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!

Valley Grange Celebrates Community

Ways to support the celebration…

Valley Grange is located in Guilford Maine

This is not a fundraiser—it’s a fun raiser! The purpose is to celebrate our communities and way of life. We’ll also honor some special community citizens—the Piscataquis County 911 Dispatchers! Here are some ways you can help support this fundraiser.

  • Attend the potluck supper, meeting, or both!
  • Bring people with you to the potluck supper, meeting, or both. Create a carpool!
  • If you truly can’t attend, drop off a dish for the potluck supper. We can also use rolls, butter, drinks…
  • Call some friends and tell them about it. Encourage them to come.
  • Download and print some flyers then post them around your community–stores, banks, town offices, hair salons…
  • Visit the Valley Grange Facebook Page and share the event.
  • Tell your local fire firefighters, EMS, LEOs, etc. about it. They appreciate our dispatchers too!
  • Invite any local, county, state, and federal politicians you can think of! They usually love things like this! If they can’t attend, ask them to endorse and promote the event!
  • Write a letter to the editor of local publications sharing your appreciation for our dispatchers and mention Community Night.
  • Think spring and hope for great weather.
  • If you have any questions or ideas regarding the event, contact Walter Boomsma, Program Director.
  • If you’d like to help with the potluck supper and have questions, contact Mary Annis or Janice Boomsma.

In a recent blog post, Seth Godin noted that ideas that spread win and because of technology and the changes in media, ideas that spread “horizontally” spread the fastest and farthest. Yelling from the rooftops doesn’t work so well. Telling a neighbor or friend does.

Membership Moments – April 2024

By Rick Grotton,
Membership Committee Director
207 582-5915

This year is the 150th anniversary of the Maine State Grange and many of the earlier established Granges, which were organized in 1874. I attended the 150th anniversary of Excelsior #5, the earliest of the surviving Granges. It was a great celebration with music, awards, a history presentation, a great meal (of course!!), and a wonderful attendance of both Grange members and non-members. Attendees were amazed to see the history of the Grange in that area and the changes that happened over the years.

 Hopefully, all Granges will have a tribute to the 150th Maine State Grange anniversary, as well as those who also will be celebrating this year. It is a great milestone; one we are proud of and willing to share with our communities. Advertise and be proud; let the word out and invite the public to celebrate with you. This is one of the best ways to attract new members! Plan your event with a neighboring Grange or with your Pomona. Don’t miss out on new membership; take action and open those doors!!!

I am excited to hear of the results of the two degree days in April. Remember, make sure all your members who are new or only had an obligation ceremony receive a chance to see the full degrees to enhance their knowledge of lessons and symbolism. The next one is April 21, beginning at 1 p.m. at the Maine State Grange Headquarters in Augusta and presented by Androscoggin Pomona.

Communications Column – April 2024

By Walter Boomsma
207 343-1842
Communications Director

Remember “Booster Nights?” I’m not sure there ever was a clear definition or description, but it would probably be fair to describe it as a recruiting effort to “boost” membership with an open house-themed meeting or program.

I’m not aware of any data, but I suspect you won’t find too many people who joined the Grange after attending a Booster Night in recent years–for one thing, they’ve gone out of fashion. But remembering them raises a question. In our efforts to grow our Granges, what are we boosting?

People join the Grange and maintain their membership for various reasons, which can be very diverse and individualistic. I haven’t kept track, but the most common explanation I’ve heard for joining is family tradition—”my parents and grandparents were members.” In “my” Grange, we have a few members who pay their dues but aren’t involved, don’t attend meetings, but maintain their membership status. No criticism is implied. It’s just a fact.

Does that mean we should be contacting all of our current members’ relatives?

If we are promoting the Grange, maybe so. In a somewhat desperate sense, any reason for joining is acceptable, right?

But the more important question arises. What are we boosting? Or, in a larger way, what are we communicating?

Within the context, it might be time to think about what the Grange does in addition to what it is.

It’s probably time to dust off the “Why I love the Grange” survey. If you read some of the reasons, you won’t see many, “I love the Grange because it is an organization with a long history and agricultural roots…” Most of the answers reflect what the Grange does and how those current members actually benefit. Those answers tell us what we should be communicating if we want to attract new members. We should be looking for “like-minded” people.

Many members mention “family” in explaining why they love the Grange. So, a simple example of what that might mean is we should include “family-friendly” when promoting events. (And we’d better mean it. Valley Grange has an “activity tote” and “book tote” that visiting kids are encouraged to use—and they get to take one home. If they bring it back, they can trade it for another or just keep it.)

In addition to “family-friendly,” it might make sense to use the word “community” when promoting your Grange’s activity. While not always aware of it on a conscious level, many people are searching for a sense of belonging to something. Maybe your “public supper” should be a “community supper.” It sounds too simple and almost trite, but words can mean a lot. I once had someone admit they would be more likely to attend a “Grange Program” than a “Grange Meeting.” Meetings are for members. Programs are for everyone.

What is your Grange doing these days? Boost that because your Grange is what it does.


► FACT: The website currently has 862 posts and 20 pages! That’s a lot of information!