Some Good News
I would like to introduce you to the two newest members of the Deaf and Community Service Dept.

We welcome: Betty Lou Williams (she’s married to Roger and I suspect we’ll be making good use of him, too) from Saegertown, PA and Thomas Kostelansky (and his wife Denise can add her thoughts as well) of Vandergrift, PA. Please congratulate Betty Lou and Thom when you see them.

We look forward to their new ideas and perspectives and appreciate their willingness to join our Dept.

Thinking Things Through
We’ll have worked out some of the details for this year’s projects and ideas during our Dept. meeting that was held the end of January and we’ll update you in future editions of the ADVOCATE.
Keep an eye out.

Speaking of Thinking . . .
This news from the AARP magazine might be something to consider.

If you charge $1000 of holiday expenses to your credit card and pay $50 a month on that debt, you’ll still owe $550.24 after 50 weeks and won’t pay if off for almost another year (with 14.57% APR).
Then consider Plan B - Deposit $20 a week in a “Holiday Club” savings plan at your bank or credit union. After 50 weeks, you’ll be $1007.84 in the black and ready for the 2008 holidays (with 1.5% APR.

More Savings
If you take advantage of refunds for your purchases check out: RefundPleas.com. There are refunds you might not know about that you are eligible to use.

Another place is for those bargain hunters:

www.PriceTracker.com

It’s a way to keep an eye on items you're considering purchasing.

Let’s Make Plans
Where shall we meet? Get your Grange working on having representatives at all the Grange events this year.

Consider a little financial support as the price of gas creeps higher and higher.

Do some fund raising and then decide who has the time to attend: Camp, the Legislative Day, Family Festival, State Session and don’t forget to send someone to your area Regional Meeting.
We’ll see you some place along the way.

That’s it from my desk.

Lois

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Here are a few more ideas for Community Service taken from "Building the Grange Across America":

Blood Drive

From: Nicktown Grange #2097, PA
Event: We contact the Red Cross and they set up the date and furnish all the equipment. All we furnish is the site, the snacks, and a few staff members.
Why?: To help people and to add to the blood supply for transfusions, etc.
Number of members in Grange: 12
Number of members involved: 12
Number of non-members involved: 3
Number of non-members show up to support or participate: 60 donors
What the members like about this event: Helping the Red Cross and getting together.

Adopt A Highway

From: Boring-Damascus Grange #260, Oregon and Valley Grange #1360, PA
Event: The Grange works with the Department of Transportation to designate a 2 mile stretch of highway for trash pick-up 3 to 4 times a year. In Oregon they meet at a local McDonalds for breakfast before heading out to clean and in PA they meet at the Grange hall for coffee, juice and donuts before they head out.
Why?: Beautify our community and to help keep community pride strong.
Numbers of members in Grange:
Boring-Damscus: 38
Valley - 108
Number of members involved:
Boring-Damascus: about 8
Valley: 8-12
Public Response:
Boring-Damascus: We always get a few honks and waves.
Valley: We've even had a few drivers stop and donate money.
What the members like about this event: We have a great time comparing treasures we find and unusual pieces of trash. We also get satisfaction for making our community a little cleaner.