Grange News

Often I have finished my writting with "See you at the Grange!" So - What is the Grange? With information taken from our This is your Grange handbook, please let me answer that question.

"The Grange is the world's only farmbased fraternal organization. Established in Washington, D.C. in 1867, the National Grange consists of 3,600 community Granges in 37 states with more that 300,000 members.

The first Grange in Washington state was Waitsburg Grange No. 1, near Walla Walla, organized in 1873. The first Pomona (county-wide) Grange was established in Clark County in 1902.

The Washinton State Grange coordinates the activities of the state's 289 community Granges and the 41 Pomona(county and district) Granges. Washinton enjoys the distinction of having more Grangers than any other state - currently around 50,000 members.

What is the Grange's Role?

The Grange is fulfilling a great need in communities across the state. It is an organization in which men, women and young people assemble for fellowship, discussion and formulation of policies on current issues. The Grange serves as a vehicle for promoting positive changes which help improve the quality of life for all citizens. As an organization that encourages the active participation of each family member, the Grange is strengthening the family structure for its members.

On the state and national levels, the Grange is continuing its long tradition of advocating for all Americans, especially those under-represented residents of our farms, small towns and rural areas. All to often, political powers from heavily populated urban areas push their agendas and the Grange is frequently the only voice the rural residents have to express their needs. The Grange's philosophy has always been that what is good for America's farms and rural residents is good for the entire nation.

Each Grange meeting is opened with a prayer and presentation of the flag. As in other fraternities there exists within the Grange several "levels" or "degrees" of membership. The entry level of membership is the local community Grange and members there are designated as "fourth degree members". The county or district Pomona Grange confers the fifth degree and the sixth and seventh degrees are conferred by the state and national Granges respectively."

In Wahkiakum County the "fifth degree" is offered each spring to our membership so that those attending our State Convention in June may also take the sixth degree which is offered at that time. You need to attend a National Convention in order to receive the seventh degree.

Since our 2009 State Convention will be in Longview, I hope many of you who have been considering Grange membership will join now and be eligiable for the fifth and sixth degrees as offered this spring.

Many community Granges sponsor a junior Grange for children age five through 14. Junior members conduct their own meetings and have their own ceremonies for special occasions. Through this experience they learn leadership, initiative and good citizenship skills. State Junior Grange programs are already in place and just need local participation to be activated. Come to the Grange and meet our membership, learn about our programs and projects, let us hear your concerns and ideas, together we will get more things accomplished and have a lot of fun in the process. See YOU at the Grange.