FOUR
WIN CARIBBEAN CRUISES BY
SIGNING UP FOR GRANGE LONG DISTANCE PRORAM Four
lucky Grangers will spend April 14 to 21 sailing the Caribbean thanks to United
Telecom, the Grange's long distance carrier. United Telecom offered two cabins
for two to be award from a random drawing of those who signed up for the new Zone
CMS service between January 2 and March 12, 2002. The lucky winners are Mary Ellen
Dudnick of Linwood, New Jersey who will bring a friend and Herbert and Ardith
Merten of Hart, Michigan. The
cruise will start in Ft. Lauderdale on Holland America's Maasdam and go directly
to Cozumel, Mexico. Next, it's east to Grand Cayman and then on to Ocho Rios,
Jamaica. Finally, there will be a day at Half Moon Bay, Holland America's own
private island before returning to Ft. Lauderdale. The
new Zone CMS service offers 4.5 cents per minute with an extra half-cent off to
up to five states of one's choice. An alternate plan offers very competitive in-state
rates with slightly higher state-to-state rates. top
PROMOTING GRASSROOTS
LEGISLATIVE ACTIVITY THROUGH THE GRANGE
By
Leroy Watson,
Legislative Affairs Director
The
National Grange Legislative Affairs Department is the voice of the Grange in Washington,
DC. The mission of the department is to promote active grassroots Grange member
participation in the national legislative process, implement the important policy
positions generated at the local Grange level, educate legislators about issues
that concern Grange members and manage the annual policy and resolution development
at the National Grange convention. Each
year the National Grange resolution process generates more than 1,200 adopted
policy positions on various issues of concern to Grange members across the nation.
In order to prioritize this huge number, the Grange uses a four-point checklist
to determine what level of focus and attention each policy receives:
1. Will the proposed issue
or activity promote increased membership in the Grange? 2.
Will the proposed issue or activity promote increased participation in Grange
programs? 3.
Will the proposed issue or activity increase positive Grange visibility in the
press or media? 4.
Can the proposed issue or activity be advocated or implemented in a cost effective
manner? Subordinate,
Pomona and State Grange leaders interested in receiving additional information
from the National Grange can sign up to get the department e-mail newsletter by
sending an e-mail to legnewsletter@nationalgrange.org.
COMMUNITY SERVICE
AS AN EFFECTIVE MEMBERSHIP TOOL
By
Clyde Berry, Program
Enrichment Director
Any
program that involves the community is a membership tool, but the value of that
tool is only as good as the publicity you receive. No matter how many worthwhile
projects you take part in, if you don't let others know about them, you will never
get new members.
Look at how your Grange can make the best use of your projects. First be sure
to pick projects that will make your community a better place to live. The citizens
of your community need to be able to notice the difference. Invite other groups
and organizations to help, now I said help, not take over. We have a bad habit
of letting someone else take over after we have formulated the plans. Let
the media know what you are planning and invite them to come and take pictures
during the activities. This is another good reason why you need a high profile
project. The news media will cover your project if you do the groundwork with
them. Finally, involve your members. Make it a project that everyone can do
something to help. You may decide to provide dinner for the workers or have planned
coffee breaks. A clean up crew is always helpful. The
most important part of any community service project is the pride you have when
you see what you have accomplished. Be sure to pass out the membership applications
so others can share that pride with you. Make
your report to your state community service director so that everyone will know
that your Grange is active and working in your community.
Top USING
IMAGINATION TO KEEP MEMBERS ACTIVE
By
Cindy Greer,
Youth Activities Director
One
of the keys to keeping people involved in an organization, or to getting people
interested in the organization, is offering a variety of activities in which members
may participate. I think that this is one reason why recreation centers are so
successful. The other key to making the activities successful is good publicity.
Today we have many resources available to use to publicize events. These include
newspapers, radio stations, television, Internet, Web pages, e-mail, organization
newsletters, posters, business cards, telephone, U.S. mail and personal contact.
When you utilize a variety of resources you have a better chance of contacting
more people. Personal
contact is the most effective communication tool, but some of the others work
equally as well. You might just be surprised what will interest people, but if
you don't publicize then they might not have the opportunity to participate. We've
all heard or said "Grange is the best kept secret." I challenge each Grange to
change that statement by having lots of activities and by publicizing those activities.
In some yellow pages Granges can get a free listing. Give your local yellow pages
company a call and find out if this is a possibility. Regional
conferences for youth and the young at heart are underway. I encourage you to
plan to attend at least one, as each one will be somewhat unique. Each conference
will have workshops that will interest youth and each one will also be conducting
regional public speaking and "Sign A Song" competitions. Some conferences will
be having drill competitions and knowledge bowls. Some conferences will be touring
local attractions. All the conferences will have games, fellowship, food and Fun
as their main ingredients. April
12-14 - Mid Atlantic Regional Youth Conference was hosted by West Virginia
at Jackson's Mill a state 4-H camp near Weston, WV.
