Successful
Actions of Lummi Island Grange - WA
On
Lummi Island off the coast of Washington State, Grange plays a role that's like
it was in many small communities a generation ago. The Lummi Island Grange Hall
is the meeting place on the island of about 800 residents. Most community groups
use the Hall, and many people on the island are aware of Grange. But resting on
their laurels is not what makes Lummi Island Grange tick. Instead, they are always
looking for ways to be relevant to the community in which they live. One
of their first successful actions had to do with maintaining a neighborly feel
in their community. Grangers noticed that while they used to be able to recognize
their neighbors by their cars, it was becoming more difficult to identify people
who drove around the island. Fewer neighbors seemed to know each other. Well,
if there's one thing Grange can do, it's help people get to know one another.
So Lummi Island Grange started hosting block parties - with a unique twist. Two
Grangers took a walk in a neighborhood. One was armed with invitations to the
upcoming block party. The other aimed his digital camera at every house in that
neighborhood. Then when people showed up at the Grange-sponsored Block Party,
they were given nametags that also had a photograph of their house. Over ice cream
and cake, you could hear, "I didn't realize you lived there. I always admire your
hydrangeas," as people met and talked with their neighbors. "The sole purpose
of the Block Parties was to meet your neighbors," says Bud Jewell, Past President
of Lummi Island Grange. "And we encouraged our Grangers to mix and mingle with
people who came so people would get to know us." Some people were clearly quite
impressed because they became members! A
project that Lummi Island Grange is especially proud of is their partnership with
Dollywood Foundation and the Dolly Parton Imagination Library. For remarkably
little money, every child on Lummi Island receives - from the Dolly Parton Imagination
Library - a hard cover book each month of his or her life from birth to the age
of 5. Each month! The Dollywood Foundation chooses and mails the books and the
Lummi Island Grange pays the bill. Bud chuckles. "The first is The Little Engine
That Could and the last one they get is Kindergarten Here I Come! And all we ask
is that the parents read to their child." "Moms
just love that the book is sent directly to the children," says Dorothy Hansen,
current President of Lummi Island Grange. "And by the time they start kindergarten,
these kids have a great little library! We buy them a special set of bookends
too, so they have a good way to show off their collection of books." It
might seem like living on an island might make participating in such a program
a little easier, but Bud lets you know right away that any community can participate.
"Whole cities are involved. You can see the list at
www.imaginationlibrary.com. And they help you figure out how much it will
cost you. It's really a great project! We currently have 22 children in the program.
Two have graduated and two others moved off the island. But it costs us about
$45 a month for the program. And with that we can cover every child on the island."
As far as they know, Lummi Island Grange is the only Grange in the country that
participates, but they'd sure like that to change! And
still Lummi Island Grange does more. Eight Grangers volunteer at the Island School.
"We have 53 students and only 3 teachers. So classes are combined, and there can
be quite a range in ability in 4th, 5th, and 6th grades," says Clay Wray, Vice-President
of Lummi Island Grange and retired college instructor. "So eight of us go in for
one hour a week to work with the students in whatever way the teachers want us
to. Sometimes we listen to a child read. Sometimes we help them with arithmetic.
For the rest of the year, I'm teaching a lesson on map reading to the 4th, 5th,
and 6th graders. One hour a week." Bud
chimes in. "It was because of volunteering at the school that I found out about
the Dolly Parton Imagination Library. Some of the kids have a hard time reading
so having parents read more to them at home is really important." Clay adds, "And
of course we give all our 3rd graders a dictionary. And we took in birdhouse kits.
Not a single child pounded his finger while they built their birdhouses. Not in
2 years!" Lummi Island Grangers are clearly proud of their school. "Our kids test
really well, and we feel this volunteerism is really important." Keeping
islanders aware of what Grange is doing is another thing that Lummi Island Grangers
think is important. "We have an Island Newsletter and we make sure that Grange
has an article in every month," says Beverly Busch, Grange treasurer. "We do pancake
breakfasts and salmon barbeques - and the kids at the Boys and Girls Club love
to come and help serve. We made nearly $1000 at our first pancake breakfast."
Some of the money goes to a scholarship fund, and with Hall renovations looming,
there will be need for more. "Our Hall was built in 1927, and we've owned it since
1938. So renovating and updating is our next big project." " Lummi
Island is unique, and so is our Grange," says Dorothy Hansen. "We have a lot of
retired people living here. Maybe half the people work off the island. Our Grange
doesn't make a big deal with ritual. We updated the names of officers. We pass
the job of Lecturer around so no one person is always responsible for our program.
We set up the hall with 5 tables in a U-formation which works really well. We
can all see each other and hear each other better. We open with a prayer, opening
the Bible, a flag salute, and the salutation and then we're ready for work." About
half of their membership of 48 attend monthly meetings. "Only 5 or 6 have been
members for longer than 5 or 10 years. And most of our Grangers don't have a lot
of interest in going off-island to attend other Granges. So we've been able to
focus a lot more on our community than on ourselves." "We
meet at 6:30 for dessert so people can socialize. Our meeting starts at 7 and
is almost always done by 8. And we usually get at least 20 members at each meeting,"
says Dorothy. "We do set up the Hall in the old tradition once a year for our
Memorial Service, but otherwise we're pretty informal." Beverly pipes in, "Dorothy's
parents were charter members. We do still have one living charter member. We hope
she'll be able to be there for our 75th Anniversary Celebration this summer."
Granges all across
the country are doing great things - just like Lummi Island and Dartmouth Grange.
The Successful Actions Teleconference will highlight two Granges each month -
on the third Wednesday of the month at 7PM Eastern time. Everyone is welcome to
listen in - and to ask questions of these Granges who have taken successful actions.
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