Members of Oriental Grange #165 in Wyoming County pose with Christmas gifts they are donating to Interfaith for their children's gift baskets

Call Me
Welcome to a brand new year! Where is your Grange headed in 2008? The State Grange Planning Meeting is coming up at the end of this month so if you have any ideas or suggestions, now is the time to get in touch with me about them.

We are looking for challenges that will get members’ attention and move them to action. It’s a good way to go don’t you think?

This Year
Make this year a great one for your Grange and members. I can offer to help but this Department can’t do the work for you.
What do your members want to do? Where do they want to go?
Remember that the folks that join your Grange are community members, too. Plan some fun for them during the year. If all you have is ‘another meeting’ how will you get to know each other?

Dinner On Your Own, With Us
Pomona #3 in Chester County had a great idea. Their Lecturer suggested a Dutch Treat Dinner (where everyone pays for their own meal) and she managed to find a local restaurant that would give their Pomona a percentage off the meals purchased by the Grangers.

The plan was for a lunch or dinner meal together and you went when it suited your schedule on a specific day.

Seems everyone had a good time enjoying a meal together and each other’s company.

Change Happens
Some times you have to do things you don’t want to. The D&CS Department has regretfully accepted the resignation of Laura McCardle. She has been invaluable to our Department and will be missed. She is pursuing some different avenues and felt she could no longer continue serving with us.

Thanks, Laura for all you ideas, strategies, cautions and and bright ideas, especially for bringing 'Shoebox' to our attention.

We are sorry to lose you. You’re the best.

Good Luck
Here’s to a great new year for you and your members. Grand plans, good works and great satisfaction.

Here's an Idea or Two
From Buckhorn Grange #1119, Cambria County...

"Calendar Party"
Twice a year we sell tickets and solicit gifts from businesses and people for raffle prizes. We set up three tables and put the best, more expensive gifts on one and sell tickets on them for '3 for $1.00'. On a second table are the less expensive gifts and we sell those raffle tickets for '3 for 50 cents'. On the third table are the least expensive gifts and we sell the tickets here for '3 for 25 cents'. We cook and serve the food and then draw the raffle tickets and award the winners their gifts. We also give a few door prizes. We decorate the hall according to a month or season that we have selected ahead of time.

The purpose of this event is to raise money for our local scholarships and other charities that we give to. We serve the local students and charities in our community.

We only have 31 members in our Grange but it only takes about 15 to 18 of them to put this on.

Our response is always excellent. The community loves it. We have no trouble selling out of all the raffle tickets since we have close to 100 people attend.

We like this event because we enjoy working together and having a good time doing it. We are very proud of the results from the money raised.

From Boring-Damascus Grange #260 in Oregon...
"Classics in Progress Car Show"

We hold a car show for pre-1976 cars on the first Saturday in August. We advertise to attract cars that are still in the process of being restored as well as completely restored cars. We have two primary business sponsors who give $50 and nine businesses who are class sponsors for $25 each. Each gets advertising and their name on the trophy for that class. We had 14 classes in 2006.
We put this event on as a fund raiser for the Grange and a community-building event. This serves the Grange and the community, especially the old car lovers.

We have 38 members in our Grange but it only takes about 10 of us to put on the show. Public response is "Great!" As mentioned, in addition to our members, we get the support of 11 local businesses for donations.

We usually get about 75 people from the community to attend. We love the car show because it's fun for everyone and a great chance to make an impression on the community.

That’s it from my desk.

Lois