Valley Grange Gram

Valley Grange is located in Guilford Maine

Highlights from our recent meeting…

RAFFLE: We sold $466 in tickets and collected $375 in donations for a total of $841. The first prize, $100, was awarded to Steven Lovely, the second prize, $100, was awarded to Colleen Levesque, the third prize, $50, was awarded to Herb Bitter. Herb donated his prize back to Valley Grange, making our net income from the raffle $641.

UDDERLY MOOVELOUS: Dinner was accompanied by Nightingale Farms Milk—straight from the farm! It’s rich and creamy… almost yellow, and pasteurized but not homogenized. If you’d like a quality experience and to support this young farmer, it’s available at the farm—take 150 south from Guilford, and keep an eye on the left side just as you enter Parkman. It’s also available at Whitney’s in Guilford. You can also visit their Facebook Page and meet “the girls.”

DICTIONARIES: Dictionaries have been distributed to PCES (they came to the hall) and Brownville Elementary. Both groups were excited and will enjoy their dictionaries. According to the teachers, the kids keep them at school for a while so they can learn how to find things and get in the habit of “looking things up.” Janice and Pat will be delivering to Ridgeview on Monday (11/21). Teachers will likely use Walter’s video explaining Valley Grange and the Dictionary Project. (It’s less than eight minutes; you can watch it here: https://youtu.be/00pSHDKiZjA .

SeDoMoCha is scheduled for Wednesday (11/30)—we’ll have an assembly at school starting at 9:30 am. Last but not least, we’ll visit Harmony Elementary on Friday (12/2) to work with four third graders. It’s always interesting to go from an assembly of 60+ kids at SeDoMoCha to 4 in Harmony!

I enjoyed a funny coincidence today. I was standing in line at Shaw’s, and the cashier started yelling, “Mr. Boomsma!” She yelled back to me that she’s almost 21 now but remembers me from school. We talked about dictionaries, and she said she remembers making butter with me a long time ago, maybe in second grade. LOL Whether it’s dictionaries, bookworming, or GrowME, it’s great to know we leave a lasting and positive impression on the kids that are our future.

First Sergeant Laweryson reporting for duty!

Special thanks to Lynn Bosworth, Jim Annis, Janice Boomsma, and Pat Engstrom for helping out with the PCES kids. We are also grateful to “First Sergeant” Wayne Bennett for “dressing” one of the teachers in uniform. The kids definitely thought that was cool.

One of the Ed Techs in Brownville shared that she was concerned about her assigned student acting out during the presentation, but he remained engaged and excited. We created a slightly different problem. Now he didn’t want to transition to his next lesson—he wanted to continue to explore his new dictionary! I’ve had several adults question whether or not the kids are still interested, given the technology available. The short answer is an enthusiastic “YES!” One young scholar from PCES who has a lot of difficulty reading locked into the sign language at the back of the dictionary. By the time she lined up to leave, she’d already learned three letters. There’s lots to discover in these dictionaries.

BREAKFAST: We discussed breakfast briefly, mainly to make sure the “food groups” would be represented. We can promise Mary’s Bacon, Walter’s Apple French Toast, and Pat’s muffins. If you have a breakfast dish or treat you can bring, the assortment will increase! If you’d like to coordinate, call Mary (564-0820) or Janice (343-1496). Please join us for some good food and warm fellowship on Friday, December 2, 2022, at 6 pm. You can come in your jammies! Parents of kids receiving dictionaries have been invited…

BOOKWORMING: How do you round up and herd worms? Realistically, we’ll probably schedule some sessions starting in January and do them once or twice a week, depending on how many “worms” we end up with. Stay tuned. This will be a focus once we’ve completed Dictionary Days. If you, or someone you know, is interested, contact Walter!

BLISTERED FINGER KNITTER: Mary shared with us the obituary of Roberta Fitzgerald… it specifically mentioned that since becoming a Valley Grange BFK in 2012, Roberta knitted a total of 1,430 hats for infants and children. Her most recent delivery was 330 hats delivered in August. And, since she knitted “right up to the end,” we’ll receive one more delivery next summer. What an amazing woman with fast fingers and a big heart. We voted to donate to the Fred and Hattie Washburn Scholarship Fund, Foxcroft Academy, Attn: Cathy Hall, 975 West Main Street, Dover-Foxcroft, Maine 04426, in her memory and honor.

Jonesboro Grange Delivers Backpacks

Jonesboro Grange Executive Committee member,  LouAnn Cox, led a backpack drive for kids in foster care. LouAnn has had first-hand experience working with kids placed in the foster system, and she knew the difference a backpack can make to a child. Generous community members bought backpacks and other items to create a special backpack for foster kids who may otherwise have nothing or carry what they do have in a trash bag. 

