Grange Motto Lynette`s Visions and Wisdoms

Grange Motto
In essentials...Unity
In non-essentials...Liberty
In all things...Charity
VOLUME 100
May 2016
Thoughts on Membership
Lynette’s Visions
and Wisdoms
By Patti Lee, State Pomona
and wife of Membership co-chair (Lyle)
Lynette Schaeffer
President
of Illinois State Grange
Well, the allergies in the St Louis
Metro are pretty bad right now, sneezy
and itchy eyes are a norm. The weather
is warm and dry, almost too dry. Well
that was when I started this article at
7:00 am – by 2:30 it was storming and
raining pretty much. The corn is in the
ground and bean ground is near ready
to go. Happy 41st Anniversary to Don.
Hope all of you were able to celebrate
Memorial Day in a meaningful way.
I hope many of your Community
and Pomona Granges held a special
event to celebrate Grange Month. I attended Grange meetings, Great Lakes
Leaders Conference, Grange 95th Anniversary celebration, Grange Dinner,
Grange Quarter Auction. We really
need to share our great organization
with our communities. I was proud to
attend and participate in the 95th Anniversary Celebration at Broad Hollow
Grange. Master, Carol Neff and her
committee did a great job. Turkey Hill
had a dinner and Prairie Grange had
an auction while I was at Great Lakes,
so I missed those celebrations. I attended Floraville Community Grange
Chicken Dinner and Emerald Mound
Quarter Auction and I heard that they
both went well. Enterprise Grange had
“go to church” and then to Floraville
for lunch. Thanks to all those who
celebrated Grange Month, good job!!
No. 04
Looking to help your community in
some way? That is one of the main purposes of our local Granges. Your ideas,
help and purpose would be greatly appreciated and put to good use.
As with every organization, membership is one of the biggest concerns.
They are all struggling to maintain
members and recruit new ones. How
do we get new members and then keep
them involved and interested so they
continue to participate? We must keep
meetings punctual, fun, informative
and with a purpose. We also need to
involve everyone in all age groups. We
See MEMBERSHIP/Page 2
Communications Report
Great Lakes Leaders Conference was
well planned, and I was glad I was able
to attend. I was disappointed about one
thing, there were only 4 IL Grangers in
attendance, Patty Bearth, Vivian Johnson, Patsy Grommet and me!! There
were countless bits of information
shared and fun time. Paula Lohrman,
Indiana Lecturer, and the Indiana State
Grange did a great job of hosting the
event. Patty, IL Lecturer, controlled
a workshop that led to much discussion. The title was “why are we losing
members”. We did code reading, adult
coloring, reviewed a Grange meeting,
worked on a hard jigsaw puzzle, shared
ideas of flag ceremony, and Robert’s
Rules. I was pleased that Patsy was
able to attend with me. We had a great
time during the drive time. The travel
was a little crazy going – we had rain,
rainbows, sleet and snow!! Next year
will be Illinois’ turn to host. I truly hope
that more IL Grangers will be able to
attend and assist with the event. Patty
is working to find a place in northern
See PRESIDENT/Page 2
By Elaine Hecathorn
Happy Mother’s day and congratulations to all the graduates this month.
Spring is here...flowers blooming,
weeds a growing, grass a mowing...
fun in the sun.
Lots is happening at National Grange.
I am just going to highlight a few of the
new and exciting things for Grange
members.
An exciting new fundraising program was just announced. The Grange
now has its own URL featuring thousand of partner stores like Walmart,
Sears, Best Buy, Whole Foods, Bed,
Bath & Beyond. Members shop online
similar to Amazon, and then get cash
back. It has a travel section which is
powered by Priceline.com to use as you
are planning your trip to the National
convention or any other travel plans.
The National Grange recently partnered with National Farm to School
Network to advocate or safe, nutritious, locally and regionally sourced
fresh foods for school-aged children.
And now you can save up to 35%
on an Orlando Vacation with Orlando
Employee Discounts which can be
used atWorld and Universal Studios
Orlando as well as Discounts on Tickets
for All Orlando Area Theme Parks and
Attractions!
More information can be found on
the National Grange website, click on
values and then go to Benefits for members. I think you will be surprised at
all the saving opportunities available.
I think we all want to save money
whenever possible, hopefully you will
find something that will help you.
❖❖❖
Send Grange news to:
Arline Magee, 322 Scott Troy Rd., O’Fallon, IL 62269
or e-mail to: [email protected] by May 31, 2016.
