Patrons of Husbandry – a website dedicated to the Granges located in Maine
Website visitors may have noticed the MSG Website was “down” for a few hours late Monday night (8/21) through early Tuesday morning (8/22). This was an unanticipated “glitch” due to some miss-timed software updates. We are sorry for any inconvenience! All is restored and well!
As students, parents, and teachers are all gearing up for the start of another school year, it is a good time to remember to keep an eye out for students walking to and from school and students getting on and off school buses.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the school bus is one of the safest vehicles on the road; however, the risk is greatest when children are approaching or leaving a school bus.
Keep in mind these simple rules:
Best wishes for a great school year!
The Parkman Grange awarded four MSAD#4-area college students Minnie Welts Bridge Scholarships of $500 each for the 2023-24 school year. Winners this year were: Matthew Chadbourne, Sangerville, a Social Work major at the University of Southern Maine; Mercy Harper, Sangerville, a Criminal Justice major at Husson University; MacKenzie Kain, Parkman, an Early Childhood Education major at Kennebec Valley Community College; and, Merrilee Levensailor, Guilford, an Accounting major at the University of Maine Augusta. Awards were made at the ninth Minnie Welts Bridge Memorial Supper on Saturday, August 12th, where approximately 40 diners enjoyed smoked pork loin, potatoes, and a variety of salads and desserts. With these four, Parkman Grange has awarded $15,000 in scholarships.
Participation Interest Form Now Open
Are you an agricultural business, producer group, organization, or service provider who would like to participate in the 2024 Maine Agricultural Trades Show? Would you like to give a talk, host a meeting, rent space, offer business advising, have a booth, or sponsor a portion of the 2024 Maine Agricultural Trades Show? More info here including how to apply.
Are you making plans to attend the 150th Maine State Grange Convention? Your Communications Department has created a special page with tons of information you’ll want and need.
Note that delegates must be registered by your Subordinate or Pomona Grange Secretary. Non-delegates are welcome to attend and can speak to resolutions with the permission of the delegate body. Non-delegates do not need to register to attend! Non-delegates who intend to attend meals must make reservations by October 5, 2023
By Clay Collins, MSG Chaplain
207 837-0564
“Be very careful, then, how you live – not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity.”
Ephesians 5:15-16
Here it is August already! Where has the time gone? May all of your plans be accomplished, and you have a great time with your family and friends.
I was talking to a friend of mine a while ago gave me the following poem. It was attached to a figurine of an owl that was purchased at a county fair that he attended recently. It seemed very appropriate in these times.
There once was an owl Who perched on an oak; The more he observed The less that he spoke. The less he spoke The more that he heard; There’s wisdom for sure We can learn from this bird! As you go through life Remember you know What you know; When you listen and watch You’ll continue to grow
Until the next time, I am continuing to pray for good health for you and yours, and remember, “Be well, do good work, and keep in touch.”
Don’t forget to thank a Veteran for his/her service in the defense of our country and pray for their safe return to their families!
Benediction: “Gracious Father of us all help us to spend less time thinking of ourselves, and more time thinking of You and Your many wonders. Amen.”
Thought for the month:
May good luck be your friend in whatever you do and may trouble be always a stranger to you.
An Irish Blessing for Health and Prosperity
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!
The August Bulletin is now available for download and printing. Remember, you can always find recent issues of the Bulletin on the Program Books and Information Page.
It’s not just for lecturers! Here’s a link to the third quarter issue of “A Quarter’s Worth.” Take a look! Thanks to MSG Lecturer Margaret Morse for sharing!
For the second full week in August, the most visited post was “High Season Market at Ocean View Grange! One thing that makes this especially interesting is that the post covers an event that already happened! Should Granges be doing more markets?
The Maine Monitor recently published an article entitled “Saving the Halls and Granges that House So Much of Our Heritage.” We’re particularly proud of the fact the author depended upon and quoted from the Maine State Grange Website!
See this month’s Communications Column! Why not publish an annual report of your Grange’s accomplishments? You could even offer them for inclusion in your town’s annual report!
This is a great time to start planning your programs and events for the next Grange Year. Please submit the information for posting on the MSG Website Calendar.
Let’s be honest; it’s rather easy to be busy. We all can think up a list of tasks that will overwhelm our schedules. Some might even think that their self-worth depends on the length of their to-do list. They flood the open spaces in their time with lists of meetings and minutia – even during times of stress and fatigue.
Dieter F. Uchdorf
The world wants to hear about it! Fill out the simple I Love the Grange Form… it only takes a couple of minutes! Thanks to all who have shared so far!
“FOMO” is, of course, a Fear Of Missing Out. One strongly recommended treatment is to subscribe to the Maine State Grange Website. We’ll send you a daily summary whenever news and columns are posted, and we won’t share your email address with anyone!
Recently, there have been some questions regarding sources of information for meetings and rituals. The fundamental source is the Subordinate Grange Manual (SGM). So where do we find one of those?