Pictured from left to right is Jonesboro junior Grange member Jennilyn LaRose, Jonesboro Grange members Hannah LaRose, Rebecca Trundy, and LouAnn Cox. Not pictured is Brad Coleman. 

On October 21,2022 LouAnn and members of Jonesboro Grange delivered over 60 backpacks and other needed items to the Department of Health and Human Services in Machias. 

Special thanks to Ellsworth Moose Lodge #2698 for their generous donation of backpacks! 

Don’t Forget the Cows’ Names!

The following article was originally part of a handout from Walter Boomsma’s presentation at the Northeast Leaders’ Conference in 2013.

If you don’t help with the milking, you’ll forget the cows’ names.

Amish Proverb

milking of a cow
Photo by Juan Jose Davila Zevallos on Pexels.com

Your members are an untapped market! We tend to think of “markets” as customers. Those in business are aware of the tremendous strides made in understanding what motivates customers. Businesses spend a great time of time, energy, and money marketing products and services to their customers. But we tend to deal with people differently when we think of them as “members.”

We’d like to think that members should love and promote our organization. Well, customers should buy products and services, but companies still work hard to get them to want to! As Grange Leaders, we can be equally good at getting members excited about the Grange. After all, it doesn’t “cost” much to belong to and love the Grange.

Successful marketers know their customers’ values and get the business by offering obvious satisfaction (benefits, rewards, consequences). Successful Granges and Grange Leaders get motivated members by using exactly the same approach. Grangers, like customers, are motivated by outcomes and the amount of value placed on those outcomes.[1] This is a basic premise for all marketing: the price a customer will pay for a product is equal to the amount of expected benefit.

This simple formula (effort = outcome + value) is the basis for every choice we make. Usually, it takes place on an almost unconscious level. You choose a restaurant based on what kind of service and food (outcomes) you expect. The place just down the street may be cheaper, but the service is almost non-existent. You’ll drive the extra miles if you value the service more than the few extra dollars you’ll pay and the extra effort required. But notice this is about what YOU value.

There are hundreds – perhaps thousands – of tools available to excite and motivate. But we may need to change our thinking a bit. Member relations and member-centered publicity mean that we don’t preach. It means we don’t “sell” the Grange; we excite and influence people. For example,

  • The way you package your Grange includes the building, the grounds, and the material you print and publish. What does that packaging say about the Grange? Does it communicate caring and pride?
  • Companies work hard at “customer service.” What about “member service?” Are you modeling fraternity? Does a member feel a sense of Grange Community? Should we rename “good of the order” “good of the membership?”
  • Can you write an advertisement for one activity your Grange does? Will it be something that screams to others “you just have to be part of this?”
  • Are you making news? “It’s easier to make news than it is to write press releases!”

These programs are not as important as the thought process. Consumer marketing works when the product has real value. Member-centered publicity works when you value your members and offer them intrinsic benefits.

Customers buy products because those products do something for them. People will join the Grange if the Grange does something for them. Your current members contribute energy because they get something in return. As a leader of your Grange what are you giving those members?

 

[1] Vroom, V. H. Work and Motivation, New York: John Wiley, 1964,

Communication Shorts 11-16-2022

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!

November Bulletin

The November Bulletin is finished and ready for downloading and printing! Remember, you can always find recent issues of the Bulletin on the Program Books and Information Page.

Contacting Your Grange

It seems that lately, I’ve had an abundance of communication issues… incorrect contact information, unanswered phone calls, and emails… We can do better! Please check the online Grange Directory and ensure the contact person listed is correct. Email any changes!

Website Progress

We continue to work on the site… while current postings and columns are a priority, we’re also bringing the Program Books and Information Page up to date and in compliance. If you need something and can’t find it, let us know!

Winthrop Grange

Winthrop Grange does close their hall each year from November through April and holds meetings at the local American Legion Post 40 on Bowdoin street in Winthrop on the first Wednesday of the month from 5-7 pm. Dorothy St Hilaire reports they are very much active and busy!

Free COVID Home Test Kits

With this link, Maine residents can order free kits with five (5) at-home rapid tests per household through DHHS’ partnership with The Rockefeller Foundation’s Project Access COVID Tests (Project ACT) program.

Do You Love the Grange?

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!

Ideas for Granges

How about a “Freebies Night?” Participants may drop off items they want to donate on one day. They may return on another day to browse and shop for items for free. Suggested Items: knickknacks, household items (small kitchen items), books, board games, holiday decorations, and craft items.