❖❖❖
Page 2, Granger - May 2016
PRESIDENT
continued from page 1
IL and I am sure she will appreciate your assist in any way.
Contact her with any info.
I am sure that Boone and
Winnebago Grangers are
working hard to make this
year’s State Session a smooth
running event. Elaine will be
sending the information out
to the Granges so please be
working on sending in resolutions to her, make hotel reservations, and be working on
contest items for the display
room. The Resolutions will
be compiled and sent to all the
Granges prior to the Session
so that the delegates will be
able to review them with the
membership.
The meeting
will be the 145th State Session
September 9-11, 2016, at Holmes Student Center, Northern
IL University, DeKalb.
I hope that those interested
in the bus trip to National
Grange Session in Washington, DC will be contacting Carol Neff soon. She has a plan,
USPS 016-670
IS PUBLISHED MONTHLY by
ILLINOIS STATE GRANGE
322 Scott Troy Rd.,
O’Fallon, IL 62269
Periodicals Postage paid at
Postmaster: Please send address
changes to:
The Illinois Granger, 322 Scott
Troy Rd., O’Fallon, IL 62269
Lynette Schaeffer, Editor
10041 Rieder Rd.
Lebanon, IL 62254
ARLINE MAGEE, News Editor
322 Scott Troy Road.
O’Fallon, IL 62269
618-632-4026
COPY DEADLINE FOR NEWS AND
PICTURES: 30th OF EACH MONTH
Please send all news and
pictures to:
ARLINE MAGEE
322 Scott Troy Rd.
O’Fallon, IL 62269
[email protected]
DONATIONS: $10.00 PER
YEAR
For correction of addresses
mail to:
The Illinois Granger
but we really need to know the
number of those interested.
We are thinking of having a
pickup point in St Clair County,
Bloomington, and somewhere
in Indiana. The cost jumps
significantly if the bus went to
Belvidere, sorry, Bloomington
will be as far north as they will
in all the Grange events being
held. This really worries me.
I know that there are many
things that Grangers can attend
each month, especially during
a Grange Month. There was
a period in IL Grange life that
State Officers, State Committee
Directors and Committees and
Deputies would attend many
more events; they would feel
obligated to attend as many
events as possible. I do not
think that many Granges and
Grangers feel that obligation
to other Granges or Grangers=
Lynette’s two cents of opinion.
Editor’s Note: “AMEN Lynette!”
It is hard to compete nowadays with all the school sports
and activities but so important.
Grange has a long history
and we must keep it alive and
thriving!
When you get new members
remember to make them feel
welcome. One of the biggest
turnoffs is being ignored while
everyone else breaks off into
little groups. After the meeting be sure to walk up and
introduce yourself and strike
up a conversation. You may
be surprised at how much you
have in common.
Reach out to your neighbors,
friends, family, church members and also other organiza-
tion members. Usually the
people who are the busiest
are the ones who will make
the time!
I would like to mention
that our membership year is
getting near the deadline and
would love to see it end on a
positive note with a GAIN in
membership!
across the country. The Grange
supports education and wants
to help students become better
writers, readers, and speakers
by providing the dictionaries with gazateer which also
includes information on the
countries, states, Presidents,
the Constitution, solar system,
sign language, multiplication
tables, and much more.
Items for the Humane Society were displayed. The
Grange provided homemade
cookies to the judges on election day. It was reported the
Youth Leadership Spring Fling
was a success. Youth (ages 14
on up), single young adults,
and young marrieds attended
the leadership weekend. Get
acquainted games were held
the first evening. The second day included a Grange
meeting; several workshops
on mental health, ritualism,
Grange history and O'Fallon
History, drills, and conducting
games were held. There was a
visit to the O'Fallon Historical
Society's Museum. Contest
items were worked on, and a
Grange Bowl with teams competing against each other were
held. The evening program included the impromptu speaking contest, talent numbers,
and prepared speaking contest.
The final morning included a
worship service and a Grange
meeting before all headed back
to their Granges throughout
the state.
Plans for Grange Month
and the Grange's 95th anniversary were finalized. The
Grange Month display was at
the Freeburg library during
April. Grange Month fliers
were placed in four towns
and newspaper articles on
the Grange were sent to three
newspapers The Grange's
95th birthday was celebrated
during Grange Month on Sunday afternoon with a potluck
and program. The program
for the April meeting consisted of a Grange Quiz, Flowers that Attract Birds, Bees,
and Butterflies; an Easter Egg
Hunt., and the song, "In the
Garden." Members enjoyed
banana splits for refreshments.
go. She has plans for extra
tours and events as part of the
tour prior to the 150th National
Grange Session. The dates for
the session are November 15 –
19, 2016.
