Public Relations/Membership

Carl Meiss
Director
20 Erford Road
Suite 310
Lemoyne, PA 17043
800-552-3865
publicrelations@pagrange.org
 

CALLING ALL PENN STATE STUDENTS!

If you are attending Penn State Main Campus, we need you! We are working to reorganize the Penn State Grange, which has been inactive since 1965. We had our first organizational meeting on December 11, 2007 and plan a second meeting in late February, 2008. Watch your Advocate and your college email for additional updates. We know there are a number of current Grange members who live in University Park who could re-charter a Grange under the auspices of Student Activities. We only need 20 students to get started. If you are a current student or if you live in the Centre County area and would like to help with this effort, please contact the State Master at master@pagrange.org 

 

We Have More Winners!!!
I had the very pleasant task of sending TWO $20.00 Sheetz Gift Cards out to members who read their names in the March issue of The Advocate!

Flora Rothrock from Lycova Grange #2006 in Lycoming County was the first to call me to say she read her name in an article.

Richard Lyter from Community Grange #2048 in Dauphin County was the next to call.

Congratulations! Both Flora and Richard received their $20.00 gift cards just for reading The Advocate and finding their names "embedded" within articles in the March issue.
You could be the next winner...the computer randomly chooses the names to be inserted. All you have to do is read The Advocate and if you see your name and Grange number "embedded" (randomly placed within an article). Call me at the State Grange Office at 800-552-3865 and tell me your name, Grange number and the page and column where your name appeared and I'll send you a $20.00 Sheetz Gift card!

I was also pleased to send a check for $30.00 to our newest Grange, Cumberland Valley Grange #2104 in Shippensburg, Cumberland County, to pay one year's dues for Wayne Baker who recently recruited two new members for his Grange! Way to set an example for other members Wayne! He is the secretary for Cumberland Valley Grange #2104 and is one of their Charter Members.

This membership recruitment program continues to run through the end of June, 2008. If you recruit two new members prior to June 30, 2008 and they are Obligated/Welcomed into your Grange and pay their annual dues for 2008, I will send your Grange a check for $30.00 to be used toward paying your annual dues. If you are a Life Member then your Grange can use that $30.00 check as they see fit in their operating funds. But please, if you recruit new members, remind your secretary to send me the information so that I can get a check cut and recognize you for your efforts. I know we have Grangers who have recruited two or more members but I am not receiving the information. I WANT TO SEND MORE $30.00 CHECKS!!!

As you can see in the "New Grange Members WELCOME!" to the right, we have received information on 77 new members for the first quarter of this year. That's a good start but we all need to work harder if we ever hope to see positive membership numbers for the year! Let's see if we can get that number up to at least 500 new members before the end of this year!

Every time you put on an event, dinner, program, Open House, etc. take that opportunity to ask people in your community/area to join the Grange. This works! I saw it in action recently in Hamburg, Berks County when I helped the Hamburg Grange #2103 put on a chicken pot pie fundraiser dinner in town. They placed a Membership Information and Application brochure on every tray for people to take a look at while they ate. At the end of the afternoon after serving about 400 dinners, they had at least two or three new members sign up before they left!

This month of April, Grange Month, is the ideal time to put on a major membership drive. Take advantage of the FREE brochures that we offer from the State Grange Office and put them to use recruiting during your Open Houses and other dinners, etc. All it takes is a toll-free phone call to the State Office at 800-552-3865 to order any number of each of the seven brochures to be sent to you, free of charge. The seven brochures are:

  • Membership Information and Application
  • 2008 Member Benefits
  • PA State Grange Youth (with application)
  • Junior Grange Information & Application
  • Scholarship Programs
  • Family Membership Information (with application)
  • Legislative Brochure (2007 Accomplishments and 2008 Goals)

Please just give us enough lead time before your event for us to print them and get them in the mail to you.

Membership/Leadership Opportunities
Rusty Hunt, our new National Grange Leadership/Membership Director, has continued the monthly "TeamSpeak" computer conference calls that our National President Ed Luttrell had begun in 2007. I am very honored to have been asked by Ed and Rusty to help with these calls. I actually presented the first topic for 2008 on "Leadership/Management - There is a Difference." I hosted the February conference which was "Getting the Word Out" presented by Rusty.

The next conference will be held Tuesday evening, April 8, 2008 at 9:00 p.m. I will be hosting while Rusty presents "Always Be Prepared" as noted in his "Tip" on page 13.

These computer conferences are open to anyone! All you need is a computer with internet access (works best with high speed but dial-up will work) and a headset with earphones and a microphone. Then simply download the TeamSpeak program from National's website and you're ready to go.

Hope to see you on the 8th!