The Grange: A FAMILY Institution
by Carl Meiss
Taken in part from “The Grange - Friend of the Farmer 1867-1947” by Charles M. Gardner

Well, another PA Farm Show has come and gone with the PA State Grange again showing its presence.

This is the fifth year in a row that we have been fortunate enough to have a space in the Family Living section of the Farm Show in the Old Main building off Maclay Street. To remind everyone...five years ago, after having the State Grange booth in the new Exposition Hall, Gerri Moore, Director of the Family Living section, contacted the State Grange office with a deal. Family Living would provide the State Grange with a 10' X 20' booth space, “free of charge”, in exchange for the Grange providing manpower to supervise the Family Living “Farmer For A Day” area, an area for children to play and learn a little about items on the farm.

How appropriate this arrangement is now in 2008, with PA State Grange President Betsy Huber’s 2007 State Session “Master’s Address”, when she said, “I have been thinking this summer, and have challenged the State Officers to consider this also, what does the Grange do better than anyone else in the world - what is our main purpose?” She said, “The answer I came up with is family.” She elaborated by stating, “We are the only organization that involves the entire family with activities, programs, leadership training, fellowship and fun. Today’s world needs the Grange desperately.”

A little bit of Grange history...

Many are aware that The Grange - Patrons of Husbandry, dates back to 1867, during the time of reconstruction after the Civil War as a fraternal organization for farmers. What is not as well known is that not only did the Founding Fathers of the Order realize the need for such an organization, but they realized the importance of the entire family in such an organization.
The Grange has sometimes been called “the liberator of the farmer’s wife,” as it was the first organization to give to woman the same rights and privileges enjoyed by man. In doing this it not only turned on the radiant light of hope for rural women, but strengthened the union of both man and woman, created deeper love for home and stimulated more effective planning for home improvement. It also supplied inspiration for better thinking, nobler deeds and higher aims for the future. The Grange, in 1867, realized the importance of equal rights for women.
The Grange Founders then looked at fixing an age limit for the admission of young people. This question was solved by the Founders in fixing the admission age for boys at eighteen and girls at sixteen, and these limits stood for several years. Then a change was voted, putting boys on the same level as the girls - a 16-year admission specification. This schedule stood for some time, but at the 1880 session the National Grange voted to amend the Constitution, reducing the age limit to fourteen years, where it has since remained...”

National Grange Master (President) Louis J. Taber, stated in 1935, “The greatest opportunity that the Grange offers young people is in its educational, fraternal, and ritualistic work...Here young people have been elected to office and have served their community and their state...One of the mightiest armies in America today is that of our rural youth.”

As a direct result of the Grange’s inclusion of our youth, the organization has had very close ties over the years with 4-H, Boy and Girl Scouts and FFA.

But the Grange didn’t stop at including our women and youth. There is no more significant feature of Grange work than its Juvenile [Junior] branch. The hope of the future has always been the boys and girls...At the 24th annual session of the National Grange in Atlanta, Georgia, the draft of this revised Juvenile ritual was adopted by the delegate body on November 17, 1890, marking the actual beginning officially of the Juvenile Grange activities.

So here we are today in the year 2008, after having just spent 8 days at the 92nd Annual PA Farm Show with the State Grange booth in the Family Living section of a show that saw nearly 500,000 people walking through the 24 acres under roof. Could there be a more fitting place for the Grange to have its booth to notify some of those half million people about the Grange and its FAMILY emphasis and the work that all the 280 local Granges in Pennsylvania do today in their communities? I think not.

As the PA State Grange Public Relations/Membership Director, I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of our Grange Families for assisting in the PA State Grange Booth and supervising the Farmer For A Day area at the Farm Show. I know that this takes time out of your busy schedules but it is greatly appreciated from the State Office.

Many Grangers do not understand that not only is the Farm Show eight days long, running Saturday through Saturday, but Betsy and I, along with the help of Libbie Green, start setting up the Wednesday before the show. Wednesday, Thursday and Friday are spent setting up the backdrop display board, signs, carpeting (with padding), tables, pictures, etc.

So, in reality, the show runs 11 days for us. Therefore, Betsy and I both greatly appreciate each and every Granger and helper who volunteered to put time in at either the booth itself or helping with the Farmer For A Day area. And I would be remiss if I didn't thank Brian Ebersole for his help in taking the booth apart and hauling everything back to the office Saturday evening.

And so everyone realizes the importance of keeping the Grange name in the public eye...We had at least two people hand us membership applications at the show itself, I had a member who was behind in his dues who handed me a check for two years of dues, and I have had at least two more, including a FAMILY membership application, come into the office since the show.

This was just the beginning of a Grange year dedicated to the “Family.” Keep watching this “Grange Page” as well as “The Grange Advocate for Rural Pennsylvania” for future events throughout the Commonwealth which will include the entire family. The PA State Grange, chartered in 1873, continues the tradition of realizing the importance of “FAMILY” in the 21st century.