June 21-23 -
Mid West Regional Youth Conference will be held at the Rock Creek Grange Camp
near Kellogg, Iowa. The cost will be $45.00 per person.
July 7 - 13
- South East Regional Youth Conference will be hosted by North Carolina. Hopefully
two days will be designated as the regional conference during their Youth and
Junior Camp.
July 12-14 - New England Regional Youth Conference will
be hosted by Rhode Island at Brown University in Providence, RI. The cost will
be $90.00. Tom Gotauco, RI Youth director needs reservation by June 21.
July
19-21 - Great Plains Regional Youth Conference - hosted by Texas near Kerrville
on the Campus of Schreiner University. Available to us is a pool, gym, chapel,
grounds and athletic facilities. Cost is $70.00 for the weekend, and $35 deposit
is requested. Contact Andrea Tejeda, TX Youth Director, for more Info call: 210-649-2425
or e-mail: andreast24@yahoo.com.
August 2-4 - Western Regional Youth Conference hosted by Oregon. Location
to be announced. You
may attend any regional conference you choose. If you are participating in public
speaking or "Sign a Song" you must attend your own regional conference.
JUNIOR
GRANGE DATABASE BEING COMPILED
By
Sherry Harriman,
Junior Grange Director
A
complete list of Junior Granges and leaders names, address, phone and e-mail addresses,
etc. as a permanent record of who and where our Junior Granges are located. Many
are listed in communications and reports but some may need to be updated. Be sure
your state junior director has the current information so they can send it to
me, or, if you would like, you can send the information in to me directly. With
the days getting a little longer and the sun out more, I certainly am looking
forward to a busy spring. With spring comes melting snow, rain and floods. This
brings me to one of the items I feel needs mentioning. Your Junior Grange could
have a program and provide some materials in your area for your members and families
about safety and dealing with disasters. This important information is available
to you at no cost so why not take advantage of it. The Federal Emergency Management
Agency (FEMA) and the American Red Cross (ARC) have a brochure available called
"Helping Children Cope with Disaster" (FEMA L196) (ARC 4499). Other helpful free
publications are: "Your Family Disaster Plan" (FEMA L191) (ARC 4466); "Emergency
Preparedness Checklist" (FEMA L154) (ARC 4471); "Your Family Disaster Supplies
Kit" (FEMA L189) (ARC 4463); "Disaster Preparedness Coloring Book" [ages 3-10]
(FEMA 243) (ARC 2200); "Adventures Of The Disaster Dudes" [Video and Presenter's
Guide for use by an adult with children ages 9-11] (FEMA 242) (ARC 5024). Ask
for a catalog with a list of publications available. You may also contact your
local Emergency Management Agency or local Red Cross for the information. They
may be willing to have someone come to your Junior Grange for a workshop or presentation,
and parents could also be included in your meeting. Having this kind of program
benefits the members and families plus it fits in well with one of the Merit Badge
requirements. Top
MEMBERSHIP TIP
OF THE MONTH
By
Ed Luttrell, Membership Director Develop
"Elevator" Recruitment Speech Community (Subordinate), Pomona, and State Granges
need to create a short "elevator" speech that gives a brief, accurate and positive
description of your Grange. This short statement should be no more than three
sentences and only cover the basic values or essence of the Grange. It should
use terms and words that non-members will recognize and understand easily. Members
should be able to use the elevator speech when asked, "What is the Grange," and
then proceed with the second step of recruitment. It should roll smoothly without
having "tongue twisters." Use a portion of a Lecturer's program, or some other
informal time, to create the elevator or description speech for your Grange. Then
use the elevator speech on the back of business cards, in brochures, and encourage
your members to use it as the beginning of the explanation of, "What is the Grange?"
RECENT
MEMBER BENEFITS
top NEW
WEB STORE ON THE WAY Soon
the National Grange website will be offering high quality clothing embroidered
with the National Grange and Junior Grange logos. The webstore will offer T-shirts,
sweatshirts, polo shirts, jackets and caps. Items can be ordered right from the
website or through a convenient toll-free telephone number. Local and State Granges
can add their own names to the garments with a minimum order of as little as two
dozen of each item. The new webstore offers great opportunities for promoting
state conventions and other special events. Visit
webstore! top
NATIONAL
GRANGE AND PhRMA HOST MEETING TO ADDRESS BIOTERRORISM
Recently
the National Grange teamed up with the Pharmaceutical Researcher and Manufacturers
Association (PhRMA), the national trade association for the nation's life science
companies, to sponsor a meeting of representatives of farm and agribusiness organizations
in Washington DC regarding potential private sector as well as public/private
initiatives to address the bioterrorism threat to US agriculture and rural America.