This is three months in a
row that I have mentioned that
Grangers are not participating
MEMBERSHIP
continued from page 1
need the input of new members
as well as listening to those
who have been around awhile.
Keep your eyes and ears
open to the needs of the community. Grange is one of the
most inexpensive organizations you can belong to. All
that is required is a little of
your time.
Broad Hollow Grange's May
meeting will be Friday, May
13th, 7:30 p.m. the second
Friday of the month instead of
May 6. The Grange will furnish
refreshments. Items are being collected for the Belleville
Crisis Center during May and
June.
At the April meeting, Easter
decorations graced the hall and
tables. Committees reported.
Neighborhood Watch reported
damage to some newspaper
boxes. Thank you notes were
received from neighboring
schools for our dictionary
donations. Individuals at the
schools were provided with
152 dictionaries this year and
since the project began in 2004,
Broad Hollow Grange has
provided local school with
1,728 dictionaries for each 3rd
grade student. This school
year throughout the United
States 1,476,156 students have
received dictionaries. Since
the inception of the project,
25,873,541 students were presented with dictionaries all
Winnebago Pomona Grange
We met in April at the home
and Wayne and Nancy Lyford.
State session was discussed.
We will have a garage sale
money maker on May 19 and
20 at the Lyford's. Bonnie Rohlin had a short program. Our
next meeting will be held at
the Spring Garden Restaurant
in June.
May 2016 - Granger, Page 3
Juniors at Flora Grange began their Grange Month activities at the hall with fun
parachute games outdoors.
Report From Turkey Hill Grange
The program for our regular
April meeting was a presentation on the Belleville Summer
Sack Lunch Program for elementary-aged children in low
income areas of our community. This Program provides a
balanced, healthy sack lunches
to children who receive one or
two meals free at their school
during the school year. At
least 200 sack lunches are prepared and delivered to those
children five days each week
during the summer from the
day that school dismisses in
the spring until it starts in the
fall. Various area churches
and our Grange support the
Program by donating the use
of our facilities one day each
week and by donating money
to buy the food for the lunches.
Our facilities are used each
Monday. Additionally, as part
of our Community Service
program, we made a significant monetary money donation to that Program as well as
making donations to a number
of other charitable groups.
Included in these groups are
the Belleville Fire Department
for their fire safety program to
elementary schools; Beacon
that provides assistance the
homeless and other individuals
who need verified help; and
Belleville Parks and Recreation
Department for their summer
youth baseball team one of
which we sponsor.
Our annual Chicken Dinner,
held April 10, was a success
with nearly 200 more diners
than last year. It is interesting
to note that in past years, the
average diner ate one pound
of chicken, but this year that
same diner ate nearly one and
one-quarter pounds of chicken.
There are two possible explanations: First, the diners were just
hungrier, or second, the chickens were larger this year than
in the past. If the chickens were
larger a person who ate two
or three pieces in the past, ate
the same number of pieces this
year but the pieces were larger.
A number of members were
busy preparing for our summer
BBQ which begins on May 5
and will continue each Thursday from 4 to 7 PM through
September. Another number of
members made some 200 jars
of jams and jellies for the Old
Town Market, which begins on
Saturday, May 7, 2016, and will
continue each Saturday until
the first of November, and the
Chicken Dinner.
News From Union Grange
Our April meeting was held
at Gary & Sally Campbell's
home. Vivian Johnson attended the Great Lakes Leadership
Conference in Indiana April
8-10. Rollin Greenland had
knee replacement surgery and
is home and doing great. Our
May meeting will be at Tony's
in Winnebago.
By Bev
I hope you are all working
on your Grange's histories.
Please get them to me before
August 15th!!
A big "Thank You" to Arline
Magee for the Grange packet
of memories/history. Some
very fragile newspapers were
among some very old Illinois
State Grange news. They are
from 1883, 1884 called "State
Grange News-Illinois State
Grange" published out of River Forest, IL. Motto on each
newspaper was--"The Basis
of all--Wealth is Agriculture".
An interesting advertisement
was of several styles of sewing
machines, ranging in price of
$15 to $24 and various wood
cabinets. My how the times
have changed.
Did you know that there
is a National Grange Hymn?
"To Thee, Beloved Grange" by
Elizabeth Gardner was sung
for the first time at National
session in November 1936.
