View from the Farm – May 2025

Webmaster’s note: The format of this column includes all of the Quill’s Endians participating at various times and in various ways! Phil writes this month’s column.

Know it Well

Joel and Theresa Salatin hold a special place in our hearts.  It was his books that started us on this grass-based farming path nearly 30 years ago.  He has continued writing as their farm, Polyface, has grown and transformed their area in the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia.  As their son Daniel has taken over the daily operations of Polyface, many others who served as interns now operate adjacent farms to supply food to their customers.

Joel and Theresa’s journey is catalogued in Joel’s “how-to” books, along with their philosophy on life, love, and legacy.  Of the best sentiments he expressed, in my view,  is one agreeing with Wendell Berry, “To steward a place well, you need to love it, and to love it well, you need to know it.” 

Such knowledge comes from experience bearing it out.  Stewardship and learning to love through knowing are concepts that grow deeper with each passing year and each passing generation.

Every day here at Quill’s End Farm, we get to study a little more,  learn a little more, know a little more, and love a little more deeply.  I hope that, like the Salatins’ Polyface Farm in the Shenandoah Valley, our places and communities will thrive for what we learn, how we love it, and for our stewardship.

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. Quill’s Endians are members of Halcyon Grange and publish a newsletter for their farm’s buying club of farmers in her area and generously permit us to share some of their columns with Grangers. Visit the Quill’s End Farm Facebook Page for more information.

Communications Column – May 2025

By Walter Boomsma
207 343-1842
Communications Director

Doing is communicating…

As I worked on the program for Valley Grange’s Community Celebration, I was reminded of the old platitude that, “what you’re doing shouts so loud, I can’t hear what you’re saying.” Often attributed to kids when we think they’re not listening, it reminds us that perhaps they are listening to what we are doing and perhaps what we are doing (or not doing) is more telling than what we’re saying.

Like many Granges this time of year, we’ll honor a local “Citizen of the Year” for her “boots on the ground” efforts to build strength in our communities. As is often the case, I learned more about what she does after we’d selected her. I knew we’d made a good choice when people stopped me in the grocery store to ask about her honor and our Community Night Celebration.

Another aspect of that celebration is a short two-part presentation entitled “Just Five Minutes.” It looks at the value of volunteering with photo examples and some basic math showing the dollar value of those efforts. (Both will ultimately be available on the MSG website and YouTube Channel.)

As I worked on the photo examples portion, a light bulb went off. Historically, the photo examples have been from our Grange Programs like Words for Thirds, Blanketeering, and the Blistered Finger Knitters. These programs are well-known in our area because we say (publicize) them well. It is common for them to be covered by local television stations and newspapers. I like to think of it as a marriage between saying and doing. You might even hear me say, “It’s easier to make news than it is to write press releases.”

But there’s more, and I was inspired by the number of different things our Community Citizen is involved in and does. It started me thinking about individual Grangers and the possibility that we aren’t saying enough about their actions.

After a discussion with Valley Grange’s community service chair, we agreed that we aren’t “saying” enough about the individual members’ efforts that aren’t necessarily directly connected or part of a formal Grange program. Those efforts and that time count, and they do represent Grange values. Examples are endless—many times we don’t even know about them. One of our members has served as president of her community’s historical society for years. Another member supports her local volunteer fire department in several ways. I volunteer with 4-H and FFA and participate in a group cleaning headstones in our local cemetery. Valley Grange is anything but unique. I recently added an event to the MSG website calendar. Members of Ocean View Grange will be joining their local Legionnaires to help place flags on veterans’ graves. If you can stand another platitude, “You’re known by the company you keep.”

But someone who keeps an eye on a neighbor serves their community equally well. I live on a dead-end gravel road, and we joke that we have an informal road association that keeps us tuned into what is happening with each other. We never have meetings.

Community service is not just a program. And it goes beyond “doing” to a state of mind. We may not always make the connection consciously, but we often say a patron “has faith in God, nurtures hope, dispenses charity, and is noted for fidelity.” We’re about a lot more than ritual and meetings. The Grange is people. We shout it by the way we live. We come together to strengthen our efforts and find support for the things we do.

► FACT: Year to date, the Directory of Granges is the most viewed page on the website. People are looking for you!

