Successful
Actions of Weissert Grange - NE
In an area of the country that has steadily been losing population, Nebraska’s Weissert Community Grange’s membership has remained stable for the last ten years. “We’ve lost a few and we did get two members back who dropped out during a time when their kids were busy, but otherwise our membership has continually held steady at 42,” says Shannon Cooksley, current President/Master of Weissert Community Grange.
“At one time, Weissert was a thriving small farming and ranching community, but now our actual population is one 94 year old person!” says Shannon. “Weissert Grange is sixteen miles NE of Broken Bow which is the “Gateway to the Sandhills” of Nebraska. We’re equally distant from three different towns that are big enough to have high schools. Most of our membership comes from people who originally lived near Weissert, but who have now moved into town. I think they like coming back out here to meetings.”
Although Weissert doesn’t have a mailing address anymore, Weissert Community Grange does maintain a sense of community. “We always met in the country school house, and then when the school closed, we bought it to use as our Grange Hall,” says Shannon. It’s an older building, but we’ve remodeled the kitchen and taken out a wall to enlarge the room. It is handicapped accessible.” We plan to redo bathrooms – and yes, we do have indoor plumbing - and paint the exterior this year.
Weissert Community Grange averages between 25-40 people at their monthly meetings. “Five of our 42 members are youth who are going to college,” says Shannon. “We meet the 2 nd Saturday of every month. We start every meeting with a supper. Two of our families host the main course and the rest of us bring salad or dessert. Food seems to be our biggest drawing card!”
“Most of our meetings are open, and we do try to have a program at every meeting. A program that went over really well was a Heritage Night. We asked everyone to bring something from home – kind of like the Antique Roadshow. They told what it was, where it came from, and how they got it. It was really lots of fun, and everyone wants to do it again. Everyone has something they’d like to show off, and though we didn’t have anyone to place a monetary value on it, it was fun to see what everyone brought.”
“Our meetings end with food too. We have an ice-cream maker and we usually all have ice cream before we go home after a meeting,” says Shannon. “We run a food booth at the Custer County Fair and use the ice cream machine for pie and ice cream. This year, we cleared $1900 which goes a long way toward paying our operating expenses for the year.”
Monthly card parties also bring in some money – and both members and non-members. “We host card parties on the 3 rd Sunday evenings from September – May. Usually between 25-30 people turn out and not even half of them are Grange members. Card-players pay a few dollars to play which helps pay for heating the building. We line up a Grange couple and a non-Grange couple to host each card party. We’ve asked the non-Grangers to join, but most of them don’t want that commitment. But they’re willing to help out and they do appreciate the card parties. We do always make a point to invite them to our January Soup Supper Meeting which is when we pay our dues! And we make a special point to have a really nice program that night.”
“Instead of meeting in June, we have had an annual campout. In July, we plan for the County Fair in August, and in September we have our State Grange Convention. We have a really big celebration on the Fourth of July each year. It’s been going on for over 50 years, and it’s almost like a big family reunion. Of course one thing you have to remember is that out here, almost everybody is related!”
Weissert Grange does a lot to keep their name in front of the public. “We help with FFA and Extension Service projects when they need extra hands, give 4-H awards and scholarships, help with the blood bank and the hospital’s rummage sale. The rummage sale brings in $8000 in four days,” says Shannon. “Our community just announced that they’re going to encourage evacuees from the hurricanes to move to Broken Bow. If that happens, we’ve already had discussion about adopting families until they can get established. We’ve talked about giving people rides, clothing, getting their kids into school and those kinds of things.”
“We really make an effort to do many things to appeal to young people as well as those people in our community who are getting older. When it comes right down to it, I think that’s the main thing that has helped us maintain our membership.”
“One thing I’ve tried to do as President is to instigate some fun ways for us to keep in touch with each other. I’ve promoted hosting an informal Saturday morning “Come as You Are Coffee.” Out here, calving is going on all the way from January to May, and planting, haying, and harvesting occupy the other months. Our people are really busy and put in long hours. But maybe they can take a break in the morning and stop in for coffee. These informal gatherings help people get together for fellowship and sometimes gives us a little time to hash something out about a project we are working on. If people know they don’t have to get all clean and spruced up, but can just stop by, then maybe they can find time to get together. We all tend to not take enough time to be neighborly and this can help get us out of that rut.”
Chartered in 1959, Weissert Grange has another policy that has kept the organization strong. “When we elect officers, it’s understood that you’ll serve a two-year term as President, and then someone else will be elected.” A regular rotation helps develop leadership skills and keeps the leadership energized and vital. Shannon is grateful for Weissert’s two-year term policy as she is currently serving as the Nebraska State Grange Deaf Education and Awareness Scholarship Chair and Membership Chair.
“There are two Granges in our county. The other Grange – Custer Center Grange’s members are mostly 20 to 30 years older than our members so they’re fairly limited in what they can do. We did team up with them on the Dictionary Project for our county,” says Shannon. “The next closest Grange is south of us 120 miles. All the other Granges in Nebraska are in the eastern part of the state.
“We’re really challenged in western Nebraska. Our area is being de-populated, and we’re distant from larger communities. Broken Bow has a population of about 3300, and since I work at the school, I notice that our school population seems to decrease by about 5 students per year. The ever-increasing schedule of school activities offsets what Grange might do to involve young people. It’s a tough battle we’re fighting.”
“It seems like people take Grange for granted and think it will always be there. But due to population decreases, schools are consolidating, and people are too busy. They’re already involved in their church and many other organizations and their kids are so involved, they just don’t seem to find the time for one more thing.” |