Thought for You…

“Elections belong to the people. It’s their decision. If they decide to turn their back on the fire and burn their behinds, then they will just have to sit on their blisters.”

Abraham Lincoln

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!

Do You Have FOMO?

“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!

Subscribe to the Maine State Grange Website

Note that when you subscribe to the Maine State Grange Website, we do not share your email address with others and only use it to send you–at the most–one email per day when new information is posted.

Exploring Traditions – November 2022

Meandering Around the Grange Way of Life

by Walter Boomsma, Guest Columnist

All is secure and the labors of the day are complete…

If we are inclined to doubt that the Grange is about a way of life, we might simply pay close attention to the things we say and do somewhat automatically. In one of my teaching assignments, I am responsible for “locking up” the building when I finish. This includes “walking the building” to insure lights are off and no one remains inside. Once I’m outside I “report in” by texting the person in charge. I usually text “All is secure.” In my mind the words “Worthy Master” accompany my message of assurance.

I then call home to report my progress. I’ll admit that I am on occasion tempted to announce at the beginning of the call, “The labors of the day are complete.”

While the language of the Grange can readily become part of our lives, an occasional pause and reminder to make sure we are living the Grange way of life can be worthwhile. The language helps us. “Let us be quiet, peaceful citizens…” I often stop right there. I like the word “peaceful.” Merriam Webster defines it as “untroubled by conflict, agitation, or commotion” and offers as synonyms “quiet” and “tranquil.” Those are some tall orders in today’s society which seems filled with conflict, agitation, and commotion.

The way we end our meetings is mean to ensure “all is secure” but it goes beyond closing the Bible and implement case to include the assurances offered the Grange Way of Life. We are also reminded that we “place faith in God, nurture hope, dispense charity, and are noted for fidelity.” These are the qualities that drive us to “add dignity to labor, and in our dealings with our fellow men be honest, be just and fear not. We must avoid intemperance in eating, drinking, and language, also in work and recreation, and what ever we do strive to do well.”

I can imagine leaving a Grange meeting years ago, riding home and unhitching the horse, and achieving another “all is secure” at home and in the barn. The animals are settled in for the night. The labors of the day are complete. All is secure. The farm and home are quiet and tranquil. The world we are in is at peace.

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.

View from the Farm – November 2022

By Heather Retberg, Quills End Farm

The Small Joys

Sometimes, it is necessary to notice the small joys that await while working.  That is difficult for those of us who only possess two speeds, full-tilt and stop.  It is also difficult when work is constant, because another task always awaits, often an urgent one.

Farming isn’t always joy filled;  sometimes, I have to confess, my passion does feel rather like work.   This morning, while I milked the cows and after I had finished with Merry, she turned to leave the parlor and stopped to lick my forearm, so I took a second.  She is a lover, and she’d be okay to just sit and kiss and hug, so we did for a second.  

After milking and before the rain started in earnest, I needed to take a round bale of hay down to the hogs.  The last big rain made their paddock soggy where they had rooted up the ground.  The round bale covers the scar, seeds the soil, and entertains the hogs for a bit.  It is also really entertaining to watch happy hogs.

At the first sight of the tractor and the 4 foot by 4 foot round bale, they followed to where I placed it in the paddock.  They lined up and started nosing it instantly, and only moved out of the way as I rolled it slowly and left a swath of hay behind me.  Then came sheer joy as they cavorted and galloped and rolled and smelled and ate and collapsed on the fresh carpet of hay.  It was so like hearing the uncontrolled laughter of a toddler…pure, unbridled joy. As the rain poured down this afternoon, I wasn’t just glad of the moments of pleasure I’d been lucky to provide and witness.  I was also glad that their shelter has a deep layer of hay in it, and that despite the elements, they were snoozing away the day in comfort.  

Editor’s note: Phil continues to write “View from the Farm” while Heather recovers from her surgery. Send her a card/note at Quill’s End Farm, 192 Front Ridge Road, North Penobscot ME 04476

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 given us permission to share some of her columns with Grangers. Visit the Quill’s End Farm Facebook Page for more information.

National Grange Convention

Patron’s Chain Daily Issues

National Grange publishes a special daily issue of the Patrons Chain during the Annual Convention. Each issue contains a wide array of articles ranging from convention reports to entertainment. If you’ve been curious about what happens, here’s a way to find out! We won’t be adding a new post every day but will add to this list as the week progresses.

CWA Report — November 2022

By Margaret Henderson, Director
Committee on Women’s Activities
207 948-2762

Committee on Women’s Activities

It doesn’t seem possible that the State Grange session is over for another year. It was great to see everyone. This year seems to have gone by way too fast.

