“We stopped counting,” Community Service Chair Mary Annis said. “Thanks to members and friends, we were able to fill five bags with socks for our local kids. We used almost half of the dining hall to spread things out to sort!
Those bags are now being delivered to local schools (Piscataquis Community, SeDoMoCha, Brownville, Ridgeview, and Harmony Elementary) for distribution to kids who need them during what is undoubtedly some of the most bitterly cold weather. Windchill factors are taking local temperatures to as much as forty below zero. “Our volunteer deliverers are bundling up and wearing their own warm socks,” commented Walter Boomsma, Program Director, who is being assisted by Janice Boomsma and Pat Engstrom.
“We could call this ‘Operation Warm Toes,’” quipped Boomsma. “From the reception we’re getting while delivering, it’s safe to assume that this cannot be limited to a one-time effort. We’ve still got plenty of winter weather left and lots of little toes, so we’ll be asking for community support again.”
There are several ways to donate. Online shoppers can have an order drop-shipped to Walter Boomsma, 17 River Road, Abbot ME 04406. If you know a member of Valley Grange, contact them and arrange for a drop-off or pick-up. Valley Grange will be meeting on Friday, January 21, 2022–join us for potluck supper at 6 pm and “sock it to us.” There’s also a collection tote on the porch of the Grange Hall located at 172 Guilford Center Road in Guilford. “Just be careful,” Boomsma warns. “this time of year the steps aren’t always cleared off between meetings and events.”
Kids’ sizes and adults’ sizes are needed. Boys, girls, unisex… warm socks are best, obviously. The socks collected will be distributed to school nurses where there is a need. Thanks for helping us help the kids!
If your business or organization wants to serve as a collection point, contact Walter Boomsma at 207 343-1842 or Mary Annis at 207 564-0820. “We’d like to make our next delivery soon, probably early in February,” Annis said. We need to act fast! Thanks for helping us help the kids!”
This article is reprinted with permission from an e-newsletter published by Paul Davis, State Senator for District 4.
The Clyde Russell Scholarship Fund (CRSF) offers financial awards to Maine graduating high school seniors to attend higher education institutions. The CRSF was created by the Maine Education Association through a trust established by the late Audrey Lewis, who served as president in 1958. The Fund was named after Clyde Russell, who served as Executive Director from 1945 to 1966.
There are two categories of awards as follows:
– Awards of up to $2,000 for graduating high school seniors who will attend a Maine Community College;
– Awards of up to $10,000 for graduating high school seniors who will attend a four-year college. Application forms must be downloaded from CRSF’s website before Jan. 31, 2022, and the deadline to apply is Feb. 1, 2022. The entire application must be received by CRSF via their P.O. Box no later than Feb. 1, 2022. Please allow 5-7 days for mail delivery to meet the February 1st deadline.
The Sagadahoc Pomona Annual MLK Lunch-out scheduled for Monday, January 17, 2022, is COVID canceled.
The program for honoring a member of law enforcement is postponed to the Sagadahoc Pomona meeting at Topsham Grange on May 25, 2022. Please make sure you have your guest honoree at that meeting. Unless, of course, that gets COVID canceled as well. If that happens, another date will be set.
Come let us do the cooking and enjoy a delicious homemade meal! We’re joining forces with the Jonesboro Union Church on Saturday, January 22, 2022, at 5:00 pm. Eat-in or take out! Cost: $10. Location: Chandler River Community Center, Looks Point Road, Jonesboro.
You must pre-order TAKE-OUT before 3 pm on the day of the event. Must pick up takeout orders by 4:30 pm on Jan 22. Call 434-5747 or 713-8790.
Menu: Homemade baked beans, hotdogs, rolls, coleslaw, and homemade pies for dessert
We have the following scholarships listed as available. Since students will soon be looking for support, it’s important our information be current and accurate. If your Grange is offering financial support, we’d like your current information soon! We especially need deadlines for applications and who to contact for additional information. You can use the submit tab on the website or simply email the webmaster. Thanks!
National Grange Scholarships
Sponsor: National Grange GROW Club Scholarship: National Grange GROW Club Academic Scholarship
Maine State Grange Scholaships
Sponsor: Maine State Grange Ag Committee Scholarship: Maine State Grange Ag Scholarship (2022 information has been submitted) Sponsor: Maine State Grange Educational Aid Fund Scholarship: Maine State Grange Educational Ed Scholarship Sponsor: Maine State Grange Howes Nurses’ Fund Scholarship: Maine State Grange Howes Nurses Scholarship
Local Grange Scholarships
Sponsor: Hollis Grange #132, Hollis Scholarship: Hollis Grange #132 Scholarship Sponsor: Kennebec Valley Grange #128, Madison Scholarship: Carroll Dean Memorial Agricultural Scholarship Sponsor: Mill Stream Grange #574, Vienna Scholarship: Dorothy Waugh Memorial Scholarship Sponsor: New Norland Grange #580, E. Livermore (closed) Scholarship: New Norland Grange Memorial Scholarship Sponsor: Parkman Grange #305, Parkman Scholarship: Minnie Welts Bridge Memorial Scholarship Sponsor: Somerset Grange #18, Norridgewock Scholarship: Somerset Grange Sponsor: Winthrop Grange #209, Winthrop Scholarship: Winthrop Grange Scholarship
Pat Rawson accepts the 2021 donation to the Mt. Vernon Area Giving Tree from Mill Stream Grange. The Giving Tree provides gift certificates to community families who could use a bit of help this time of year.