She dedicated the song to National Master Louis J. Taber. It
was unanimously adopted as
the National Grange Hymn.
It is found as #22 in the 1981
"The Grange Songbook". Look
it up and sing it or read it at
your next meeting!
LeRoy Community
Grange News
By Carol Mulholland
LeRoy Community Grange
met on April 12th at the Community Grange Hall.
Sandy Kennedy gave an
update on our Community
Service projects: Vet’s Drop in
Center and Paulson’s Agriculture Museum.
Denise Temple submitted
a list of projects for the Museum; these will be started
this weekend. They wanted
outside work done before a
major magazine comes for an
interview.
Rocky Temple reported they
have picnic tables built for the
Vet’s Drop in Center, some are
handicapped accessible. Jim
Rueff showed the decals for
our Vet’s project and reported
on the status of the paint job.
Calvin Downey, Rocky
Temple and Wayne Zelasko
reported on the Grange Hall
repairs and they're just about
ready to paint. Their hardest
repairs were the civil war era
walls.
Plans for the June Tractor
Pull for Education were discussed. The cooker has been
reserved.
Our ad for the Fair Book was
OK’d; also the final info for our
Grange Book was added and
sent to be printed. The future
plans for the chair lift were
explained.
We will be serving breakfast
on Sunday during the Fair. Our
scholarship applications have
been turned in and are being
reviewed.
Denise Temple reported the
relay for life “Hunting for a
Cure” will be June 4th and we
will be having a booth.
We will be back in our building next month with a cleanup
day and BBQ.
Page 4, Granger - May 2016
By Charlotte Mehrtens
Okay did I miss something
here? What happened to the
last four months? It is really
hard to believe that May is
here already. I guess I need to
stop and smell the roses soon
because life passes by if we
don’t. God has so blessed us
this spring with the beautiful
colors of flowers and trees,
the green grass, (yes it’s back
to the mowers already) and in
many areas the corn is already
sticking its head through the
ground. What will the spring
and summer bring we do not
know; it is in God’s hands.
I was going through some
papers this past month and
found this and thought about
how true it is of all of us.
Crayon Box of 64
We could all learn a lot from
crayons. Some are sharp, some
are pretty and some are dull.
Some have weird names and
all are different colors, but
they all have to live in the same
box. How true that is in today’s
world with the people around
us. Just as colors are bright and
perky the way many of us are,
there are some that the colors
are not as brightly colored, but
we are still all God’s people;
we are made by His grace and
hands. May God’s grace and
peace color your world with
the brightest colors around,
bring hope to those in need,
and share your love with them
for they are not alone in this
world regardless of what color
they are.
Enterprise Grange celebrated Grange month by going to St. John's UCC in
Summerfield and then to Floraville's Chicken Dinner. We also donated to the Illinois
State Grange Youth and Juniors.
Calendar of Events
May 5-thru September--Turkey Hill's BBQ every thursday from 4-7pm
May 7-Nov 7--Turkey Hill's stand at Old Town Market
June 8--St. Clair County Pomona meeting at Progressive; 7:30
June 18--Big Thunder's Applebees Pancake Breakfast
June 18--Metal Mayhem Derby Demo at Fairgrounds
June 29--Boone County Pomona Picnic @ Al and Linda
Ebel's Farm
August 10--St. Clair County Pomona meeting
August 14--Enterprise Grange's Picnic
August 15--Your Grange's History due to Bev Smith
@ [email protected]
September 9-11--Illinois State Grange Session at Holmes Student Center in DeKalb
October 12--St. Clair County Pomona meeting at Turkey Hill; 7:30
November 1-3, Nov. 29-Dec. 1--Broad Hollow trips to
Branson, MO
November 15-19--150th National Grange Session @
Hilton Washington Dulles Airport
December 11--Beaver Valley Grange's 100th Anniversary @ Boone County Community Grange Hall
December 14--St. Clair County Pomona Potluck meeting at Bluff; 6:30
Lindakay and Laurel look on as Jack welcomes new member, Lydia, to Boone County
and Flora Grange.
May 2016 - Granger, Page 5
Illinois State Grange Legislative Report
By Marion L Thornberry,
Legislative Director
Stop Gap Funding Breaks
Gridlock
The gridlock over a FY2016
budget may be breaking. Partial funding for higher education and a similar proposal
for human service providers
received legislative support
last week. SB2059 providing
about $600 million in stop gap
funding for higher education
was approved last week by
both chambers and signed
by the Governor. Comptroller Munger indicates she will
process checks immediately
for colleges, universities, MAP
grants for students and funding for the Math and Science
Academy (IMSA).
