Patrons of Husbandry – a website dedicated to the Granges located in Maine
October 4, 2022 6 pm –9 pm
A free night of family fun! Games will be provided, or bring one to share! Light refreshments will be available for sale. Come to the St George Grange Grange Hall at 32 Wiley’s Corner Road, St George ME. For more information, Contact Holly Welch 207 890-3514.
by Walter Boomsma, MSG Communications Director
It becomes my sad duty to inform you of the passing of Roger Shorty on September 16, 2022. A Celebration of Life will be held September 26, 2022 at Victor Grange at 11:30 am. I understand Roger served as a deputy, and had been involved in several state committees, and he and his wife Wanda were honored as the State Grange Young Couple many years ago.
Many thanks to Barb Bailey of Victor Grange for her assistance and providing this information.
Annual Reports and Program Books are posted to the Program Books and Information Page as received. We’ve recently added the following annual reports.
Where’s your report? Have you told us why you love the Grange? It only takes a minute…
At our September Meeting, we created some piles–PB&J for the Bangor Savings Bank Drive, Lap Afghans for the Veterans’ Operation Gratitude Program, and raffle tickets! We also added 350 knitted hats from Blistered Finger Knitter Roberta in New Jersey. Do knitting needles ever wear out?
An order of dictionaries for our annual “Words for Thirds Dictionary Day Project will be placed soon. Since starting the program in 2004, we’ve provided nearly 3,000 dictionaries to students throughout the area. If COVID cooperates, we hope to do more “in-person” presentations this year.
Raffle tickets are on sale and available from any member, or call Janice Boomsma at 343-1496. We’ll be drawing the winners at our November meeting and look forward to handing out $250 in prizes! Community support is needed and appreciated!
Our schedule for the rest of the year:
Get those dates on your calendar and plan to join us for any or all of these gatherings! We plan to keep our hall open through the winter and appreciate all who help and support us in some way.
Unfortunately, another Grange in our area is closing–St. Albans now joins Garland Grange as “closed.” Valley Grange would certainly welcome members from these two Granges with open arms. If you were a member of St. Albans or Garland Grange and would like to join us, contact secretary Mary Annis (564-0820), and she’ll make it happen!
*Grange Bees are the unofficial hosts for a meeting who make sure the heat’s on, the hall is ready, and we have everything we need. If you’d like a turn, we’ll not only show you how we have a checklist!
Are you submitting your events to the MSG website calendar?
Ocean View Grange Makes Fall Plans
At their recent meeting, members and friends of Ocean View Grange laid out plans for a number of events and programs. They began by noting their recent bean supper grossed over $1,000. A special thanks was issued to Lecturer Emily, who enlisted her entire family as helpers–including four children.
Annual dues ($23 per member) are payable now. Please send a check payable to Ocean View Grange (write “dues” in the memo line) to Diane Bailey, PO Box 204, Port Clyde ME 04855
On Tuesday, September 20, Jonesboro Grange President John Cox Jr. and Jonesboro Grange Lecturer Andrew Cox traveled to the Beth C Wright Cancer Resource Center and Sarah’s House of Maine to present the funds raised at the 2022 Crush Cancer 5k held back in June. The Crush Cancer 5k is a Jonesboro Grange community service project.
After race expenses such as portapotties, shirts, and race timing software, a total of $10,526.94 was raised at the 2022 Crush Cancer 5k on a back road that leads to the ocean in Down East, Maine! Funds raised were split between the two non-profits.
Many thanks to all the incredible volunteers, sponsors, and participants who helped make this possible. Without YOU, we could not put on this event to help others! Jonesboro Grange #357 has put on the race the past two years.
The Crush Cancer 5k was created by Rebekah Hodgson and Andrew Cox, after John, their father, was diagnosed with cancer. It was a way for both Rebekah and Andrew to channel negative emotions from watching their father battle cancer into a beautiful event that would raise funds to help others in Eastern Maine who are facing a cancer diagnosis.
Jonesboro Grange #357 is already planning the 3rd Annual Crush Cancer 5k to be held in June 2023!
This is the time of year when we “clear out the old” and bring in the new. There are two key documents for most committees.
