The Alleghenyville Lutheran Church, 1327
Alleghenyville Road, Mohnton, will be the site for the Saturday, March
4th, Berks County Pomona Grange meeting.
One of the highlights of the meeting will
be the formal presentation of the Official Charter from National Grange
Headquarters to the newly formed Hamburg Grange #2103. PA State Grange
President Betsy Huber will present the Charter to Hamburg Grange
President Mike Adams during the morning session which begins at 9:45
a.m.
Hamburg Grange #2103 is the first new
Community Grange to be officially chartered in Pennsylvania since 1995.
The Hamburg Grange was officially organized on November 5, 2005 with 20
Charter Members. A Grange must have at least 13 Charter Members (which
must include at least 4 men and 4 women) to be considered for Charter by
the National Grange office in Washington, D.C.
Hamburg Grange #2103 is the 12th Grange
presently in Berks County. It is the direct result of its President
Mike Adams. Adams, a Life Member of the Grange, had been a member of
two different Granges in Berks County in past years. But there was
never a Grange in his home area of Hamburg and he felt that a community
Grange in the borough would be an asset to Hamburg. Adams worked for
nearly a year with PA State Grange Public Relations and Membership
Director Carl Meiss to make his idea reality.
Saturday's presentation of the Charter is
the culmination of all of those months of work that both Adams and Meiss
put in recruiting members and laying the groundwork for the new Hamburg
Grange #2103. PA State Grange President Huber received a special award
from National Grange Membership Director Ed Luttrell at this past
November's National Grange Conference in Columbus, Ohio for opening a
new Grange in her state.
Hamburg Grange #2103 meets the 2nd Saturday
of the month at 4 p.m. and the 4th Thursday of the month at 7 p.m. at
the Hamburg Borough hall, 61 North 3rd St. Meetings are open to the
public and everyone is encouraged to attend to see what the Grange has
to offer their community.
The Grange is a family fraternal
organization dedicated to the betterment of rural America through
community service, education, legislation and fellowship. The Grange
includes members of all ages from their Junior Grangers (ages 5-14),
Youth Members (ages 14-24), Young Adults (ages 21-35) and Regular
Community (Local) members (age 14 and up). The Grange represents
approximately 15,000 Pennsylvanians across the Commonwealth. It is the
oldest agricultural organization of its kind in the United States. The
National Grange (Patrons of Husbandry), representing about 300,000
members, began in 1867 and the PA State Grange was chartered in 1873.