From the Grange Declaration of Purposes and featured as the October quote from the Heirloom Program, we have: “We desire a proper equality, and fairness; protection for the weak restraint upon the strong; in short justly distributed power. These are American ideals, the very essence of American independence, and to advocate the contrary is unworthy of the sons and daughters of our Republic”. Now what constitutes these ideals and how they are put into practice may differ in our varying opinions so remember to be charitable in your expression of views with the upcoming election. Remember that Speak Like a Champ buzzword from National President Chris Hamp, “to be Grange Strong, we must be unified.”

With the Big E starting as I write this; it will be over by the time you read it. We sponsored the vaccine (both flu and COVID-19) booth once again with Families Fighting Flu and PharMerica. Thanks to Ted, Noel and Dawn for all their hard work. Ted sent me a picture of the wooden base he built for the vaccine project. Thanks to all the Grangers for donated craft items what will be sold to fund the New England Grange Building. I will try to make a few days to work in the store but am not able to get up there every weekend as last year.

I submitted a letter of support from the Connecticut State Grange to National Grange Legislative Director Burton Eller (1 of 108 from the Grange) urging Congress to pass the bill HR 2407, the Nancy Gardner Sewell Multi-Cancer Early Detection Screening Coverage Act. As of this writing, it has bipartisan support in the House Ways and Means Committee. This is an important issue in rural America where many don’t have access to decent health care. Hopefully, this will become law. It is good to see National Grange taking the initiative on so many health care related issues and programs.

Fair season is on and I have heard good things about several Grange fair successes; Hillstown, Cheshire, Granby, Winchester, Riverton, Senexet and Wallingford Granges to name a few. Taghhannuck had a booth at the Cornwall Agricultural Fair with a display on birding as a hobby. I held two 15-20 minute talks on some of the process I use when out birding to figure out what birds I am seeing.

Elizabeth Jensen of Redding Grange #15 had an article in Grange Today Vol. 1, Issue 7 (09/13/2024) about their Grange’s collaboration with the US Food Rescue wherein local produce is collected at the Grange Hall and distributed to local food pantries. Many of us don’t tend to think of the necessity of food pantries in the more affluent towns of Fairfield County. There is a more widespread need for these services than we can imagine. This was a great way to highlight the Grange’s agricultural roots and provide community service.

While on the subject of community service, I would like to mention that Grangers in Connecticut have contributed over 50,000 service hours in the past year. When you think back on all you do for your communities, this is quite substantial and something in which you can take pride.

With the 140th Annual State Session coming up, as I write, about 40 have registered. Resolutions are coming in (six so far) and hopefully there will be a good number of them by the time of the convention. We have a good class of candidates (at least 9) for the Sixth Degree for which I have been diligently preparing. The cost of the event continues to concern your Board of Directors and is a large portion of the deficit budget of the State Grange requiring sales of stock from our portfolio to fund. A committee is in existence to explore ways to cut costs of our convention. Many other State Granges hold their conventions in different formats costing a fraction of what ours costs. More details on this at the convention I am sure.

While on vacation in Vermont from September 9-14, we had the good luck to visit Bridgewater Grange #284 in Bridgewater Corners not far from where we stayed in Brownsville. I called the President Alice Paglia and explained that we wanted to visit. Alice couldn’t make that meeting as she was recuperating from shoulder surgery. So, Thursday night on the way back from St. Johnsbury, we made our way to the Grange where we were welcomed by ten Grangers who were preparing for their Saturday flea market and bake sale. They have the oldest Grange Hall in Vermont dating to 1876. They are an active and dedicated group of mostly newer and a few longtime Grangers holding Bingo as well as potluck dinners with open mic music programs. We had a wonderful visit and tour of their delightful facility. No matter where you go, if you show up at a Grange Hall, you will be welcomed by Brothers and Sisters. Next time you are out of state, think about looking up and visiting a Grange. This is the meaning of Fraternity!

My affiliate Grange, Oxford #194, continues to clean up after the historic flooding of August 18 that inundated Oxford, Southbury and surrounding towns. These two towns it is now known experienced 14-16 inches of rain in 4-5 hours. Route 67 is still closed in three places between Southbury and Seymour. Clean up is proceeding and drying the place out to prevent mold was most important. We ran heavy duty fans 24 hours a day with all windows open for some time to do that which boosted our electric bill over $100.00 for the month. I have written an article on this and submitted it to Good Day! Magazine.

Sign up to receive Grange Today, the National Grange electronic newsletter and you can see some of the programs available to you (e.g. Membership Matters and Communications tutorials via Zoom), Burton’s legislative efforts and other items important to the Grange and see some of what Grangers in other states are doing. National President Hamp also shares her thoughts in this newsletter giving insight into her goals as a leader. It’s a good read!