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15 members rise to the 4th degree

Sorry for the lateness of this post but I needed to consult with a number of people to get the correct information on some facts.

On Oct 6 the Dirigo Grange in Freedom hosted a degree ceremony and potluck afterward. Maine State Grange’s Chief Deputy Vernon Dunn presided over a team assembled from 6 local granges that took new Grangers to the 4th degree. At the point in the proceedings when Vernon took a count of how many had come from each Grange our Master Greg Hills stood up and responded  FIFTEEN. The look on Vernons face is one I will treasure forever. He told us he has never had so many at one time for degree work. Many thanks go to all those who made this happen, our friends and neighbors in the Dirigo Grange. Knox Station Grange, Branch Mills Grange, Harvest Home Grange,  We couldn’t have made it this far without all your help.

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Grange Building Returned

On Sept 28th 2013 after a hiatus of nearly 30 years Montville’s Grange building was returned to Grange ownership. By hand majority residents of the town of Montville voted to return the building to the Union Harvest Grange #591 in a special town meeting. The building had originally held Union Harvest #97 meetings there. Many Granges across the country have suffered from an aging membership base.  Waldo county is no different and things progressed to the extent that meetings were being held as far away as Northport. Montvilles Grange was sold to the town for a dollar, and used for many years as a community hall for meetings of public nature. The closure of the Northport Grange in 2012 began the rebirth of the Union Harvest back in it’s original meeting place. Fueled by a relatively young group of residents with a passion to preserve the values of rural living they hatched a plan to bring the Grange back to Montville. With the desire to strengthen their community, 16 people met on May 31st 2012 and filled out applications to join the Maine State Grange. A Grange chapter requires a minimum of 13 members. And on that day the Union Harvest Grange returned to the town of Montville. Having the building returned to our ownership is the beginning of our desire to build the strongest community we can. One based on the time honored tradition of neighbor helping neighbor.