May Events

Here are some may events around the state–don’t forget to submit yours!

  • May 3, 2024, Community Potluck Supper at Trenton Grange, 5:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m., 1134 Bar Harbor Road in Trenton. For more information, see this post or visit the Trenton Grange Website.
  • May 4-5, 2024, Community Bazaar (crafts, farmers’ market, yard sale…) at Trenton Grange from 9 am until 2 pm both days. For more information, see this post or visit the Trenton Grange Website.
  • May 5, 2024, Benton Grange Craft Fair and Flea Market, 9 am until 2 pm. Call 207 453-4796 for information.
  • May 7, 2024, Open Mic Night at Trenton Grange. Doors open at 5:30 pm, and the event is from 6:00 to 8:30 pm. $5 donation cover. Trenton Grange Website.
  • May 11, 2024, Parkman Grange’s Mothers’ Day Tea starting at 10 am. Reservations are required. See this post.
  • May 14, 2024, Deadline for the MSG Bulletin
  • May 17, 2024, Valley Grange Community Celebration with potluck supper at 6 p.m. and Celebration at 7 p.m. Visit the Valley Grange Website FMI.
  • May 18, 2024, Junior Grange Meeting at Enterprise Grange. Contact Director Betty Young for more information.
  • May 25-26, 2024, Community Bazaar (crafts, farmers’ market, yard sale…) at Trenton Grange from 9 am until 2 pm both days. For more information, see this post or visit the Trenton Grange Website.

Notes from National – May 2024


  • Subscribe to the National Grange’s Good Day! magazine. Just $16 a year gets you access to our print or digital subscription. Learn more about the magazine at http://www.nationalgrange.org/goodday or the digital issue at http://www.issuu.com/grangegoodday. The April issue has hit mailboxes and the July issue will be here before you know it!
  • Subscribe to the Patrons Chain and View from the Hill at http://www.nationalgrange.org/subscribe. These newsletters are released every Friday, containing information about National Grange programs, events, and more.
  • Are there topics you would like to see covered in a future Zoom from a National Grange staff member, department, or officer? Please let us know! We’re always working to ensure our topics are in line with what our members want or need to hear from us.
  • The National Grange Social Media Calendar is available. This is intended to be a guide for State and Community Granges of topics/events that may be used to enhance social media. By no means is it a suggestion to post ALL of these things, but if you’re looking to get out of a rut or expand your social media reach. This could also be a great resource for Grange Lecturers/Program Directors who are looking for new programming ideas.
  • Many National Grange events are recorded and archived – if you missed an online event and would like to see it, please visit the National Grange YouTube channel at http://www.youtube.com/nationalgrange
  • Follow National Grange on Social Media! We’re on Facebook, Instagram, X (Twitter), LinkedIn, TikTok, and YouTube!

Notes from National are gleaned from an email provided by Phil Vonada, National Grange Communications Director.

Quick Tip – You can call me…

Cool Idea
Share your thoughts and ideas with other Granges!

What’s the difference between a Subordinate Grange and a Community Grange? Hopefully, there is none! Every Grange should be a Community Grange!

Of course, that assumes the Grange is involved in and relevant to the community.

For a discussion of the term “Subordinate Grange,” see the March Exploring Traditions Column.

Quick tips from Granges and Grangers are always welcome… on any topic that might improve or make things easier for other Granges. Use the submission form or email yours to the webmaster for consideration!

Register for Open Farm Day

Reprinted with permission from Maine Farm News published by UMaine Extension

The Maine Open Farm Day registration page is open until May 1, 2024. If interested, be sure to sign up by the deadline to take advantage of all of the promotional opportunities. There is no fee to join this statewide promotional event, but farms need a Real Maine membership to participate. Farms who participated in the past, or already have a Real Maine account should use this form. Farms who are new to the event, and do not have a Real Maine account should use this form if you are not yet a Real Maine member. Find more signup details, key dates and planning resources at www.maine.gov/dacf/openfarmday.

Highland Happenings!

Highland Lake Grange Is Having a Busy Spring

Highland Lake Grange is  donating supplies, can tabs  and food to Ronald McDonald House in Portland today. Items were donated by Grange members and by the Grange itself.

Also this week, the Grange received a Citizens Award from the Westbrook Police Department for its work raising funds for the Westbrook K9 department in 2023.

Next up is a donation of personal care items for Windham Food Panty.

The Patrons Chain 4-19-2024

Articles in this edition include:

  • Two Grange members seated on national advisory groups
  • Using the Reaching Rural Surgical Seniors program
  • Introducing The Grange Hall podcast
  • Middle Branch Grange seeks support after fire
  • Join the Lecturer’s Forum
  • Save the Date: Registration Opens May 1
  • Climate change is shifting how and when we prepare our gardens
  • SHIPmates applications open for second class 
  • Be part of the Grange Story – apply for the Communication Fellows
  • Grange Supply Store: People, Pride & Progress
  • Grange Member Benefit: Lenovo

Click the button below to read and/or subscribe to the Patrons Chain!


Note that all recent issues are available on the National Grange Website. Occasionally, a weekly issue isn’t sent. For example, the last Friday of the month is usually a View from the Hill week, so the fact that one hasn’t been posted on the MSG website doesn’t necessarily mean we skipped it! You can double-check using the link (Read the Current Issue) above. Effective 2024, we will only maintain one year of issues on the MSG website.

