Successful
Actions of Cologne Grange - NJ
“Cologne Grange is in a unique area of our state,” says Pete Pompper, Master of New Jersey State Grange. “It’s less than 15 miles from Atlantic City, but very rural.”
“I’m really proud of the coverage they get from their free local newspaper. They’ve had some wonderful articles printed.”
“In the last year or so, Cologne Grange was very instrumental in passing legislation regarding the relocation of black bears. You might not think that New Jersey still has black bears, but we do. And they were talking about relocating the bears to Atlantic County. Cologne Grange took a very active role in preventing that. They contacted their legislators, had a letter-writing campaign, and I’m sure they also made phone calls to their legislators. And the black bears were not relocated to their county. Their active involvement gave Cologne Grange a lot of visibility!”
“I just got back from our New Jersey State Youth and Junior Grange Camp, and Atlantic County where Cologne Grange is located had the largest percentage of Juniors at camp. I hope to work with them to get those Juniors and their families more active in Cologne Grange because it’s such a natural fit for people who are interested and active in their community,” says Pete.
Albert Schollenberger, Master of Cologne Grange continues their story. “Cologne Grange #191 is the only Subordinate or Community Grange in Atlantic County. We were founded in 1909. We have 68 members, and 14 of those are Golden Sheaf members.”
“We meet monthly in formal meetings with full ritual. W have very interesting programs at each meeting - many guest speakers. There was a missionary from Mexico, a Peace Pilgrim Program speaker from California, and a Rutgers Extension Service employee. Other programs featured members who shared experiences of travel, informative demonstrations, or illustrated talks about nutrition, crafts, or other studies they completed.”
“We average about 20 members attending our meetings which are held on the 3 rd Saturday of every month. Many of our members are over 65, and the majority are over 70. We have two members who are in their 90’s, and they come to almost every meeting. Our oldest member is 100 and a half, in assisted living now, and isn’t able to attend. And we have others who no longer drive who don’t make it to our meetings.”
“We do own our own Grange Hall. It was built in 1954. We have a kitchen, main hall, two bathrooms. The hall is about 40 by 50 feet in size. We have oil heat and no air conditioning. But we do have a large attic fan that cools the building quite well. In 2005, we put a new roof on the building at a cost of $7050. We also added floor supports in the crawl space with labor provided by Grange members. The materials cost $70. We refinished the floor at a cost of $312.”
“When Action Grange began, we voted to remain a traditional Grange because we did not want to lose over 100 years of history. We did eliminate the Gatekeeper position, but use traditional titles for all our other officers.”
“We especially see our Chaplain as an important office. The Chaplain provides cohesion and an important connection for us. She informs us about members who are ill or who need visits in hospitals or nursing homes. And the Master and Chaplain lead a public funeral service for all deceased Grange members. This service is held at a house of worship or at a funeral home. Our Chaplain also sends cards to relatives of deceased members.”
“Our Grange attends worship together three times a year at a historical church. It’s the Pomona Protestant Union Chapel in Pomona, New Jersey which was organized in 1875 to serve several denominations. It’s an old church that only has services at Easter, Christmas, and a Harvest Home Celebration in September. Our Grange membership includes Protestants, Catholics, and possibly some other religions. So our whole Grange worships together there three times a year.”
“Each February, we join the local American Legion in God and Country Days Services to honor the four Chaplains who died on the USS Dorchester in World War II.” You can read more about the Chaplains who gave up their life vests for other sailors at http://www.vtliving.com/immortalchaplains/index.shtml.
“We do a free Easter Egg Hunt for the children in our community. We fill 200 plastic eggs with candy and make an Easter basket with real hard-boiled dyed eggs for each of the children. There are prizes for the children who find the foil covered eggs. And we have between 40 and 60 children who participate each year.”
“We hold Bingo and Card Parties where we serve sandwiches, cookies, and cakes, and we play pinochle and bingo with prizes that are donated by Grange members. We often have prizes at our meetings too, for an internal fund-raiser.”
“Our dues are $13,” says Al. “National Grange takes $8, New Jersey State Grange takes $4, and that leaves us with $1 of the dues for Cologne Grange.”
“Our main expenses are insurance and oil heat. Insurance – liability and fire insurance – cost us $1700 this year. We did get a quote from National Grange – two weeks after we’d already paid our insurance locally – for $1000, so we’ll try and work with them next year so we can get a quote in time. There was just a miscommunication this year, but we’d sure like to save that $700 next year! And our oil heat cost us $2.49 per gallon last year.”
“Our members do a great deal of individual community service. We have people who make quilts and meet every week to make quilts that go to Third World countries. Some of our members knit hats for premies. Some of our members are 4-H Leaders who put in many hours of volunteer service working with youth and at the County 4-H Fair. Many of our members are involved in comfort ministry and social action programs at their churches, or providing transportation for elderly people who need help getting to doctors’ appointments and that kind of thing.”
“There are so many activities in our county that it’s difficult to get new members. Each small town has local concerts. There are senior citizens organizations, local soccer and other youth sports. The hospitals offer seminars on health topics. There are just many, many activities and citizens must choose which they want to pursue.”
“Community members are invited to all open meetings. We hold a Halloween party open to the public every year.
“Our members talk about Grange at their senior group meetings, at the 4-H Fair, and wherever they can. I know that I talk Grange everywhere I go. We invite people to join us, but many are already very busy and involved.”
“We do get great coverage from our local free newspaper, The Current. It covers all of Atlantic County and part of Cape May County. I went to see them and asked to speak to the editor the first time. He took notes, and I gave him a picture, and he printed it. Since then, he’s sent a photographer out for our Open House. Two years ago we honored one of our 90-year-old members, and they did a full front page spread with the headline, ‘Gillies Gets Grange Gratitude.’ They do 14 different versions for all the local municipalities they serve, and what’s on the front page in some towns will be on the second or third page in others, but they always include our stories. It’s a free paper where the advertisements cover all their expenses, so they’ll deliver it to anyone who signs up, and they always drop extra copies at the grocery stores and around the community. They’ve been so good that once I didn’t call them till Monday, but they still got a photographer out for our Saturday meeting.”
“This past April, the paper also sent a photographer to our Grange Month Celebration. They printed a photo and article about May Schollenberger, our Lecturer, who was voted 2006 Volunteer of the Year by our Grange. May was honored for her Grange work, 35 years as a 4-H Leader, and other community service.”
“Many of our Grange members keep active in the community doing volunteer work.” |
