
We’re looking for a couple of folks who are “homesteading” in Maine who might be willing to be interviewed for an article in Good Day! — the National Grange quarterly magazine. If you consider yourself a “homesteader” (a term that has many different definitions), please let me know, and I will put you in touch with the author.
We’re Grangers. We help each other. This will be a win/win for those willing to participate, but you’ll have to act fast. There are deadlines to be met!
By Walter Boomsma, MSG Communications Director
Some may recall that Vicki Huff and I were invited to speak at the Waterboro Maine Historical Society–headquartered in a former Grange Hall. Coverage of the event made the front page of The Reporter— “Your Community Newspaper” in the Waterboro area. It is always fitting and appropriate to see the words “Grange” and “community” together.
When I talked with Cynthia Matthews, the reporter who wrote the story, it was also rewarding that she was familiar with Porter Gange and some of its activities. Too often, the local Grange is the best-kept secret in an area–not only from the media but also from the people who might be interested in joining or supporting it.
The media business has changed dramatically over the past decade or two. We no longer see local reporters showing up at events or chasing down stories. (In this case, Matthews didn’t attend, but asked a friend to take photos, and she subsequently did her interviews by telephone.) I know many people are intimidated by the idea of writing articles for the media, but it’s not that difficult to develop relationships with reporters and editors. We can help them with “tips” and simply let them know what’s going on at the Grange.
Don’t forget, there’s a Communications Handbook available for free on the MSG Website. It lists a number of daily and weekly newspapers throughout Maine and lots of tips and tactics for getting your news and events published. If you’re having an event, make sure you publicize it! Don’t have a party and forget to invite people!
On July 16, 2022, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (1-800-273-8255) transitioned to an easy-to-remember, 3-digit number (988).
The 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline (formerly known as the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline) offers 24/7 call, text, and chat access to trained crisis counselors who can help people experiencing suicidal, substance use, and/or mental health crises, or any other kind of emotional distress. People can also dial 988 if they are worried about a loved one who may need crisis support.
The original number will continue to work. 988 is built off of that 10-digit number. Using either number will get people to the same services. In the end, 988 is an easier-to-remember way to access a strengthened and expanded network of crisis call centers.
In Maine, calls to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline have been routed to the existing Maine Crisis Line since 2018. With Saturday’s launch of 988, the process remains the same — only the number is changing.
The Maine Crisis Line will continue to answer calls, texts and chats to the current 10-digit number (1-888-568-1112) and calls to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline number (1-800-273-TALK), as well as answering calls to the 988 Line. Texts and chats to 988 continue to be handled by the national Lifeline support center. Regardless of which number individuals dial, calls are answered 24/7 with free, confidential help and support for non-English speaking and deaf or hard-of-hearing callers.
Sunday, July 24, 2022 at 11:00 am
144 Oakland Road, Fairfield Center, Maine
After 122 years, we are finally in a financial position to have all the first-level hardwood floors sanded and refinished! We need to move all tables and chairs into a box trailer for a week while this is being accomplished–the first time since 1899!
We would love to have 20 or so people to make things easier and faster. It shouldn’t take more than a couple of hours. In this heat and humidity, extra help will be critical. With enough help, we hope to form a line similar to a “bucket brigade” and pass the items along until finished. It sounds like a big task (you don’t want to count the number of chairs–although somebody probably will), but we can do it, and it certainly will be worth it in the end.
Got kids? Make it a family affair!
Call 453-9476 for more information.
Stay hydrated and take breaks!
Webmaster’s note: As I was preparing this for posting, for some reason, I thought of “This sounds like a job for…” (I think that’s from some superhero show or cartoon.) Some may remember a time when this would have been a Pomona Project–Granges helping each other. That’s still valid and possible, but this is also a community event! Are there some other community organizations in the area that can rally with a 24-hour notice? A softball team? fire department auxilary? book club? motorcycle club? Call somebody you know and show up tomorrow at the Victor Grange Hall! Be part of the “we” in “we can do it.”
