| February 1 2023 -- First, I want to wish everyone a very happy New Year! As we ushered in the New Year, I was reminded of a fact that my Grandmother told me that the Times Square New Year’s Eve ball drop has been a tradition since 1907, one year before Riverton Grange was founded, when my Grandmother was just 7 years old. The first ball drop was held at the One Times Square building in New York City. The ball drop is now a worldwide tradition, with cities across the world hosting their own ball drops on New Year’s Eve.
Our Grange is off to an outstanding start as we begin 2023. One of the projects I have been helping support is recruiting new members to our organization. I am so proud to report that on Sunday, January 15, twenty- seven new members joined Granby Grange #15. Granby Grange is the former home Grange of our first State Grange Master and many of us just could not bear to see this historic Grange fold. So thanks to many people, including Ron Cowdrey, Carol Innes, Judy Doyle, George Russell and Peter Keefe, Granby Grange has been reinvigorated with new members and for the first time in years elected their full slate of official am serving on Granby Grange Executive Committee for a term of three years.
In addition, my home Grange, Riverton Grange #169 has recruited eight new members since last November. We now have two family units; our very first within our Grange!
On December 11th, we held our FOURTH Connecticut State Grange Lecturers’ Roundup. We were so honored to have newly elected State Grange President Rob Buck join us. During this virtual meeting, we discussed the 2023-2024 Blue Book and Lecturer content; the Grange in Action/ Golden Grange in Action initiative; heard updates from Community and Pomona Grange Lecturers; and had an open forum to discuss topics of interest. These virtual Roundups have proven to be very popular, so we will be continuing them into the next Grange Year.
At the end of December 2022, I wanted to see how many Grange members read social media postings,
so my Lecturers Department hosted a contest to see who could tell us the joint Family Activities / Lecturers Departments’ theme for 2023. The answer was “Let’s Make a Snowman!” and we had more than one person submit the correct answer, which made Dawn Percoski and me happy. So, I put the Grangers’ names who submitted the correct answer into a virtual wheel and drew one winner from those folks. And the contest winner was Susan Masino from Simsbury Grange who received a gift card to a local coffee shop. Thanks to all who participated and let’s hope for a little snow so we can make a snowman!
Our first Connecticut State Grange Lecturer’s Roundup of 2023 is scheduled for Sunday, March 12, at 7:00 PM via Zoom. You don’t have to be a Lecturer, or from a Connecticut Grange, to join in. Discussion will include the latest news and contest information. For more information or for the Zoom credentials, contact CT State Grange Lecturer Dave Roberts at lecturer@ctstategrange.org or GranbyDavidRoberts@gmail.com , or call 860-469-5067.
In February 2022, National President Betsy Huber appointed me as the National Grange representative to the United Nations Council of Organizations (COO). The COO was started 76 years ago by former First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt to provide a forum for non-governmental organizations to support the newly established United Nations. The National Grange was one of 43 Charter Members of the COO. I appreciate the opportunity to again serve on the COO Executive Committee as the National Grange representative. As the National Grange-appointed representative to the United Nations COO, I have two upcoming trips to the United Nations scheduled in February and March. The first is the Global Engagement Summit hosted by the United Nations Association of the United States on Friday, February 17th. The second is the Lions Day with the United Nations hosted by Lions International on Friday, March 3rd. Both events are open to the public, so if you would like to learn more about the United Nations and attend one of these events, please let me know and we can arrange it for you.
I look forward to hearing from each Grange Lecturer about how their Grange is doing. Keep your reports coming to me. And if you need help or would like me to come visit your Grange, PLEASE just ask! Happy New Year!
|