Community Service/FHH – May 2025

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

This is the time of year to start gathering items to display at the local fair. What a great way to show the community what the Grange does. This could lead to canning classes, craft sessions, quilting, plant and gardening care, woodworking, art and photography, soil types, bugs and their contributions to agriculture, and education in general. The projects can be simple or challenging, and the list is endless. The MAAF (Maine Agricultural Association of Fairs) theme this year is “Be A Farmer.” You do not have to use this as your Grange exhibit theme, but you may.

I would like feedback on what Community Service means to your Grange, members and non-members. Please respond by June 30, 2025, to:

Brenda Dyer
MSG Community Service Director
9 Marial Ave
Biddeford, ME 04005

Continue to work on reports and enjoy spring!

Family Health & Hearing

May is Mental Awareness Month. Do something for yourself. Read a book, listen to music, go to the beach, watch a movie, take a walk, go bowling, go to the garden, do a puzzle, etc., which are a few suggestions for having time for YOU. Also, checking on neighbors, volunteering, visiting family and/or friends, etc., can be mentally motivating to others’ mental health.

CWA Report – May 2025

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

Committee on Women’s Activities

I am so thankful for all of the ladies who are on the C.W.A. Committee.

We got together and had a planning meeting and chose what the entries for the baking, sewing, wooden craft, and decorated items would be. This was a very informative and productive meeting. The new booklets will be available at the conference in August.

I hope there will be donations coming in for House in the Woods, Home for Little Wanderers, and Prize money that will be given to the winners of the contests in August.

Looking forward to seeing you at the yard sale on June 7, 2025, and the CWA Conference on August 23, 2025.

Membership Moments – May 2025

By Rick Grotton,
Membership Committee Director
207 582-5915

I attended the recent Degree Day in Augusta in which 24 new members saw the first four degrees. A big thanks to the members of Androscoggin Pomona for organizing this yearly event. It was great to meet new Grangers and to see present Grange friends from all over the State of Maine. Congratulations to the new members. Hopefully, those who didn’t get a chance to see the degrees this year will attend the next one. There are still many obligated members who should be learning the lessons of the Grange first-hand. In the meantime, keep attracting those new members! 

June is coming, and with that month comes, yes, elections! Elections, believe it or not, are very important for the progress of your Grange. Please consider your new membership when electing officers (if they are interested) to keep them involved. Teach them the floorwork; we all could use a refresher course from time to time. Keep your Grange meetings running smoothly and listen to all ideas, especially from your new members. They do have their reasons for joining. 

Forming committees is also important to the well-being of your Grange. Too many times, there are no reports given on the selected committees or no active committees to report. A membership committee is recommended in each Grange. The membership committee can be a select few or the whole of your current membership. Please report on this committee at each meeting. Some discussions about membership planning and ideas should be shared at all meetings.  

Kudos to all Granges who have a full calendar of events this year. I wish them the best in their accomplishments, and may they continue to prosper and grow!  

Degree Day Celebration April 2025

Several dozen candidates completed the Four Degrees at MSG Headquarters. Candidates came from Vassalboro, Union Harvest, Manchester, Androscoggin, Victor, Danville Junction, Lamoine, Winthrop, and Huntoon Hill Granges. In addition, Excelsior, Hollis, Chelsea, Willow, East Madison, Valley, Alexander and Halcyon Granges were represented, more than doubling the total attendance!

Lots of new members! As you might suspect, the altar circle was a challenge! Welcome to our Order!
Photo by David Colby Young.
Serving as Degree Masters were Bridget McKeen, Roberta Meserve, and Lynne Pomerleau.
Photo by David Colby Young.

The day was organized by Maynard Chapman and members of Androscoggin Pomona with assistance from other Granges around the state. It was great to see so many Grangers in one place–and many young faces. Thanks go to the many people who made this day possible.

Harvest Marchers are ready to go!
Photo by David Colby Young.

Special thanks go to Norma Meserve and Steve Verrill for their assistance gathering information for this post!

Grange Heirloom — May 2025

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.

President’s Perspective – May 2025

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

Degree Day

CONGRATULATIONS and a warm welcome to our members who received their Degrees on April 27 at the State Grange Home. A most hardy thank-you to the many who participated and helped in any way to make the day such a success. I also want to thank those behind the scenes, those asking someone to join our Grange family, bringing folks to the Degree Day, and all those folks who attended.