The Bureau’s Maine Veterans’ Benefits and Resource Guide documents a wealth of information regarding services and partner agencies throughout the state for Maine’s veterans and their families. This ever-evolving document strives to be a one-stop resource for all the veteran-centric programs and agencies in Maine that can be accessed both digitally and in print. The State of Maine provides nearly 20 different programs for veterans, including free education for dependents of 100% permanent and totally disabled veterans, property tax exemptions, state parks and museum passes, support for homeless veterans, and hunting and fishing licenses for disabled veterans. Throughout the state, over 400 organizations have established programs to assist veterans and service members wishing to continue their education, increase employment opportunities, access health care, or simply enjoy Maine’s great outdoors. Let this guide serve as a roadmap to the benefits and resources available whether you are a veteran, family member, active duty service member, an advocate, or are transitioning out of the military back into civilian life. The Maine Bureau of Veterans’ Services remains committed to meeting the individual needs of
Maine’s veterans and service members and hope that this guide will help you gain a full understanding of the benefits, services, and programs that are currently available. Maine has a long tradition of military service that dates back to the Revolutionary War. Established in 1947, the Maine Bureau of Veterans’ Services strives to be informed advocates for Maine’s veterans’ community. Working with community partners, the Bureau has formed a united mission to serve and we thank those organizations for their continued support in business, education, and the social services sectors. In addition to this Resource Guide, we encourage you to visit our website (www. maine.gov/veterans) to learn more about the services and programs available. As always, please do not hesitate to contact our office with any questions.
The 2023 National Grange Revival is just one year away! Information and registration forms are available on the Program Books and Information Page under the heading “National Grange.” Make your reservations at the campground as soon as possible – many of the campsites and RV sites are already reserved, which means you’re going to have an amazing week in Curtis, Michigan! Don’t miss out on a week full of fellowship, fun, excursions, great Grange food, and more! Booking your spot now will also save you some money!
The next issue of Good Day! magazine will be coming out in August, so there’s still time to subscribe! This quarterly magazine is full of information for your members, and at just $16 for a year’s subscription, it’s truly a steal! We are also always looking for content, including editorials, articles about things happening in your State or Community Granges, or other information that you think would be interesting to Grange members across the country. Please email me! The next deadline for information and articles will be August 31, 2022. Thank you to the states who send in your new members, too! It’s a great way to give your new members and Community Granges a shout-out!
THANK YOU to the States, Departments, and individuals who supported the Grange Foundation’s Virtual Telethon for the Junior and Youth Departments last weekend. You have made a HUGE difference in the future of the Grange, with over $24,000 raised!
Phil would love to see pictures from Grange Fairs across the country! I would love to see how fairs operate around the country and to hear how Granges are involved in making them happen. Photos of Grange exhibits and how we are sharing the message of the Grange are especially wanted! Attach them to an email to Phil!
The deadline has been extended to September 1, 2022. More information is available here.
156th National Grange Convention will be held at the Nugget Casino Resort in Sparks, Nevada from November 15-19, 2022. Visit the National Grange Website for information and to register. Early bird registrations are open until September 9, 2022.
Grange Heirlooms are snippets from the lessons of the Grange as taught in the Ritual and Declaration of Purposes. Please share “success stories” about the use of the program with us, or if you come up with other innovative ways to incorporate the Program in your Granges. Information and materials are now available on the National Grange Website.
Want to see your new members recognized in Good Day Magazine? Anyone who has not been recognized as a new member in the past year can be included. Use this link to share the news. The deadlines for each issue are:
“Notes from National” is based on a monthly email received from the National Grange Communications Department.
156th National Grange Session is scheduled for November 15-19, 2022 in Sparks, NV
By Heather Retberg, Quills End Farm
I fell in love all over today.
Yes, another green grass day with my bride by my side and my children out in front of me. However, it was really a 65-year-old Indian man who made it all clear.
There are communications and COMMUNICATIONS. This man, and his perspective, fall into the latter. It reminded me of the first time I had a peach custard pie.
We Quill’s Endians, at the arrival of such a comestible, had taken our respective seats to enjoy our unearned bounty. This was an unearthly pie, the kind whose recipe should be held in secret, lest we all fall into sloth. All my dearest began to speak its praises unceasingly.
I asked, ever so politely, for silence.
That pie demanded silence.
The simplest things aren’t often described in the simplest manner: pie, love, peace, the structure, and composition of soil. This lovely man, this Sadhguru, comes close to at least one…enjoy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=akrtCsRkV60.
Save soil.
yours,
Phil, for all the Quill’s Endians
(And, shhh. I’m thinking about that peach pie.)
Editor’s note: Phil continues to write “View from the Farm” while Heather recovers from her recent surgery. Send her a card/note at Quill’s End Farm, 192 Front Ridge Road, North Penobscot ME 04476
Heather and Phil Retberg together with 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. Heather is Vice President of Halcyon Grange #345 and writes a newsletter for their farm’s buying club of farmers in her area and has generously given us permission to share some of her columns with Grangers. Visit the Quill’s End Farm Facebook Page for more information.
by Walter Boomsma, Guest Columnist
As many know, I never cease to marvel at the similarities between the Amish and the Grange. (And the differences! In spite of their interest in farming and nature, the Amish were not permitted to join the Grange—even during the Grange’s early years.)