Sometimes the idea of traveling back in time seems like a great idea, doesn’t it? Wouldn’t it be fun to travel back 106 years to attend the Installation Ceremonies held at Ocean View Grange? Before you say “Yes,” when Larry Bailey, current Master of Ocean View Grange, sent this photo, he commented, “It must have been very cold in January 1916. These folks had stamina as there was little heat and no running water but in those days the indoor ‘outhouses’ we had were still functioning.”
Since Valley Grange had one of those until just a few years ago, I remembered a January meeting when one of our “old-time” members returned from a trip to the indoor outhouse rubbing her arms to get warm and saying, “Well, that was a trip down memory lane.” Maybe a trip isn’t such a bad idea.
Before we leave for another time, what was life like for our Grange Brothers and Sisters in 1916? For starters, only 8% of them had telephones, so they didn’t call each other to find out who was going. As Larry points out, there was no running water and probably not much heat. They probably had some hot coffee–it only cost $0.15 per pound–but they most likely pumped the water by hand and heated it on the woodstove.
It’s interesting to note that the scheduled start time was 8:00 pm, a bit late by today’s standards. A reasonable guess is that this was done to accommodate completing chores on the farm. There’s no mention of refreshments; people truly came for the installation and not the food.
They probably hadn’t watched the second-ever Rose Bowl on January 1st, but they may have talked about it before and after the ceremony. (Washington State beat Brown University 14-0.) According to at least one major newspaper, the biggest threats to America in 1916 were the number of unmarried men and women (17 million), an increase in divorces, a declining birth rate due to “birth restriction” by parents, an excessive infant life waste (due to illness and disease), a large number of “defectives” in schools and “increasing idiocy and insanity.” The next problem on the list was “Enormous number of drug and alcohol victims.” Are we really describing life 100 years ago?
We can guess it was a “younger crowd” making its way to the Grange Hall on that day than it might be today. The average life expectancy for men was 49 and for women 54. Wouldn’t it be interesting to know the average age of Grangers then versus now?
So after completing the farm chores, harnessing the horses or cranking their Model Ts, these Patrons arrived at the hall hoping someone got there early enough to start the wood stoves and put the coffee on. Our time machine has allowed us to join them. We arrived during a light snowfall and parked between the buggies and Model Ts unnoticed.
We feel a bit like guests and remain in the background even though we are, by definition, fraternal brothers and sisters. Conversation ceases as we find our seats in the upstairs hall. Then we hear the words, “We have met on this occasion to install the officers of this Grange; let us first invoke the blessing of God.” We are not startled by the three raps calling us to stand; we expected that. We notice it’s a bit difficult because we are still wearing our heavy winter coats as we listen to the Chaplain’s invocation. The installing master starts things in earnest with the familiar words, “Since God placed man on earth, agriculture has existed. There is no occupation that proceeds it, no order or association that can rank with the tillers of the soil….”
We notice that many in attendance are nodding their heads in agreement. They know that truth first hand. They are part of it, and it is part of them. We can hear the children downstairs playing. Some of those who have joined us upstairs pretend to smoke because they can see their breath until the hall warms up.
We are in is a strange time and yet not. We find comfort in hearing familiar words. “The Order of Patrons of Husbandry is the only association whose teachings accompany its members in their daily pursuits…” They are more than words. Our attention drifts to look around the room and consider how true that is for our brothers and sisters over 100 years ago. The tired looks and calloused hands offer us an explanation. The faint “earthy” smell is not objectionable. They brought the earth with them in much the same way the teachings accompany them as they work the earth.
Caught up in another time, we realize how well it all fits. We might just as easily have visited their farms and homes to experience the meaning of the Grange. Yet after a long day of work, they left the comfort of those homes and farms. The first to arrive saw a cold and dark Grange Hall. But they came not out of obligation. They came for a reason. They knew the hall would light up and warm not only from the crackling wood stoves and kerosene lamps but also from the Grange Ritual and teaching and the bond it creates.
Hopefully, on the return trip, we’ll consider how true it is for us 100 years later. Some of us want to stay in this time, perhaps because life seems simpler. How long would we need to stay before we realize that it is not simpler; it’s just different? Will our halls not be brighter and warmer thanks to the comforts we now have? What have we gained, and what have we lost?
Some of us are anxious to return to the present time where things are familiar and more comfortable. We are grateful to our ancestors and our visit in time for the reality we experienced and shared with them. And we are more deeply committed to the Grange way of life with its teachings that accompany us not only through time but also, if we choose, to wherever and whenever we travel.
“The Order of Patrons of Husbandry is the only association whose teachings accompany its members in their daily pursuits…”
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.
This article is reprinted with permission from an e-newsletter published UMaine Cooperative Extension.
The 2022 Agricultural Trades Show will again be held virtually this year.
In cooperation with the University of Maine Cooperative Extension, the Board of Pesticides Control is offering many opportunities to earn pesticide recertification credits at this year’s show. Check out the schedule of recertification courses. Attendance if free but pre-registration is required for credit. Info and links to pre-register may all be found on the BPC Credit Calendar.
Are you old enough to remember when television programming involved sometimes dreaded and sometimes eagerly anticipated summer re-runs? What we call “media” was certainly different.
In completing some recent research, I happened to look at a program Amanda Brozana Rio and I did together on April 18, 2020. While it was centered on the book I wrote about the Grange Way of Life, we spent considerable time on the challenge of maintaining the Grange Way of Life during the pandemic.
Whether or not things have changed much since this interview is perhaps debatable, but that’s not the intent of reposting it. The Grange Way of Life doesn’t change much fundamentally, even if how we live and practice it does. Therefore, it seems worth reposting this for consideration. Don’t miss the part about caterpillars and butterflies.
