| By
Rick Ottinger The
headlines in the mainstream press in the past few years have alerted many membership
and fraternal organizations - especially the Grange - that unless changes are
made in how these historic organizations serve its members and communities, organizations
like the Grange could cease to exist. "Fewer
at home on the Grange," read a headline from the Boston
Globe as early as 1994. "Grange movement dying on
the vine," warned the Times Reporter, in Dover, Ohio. Other
headlines of recent years have offered more hope. "The Grange of the 90's
is a Rural/Suburban, Family Oriented Service Organization," stated a column
in the Pennsylvania magazine. "Fraternal
groups seek new roots," said an insightful, but unattributed publication. This
results in a mixed bag for many Grange leaders intent on attracting new members.
They seek to develop projects that can serve their communities, yet are concerned
about how to preserve historic traditions. "Traditions
and ritual seem to be a stumbling block for many of our longest serving members,"
admitted National President Kermit W. Richardson, Orange, VT. "Ritual, for
example, should be respected and cherished," he added, "but it should
never be the anchor that prevents growth and change." At
the National Grange Convention in 1999, the delegates approved the formation of
a task force to halt the serious loss of membership in the Grange. At that time
the task force began to determine reasons why the Grange was no longer appealing
and identifying ways to stem its loses and create a new and exciting future for
the Grange.
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| Members
of the Ekonk Grange, an Action Grange in Sterling, met last fall to carve pumpkins. |
"The Grange
was at a critical juncture," said Richardson. "Forming the Strategic
Planning Task Force was one of the most significant moves in our history. It is
our responsibility to leave a viable and meaningful organization to 21st Century
Grangers." For
many on the task force, it was simply a sign of the times. When the Grange was
founded in 1867, the role it played in rural America was obvious. It competed
with little more than the general store and the community church and that was
hardly considered competition, but blended in with other community activities. Today,
the Grange competes with "everything under the sun," said task force
member Cathy Wells of Greensboro, NC. "And the under forty crowd are not
joining organizations as they did in the past. We have to make the Grange not
only relevant, but fun and interesting." Since
the Grange was founded 135 years ago, the world has experienced unprecedented
technological growth including the invention of the telegraph, the telephone,
the automobile, radio, movies, television and ultimately, advanced telecommunications
and the Internet. "People
have more activities, more meetings more obligations," said Richardson, "and
we need to take those into consideration as we make the Grange relevant to the
individual, the family and the community." For
the first three years, the Action Grange Program, as it was called, invited Granges
across the nation to volunteer to become "Action Granges," allowing
them to identify, test and approve programs designed to create a growing, relevant,
preeminent family and community organization. In the end, 98 community Granges
stayed with the program and reported success in the following areas: shortening
the opening and closing of the Grange, adding community service projects to their
agendas and becoming active in their communities and finally, attracting new members
with fresh ideas and energy. The
Action Granges focused on four major areas of leadership development; membership
development; relevance; operations; and managing change. It
is important to note that the cornerstone of the Grange's public visibility and
advocacy for rural America has been its highly effective legislative affairs department.
At the turn of the last century, the Grange was the driving force behind having
mail and electricity delivered to rural America; today it still leads the fight
to provide broadband Internet service to rural parts of the nation and to end
technological monopolies affecting rural America. The
Grange's strong legislative presence is respected and its advice is sought. Phase
Two - Grange Renewal "Renewal
has two focuses," said Richardson. "First, to make the Grange appealing
by improving the halls - many of which have fallen into disrepair - its programs,
its opportunities, and its benefits to meet the needs of future members. Then,
and only then, will we begin to a attract new members and enroll them as active,
involved and giving members." Phase
Two began at the 2002 National Grange Convention in November. It is at this crucial
stage that successes and failures in the program have been identified and evaluated.
Also at this stage the program has been opened to any and all Granges wishing
to participate. Materials
will be developed and the Grange website will be used to exchange ideas and information
among Grange Renewal participants. "It
is widely expected among task force members that we will learn of Granges that
continue to become more involved in the community, develop interesting programs
- like going to the local theater, planning ski and camping trips, hosting workshops
open to the community where people can learn skills lost like spinning and quilting,"
said Wells. "We
also hope to see membership grow and the Grange once again a vital part of rural
and suburban America," she added. "Never
before has so much change happened in the Grange," said George Spies of Wakefield,
MA. "We have talked about change since the early 1960's, but have actually
done very little. Now things are happening."
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In
this, the second issue of the New Grange, we focus on the development of the Action
Grange Program into the "new and improved" Grange Renewal Program, which is more
inclusive and invites all Granges nationwide to participate and make some innovative-and
even radical-changes in an effort to become more relevant to individual, families
and the communities in which you live.