ROCHESTER, NEW YORK, November 12, 2004 -- Although the Grange is trying to shape its future, it has not forgotten about those who helped shape its past. The National Grange's 138th Convention is a happy occasion where Grange members from across the United States come together to greet, meet and set policies, but on November 11, the Grange takes a moment to remember those they loss during the year.

The Service of Worship and Memorial begins with National Grange Chaplain Mary Johnson and National Grange President William Steel leading the Call to Remembrance: "Let us pause, look into our garden of memory, and pay tribute to those who have left us for awhile. Let us recall pleasant memories of their services to our Grange. Remember that the record of a generous life runs like a vine around the memory of our departed ones, and every sweet and unselfish act is now a perfumed flower. For into God's beautiful garden of life, His messenger goes each day to gather the choicest blossoms, and bear them with Him away. Dear Master, our garden is lonely, we miss these flowers so rare, but their life perfumes will be with us while the flowers bloom up there."