Grangers Will Experience Grange Rapids this November
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By Jennifer Dugent, Editor

Where will you be this upcoming November? If you are a Granger, that answer should be Grand Rapids, Michigan, for the 143rd Annual National Grange Convention!

The GP Sports Bar is fun for everyone

The Amway Grange Plaza Hotel Lobby

Hosted by the Midwest Region, this year’s convention will be one that members will not want to miss! Jeff Swainston, Chairman of the Host Committee, is quite enthusiastic about the program that they are putting together. “All states in the Midwest Region are working hard to guarantee that this will be one of the most exciting and enjoyable conventions yet,” he explains.

The elegant Amway Grand Plaza Hotel, in the heart of Grand Rapids, will be the setting for this memorable event. This full-service luxury hotel offers activities for the entire family with its fitness center, pool, spa tubs, and racquetball court. You won’t have to go very far to find the best fine dining experiences in the city. When you are not taking in the beautiful historic halls during the Convention meal sessions, keep in mind that the Amway Grand Plaza also houses nine different restaurants to satisfy everyone’s tastes. Enjoy burgers and pizza at GP Sports Bar; surf and turf at the steakhouse, The Grill at 1913; or maybe some French influenced cuisine at the 1913 Room, Michigan’s first and only AAA Five diamond restaurant.

Historic venue aside, the convention program alone is a reason to book your trip! Want to learn how to get more members for your Grange or increase your Grange’s visibility to the public? The convention schedule is filled with lots of workshops that will teach you how to increase membership and how to get more recognition for your Grange. Get a first-hand look at how the Grange’s legislative agenda is determined for the year. Experience the rituals of the Order. Let fellow Grange members entertain you at the Evening of Excellence, which is always guaranteed to provide convention attendees with lots of laughter and plenty of stories to take home to their Granges. Take in Grangers’ handiwork at the Showcase of Excellence. Draw from Grange success stories presented at the Idea Fair. Get supplies or finish your Holiday shopping at the Grange Store. Convention is a one-stop shop for everything you need to help your Grange succeed!

The fitness center's indoor pool

Attendees of the 143rd Annual Convention are encouraged to get out and enjoy the sights and sounds of Grand Rapids, Michigan! Tours are being arranged for the Gerald R. Ford Museum, the Grand Rapids Children’s Museum, Van Andel Museum, and Fredrik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park, to name a few. When not taking tours, the hotel is located in downtown Grand Rapids, so walking is an easy way to explore.

National President Ed Luttrell is looking forward to the upcoming festivities. “There are a lot of reasons for you to get yourself to the National Grange Convention this November. We are going to have so many reasons to celebrate—you don’t want to miss this one!”

SHOWCASE OF EXCELLENCE

The National Grange is proud to present the “Best of” again and it will include items from the Host States
and Granges across the country. The “Showcase of Excellence” will feature displays of items from the Junior, Lecturer, and Women’s Activities Departments. The displays range from quilts, photos, junior projects, and other projects provided from Grangers across the country. Please come and see what your fellow Grangers have been doing this year.

IDEA FAIR
Come join us at the Idea Fair! It will display program ideas, member benefits, community service projects, and showcase National Grange departments.

The hours for the Idea Fair and Showcase of Excellence will be as follows:

Thursday	9:00am - 5:00pm
Friday	9:00am - 5:00pm
Saturday	8:00am - 12:00pm

CHRISTMAS TREE DECORATIONS NEEDED!

Grange Christmas Trees will be decorated at the National Grange Convention in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Once decorated, the trees will be enjoyed by Grange members during Session. Upon conclusion of the Convention the decorated trees will be donated to local schools, hospitals, and/or shelters. If you would like to help decorate the trees, please send handcrafted ornaments by November 2nd to:

Jeff Swainston
1810 Village Lane
Dorr, MI 49323

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National President Ed Luttrell.

The National Grange has spent more than $123,400 this year on attorney fees defending our trademarked name from businesses and individuals since the first of this year. We have also spent a tremendous percentage of our staff time dealing with this issue.

Thankfully, many of our Granges have helped by donating over $52,900 to help us offset these expenses.

I’ve been asked if having a trademarked name has value. The early members of our organization obviously thought so when they trademarked “Grange” in 1876. I believe our name has more value today because our 142 years of history and achievement has escalated its value.

If we did not own the trademark there would be two possibilities. One: that it was public property and anyone could use it for whatever purpose they choose to. Two: that it was owned by someone else, or that others had partial ownership. With the first possibility, other groups with very different agendas could damage our reputation by saying they were a Grange, or businesses that we might not approve of, could use our name. With the second possibility, others could legally limit or even deny us the right to use the
name for specific purposes.

However, since we do own it, the law says we must protect it if we wish to keep our ownership of “Grange.” In this day and age, protection involves attorneys, and that is not cheap.

So why are we paying so much, in time and money, to protect our name?

1. No other organization or group of people can say they are a Grange. If they want to be a Grange they must agree to be chartered by the National Grange and abide by the rules just like every other Grange in our nation.
   
