How to Sponsor Garden Tours in your Community

Resources for Granges

produced by the
Maine State Grange Communications Department

While searching for ideas to promote agriculture, the Maine State Grange Farmers’ Initiative discovered that Victor Grange #49 in Fairfield had a jump on us by several years. We asked Barbara Bailey from Victor Grange in Fairfield Maine to share her energy, tips, and success stories they experienced.

Barbara also put together a resource booklet containing planning information, tips, and samples of the material they have used. The booklet also includes Barb’s contact information–she would love to help your Grange set up a similar tour!

Check out:

  • More Resources for Granges — Program Information and Inspiration
  • Maine Grange Farmers’ Initiative — Information about the Initiative
  • Program Books and Information –Information arranged by committee and topic.

Exploring Traditions — February 2021

Meandering Around the Grange Way of Life

by Walter Boomsma

glasses-1099129_640

This article is reprinted with permission from Good Day! Magazine, Volume 4, Issue 4, Winter 2020-21. You can download the actual pages from the magazine for printing. For additional information about subscribing, click the button at the end of this article.

Is It About Social Distancing or Hope and Perseverance?

Thanks to an early December winter storm, we were without power for several days. The Internet was unavailable. We felt quite “socially distanced” in nearly every sense of the words since snow piles and bent birches were blocking our driveway. We couldn’t get out. Not much is getting in. In a perhaps odd way,  we do not feel trapped. Possibly because of the limitations  already  imposed  by  the pandemic, this seems like merely “more of the same.”

For the past nine months, life seems to have been about what we cannot do. It’s been easy to forget that we should know better than to get trapped into thinking that way.

So as I sit “sheltering in place” in forced darkness, I find an opportunity to remember that many of the lessons of the Grange help us maintain perspective.

We are resilient and remember the words of the Fifth Degree, encouraging us to “hope and persevere.” Since many Grangers tend to be traditionalists, we find returning to oil lamps and the woodstove somewhat comforting and simplifying.

Admittedly, it’s a journey we’d prefer to make by choice.

But in a similar way, returning to the teachings of the Grange can be comforting and simplifying. Perhaps sitting next to an oil lamp and listening to the woodstove snap and crackle contributes.

Those sounds are less distracting than the beeping and buzzing of a smartphone or the laptop. Heck, I don’t even need to walk to the mailbox at the end of the driveway since it’s not accessible.

Nature prevails.

Sometimes that creates inconvenience, but it’s also a comforting truth.

Spring follows winter, just as summer follows spring. Sun follows rain. Life begins and ends and sometimes takes a different shape.

Growing up in New England, I learned a long time ago that “fighting” nature is not the way to go. As a child, big snowstorms meant no school — something we couldn’t do. But we were more focused on what we could do — sleep in, go out sliding, and building snow forts and people.

“There is no such thing as bad weather, only inappropriate clothing,” is a mantra often repeated by Scandinavian parents who insist their children spend some time outdoors every day.

As schools in the United States have learned to shift to remote learning, some districts announced there would be no more snow days. I’m not sure that’s a good thing from my childlike perspective.

One of the benefits of being Grangers is that we learn the importance of managing our own perspective with nature’s help. Instead of fighting with her, we should learn from her.

Current circumstances may force us to remember one of the lessons of the First Degree. It is especially fitting that the Overseer uses the language of yesteryear.

“Courage then, and patience, when gloom broods over your pathway. Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning. To the upright there ariseth light in darkness, and the path of the righteous shineth brighter and brighter, unto the perfect day. Then shall the crooked be made straight, and the rough places plain, and knowledge be revealed.”

In the language of today, please be patient. We will answer all emails in time, and we hope to return to our regular website posting schedule soon.

When contacted, the power company suggested we may have power restored within hours. I was a little disappointed they didn’t tell us to  “Hope and persevere.”

We’re still planning to fill the lamps, trim the wicks, and reload the woodbox.

We fill and trim because, without action, there is no hope. Without action, hope is just a way to pass the time until we’re done living. We can do more than sit in the dark and hope for the power company to arrive.

In the Second Degree, the Master provides a visual lesson with a few com kernels. “There is no object in which, to appearance, life and death border so closely together as in the grains of seed buried in the earth; but when life seems extinct a fuller and richer existence begins anew.”

For me, this was the most powerful and memorable lesson of my first experience with the Degrees. I remember so well watching the Master stir those hardened kernels in his hand and realizing that what we often view as an end is transformation.

Life finds a way.

Days end, days begin.

Light follows darkness.

We are granted the extraordinary privilege of observing, participating, and serving as stewards of the abundance of nature. “From this little seed we have, first the blade,  then the ear, then the full corn in the ear. So with the mind, when duly nourished with Faith and Hope.”

Look around, even in the darkness. Find some seeds — if not for your garden in the spring, then for your mind during these days that seem dark.