An annual report for the previous Grange year (October 2021- September 2022) summarizing the committee/department’s activities and accomplishments.
A program book for the next year (October 2022 – September 2023) with important information such as contest rules, important dates, and resource material for that committee/department.
We are in the process of receiving and posting these to the Program Books and Information Page. For the next several weeks, it is important to pay attention to dates! If you are looking for information about this year’s contests, forms, etc., you’ll want this year’s (2021-2022) Program Book. We leave the books on the site for exactly that purpose–some forms and information are potentially needed right up until State Session in October. If you are planning for next year, be sure to download the book for that year (2022-2023.
Annual reports should be of interest to all members–it’s your way to discover what has happened in the previous year in the department/committee. The information can be of particular interest to those who are delegates attending State Session. The annual reports are provided in the delegate packet as well as available to all members on the website.
Both annual reports and program books are being uploaded as received from directors and committee chairs. Note that some annual reports are not usually available until State Session due to the close of the fiscal year on September 30, 2022. So far, we have annual reports from
Next year’s program books received so far include
Stay tuned! There’s certainly more to come! And don’t forget this:
The latest Victor Grange newsletter leads with a photo of their nice “new” shiny floors! This was truly a community effort!
They are now looking into starting exercise classes… maybe as a result of moving all that furniture out and back in!
“We have about 80 chairs from the original Grange 1880’s purchase We’ve gotten organized, and now you can help out by buying them, some even come with a great sample of DNA from the past, (no kidding) $10.00 each and the money will go towards the building fund. We still have many projects to do, however, every little bit counts.”
The “Fairfield Senior Circle” celebrated its twentieth anniversary on August 19th… lunch, ice cream cake, member certificates…
Check out the complete newsletter for photos, a list of events, contact information and much more!
by Walter Boomsma, Guest Columnist
“Let me caution you, that you keep the eye of the mind open among your members. Encourage improvement; remember that Nature’s motto is ‘onward.’ She never goes backward.”
From the Installing Master’s Charge to Masters
The installing officer’s charge to the masters being installed is one of the longer ones. As a result, it’s easy to stop listening. As with the Grange Ritual in general, there is much to learn.
Not every member is destined to hold the office of master, but every member could benefit from what masters are taught during the installation ceremony. I’ve chosen just a few sentences for consideration.
“Keep the eye of the mind open…” is a skill that can be developed. Here, we are talking about being observant of our members. That’s consistent with being a fraternal organization. By most definitions, a fraternal organization is a social club or membership organization formed around a common bond, ideology, or personal background. We might do well to consider how strong that bond is. But one of the things that makes it stronger is “keeping the eye of the mind open” or, in other words, “keeping an eye on each other.” Can you answer these questions?
You get the idea, right?
“Encourage improvement.” I suspect this is a two-word sentence by design because it allows us to be broad in our thinking. What do we want to improve? This is not subtractive thinking designed to get us focused on what’s wrong. It’s opportunity thinking. What can we make better? I’ve thought it would be fun (a lecturer’s program, maybe) to spend some time during a meeting asking everyone to identify one thing relative to the Grange he or she could improve. It doesn’t have to be monumental. Does the fridge need cleaning?
“Nature’s motto is ‘onward.’” Sometimes I think the Grange is stuck in the fall season and has become focused on declining. One of the saddest emails I’ve read recently included, “Our Grange seems to be falling apart… how can I bring back the excitement that I still feel in our Grange?” It’s a simple but not easy question to answer. “Encourage improvement and remember that Nature’s motto is onward.” Nature uses fall and winter to her advantage. We often think of winter as a time for rest. In Maine, we may well “hunker down.” But just as sure as winter arrives, so does spring together with an awaking and a time for growth and blooming.
“You may encounter difficulties. Overcome them, remembering that difficulties are but opportunities to test our abilities. As Master of this Grange, your fellow laborers will look to you to devise work. A judicious Master will use due care that no time is lost in labor. Let all labor and all time tend toward improvement. Your laborers will come in contact with their minds; if they are left uncultivated, if neglect is allowed, the moral weed crop will baffle and torment you.”
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.