First, a few words about the SGM. Technically, “Grange Manuals are sold only to Grange units themselves and are never sold to individuals. They must remain the property of the Grange and, as such, should always be accounted for by the Worthy Steward of said Grange.” While that’s true in principle, it is not so much so in practice. If you don’t tell anyone, I’ll share that one of my treasured possessions is an SGM published in 1908 that belonged to a relative. His name is written in the front, and many handwritten notes throughout the book. I guess the rules haven’t been strictly enforced for some time. I occasionally see them offered for sale on eBay.
The SGM contains much of the “ritual” used throughout the Grange: procedures for opening and closing a Grange Meeting, conferring the First Four Degrees, and installing officers. There’s even a Grange Burial Service. I recently had the distinct honor of conducting one!
We can think of the SGM as a procedure manual—the “how to” book focused on the ritualistic aspect of Grange meetings and events. There were some significant changes and additions made to the paperback SGM published it 2013. A few language updates were made, and a number of “alternate” procedures and ceremonies were added. For example, this edition includes the Welcoming and Obligation Ceremony—streamlined paths to membership approved by National Grange. (Conferral of the Four Degrees is still highly recommended but not required for a new member to become “official” with voting rights, etc.)
Another SGM reality is that copies (pre-2013)can often be found lying around Grange Halls. These older copies remain useful because procedures have not altered significantly. Sometimes, the older editions are useful for their additional detail. For example, when I conducted that burial service, I used an older manual for its rich language and some additional information.
A Grange seeking copies of these older editions can try contacting:
It might also be possible to find one on eBay or in a used bookstore, but looking “in-house” will likely be most efficient.
The most recent (2013) SGM will be a bit more challenging. Normally, it can be purchased from the National Grange Store, but as of this writing, it shows as “out of stock.” Hopefully, it’ll be available again soon!
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.
By Margaret Morse, Maine State Grange Lecturer
207 439-0413
As the days rush towards October and the State Grange session, it may be time to look over the photos you have taken during the last year and decide which ones you are going to enter into the photo contest. The categories for this year are water, animals, winter, and gardens. All photos must be turned in to the lecturer’s table no later than 2 pm on October 20, 2023. The photography contest is open to all Grangers and Junior Grangers as well as children and grandchildren of Subordinate members. The photographer must select the category for the entry and may enter as many photos in a single category as they wish. Entries, including matting or backing, must be no smaller than 4”x 6” and no larger than 11”x 14”. Frames and glass are NOT permitted.
Also, this year the adult coloring contest is still open for all who find coloring challenging and/or relaxing. All entries must be from an adult coloring book and no smaller than 4”x 6” and no larger than 11”x 14”.
The Art contest for Junior Grangers will also be judged at this time. The mediums that will be judged include oils & acrylics, watercolors, charcoal or pencil, markers or crayons.
The photography, coloring, and junior art contest entries will be judged against each other based on composition and arrangement, presentation, and technique. Junior Grangers’ work will be judged in three age groups: 5 – 7, 8 – 10, and 11 – 14.
Webmaster’s note: The format of this column has changed a bit, with all of the Quill’s Endians participating at various times and in various ways! This month’s column is written by Phil.
This week, I was reminded of the age-old acronym KISS. Keep it simple, stupid. For some time now, my main form of transportation has been misbehaving, and even a short to the mechanic’s shop this week drive provided a massive dose of adrenaline.
Since my appointment with the mechanic was scheduled three weeks after my phone call, I had time to research, troubleshoot, and possibly save some money by doing some of the work myself. The more modern the vehicle, the deeper the rabbit hole of sensors and components. My little Toyota Tacoma is a 1996, and fortunately, still has a fair amount of mechanical, rather than electrical, components. I should have concentrated on corrosion instead of sensors, it seems. My research complicated a problem fixed by a professional with WD40.
I was flabbergasted when, after a harrowing drive to the mechanic shop on Wednesday, they called with a fix mere hours later. Thank God for knowledgeable professionals. Mechanics are a mystery to me. I lack the patience for discovery and the mechanical sense that clicks so easily in their minds.
It is that “click” that sets an individual apart in any field. Sometimes, creatures just intuit a skill. Cows as well as humans. True in fields of pasture as well as mechanical fields. Ariel is like that. She is just three and on her first lactation as a dairy cow, a novice in her career. Yet, she is the essence of a dairy cow…she embodies it.
Born from Pippin, of whom I wrote three weeks ago; and sired by Hughbert, the mellowest bull we have ever had, Ariel has been eager to please and unwilling to make a fuss from day one. She goes about her business with class and skill, no matter what you ask of her.
She calved last fall when we had too much milk and were trying to sell a few cows to even out the supply-demand cycle. We felt we had to list her for sale along with some other difficult choices. We are glad no one bought her.
She raised three veal calves for a few months and then willingly came into the milking parlor to provide you all with dairy products. This would not be an easy transition for many cows. She would melt into a larger herd, but is all too happy to be treated to royal care here at Quill’s End, where we can seek her and her wonderful, willing personality out and value the ease she provides us.
Old-timers would call her an “easy keeper” and I am beginning to understand just what that understated metaphor means, thanks to Ariel.
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.