Mill Stream Grange Decks the Hall
View from the Farm – December 2023
Webmaster’s note: The format of this column includes all of the Quill’s Endians participating at various times and in various ways! Phil writes this month’s column.
Gather, Laugh, Eat
Last week, we had a wonderful reminder of what a good snowfall can do. The browns and grays of late fall, along with the murky weather, gave way to a brilliant landscape of snow and sun. The reflected light, blindingly bright, brought with it cold weather that invigorates the body and mind.
It changes routines this new environment. The driveway, the paths, every coming and going must be cleared or recorded in a frozen memoir. The hose to water the livestock now receives more attention than any other time of year. Careful metering means running water that does not overflow the troughs. Careless metering means frozen lines or flooded places. The need to drive anywhere now has a time before takeoff component, to clear, to warm, and to scrape. Careless summertime steps now must shorten and become mindful of the ice beneath.
Bernd Heinrich, in A Year In The Maine Woods, reminds me that the coming of snow also shows the evidence of traffic. The pastures record but a fraction of the night traffic that occurs. The snow records it all. Walking the pigs’ fence line shows me who else I’m feeding when they dare venture into the open field, where they came from, and where they went. It truly is fascinating how populated everything is and how many wild things walk the same ground every day.
So, it is with sadness that I reminisce on the past week because today, the landscape has taken a 180-degree turn and pushed us back a couple of weeks. This current weather can only be helped by culinary delights. Beef stew, yup. Veal or beef short ribs…oh, my! Burritos with spice to warm from the inside out, please. Steak, home fries, and a beer? Tastes like summer. Tacos with salsa and Queso Fresco? I’m nearing the equator.
Late fall and winter give us that opportunity to draw closer to our loved ones. You can’t work outdoors as much, so gather, laugh, and eat.
Heather and Phil Retberg and 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 permitted us to share some of their columns with Grangers. Visit the Quill’s End Farm Facebook Page for more information.
Ag Committee Report — December 2023
By Roberta Meserve, MSG Ag Director
(207) 998-3857
The raffle, drawn at State Session, earned over $600.00. The winner of the Visa gift card was South Sangerville Grange; Harriet Spencer won the basket of goodies. Thank you to Agnes and Bob Nelson for taking care of the raffle table during the convention.
In my 55 years of Subordinate Grange Membership, this is my first time on the Ag Committee at any level, and I’m still learning the ins and outs and expectations. I look forward to discovering more.
I hope to see some of you at the Trade Show in Augusta in January. Stay safe on the snow and ice!
Community Service/FHH – December 2023
By Brenda Dyer, MSG Community Service/FHH Director
(207) 608-9193
May the spirit of the season be with you.
Community Service opportunities are endless during the Christmas season. Visiting a person who lives alone, shoveling a pathway or driveway for a neighbor or fellow Granger, inviting community members to a coffee/tea social and share time together, calling a friend on the phone, sending a note to a shut-in, volunteering at a local facility and talking to residents, and become Christmas Carolers for the community are a few suggestions.
Family, Health & Hearing
December A Grange Holiday Season – display what it is to be in Grange and not only during the holidays but all year round.
January 4 – National Buffet Day
January 9 – National Law Enforcement Appreciation Day
January 28 – National Lego Day
These are suggestions, and your Grange may add to these. It is not too early to be thinking about submitting “Granger of the Year,” Police, Firefighter/EMT of the Year.
Merry Christmas and a Healthy, Happy New Year!
NE Leader Conference Packet
Yes, there was an error in the original posts! Thanks to John Lowry for spotting it and bringing it to my attention. It has been fixed and is included here for your convenience.
The moral of the story is, “Don’t use a new software feature until you’ve thoroughly tested it.”
A secondary lesson might be, “Don’t be surprised at the methods software developers will use to introduce their software to new users!”
Sorry for any inconvenience or confusion!
Northeast Leaders Conference Announced
The Northeast Leaders Conference is scheduled for January 12 – 14, 2024, in Concord, NH.
Hotel reservations must be made by December 20, 2023, and Conference reservations must be made by January 4, 2024.
All are welcome at your own expense, and everyone must make their own hotel and conference reservations. All information and a schedule is available in this online packet.
You are welcome to share rooms and transportation. Contact Sherry with questions at my email SHarriman@twc.com or call my cell phone listed in the roster and web.
CWA Report – December 2023
By Margaret Henderson, Director
Committee on Women’s Activities
207 948-2762
I hope some of you are starting to plan activities for next year. My Grange is planning to make lap robes for Veterans. I believe this will be a great project for us. I am sure there are many wonderful projects across the state that we can participate in.
I hope that you all will have a very Merry Christmas, enjoying time with your families and friends. Stay healthy and safe.
Peter Ivers Honored
Submitted by David Gowen
Membership Moments – December 2023
By Rick Grotton,
Membership Committee Director
207 582-5915
All the Mainers who attended the National Grange in November had a great time in Niagara Falls and were greeted with great weather. It was great to be reacquainted with friends from across the country who I haven’t seen in a few years. It was wonderful to find out that a number of State Granges had overall increases in net membership this past year! Maine can do the same if we focus and let people know we exist!! Thanks to those Maine Granges who did have net gains; keep up the great work!
Let’s make a group resolution for the upcoming year to increase our memberships. At State Grange in October, during the Memorial Service, the Grange was described as a four-story home with the Subordinate/Community Grange as the main floor with Pomona, State, and National as the upper floors, consecutively. Everyone enters the ground floor and climbs up to the upper floors, where more lessons await. Thus, without the ground floor, there would be no house. That is why it is important for us to bring in new members; if not, the house collapses. Our Grange “house” has existed for all of these years so repairs are needed and upgrades necessary. We have gone through periods of change, and more are needed today. Please be an integral part of our growth and continue to contribute as you have over the course of your membership. We all need to support one another to help keep our “house” sturdy and functioning. A little TLC (tender loving care) helps tremendously.
Over this holiday season, please reflect on how grateful we are in so many areas. How can we improve ourselves? How can we help others? How can we increase our Grange membership? What needs to be changed? All of these questions are vital and extremely important and require an answer. Let us get a head start and start to make resolutions for the new year so these questions can be answered.
The State Membership Committee wishes all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Stay safe, stay positive, and stay grateful.
The Chaplain’s View – December 2023
By Christine Hebert, MSG Chaplain
(207) 743-5277
Let us finish this year with a grateful and thankful attitude, looking back on the positive events in our lives; rejoice and be glad that we are loved by many and live with hope for the future.
Let us all remember that “Jesus is the reason for the season” and carry the joy of this time with us through the coming year. Wishing you a Holy and Blessed Christmas.
I bring you good tidings of great joy…For unto you is born this day in the city of David a savior, which is Christ the Lord.
Luke 2:11 (KJV)