Even prior to the pandemic, one of my favorite things to do this time of year is to stroll during a snowstorm, particularly at night. It’s oddly comforting to experience the quiet as the accumulating snow deadens sound other than this gentle hiss of the falling snow. It’s as if nature is painting the landscape, bathing it in white, and covering everything so there are less distractions. There is less to see and hear while walking in a snowstorm, but so much to think and feel. An occasional animal track in the snow suggests that there are unseen fellow travelers who are… what? Are they in search of shelter or food? Or are they simply traveling because they can?

The snow is not their enemy, nor is it ours.

Like all of nature, the snow — if we choose to see it as such — gives us reason to hope and persevere.


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 Amazon, or by contacting the author.

Exploring Traditions — January 2021

Meandering Around the Grange Way of Life

by Walter Boomsma

glasses-1099129_640

When we celebrate the degrees, there’s a natural tendency for us to get tired if they’re all done on the same day Of course, it wouldn’t make sense but I’ve occasionally wondered if once in a while we should do them in reverse! Whenever I decide to review them, I sometimes do just that—I start with the Fourth!

So let’s do that because there’s one particular section of the Fourth Degree that offers some amazing wisdom and ties some things together. It starts with the candidates receiving this advice from Ceres.

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.

And then Pomona admits she probably doesn’t need to say this.

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.

Then Flora teaches.

Let 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. Beautify 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.

You may find yourself humming the tune “Faith, Hope, and Charity… that’s the way to live successfully…” But we’re not quite finished. The master is going to add a capstone.

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

There’s of course more but the Master quickly teaches the salutation of the Fourth Degree.

“A good Patron places faith in good, nurtures hope, dispenses charity and is note for fidelity.”

Do you see the pattern here? One of the often unnoted beauties of Grange Ritual is the way so many things tie together. So let me suggest an idea for you. I plan to ask the Master to allow me to do this as part of our next meeting or you can do it right now all by yourself. Start by standing up. Begin the salutation, “A good patron has faith in God…” Now stop, read and consider Ceres’ advice. Force yourself to pause and think about Hope. Do the same with Hope, Charity, and Fidelity.

And allow yourself a smile of satisfaction when you realize the power and beauty of the Grange teachings and Grange Way of Life.


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 Amazon, or by contacting the author.

New Paths to Blaze

Webmaster’s Note: Larry Bailey, Master of Ocean View Grange in Martinsville, said it would be okay to share his recent message to the Ocean View members. He could have written this to Grangers everywhere! When he replied to my request, he added, “…The examples of what other Granges are doing is very helpful, instructive, and energizes me. I know we can do more and I know that doing so improves our community and ourselves. It is, perhaps, selfish but, I get great self-satisfaction from cleaning up a local road, giving an award to deserving citizens, providing free meals to veterans, paying heat bills for those who need it, placing flags on the graves of our servicemen, and the other things we do at Ocean View.” Congratulations to Larry and Ocean View Grange for exploring tradition and new directions!


The words from the Exploring Traditions Column are for you to think about. I believe we need a new round of Grange fever. Most of us have been Grangers for several years and have seen our energy and enthusiasm slow down. It is not rare that this pattern takes over after a period of time.  I think new ideas and new directions are what we need. Those of us who joined and worked so hard to save the Grange still have that feeling that the Grange needs us and all our members. I can’t tell you what new ideas and directions we need to follow but our members are creative enough to come up with some ideas. I think we will be back in full action after the end of the year and hope we can start anew with excitement, energy, and determination. I am going to give it my best effort and hope each of you will too.  When thinking about what new paths we can blaze, I hope you still realize that we are not in the Grange to make money from our activities. We are an organization dedicated to helping our community, friends, and neighbors in any way we can. Yes, it takes money to do a lot of what we do but more importantly, much can be done with neighborly effort alone.

Oh, and by the way… Larry and I both ordered some cheese from Goot Essa!
WB

Exploring Traditions and Connections

Here you can watch and listen to the discussion between National Grange Communications Director Amanda Brozana Rio and author Walter Boomsma as they explore some of the topics from the book and what they mean to Grangers and Granges today–especially during the current pandemic.

Walter’s book is available from

Why Every Community Needs a Grange Today

The following article was written by Walter Boomsma in the spring of 2009 as part of a National Grange Essay Contest… and it won second place!

One of my greater pleasures in life is attempting to explain the origins and purpose of this organization called “the Grange” to excited third graders as part of our “Words for Thirds” program. I start by attempting to determine what they already know and I’ll always remember the young girl who waved her hand enthusiastically and announced “I was born there.”

It took a little thinking to realize she’d heard me say “LaGrange” – one of the small, rural communities here in Maine. Her answer was certainly amusing, but it was also insightful and telling. Like the organization she was learning about she was proud of her roots and heritage. She announced her connection and kinship to LaGrange just as enthusiastically as I announce my connection to the Grange.

That sense of connection attracts people to rural small-town America. But even small towns are experiencing a “social disconnect” as things like regional school systems and “social networking” using the Internet change the traditional model of community. We now have cell phones, PDAs and computers to stay “connected” with people – in many cases people we only rarely see and certainly can’t touch.

But beneath all the communicating, we still want

Continue reading “Why Every Community Needs a Grange Today”