GRANGE 101
by Christie Straub

Greeting from Western PA! Will summer ever get here? What weird weather we are having don’t you think? One minute the sun is shining, ten minutes later it's raining...what is going on?

Do you ever wonder why you love Grange so much? Is it the friends, family, meeting your husband/wife? So what is it? What draws us to this organization so much? Do we ever ask ourselves what is the Grange? I thought that I would give you a Grange 101 class and answer some of your questions of what, when, why and how.

The Grange is the oldest Agricultural and Rural advocacy organization in the United States. It began during the Reconstruction after the Civil War in an attempt to assist southern farmers reorganize and catch back up to the northern farmers after the destruction from the war. The Grange has been very instrumental in working on major issues concerning farming and rural living such as Rural postal delivery and Rural electrification.

Today, it is working for better access to broadband and high speed internet access to rural areas.

A.C.R.E. - to help farmers in their legal battle with illegal local ordinances limiting their right to farm. Today, the Grange in Pennsylvania is still supporting farmers and people who live in rural areas through their lobbying group, Wolff Strategies/Triad Strategies.

But today, the Grange has also evolved from just being an agricultural advocacy group to becoming a more community service oriented organization. There are 280 local Community Granges in Pennsylvania today with about 14,000 members. Each Community Grange today looks at all of the needs of their immediate community or area to see how the Grange can help to meet those needs. In many cases, this still means working with township or borough, county or state lawmakers. In some cases it may mean finding a way to solve a local problem through fund raising, manpower, educational programming or similar solutions. The Grange has always stood out as a progressive organization, even in 1867, when it was formed. Since the formation of the Grange, women were always given total equal rights as the men. Of the 13 officers in each Grange, 4 of those offices MUST be filled by women and women have always had the right to vote.

The Grange also stands alone from all other organizations outside the church in that it is a true FAMILY ORIENTED organization. We have Junior Grange for our kids 5-14 and Youth Grange for those 14-23. At age 14 an individual may hold an office and has full voting rights in the Grange. Unlike other service organizations (like the Kiwanis, Lions, Elks, etc.), you will not see just Mom or Dad at a Grange meeting...you will see babies, infants, children of all ages, many times even 3 or 4 generations of a family...all attending a Grange meeting.

The Grange is a true “Grass Roots” organization, unlike many other similar groups. In the Grange, individual Grange members from local Community Granges can write a “Resolution,” a solution to a problem (which may be local, state or national). That resolution can get passed at the local, county, state and national levels of the Grange and become policy...all from an individual member. Our membership “steers the state and national Grange ship” through this process, rather than our national or state offices telling our local Granges what they will do. This gives each and every member the empowerment to “have a say” in what the Grange will strive to do in their areas. Through this process, Grange members learn how to become community leaders (“movers and shakers”) in their areas.

The Grange in Pennsylvania also offers its members various benefits, from a Federal Credit Union, to insurances, to discounts through various businesses. We have a brochure [the green one] that lists most of these member benefits. We also have brochures telling you more about the Grange [the buff membership brochure], about Junior Grange [the white and red one], our Youth Grange [the white one], we also have scholarships available for members [the purple one], and one that highlights our legislative efforts of last year and this year [the one with the pictures on front]. In short, "The Grange is a family organization dedicated to the betterment of rural living through community service, education, legislation and fellowship."

So, that is just a brief introduction of Grange 101! We have a lot to offer in our organization and if you have any suggestions to get us to grow please let us know.

Your truly

Christie Straub
PA State Flora and PA State Young Couple

PS. I am looking for LADIES to Stand, Sit and Look pretty at State Session in Lancaster for our Sixth Degree work. So, if you are interested please let me know at bagge28@yahoo.com