| September 7, 2017 -- I rely upon your calmness in deliberation, your forbearance toward those who may differ from you, and your charity toward their motives. Influenced and guided by the spirit of fraternity, let us practice the motto, “In essentials, unity; in non-essentials, liberty; in all things charity.” In these times in the country and in our State Grange let me remind all of us that the National Grange is celebrating 150 years of these principles. We as
Grangers have overcome the hatred and the shaming of all people of this America that we all love so dearly. We must remind ourselves that we are family and family protects one another from mean words and mean actions. We do not tolerate meanness from anyone and will stop it wherever we see it, it is in our Obligation “To protect our Brothers and Sisters from harm.”
National Grange has had a set-back with the building this past August. During a Washington, D.C. heat wave, the chiller for the building’s air conditioning unit failed, leaking water and providing no AC to the building. They were able to cobble it but it is in need of replacement. So a call went out to all State Granges if they have extra monies to loan the National Grange to replace the AC and heating plant. They are 20-30 years old. Who says Grangers aren’t thrifty?
The latest report of the California State Grange litigation is that the National Grange is winning. The judgments have all been in favor of the new California State Grange and the National Grange, and many judgments are being won because of lawyers flip-flopping sides. I guess they don’t have our values if they felt they could get away with it.
The Pomona Realignment is in the works but patience must be had. The Mentors are trying to set-up meeting times but fairs, installations, and State Session may slow down the process until later. You can still talk about the new Pomona Granges amongst yourselves but please do not make any decisions without the Mentors.
The Northeast Lecturer’s Conference at Castleton University in Castleton, VT was enjoyable as usual. The programs were very good and the skits were funnier this year. I’m sure everyone will laugh at the skit from Maine about math. The only glitch was at the end when there were questions about the future of Leaders’ Conference, Lecturers’ Conference and Youth Conference. There have been complaints of out of pocket expense, activities at conference that were not beneficial to membership growth or leadership training. So the New England leaders have established a committee to look into combining, eliminating, redesigning the format, or leaving them alone. The problem is lack of attendance. Lecturers’ Conference had 70 people attending. This is the lowest in many years and was a loss of $4,000 to the conference committee. Not every state pays for Committee Chairs to attend Leaders’ Conference as we do in Connecticut. Some breakout groups had few in attendance, while others just socialized. With today’s technology, we all can video conference from our homes and save lots of money. We need to review everything. Even the New England Grange Sunday in NH needs to be reviewed. You drive three hours (from CT) and have a forty minute service and then drive home. This year there were 40 members, with three of them from Connecticut. Our elderly members are not going and the younger members and new leaders are missing the chance to see what happens outside their own Grange Halls.
State Grange Session is just around the corner with changes in the schedule for the Banquet and the Sixth Degree. We are hoping more will attend this year. The more people staying at the hotel lowers the rates for everyone. The more that attend the Banquet, the lower the coast of the Banquet. Please join us in celebrating your hard work and celebrate with us, you may just like it.
The Big E is September 15-Oct. 1, the New England Grange Building is open for sales of jellies, jams and needlework items. Come early to buy good stuff, great Christmas presents. Grange Sunday at the Big
E is September 24th. Hope to see you at the parade.
Many local Granges are having fairs. Get out and visit them and show your Grange spirit. |
