Successful
Actions of Hambden Grange - OH
Imagine
one new Granger who single-handedly brings in nine new members in her first few
months of membership. That's exactly what Barb Palmer of Hambden Grange did -
and why she won the Ohio State Grange Membership Contest in 2004. Her friend Barb
Ianiro, also from Hambden Grange, was narrowly in second place with six new members.
Clearly, building membership has been an important goal at Hambden Grange - a
goal they are achieving! Barb
Palmer, Ethel Orient, and Joan Trebec were recruited to work at the Geauga County
Grange Fair Food Booth, came to their first meeting, and volunteered to serve
at Hambden Grange's first November Pancake Breakfast. They ended up serving all
five Sundays that month. "We had a small group who knew that if we were to succeed,
we had to do it now," she says. "We had to get new people in to help us survive.
It was an established building and organization that definitely needed our attention.
So we just started asking - everyone!" Barb,
Barb, and the rest of the small group asked friends to join. Some were in agriculture,
some owned businesses, some were retired, some were striving to make a living.
"We set a goal to secure members who were interested in preserving a community
establishment. It was a step back in time for some folks. Some had been cub scouts
there and were now in their 30's. One couple had their wedding reception at the
Grange Hall 36 years before, and others had held birthday parties, bridal and
baby showers there. Everyone we asked wanted Hambden Grange to survive." As
one step in revitalizing, Hambden Grange voted to send four members to the March
2004 Action Grange Seminar in California - because they didn't want to wait another
six months to get started. They came back all excited and enthused. "We started
telling everyone that we could make a real contribution to our community. And
we started scheduling activities and fundraisers to get our name out there. We
had a Pierogi Dinner and Easter Basket Raffle. And then we put together a float
for our Memorial Day Parade. Grange had never had a float before, and here we
were doing that. We put it together all in one weekend. It kind of proved to us
that we could do more." And
more is exactly what they did. Every meeting became an event with an interesting
program: drug intervention, township history, missionary work in Africa and Haiti,
the new concealed handgun law, landscaping and winter care for plants, shrubs,
and trees. The list goes on. Hambden Grangers - and their guests - learned about
maple sugaring, the fire department's heat imaging equipment, canine law enforcement,
food preparation, and septic tank maintenance.
"We hold our programs before our meeting and we invite the public to join us.
Sometimes we get quite a few, and sometimes we only get three or four. But we
think it's great if three or four new people find out more about us and what we
do." "We've made
a lot of progress - though it doesn't always seem like it. We spruced up our fair
food booth a lot. We practically gutted the inside, put up new counters, patched
the floors, put in a new sink and new doors and screens, and painted every single
surface! It's really nice now and that makes it more fun to be there working as
well as helping attract more customers." Community
projects have included supporting Hambden's fire department and elementary school,
the "Chardon Athletic Stadium, and a "Dancing Wheel Chair Project." This month
they're putting together USO Care Packages with snacks, beverages, candy and personal
items requested by our troops. Indeed
supporting our troops has been a theme for Hambden Grange in recent months. President
Rudy Began suggested they enter a float in the Maple Festival Parade, "if nothing
else - just to get our name out there. No one was more surprised than us when
we learned that the Hambden Grange float - with the theme Salute to Armed Forces
- took first place!" Renovating
their Grange Hall has become their next big task and priority. Once a creamery,
the Hall has an historic and sentimental appeal to many in the community. "One
meeting a month we hold a work party at the hall. We've set up a cleaning schedule
for ourselves rather than paying a service. We're replacing the landscaping to
make the Grange Hall look like someone cares for it and to encourage people to
want to come there. At the Memorial Day Parade, people were telling us how different
the Grange Hall looks - just with the landscaping. Three original Grange members
are tickled at the sight of the friendly atmosphere the building offers to the
public. We're not done yet. Now we have to replace the tile floor in the dining
room, and to replace our aging septic system." All
this effort hasn't been easy. And it hasn't always been fully supported by all
the members. But despite some internal struggles, Hambden Grange has continued
to bring in new members. As of March, 2005, Hambden Grange had gained a total
of 31 new members for a total membership of 54 - even after two members died and
nine others didn't pay their dues. Grange
is growing in Hambden, Ohio - because "We ask people to join - and they do." | 
