Kansas Grange President Nathan Strawder, right, and his sister, Mandee Strawder, visit Representative Lynn Jenkins, during the 2013 National Grange Legislative Fly-In.

Nathan Strawder, 29, of Burlington, said the meetings, in which he discussed the 2013 Farm Bill, rural broadband, and postal reform, were successful.

Mandee Strawder, also of Burlington, said she came to Washington to remind her legislators that it is their job to speak well on behalf of rural residents of Kansas and across the United States, so that other legislators understand the needs of those in rural communities and the benefits suburban and urban residents receive from rural areas.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Lizzie Bailey, Pennsylvania State Grange Communications and Membership Director and member of Cumberland Valley Grange, met today with representatives from Sen. Pat Toomey’s office to discuss several issues central to rural Pennsylvanians.

Bailey, of Shippensburg, who is a participant in the National Grange’s Legislative Fly-In, said the meeting, in which she discussed the 2013 Farm Bill, rural health care and broadband, and postal reform, was successful.

Specifically, Bailey said the need for elected officials to support the expansion of rural broadband was most important to her.

“Whether I’m Skyping with farmers in Australia to learn best practices or emailing my local network of growers in my community, the internet is an important communication tool. Broadband opens up opportunities for education, work and endless networking for people in rural areas,” Bailey said.

Read the full story here.

By Susan Spencer | Telegram & Gazette Staff

NORTHBRIDGE —  Northbridge resident Christopher Szkutak, 25, thinks it’s important that people understand where their food comes from and that local farmers — especially young ones starting out — receive the support they need to make a go of agriculture.The Massachusetts State Grange legislative director met earlier this week in Washington, D.C., with Interim U.S. Sen. William Cowan, D-Mass., and U.S. Rep. James P. McGovern, D-Worcester, to discuss the 2013 farm bill. His meeting with lawmakers was part of the National Grange’s Legislative Fly-in.

Mr. Szkutak said the five-year farm bill, carried over under a continuing resolution from last fall, needs to be finalized in 2013 so farmers know what to expect in terms of crop insurance and payments, among other aspects.

The farm bill provides funding for rural development, renewable energy, farm subsidies, insurance and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits.

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By Maura Zurick | For The Times

NEW SEWICKLEY TWP. — Two local women were recently honored for 75 years of volunteering at the Big Knob Grange in New Sewickley Township, but the two have been friends even longer.

Zelda Parks, 92, of New Sewickley, and Lois Brenner Miller, 91, of North Sewickley Township, joined the Grange when they were 15 and 14, respectively, back when it was founded in 1936. They were original members, along with their parents and friends, and at that time is was known as Knob Grange, one of many in the county.

“Lois and I met when we were in the first grade at New Sewickley Country School,” Parks said. “When the time came and the Grange was started, I was glad to be able to become a member and share those memories with a friend.”

Parks said she did not continue school after 8th grade, but the Grange gave her a chance to socialize and meet people from all over the county. Miller joined for the same reasons.

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By Jefferson Dodge | Boulder Weekly

Many people, when they hear the word “grange,” think of a ZZ Top song, or, at best, something about a farm.

Some might recall that it is a sort of community building for farmers, and one of Boulder County’s last remaining granges is reinventing itself as a center of the local farm-to-table movement and holding a signature event on June 1 that combines history, the outdoors, sustainability and local goods.

The Altona Grange, a structure built west of Longmont in 1896 by Colorado pioneers who initially came to the area for precious metals in towns like Gold Hill — but who then settled in the lowlands as farmers and ranchers — has seen a resurgence in recent years.

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By Justyna Tomtas | Clark Fork Valley Press

The Grange decided to donate $25 to help send Steve Burrell from Thompson Falls to the Kelly Farm in Minnesota, which is the National Grange Museum.

Burrell was nominated because he is a National Youth Officer.

The Grange also donated $35 dollars to send a child to the Junior Grange Camp, which offers kids a chance to make new friends and experience a fun camping experience.

Read the full story here.

By Bill Bittar | MonroePatch

The following is the second part of a series on Harmony Grange No. 92, Patrons of Husbandry. April is Grange Month. Harmony Grange’s members live in Trumbull, Shelton and Monroe.

Townspeople line up for an event at Harmony Grange in what appears to be the late 1940s, according to Nancy Zorena of the Monroe Historical Society. Credit Contributed

Crops on James Burr’s farm included tobacco, along with vegetables like asparagus, peas, potatoes and turnips. Among the fruit growing on his family’s Elm Street property were grapes, apples, peaches and plums. But the strawberry harvest proved to be the cash cow in the late 1800′s, according to town historian Edward Coffey’s book, “A Glimpse of Old Monroe.”

According to the U.S. Census, 994 people lived in Monroe in 1890.

“Everyone was a farmer,” said Nancy Zorena, a member of the Monroe Historical Society, adding residents practiced other trades during the winter.

Produce was delivered along dirt roads by horse and buggy and by train. The Housatonic Railroad made its first stop in Stepney on its way from Bridgeport to New Milford in 1840 and the Berkshire Line of the Derby Extension first ran through Stevenson in 1888, according to Zorena.

In 1889, town farmers decided to organize and share ideas about their occupation. The group met at Monroe Congregational Church on Jan. 18 for the first meeting of the Harmony Grange, which would become the 92nd Grange in Connecticut.

By Walt Frank | The Altoona Mirror

Grange membership may be on the decline, but the organization founded by Oliver Hudson Kelley in 1867 to give farmers a voice continues to play a key role in rural America today.

“The Grange is a fraternal family organization based on community service and legislative action. Agriculture is still a big part but not what it is based on anymore,” said Stacy E. Bruker, public relations/membership director for the Pennsylvania Grange. “Our primary purpose is to be a fraternal organization for the family.”

The Pennsylvania Grange, chartered in 1873, today has about 9,000 members and is the second largest in the United States behind Washington.

Read the full story here.

By Eileen Kennedy | Wicked Local

The Bedford Grange is an institution whose past is rooted in the soil, much as the town was when the Grange organization was created in the 1860s.

The national organization is known as the National Grange of the Order of Patrons of Husbandry, and is based in Washington, D.C.

Both the town and the organization have fewer ties to farming these days, but the Bedford Grange remains a family-oriented group, and it is throwing its doors open on Monday, March 25, in the hopes of showing others that the group has a lot to offer people.

For Corey Spence, who has been part of the Bedford Grange for decades, the group gave him something few other organizations offered: the chance to be treated as an adult who could be trusted to get things done.

“I became the Bedford Grange’s secretary when I was 16 or 17, and I don’t know too many other organizations that would let a teenager do that, and treat him as an adult member,” he said.

Read the full story here.

By Bill Bittar | Monroe Patch

Drivers on Shelton Road often pass by an old white building at the corner of Route 111. The sign in front identifies it as the Harmony Grange, but people sometimes mistake it for a church.

“So many people drive past this twice a day and don’t really know what it is and why it existed,” says Ron Bunovsky, vice president of Harmony Grange No. 92, Patrons of Husbandry, serving Monroe, Shelton and Trumbull.

In fact, if not for the Harmony Grange, cars and trucks may be slogging through a pig trail rather than zipping along a state highway.

A Harmony Grange is a farming organization that actively promotes legislation at the state and local levels.

“The grange lobbied at the state level to improve the roads around 1933,” said George Ward of Huntington, president of Harmony Grange No. 92.

Read the full story here.