Moderating the open and informal discussion was Dr. Michael Friedman, former head
of the US Food and Drug Association, who is now the Chief Medical Officer for
Biomedical Preparedness at PhRMA. "We
have two major bioterrorism threats", Dr. Friedman explained in his opening remarks:
"threats to people and threats to infrastructure, such as agriculture." Keying
in on the potential psychological as well as economic impact of a possible bioterrorist
assault on US agriculture, Dr. Friedman acknowledged that "Agriculture is important
to the self image of the United States." He further went on to define where he
saw the various responsibilities for addressing this challenge including defining
risks (government); identify treatment and intervention (public health and research
community); manufacture of medical responses and treatments (pharmaceutical industry)
and deploying the responses effectively (public health, animal health and private
industry groups). The
group then worked to identify several policy areas where the two industries could
work together including preserving existing antibiotics registrations for animal
agriculture, developing appropriate quarantine guidelines, researching new methods
to prevent or mitigate the deliberate spread of disease or pathogens, advocating
stronger laws to protect commercial and agricultural property from trespass and
break in, and better means to inform the public about risk management steps being
taken before an incident occurs as well as inform the public about corrective
action being taken to address a bioterrorist assault on our food supply. "This
is just the lull before the storm" one of the meeting participants commented.
One
tool that was discussed at the meeting to assist with the public informational
challenges identified with preparing for additional bioterrorist assaults is a
new website being funded by PhRMA member companies called Homelandhealth.com.
It is designed as a comprehensive, one-stop information source about bioterrorism
threats and the steps to address them. It includes information from a wide range
of sources including government agencies, health care professionals, media and
private industry. Currently it is geared toward general consumers, but the PhRMA
representatives are eager to include agriculture specific information to enhance
the value of the site as an information source. "The key to making a project like
this work," said National Grange Legislative Director Leroy Watson, "is to find
ways to convince groups and industries that often don't work together closely
to now come together and share information and resources for our common protection."
"Meetings like this one are the best way to develop the personal confidence and
trust that is necessary to make that happen," the Grange Legislative Director
told the group.
STILL
TIME TO REGISTER FOR FLY IN 2002
The
National Grange is preparing for the 5th Annual National Grange Legislative Fly-In.
This year, Fly-In 2002 will take place from June 9 through June 11, at the National
Grange headquarters in Washington DC. Grange members interested in attending National
Grange Fly In 2002 can contact their State Grange Master or Legislative Director
or contact the National Grange Legislative Department by phone (202) 628-3507
ext. 101, fax (202) 347-1091, or e-mail Stephanie
Wilkins or Leroy Watson
for more details.
top NATIONAL
GRANGE MASTER & MRS. RICHARDSON VISIT IDAHO
By
Mary Johnson, Idaho State Grange Master  Front
Row L to R: Mary Johnson, Master Idaho State Grange; Charlotte Lawyer; Governor
Kempthorne; Kermit Richardson, National Master; Margaret Richardson; Verda Allen;
Chairman of State Exec. Committee
Back
Row L to R: Don Billmire; Frank Smith; Joe Axtell; and Don Johnson National
Grange Master Kermit Richardson and Margaret Richardson recently spent several
days in Idaho visiting Granges and Grangers.
Idaho State President Mary Johnson and husband, Don, state legislative director,
and members of the Idaho State Grange Executive Committee met with them at the
state Capitol in Boise.
Gov. Dirk Kempthorne received the delegation of Grangers in his office for a round
table discussion. The governor had recently returned from Washington, D C and
New York City and he shared some observations about various Idaho groups providing
a meal for the workers at Ground Zero and Staten Island. Richardson and Kempthorne
both shared their concerns for the nation since Sept. 11 and agreed that Americans
have shown enormous concern for victims of the tragedy. Richardson
then met briefly with Secretary of State Pete Cenarrusa, Speaker of the House
Bruce Newcomb and a few other members of the House of Representatives before meeting
with the Idaho State Grange Executive Committee to discuss the changes being implemented
in the "New Grange." Nampa
Valley Grange #131 hosted the Richardson's at its regular Subordinate Grange Potluck
dinner, and was joined by Grangers from all of the Subordinate Granges in surrounding
counties. Entertainment was by the "Junior Jammers," a group of young fiddle players
who had recently performed in Salt Lake City during the Olympics. A
new youth group is in the process of being organized between the two adjoining
counties. The youth are planning activities and working to get more youth interested
in the Grange and community activities. An annual "Hands Across the Border," with
Grangers from both Oregon and Idaho, was held while the Richardson's were in Idaho.
The annual get-together of these Grangers from both states was started in 1989.
There were about 130 Grangers and guests present. Among these were three National
Grange Officers and several State Grange Officers from both states. Top | 
