| OCTOBER 2, 2011 -- Hard to believe a year has passed since I wrote my first Granger article as President. Many changes have been seen in this State in the past year, not only in our Granges but also in our communities.
How many towns had problems preparing and passing town budgets? How many had damage to their property from 100’s of inches of snow and extreme power outages from Hurricane/Tropical Storm Irene?
It is times like these that your Grange is increasingly important to the strength and health of your community.
We need to be supporting the efforts of our school boards, administrator, teachers and parents. There is great need in our schools and the Grange must rise to the occasion and fill those needs. Many Granges donate dictionaries to third graders, but there are some that go the extra mile in their schools. They fill backpacks with school supplies for those children that don’t have them; they adopt a classroom and support the activities of the teacher and students by volunteering and donating supplies, they are boosters to sports programs, the list goes on. If we want to make an impact in our communities, there is no better place than your local school.
Now more than ever it is important not only for you as a Grange member to be involved in your local community, but you need to consider participating in your local government as well. Our cities and towns are continually looking for volunteers to sit on boards and commissions. As it becomes more and more challenging for municipalities to balance budgets and offer a stable level of services your positive input and participation is extremely important. We cannot expect someone else to protect our interest, it is our duty and right as a tax paying citizen to be represented and be heard. Make sure you vote on all issues be it local, state or national, this is one of the best ways of having your voice heard. I am always amazed the day after a referendum when I read only 10-15% of eligible voters voted on the issue. These issues effect all of us, please do your part and exercise your right and vote. You have all heard the quote by Anthony Robbins, “If you do what you’ve always done, you’ll get what you’ve always gotten.” Well Brothers and Sister, if you do not let your voice be heard, or vote, that is exactly what we will do, “get what we have always gotten.” We cannot criticize our town leaders for making the decisions they must make if we do not offer our input.
I have spent most of this year talking about us being good Grangers; part of being a better Granger is being a responsible citizen and neighbor. We can and will make a difference in our communities by bringing together our obligations as members of the Grange and our obligation as citizen. As I said earlier, it is times like these that your Grange is increasingly important to the strength and health of your community. |