2. The enviable reputation, goodwill, and proud history that we have built up over the past 142 years belongs only to us. No other group can say it was theirs or say they were really us. Every survey or poll that I’ve seen over the past 20 years indicates that the public trusts our name and organization, even when they don’t know much about us. This is real value, even if it doesn’t have a dollar amount attached. Just look at the numerous insurance companies, co-ops, and other businesses that our members started, that proudly retain our name today. There is real dollar value in the name Grange. Imagine the harm to your Grange if another group using our name gave bad service or sold poor quality products or advocated for something diametrically opposed to our principles. Any group that misleads people into thinking they are a Grange could harm your reputation and make it harder to recruit new members or even to have successful events.
   
3. Most Community Granges raise most of their budgets through fund-raisers. Breakfast, dinners, cookbooks, specialty foods at fairs, festivals, and other events raise millions of dollars each year for building maintenance, community service projects, educational efforts, and legislative affairs. Even primarily non-food events often have an open kitchen or other food service component. The same is true for many Pomona Granges and even some State Granges. The Grange name has earned great value because of these events and activities. These events continue to directly impact hundreds of thousands of people annually.
   
4. Membership recruitment is made much easier by the reputation of our name. Politicians often join just so that they can say that they are a Grange member. Others proudly claim a charter member
   as a relative or ancestor. Many people put Grange membership on their resume or biography to show their community connection. The membership department has found that starting new Granges is far easier because many people trust us, even when they don’t know exactly what we do.

These are just a few reasons why the National Grange has stood firm in protecting our name from an assortment of businesses, organizations, and individuals wanting to use our name for their own profit or goals. Aldi Corporation and others are trying to take part of our name, but we will not give up what we have created and earned through hard work and years of effort. Our Grange name has great value. Being a Granger should bring forth the emotion of pride in each member. It is ours, and we are proud of our name!

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I am very excited to be working at the National Grange as a Legislative/Communications assistant for Leroy, Jen, and the entire Grange staff! In my short time here I have already been thrown in the mix and treated like a full-time staff member. Although I have one more year of college, I feel like my education in legislative and political affairs is already being put to great use.

I was born and raised in rural Northwestern Pennsylvania in a town where the cows outnumber the people and a lone traffic light is considered “downtown.” As a child I developed an interest in both the outdoors and athletics. It seemed that volleyball came natural to me, and during my summers it took me to tournaments around the country. Upon graduating high school, my life-long dream was achieved when I received a scholarship to pursue the sport I loved in college.

I chose to attend St. Francis University in the beautiful hills of central Pennsylvania. The combination of the small town feel and valued Franciscan presence made it the best fit for both athletics and education. While at school, I’ve been working on a bachelor’s degree in Political Science and World Religions. My interest in Middle Eastern culture is the driving force behind a potential career path.

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By Molly Thompson, Programs Assistant

Mike Greene is interviewed by local news at “Ride Around the Capitol”, where bikers from all across California showed up in support of SB 699: Grange-sponsored legislation to create bike and hiking trials along 1,000 miles of delta levys.

Thirteen years ago Nileen Verbeten was offered a position in California that would take her and her husband, Mike Greene, away from their home in Kentucky. It was through a series of fateful events that brought Mike to the California State Grange as its Legislative Director. Mike was raised in Louisville, Kentucky and remained there for a good chunk of his adult life. It was there that he met and married his wife, Nileen, and where they intended on staying until she received a job offer in California that was too good to pass up. Mike and Nileen decided to head west and see what life held for them in sunny Sacramento.

Long before Mike Greene was a Grange member, he was dedicating his life to advocating for communities through his local legislative process. Mike received his Master’s Degree in Community Development. As Mike puts it, “I was always interested in local level groups. I have always worked to help them improve their decision making process, and to help them get what they want through the government process.” Although he was not already a Granger, his goals and ideals were already clearly aligned with the Grange’s. It was only a matter of time before the two would make a connection.

He began his professional career by working in the Kentucky legislature representing various advocacy groups including Sierra Club, as well as others. When he moved to California, he continued working with bettering communities through a government affairs position where he represented thirteen different California counties. With all of this lobbying experience, Mike decided to embark on a new adventure with his own business. As he was lobbying his first bill to get passed in California’s Congress, he developed a
working relationship with Randy Lewis, California State Grange Master. It was with this relationship that began his Grange association.

Randy quickly discovered that Mike was just the person the California State Grange needed as their Legislative Director. He had, after all, spent his life advocating for the betterment of communities and embodies the ideals of the National Grange’s Legislative Program, which is to promote civic participation through nonpartisan, issue-oriented, grassroots programs. So began Mike’s involvement with the Grange. He was given the job as California State Grange Legislative Director four years ago and according to Mike has “been representing the Grange ever since and been very much enjoying doing it.”

The issues he works on for the California State Grange and its members are vast. He is currently working on 13 bills for the California State Grange Legislative Department. He notes that one of the most important issues to California Grangers in the past four years has been concerning the environmental, which include protecting wildlife. Additionally, he worked tirelessly on a bill for volunteer firefighters.

Recently, Mike attended his first National Grange Legislative Fly-In in Washington, D.C. where he participated in a variety of lectures designed to improve his State Grange Legislative program, as well as meetings with his representatives. His dedication to advancing the cause of the California Grangers begins at the local level and extends all the way up through the National level. Mike Greene is thrilled that his wife accepted that fateful job offer thirteen years ago because it put him on the track to a Granger life. He and his wife continue to reside in Sacramento with their cat.

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