Ed Luttrell of Oregon Elected New President of the National Grange
RENO, NV. (November 15, 2007) – Oregon business executive Edward L. (Ed) Luttrell has been elected the 22 nd President of the National Grange. Luttrell joins a long line of noted rural business entrepreneurs to lead the nation’s oldest national agricultural and rural community organization during its 140-year tenure.
Luttrell replaces William A. Steel of Pennsylvania, who served from 2003 to 2007. He is only the second National Grange President to be elected from a state west of Nebraska. He is a resident of Sandy, Oregon.
Luttrell has a long history of service in the Grange organization, most recently as membership director of the over 200,000-member group. Previously, he served as president of the Oregon State Grange, and as editor of the Oregon Grange Bulletin. He and his wife, Celia, are members of Oregon’s Boring-Damascus Grange in Clackamas County, one of 2,800 local, state, and grassroots chapters across 37 states and the District of Columbia.
Joining Luttrell on the National Grange leadership team as Vice-President is Jimmy Gentry of Statesville, North Carolina. Gentry is current president of the North Carolina State Grange, and a member of the National Grange’s Executive Board. He and his wife, Anita, are members of North Carolina’s Troutman Grange. Other newly elected members of the National Grange’s Executive Board are Philip Prelli of Barkhamstead, Connecticut as Executive Board Secretary and Franklin (Pete) Pompper of Salem, New Jersey as member-at-large. They will join Executive Board Chairwoman Betsy Huber of Lemoyne, PA and member-at large Martin (Marty) Bilquist of Anaconda, MT.
Newly elected officers of the National Grange include Joe Fryman of Blair, Nebraska; Jay Pfeiffer of Boerne, Texas; Roger Bostwick of Ozawkie, Kansas; Beth Merrill of Antrim, New Hampshire; William Narvel of Wilmington, Delaware; and Linda Chase of Dunstable, Massachusetts. Current officers reelected to their positions with the National Grange for another two year term include Judy Sherrod, Knoxville, Tennessee; John H. West of Chichester, New Hampshire; Henrietta Keller of O’Fallon, Illinois; Nancy Swainston of Morr, Michigan; and Judy McCann of Lamont, Oklahoma.
The new slate of officers was elected at the 141 st Convention of the National Grange, held in Reno, Nevada. More than 500 Grange members and rural leaders from across the U.S. convened at the Nugget Hotel in suburban Sparks, Nevada, for a week-long series of business meetings.
The National Grange is the nation’s oldest agricultural and rural communities organization. It was formed in the years following the Civil War to unite private citizens in improving the economic and social position of rural citizens. Many of the policies debated at the 141 st National Convention will be included in a new “Blueprint for Rural America,” to be released soon.
Additional information about the organization’s positions is available from : pweller@agriwashington.org.
|