I received the entries back from the Eastern States. I am proud to report that Maine had two winners. Ann Burns won second place for her three-piece baby Set. Ellie Collins won first place for her plastic canvas entry and first place for her adult garment entry. I presented their prizes at State Grange. Nice work! Congratulations, ladies.

I also had the honor to present donations to House in the Woods and to Home for Little Wanderers. Thank you to all of the Granges for your support of these two wonderful organizations.

I want to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving.  Let’s all be thankful for all that we have and let’s be kind to others.

From the Deacon’s Bench – November 2022

By Clay Collins, MSG Chaplain
207 837-0564

“In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.”  

1 Thessalonians 5:18

 

Happy Thanksgiving to all! Here we are on the downhill side of the Fall season. I just finished raking leaves along the stone wall in front my house, and that is all the raking I plan to do for this season!

By the time you read this, we have already passed Veterans’ Day. I hope that you had the chance to attend some kind of remembrance ceremony for all veterans. I have a chance every day to thank a different veteran for their service. I hope you do, too! They are the reason that we are able to live in a country such as this, and have the freedoms that we so richly enjoy. If I haven’t thanked you personally yet, please accept this from my heart, “I thank you for all that you did in the past, now, and in the future. I appreciate all that you do and have done.”

We have other things to be thankful for in our lives. We should be thinking about them all year long as we go about our daily lives, but we tend to get so wrapped up in our daily lives that we forget sometimes.

The list is long (at least for me, it is!). I can think of many as I know you can, too. Be thankful, first off, for your family, for without them you would be nothing. Next, you fill in the rest. I’m sure those lists will be long, some longer than others.

 I am most thankful for my loving family, and friends that I have, for without them, I would not be the person that I am today. THANK YOU all for everything that you do, whatever it may be.

 Until the next time, remember, “Be well, do good work, and keep in touch.” Amen.

Benediction: “Gracious Father of us all, teach us to be thankful for the good things in our lives. Show us that we must always be thankful for Your love and forgiveness.  Amen.”

May the grace of God’s protection
And His great love abide
Within your home-within the hearts
Of all who dwell inside.                                              

An Irish Family Blessing

President’s Perspective – November 2022

By Sherry Harriman,
Maine State Grange President/Master
207 490-1029

Dec 3, 2022 — 10:00 am to 1:00 pm. we will have an Instruction meeting for Ritualistic Floor Work at State Grange HQ, 146 State St., Augusta. (weather permitting) 

Everyone is invited to attend. Those attending will be practicing the work, by volunteer, also switching around it will not just be State Officers and Deputies.  We will cover:

  • Opening & Closing  (Opening the Bible, Presenting the Flag, Introducing Honored Guests)
  • How to properly make the Salutation
  • Balloting procedure
  • Election procedure
  • How to handle Motions and following through
  • The State Secretary will cover reporting, records, funds, and ordering certificates
  • Other suggested Grange business and discussion  

I will also be holding this same workshop/meeting around the State starting in the spring, please invite me to your area or Grange, I would prefer a Saturday meeting during the day but could accommodate an evening if requested.  

Welcome to our 8 new State Grange members who received the 6th degree at our recent State Grange Session. Thank you to the Delegates and Members that attended. I thought the discussions were productive, and I appreciate your participation, input, and respect shown for each other during that part of the meeting. Thank you Bob for moderating. A lot of awards were presented, the Juniors participated, a heartfelt Memorial Service held, very interesting speakers Ann Bercher our National Grange Rep., and Nancy McBrady from the Dept of Agriculture, re-elected Nate Pennell to the Executive Committee and wonderful banquet and luncheon provided. I would like to hear from you what you thought of the schedule and the facilities (yes, I know everyone was cold). Personally, I like it there and plan returning there again next year. There is a lot less work to do to set up for the meeting, degree and sales room plus the price at the previous facility was seven times as much. 

A BIG thank-you to ALL who stepped up to fill in or help out in any way, it was once again a great show of teamwork and helped make a very successful session.  Officers, Deputies, Department Directors, and Committees, thank you for your continued work during the past years, and I am looking forward to working together once again. Thank you to the tellers for election and the Master’s Address committee. Marilyn Stinson and Terry LaCombe-Stevens have stepped down as Co-Junior Directors we sincerely appreciate your years of dedication and hard work to the Junior Grange program, Betty Young will be our new Junior Director. 

The new Department Program Books and Annual Reports were given to the Delegates for your Grange. If you did not have delegates at the session, you may download the programs and reports from the web under “Program Books” or if you want a printed copy, email the office or myself and we will send them to you.  You may request all or just select ones. Agriculture, Community Service, Communications/Web, CWA, Junior, and Lecturers.