Historically, the Grange has been viewed as a farmer’s organization. In many circles, it is still. I recall one “old” Granger who would try to emphasize the fraternal aspect of the Grange by suggesting that “We’re like the Masons, but we keep cows.” Finding an accurate but short description of the Grange as an organization is challenging—in part because the Grange isn’t simple and it is a very diverse organization, at least in terms of what local Granges do and are known for doing.
And that means we sometimes miss one of the most powerful aspects of the Grange and the Grange Way of Life. “Since God placed man on earth, agriculture has existed,” is the installing officer’s reminder as he or she opens the installation of officers. I think it should be noted that it’s not, “Since God placed man on earth, farmers and farming have existed.”
When you drive through Amish Country, it’s easy to become impressed with Amish farms and gardens. During this year’s vacation, I was researching and photographing for a future book. We paid close attention to gardens, including many that were not part of an Amish farm. (Many Amish in Central Pennsylvania are not farming for a number of different reasons. But they are no less Amish.) Their gardens are bountiful. The rows are straight. There are many flowers and no weeds. The Amish wife typically has primary responsibility, but it’s important to understand that we are looking at a family-based society. We often saw entire families in the garden, weeding, planting, pruning… older children supervising younger ones.
Given the humble nature of the Amish, this can quickly seem contradictory until we try to understand we are not seeing “Amish Pride.” We are seeing Amish Connection. “Since God placed man on earth, agriculture has existed.” Amish or not, we are all connected to the earth, to nature, to agriculture (and in the Amish mind “to God).
When we look at the rituals and lessons of the Grange, it’s not difficult to see that they go beyond farming to nature and agriculture. In that same opening, “We encourage the planting of trees, fruits and flowers by which to enhance the value and increase the attractions of our home; adorning them with those beauties so lavishly given us by the God of Nature.”
Returning to the Amish for a moment, working the earth, and growing crops is seen as a means of drawing closer to God. In a large part, this enables a different view of work that takes it out of the category of drudgery. Work is an opportunity, not a problem. It’s a chance to build character. With its many benefits, work is to be enjoyed.
It doesn’t take too much “out of the box” thinking to see how connecting with the earth, with nature, and with agriculture brings many advantages. Perhaps we might stop thinking of the Grange as a farmers’ organization and start thinking of it as an organization that enjoys and reaps the benefits of being connected to the earth and nature.
Lester Gibbs is a Granger who lives in New Hampshire. We are “social media friends” on Facebook. I’ve forgotten how it started, but he has been regularly posting photos and reports of an onion he has growing indoors. Most of his reports are only a sentence or two—like the day it grew five inches. I look forward to and enjoy them. I mention him as an example of being “connected to the earth and nature.” He’s also demonstrating opportunity. The onion is part of his window garden, but even if it were his only plant, caring for it and observing it is not work. It’s no surprise that he’s a Granger. He is connected to the earth.
We may not be “Masons with cows,” but we are people who are connected to the earth and nature. “We ask none to join us who cannot see good in their fellow beings; but to all interested in Agriculture, who have generous hearts and open hands to help the needy, raise the fallen and in making the labors of this life cheerful, we say, ‘Welcome to the Grange.’”
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.
Grange member and local historian Ken Moody tells the stories of four young men who joined the Army Air Corps during World War Two. Lifelong friends, they all heeded the call of duty and left the safety of their Westbrook homes to fly into unknown dangers.
Each one of them would experience disaster, not returning to base after separate fateful missions, all within nine months of each other. Two of them would make the ultimate sacrifice for their country, never returning home. The impact on the Duck Pond neighborhood was immeasurable.
Ken’s research brings to life their service with intriguing detail and passion: Cadet Wesley C. Dearborn; Sergeant Harold C. Lewis; Sergeant Frederick W. Gowen, and 1st Lt. Leonard Emery.
Saturday, August 13th at 7 pm
Highland Lake Grange, 9 Hardy Road, Westbrook. The Grange is accessible, program on first floor.
Admission free. Donations accepted. All donations will benefit Westbrook Veterans Relief Fund (operated by Westbrook Veteran Services Office).
Refreshments provided.
FMI: 536-0038 or gowenfrm@gwi.net
Check out this article written by freelancer Sam Lemonick for the Harpswell Anchor. The article not only explores some of the factors creating declining membership in fraternal and community organizations, it explores ideas and adaptations that can impact local Granges’ relevance and growth.
The Merriconeag Grange isn’t in immediate danger. Despite struggles to convene formal meetings, Sam Alexander says it is doing better than most Maine Granges, both financially and in terms of membership.
Check out the article to find out how they are doing it!