Freeport Grange Collects Glasses

If you are wondering what to do with your eclipse glasses, we are collecting them for Astronomers Without Borders! Come drop off glasses any time, putting them in our mail slot if you have a couple, or leaving them outside in a bag. We will also have a collection box very soon. You can also drop them off Sunday, the 21st, at our 150th Celebration, 1-4!

Haraseeket Grange #9 is located at 13 Elm Street in Freeport Maine.

And if you do not live near us, check the Astronomers without Borders website for locations.

Granges currently collecting glasses:

Communication Shorts 04-16-2024

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!

April Bulletin Available

The April Bulletin is now available for downloading and printing! You can find recent issues of the Bulletin on the Program Books and Information Page.

Staying Safe

Just another reminder not to automatically respond to email or text messages that “don’t sound right.”

National 9-1-1 Education Month

April is being observed as National 9-1-1 Education Month, an observance designed to ensure that the public is ready to access help during emergencies.

NHTSA: National 911 Program and Know 911

This is also an excellent time to make sure you know the 911 address for your Grange Hall–it’s usually also the GPS address. Post in around the hall so if there’s an emergency, you can provide it to the dispatcher!

Consider this Idea!

Discussion Groups! We recently learned of a local Council on Aging sponsoring General Quarters!, a monthly roundtable discussion group focusing on military topics. What a great name! But almost any topic could work. It wouldn’t have to include a formalized program–just an opportunity for people to come together and discuss a mutually interesting topic. Gardening, cooking, reading… use your hall!

Fraternal Announcement

Since some may have participated in a card shower for Basil Clement, it is my sad duty to inform you that he passed away on Easter Sunday, just 21 days short of his 95th birthday. His niece and hospice nurse have both expressed much appreciation to the Grange for making his final days happy and for providing companionship.

Bangor Savings Bank Community Matters More 2024

Recipients of the Community Matters More Grants have been announced! See the list here!

Submit Events! Be “findable”

The MSG website is easy to find and gets a lot of use! In the last seven days, 132 people visited the site after searching on Google. It really does make sense to submit your events and make sure your information is correct in the online directory! We especially need working email addresses that are checked regularly!

Submit News! Be “famous”

Submitting news can be as simple as a photo and “cutline.” A cutline is a brief description–longer than a caption–to accompany the photo. Let’s prove that the Grange is alive and well in Maine! (Photos should be submitted as an attachment to an email.) We get inquiries from people looking for active Granges!

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!

Exploring Traditions – April 2024

Meandering Around the Grange Way of Life


What is a Patron of Husbandry?

By Walter Boomsma, Guest Columnist

“…I will endeavor to be a true and faithful Patron of Husbandry, perform the duties enjoined in this order and aid others in the performance of the same…”

Obligation from the First Degree

Until insurance regulations required us to remove a wood stove, the foyer of our Grange hall included a non-working woodstove with several chairs around it. One day, during a quick stop, I found my companion sitting in one of the chairs, staring into space.

He explained that he was visualizing a scene from a century earlier. He pictured a few farmers sitting there, absorbing the warmth and discussing their challenges. I joined him in his reverie as we speculated the topics of conversation.

While the past is behind us, sometimes it’s worthy of a visit. When we consider those early members, we should consider how difficult their lives were as farmers and as early organizers of the Patrons of Husbandry. Consciously or not, they didn’t focus on the low-hanging fruit in their farming practice and in growing the Grange.

Those familiar with Grange History will know that the term “Granger” was a relatively new term introduced amid some significant controversy. From the beginning, members were (and still are) Patrons of Husbandry. Those who fought against adopting the term “Granger” pointed out that the “Grange” was a building. Patrons of Husbandry went to the building (Grange) to meet.

Viewed in the frame of Grange vocabulary, that makes sense. A grange was (in the historical sense) “an outlying farm with the barns belonging to a monastery or feudal lord.” (Cambridge Dictionary) Small wonder that we have members who serve as masters, stewards, and gatekeepers.

We can debate the value of the changing vocabulary, but the bigger question might be what is a “true and faithful Patron of Husbandry?” What is a new member agreeing to? The answer is found in the entire obligation and Degrees, but we don’t include that in the membership application.

What are the duties of a Patron of Husbandry?

When I explain this to third graders, we look up the words in their new dictionaries. The keywords in the definitions are “support” and “agriculture.” Kids are usually quite literal, and that works for them. Adults may want to know, “What’s the fine print?” For the most part, the answers are found in the degree work. But you don’t get to experience that until you’ve decided to join.

Ultimately, we all develop our answers to the question. I remember one third grader who visited the Grange Hall. She explained to her young friend that Grangers lived there and read a lot because we like books. Maybe that was close enough.

Pull up a chair next to the virtual woodstove. Someone who knows little about the Grange has joined us. He asked, “What do I have to do if I become a member?”

That might be more important than “What do I get if I become a member?”

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.

Community Service/FHH – April 2024

By Brenda Dyer, MSG Community Service/FHH Director
(207) 608-9193

The unplanned community service activities are bountiful. Helping the community during the last few storms and power outages are endless. Congratulations!!!

April is Grange Month. Have an open meeting, invite the community to participate, and discuss the advantages of being a member!

May is Community Service Month. Choose a new community project. 

April 

  • Grange Month – Follow the National Grange theme. Picture and advertisement needed as proof.

May

  • Set up and complete a new project in May. Send in a write-up and pictures with the Family, Health, and Hearing Reports.

Reminder:

  • Coups for Troops

Happy Spring!