Resolutions

The resolution deadline date is August 15, as stated in our By-laws, and must be submitted to the State Grange office via e-mail and/or hard copy by that date to be considered at the 2025 State Grange Session on Friday, October 17 and Saturday, October 18 at the Black Bear Inn, 4 Godrey Drive in Orono. This year will also be a full State Grange election. Yes, it is only three months to get your resolutions into us, but this early deadline date allows time for the State Grange to compile all the resolutions, get them printed and mailed in advance of the session to be reviewed by the Subordinate and Pomona Granges.

Election of Officers

  • Yes, Maine still uses paper ballots for each officer and election should be held in June for all Subordinate and Pomona Granges.
  • The Master will appoint tellers to count the ballots.
  • Count the members from your Grange who are eligible to vote. Provide ballots to all. Yes, the tellers may ballot if they are from that Grange.
  • Then the Master will say: “The Chair awaits presentations of names for the office of…”
  • Any member of that Grange may present or suggest a name (nominate is not the proper term). Anyone’s name may be presented for any office by any member.
  • The Master will repeat the name presented and ask “are there any others?”, asking a total of three times, repeating the list of names for that office each time they ask “are there any others?”. A person may decline or withdraw their name for the office.
  • The Master will repeat all the names and say “You will prepare your ballots for the office of …” After a brief pause, the Master will instruct the Assistants to collect the ballots and may excuse the Assistants from carrying their staves.
  • You do not have to ballot if you do not wish to. You must write the word “Blank” on the ballot if you want to cast your ballot, but do not want to vote for one of those names presented or any other name, but want your ballot to count in the “total ballots cast.” (A plain ballot may have been stuck to another and not intended to be put in the ballot count; plain ballots will not be counted in the total of ballots cast.)
  • Once the Assistants have collected the ballots, the Master asks, “Have all balloted who desire to do so?” Hearing no one speak up, the Master will say, “I declare the ballot closed.” The ballot is then given to the tellers, and the Assistants return to their seats.
  • The tellers will count the ballots and make the report. Reporting as follows each time: “WM, there were x total ballots cast for the office of…, necessary for choice… (majority, one more than half of the ballots cast), then will list the number of ballots cast for each person or name on the ballots, including any that say ‘blank’ on them. The ballot is then thrown away after the result is given by the Master.
  • The final choice is announced by the Master, “By your ballot, you have elected to the office of _.” and the results are recorded. Once a majority has been reached, the Master will ask the person, “Brother or Sister ___, do you accept the office of __.” If they decline or there is no majority of the ballots cast, the Master will say, “Since we have no majority, you will prepare your ballot for the office of _,” repeating all names listed. You will proceed to ballot once again on the same office until a majority is reached. The same procedure is followed for each office.
  • Upon completion of the election, the tellers are excused with thanks.
  • After the election, the elected Master will appoint a chairperson for each of the committees used in their Grange. (These Committee chairs will take over at the time of installation in the fall. The Subordinate or Pomona Secretary will provide the meeting day and time, and the Grange address, Officer (Master, Lecturer & Secretary name, address, phone & email), and the same for the Committee Chairs, to the State Grange as soon as possible for the new roster.

You’ll Miss Us!

a “webatorial” by MSG Communications Director
Walter Boomsma

Seth Godin wrote an interesting post suggesting that when people move away, cards and cake should read, “You’ll miss us” instead of “We’ll miss you.” He points out that the community remains.

One of the more powerful sentences in the short post was, “When a marketer serves a community, they create the conditions where they’d be missed–because the ideas or products or services they bring are important, not simply tolerated.“

With apologies to Seth, I changed a word or two. “When a Grange serves a community, they create the conditions where they’d be missed–because the ideas or services they bring are important, not simply tolerated.“

My revision raises a question for Granges. Would your communities miss you if you were gone? Would they even notice? Are you important or simply tolerated?

One of the challenges we face as an organization is relevance in communities that are loosely defined and increasingly diverse. If our vision is narrow and our goals are limited, we will be missed by an ever-diminishing number of people. For example, not everyone likes potluck suppers.

Seth’s short message is that marketers should see a worthwhile goal of creating ideas, products, or services that the community would miss.

Maybe it’s time for Granges to figure out what they can create and offer that their communities would miss.

Karen loves the Grange!

I love the Grange for all the support to all people! It’s awesome to hear so much about the history .

Karen Small, Golden Harvest Grange #33