Ag Committee Report — December 2023

By Roberta Meserve, MSG Ag Director
(207) 998-3857

The raffle, drawn at State Session, earned over $600.00. The winner of the Visa gift card was South Sangerville Grange; Harriet Spencer won the basket of goodies. Thank you to Agnes and Bob Nelson for taking care of the raffle table during the convention.

In my 55 years of Subordinate Grange Membership, this is my first time on the Ag Committee at any level, and I’m still learning the ins and outs and expectations. I look forward to discovering more.

I hope to see some of you at the Trade Show in Augusta in January. Stay safe on the snow and ice!

Community Service/FHH – December 2023

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

May the spirit of the season be with you. 

Community Service opportunities are endless during the Christmas season. Visiting a person who lives alone, shoveling a pathway or driveway for a neighbor or fellow Granger, inviting community members to a coffee/tea social and share time together, calling a friend on the phone, sending a note to a shut-in, volunteering at a local facility and talking to residents, and become Christmas Carolers for the community are a few suggestions.

Family, Health & Hearing 

December  A Grange Holiday Season – display what it is to be in Grange and not only during the holidays but all year round.

January  4 – National Buffet Day
January  9 – National Law Enforcement Appreciation Day
January 28 – National Lego Day

These are suggestions, and your Grange may add to these. It is not too early to be thinking about submitting “Granger of the Year,”  Police, Firefighter/EMT of the Year.

Merry Christmas and a Healthy, Happy New Year!

NE Leader Conference Packet

Yes, there was an error in the original posts! Thanks to John Lowry for spotting it and bringing it to my attention. It has been fixed and is included here for your convenience.

The moral of the story is, “Don’t use a new software feature until you’ve thoroughly tested it.”

A secondary lesson might be, “Don’t be surprised at the methods software developers will use to introduce their software to new users!”

Sorry for any inconvenience or confusion!

Northeast Leaders Conference Announced

The Northeast Leaders Conference is scheduled for January 12 – 14, 2024, in Concord, NH.

Hotel reservations must be made by December 20, 2023, and Conference reservations must be made by January 4, 2024.

All are welcome at your own expense, and everyone must make their own hotel and conference reservations. All information and a schedule is available in this online packet.

You are welcome to share rooms and transportation. Contact Sherry with questions at my email SHarriman@twc.com or call my cell phone listed in the roster and web. 

CWA Report – December 2023

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

Committee on Women’s Activities

I hope some of you are starting to plan activities for next year. My Grange is planning to make lap robes for Veterans. I believe this will be a great project for us. I am sure there are many wonderful projects across the state that we can participate in.

I hope that you all will have a very Merry Christmas, enjoying time with your families and friends. Stay healthy and safe.

Peter Ivers Honored

Photo of Peter Ivers and Harrimans.
At the December Cumberland Pomona Grange meeting, State President/Master Sherry Harriman and her husband Richard, presented Pete Ivers with his Assembly of Demeter sash. This recognizes his status as a Past National Delegate. Sister Sherry reported on his unexpected appointment in her most recent monthly column.

Submitted by David Gowen

Membership Moments – December 2023

By Rick Grotton,
Membership Committee Director
207 582-5915

All the Mainers who attended the National Grange in November had a great time in Niagara Falls and were greeted with great weather. It was great to be reacquainted with friends from across the country who I haven’t seen in a few years. It was wonderful to find out that a number of State Granges had overall increases in net membership this past year!  Maine can do the same if we focus and let people know we exist!! Thanks to those Maine Granges who did have net gains; keep up the great work!

Let’s make a group resolution for the upcoming year to increase our memberships. At State Grange in October, during the Memorial Service, the Grange was described as a four-story home with the Subordinate/Community Grange as the main floor with Pomona, State, and National as the upper floors, consecutively. Everyone enters the ground floor and climbs up to the upper floors, where more lessons await. Thus, without the ground floor, there would be no house. That is why it is important for us to bring in new members; if not, the house collapses. Our Grange “house” has existed for all of these years so repairs are needed and upgrades necessary. We have gone through periods of change, and more are needed today. Please be an integral part of our growth and continue to contribute as you have over the course of your membership. We all need to support one another to help keep our “house” sturdy and functioning. A little TLC (tender loving care) helps tremendously.

Over this holiday season, please reflect on how grateful we are in so many areas. How can we improve ourselves? How can we help others? How can we increase our Grange membership? What needs to be changed? All of these questions are vital and extremely important and require an answer. Let us get a head start and start to make resolutions for the new year so these questions can be answered.

The State Membership Committee wishes all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Stay safe, stay positive, and stay grateful.

The Chaplain’s View – December 2023

By Christine Hebert, MSG Chaplain
(207) 743-5277

Let us finish this year with a grateful and thankful attitude, looking back on the positive events in our lives; rejoice and be glad that we are loved by many and live with hope for the future.

          Let us all remember that “Jesus is the reason for the season” and carry the joy of this time with us through the coming year.  Wishing you a Holy and Blessed Christmas.

 I bring you good tidings of great joy…For unto you is born this day in the city of David a savior, which is Christ the Lord.

Luke 2:11 (KJV)

Creating Fresh Holiday Wreaths and Arrangements

Reprinted from December 2023 Central Maine Garden News, an e-newsletter of the UMaine Extension Service.

For those seeking to “spruce” up their interior spaces during the holidays, fresh evergreens are a great place to start. In addition to the natural feel and fragrance, evergreens are especially forgiving to work with. Even those with little experience in floral design can effectively use greenery with just a little practice.

Start by observing the difference between greens that drape, like pine and cedar, compared to those with stiffer ends, such as fir and spruce. These will serve different roles in an arrangement. Stiffer branches are the structure, providing shape and line, while branches that “drape” are usually added later. Paying attention to the natural shape and direction of branches will save a lot of frustration — the best results come from working with the lines and flow of the material rather than trying to control it.

A word of caution about trimming material from evergreen trees. Conifers (evergreens) do not respond to pruning in the same way that other trees do. Don’t cut large branches off and expect that they will “grow back.” A better approach to harvesting from a landscape tree would be thinning, or removing branches from a full area of the tree, where they will not be missed after removal.

There are numerous books, videos and websites with step-by-step instructions for creating holiday arrangements with greenery. Use the tips below to help fine-tune arrangements and have them last longer. Read More!

Grange Heirloom — December 2023

Grange Heirlooms are snippets from the lessons of the Grange as taught in the Rituals and Declaration of Purposes.

Use the icons below to share this Grange Heirloom on social media and help others understand what the Grange stands for! If this heirloom has a particular meaning for you, click the “leave a comment” link at the left and share your comment with us!

For additional information and resources regarding the Heirloom Program, visit the Heirloom Resource Page on the Maine State Grange Website.