The Senate approved a bill
to provide about $400 million
for human service programs
and House members will meet
this week to finalize the bipartisan agreement. Apparently
the unrelenting rallies and
pressure from groups cut out
of FY2016 spending have had
their effect on the budgeting
process. Legislators pressured
the Governor and Speaker of
the House to put aside their
personal agendas and allow
stop gap funding for providers. Court orders, consent
decrees and continuing appropriations have allowed
all of state general revenue
to flow to about 95 percent
of state programs. Over the
past 10 months of the budget
year, the balance of providers
funded last year have had to
cut programs, lay off staff, use
reserves and take out loans to
get by.
With these programs at the
breaking point, the state leaders jumped at the suggestion
of a legislator to use other state
funds intended for education
and human service assistance
for stop gap funding. These
funds were created by a small
set- aside in the 5 percent income tax of 2011.
The legislature must still
provide about $2 to 3 billion in
funding for FY2016 programs
and develop a FY2017 budget
in the next 23 days or go into
overtime session
Department of Revenue Misclassifies Revenue
The Illinois Department of
Revenue announced it has
found a $168 million error in
the way 2013 corporate taxes
were spent and it wants the
money back. Illinois corporations pay both corporate
income taxes and corporate
personal property replacement
taxes (CPPRT). Apparently
some of the income tax money
was deposited in the CPPRT
account and distributed to
about 6,500 local units of government.
The error was discovered
because of a recent tax system modernization initiative.
Overpayment amounts are
generally less than $10,000,
but 10 taxing districts were
overpaid by more than $1
million, including the City of
Chicago, which was overpaid
$19.4 million. In Boone County
6 entities received over $10,000,
in DeKalb County 13 entities
and in Kane County 27. You
can see the amounts owed
by local taxing districts at the
IDOR website.
The Governor ’s office is
working on a plan to recover the money over several
years perhaps by withholding
amounts from future CPPRT
payments. Reportedly they are
not considering any interest
charges for use of the money.
Several Constitutional
Amendments Proposed
Each year numerous constitutional amendments are
introduced in hopes that both
chambers will pass the same
language by a three-fifths vote.
Usually the legislative leaders
modify the bill so that members can say they are for the
amendment but since it differs
from the other chamber’s bill,
the amendment fails to qualify
for the ballot in November.
Here are a few of the amend-
ments that were debated in the
House last week. To qualify
for the ballot, the amendments
must pass both chambers by
May 9.
HJRCA 5 would eliminate
the office of the Lieutenant
Governor beginning in 2019.
It would change gubernatorial succession such that the
Attorney General would take
over the governorship should
the office become vacant. The
Lt. Governor’s office has limited official responsibilities
and its elimination would save
taxpayers around $1.6 million
a year. It passed the House on
Friday, but the Senate debated
its own version the day before
and it failed to gain the necessary support amid concerns
that succession could fall to a
member of the opposite party.
HJRCA 26, dubbed the “Millionaire’s Tax” failed to garner
the necessary support to pass
the House.
HJRCA 36 protects money
set aside for transportation
from being used for other purposes. The amendment passed
the House on Friday.
HJRCA 57 provides: that
education is a fundamental
right, the state has a paramount
duty to provide a thorough
and efficient system of education and that the state has the
preponderant financial responsibility for financing education.
It could be presented for a vote
when the legislature returns to
Springfield.
HJRCA 58 reforms the redistricting process that occurs
every 10 years by removing the
General Assembly and the governor from the process of drawing legislative maps. Instead,
an eight-member independent
commission appointed by the
Illinois Supreme Court would
be in charge of drawing the
state House and Senate districts. A vote has not been
scheduled. This amendment
is similar to the Independent
Maps effort that is currently
trying to secure enough peti-
tion signatures to get on the
November ballot. The Senate
passed a slightly different constitutional amendment keeping
lawmakers largely in control of
mapping.
HJRCA 59 would allow for
a graduated income tax in Illinois but does not set the rates.
It awaits a vote in the House.
Many Bills Passed by the
Friday Deadline
The General Assembly sets
different deadlines for bills to
be considered in committee,
debated and passed by each
chamber, and then be considered by the other chamber.
Last Friday was the deadline
for bills to be considered by
the chamber where they originated. Here are some of the
highlights:
HB 6167 expands the democratic process to allow 17-yearolds (who will be 18 by the
general election) to sign and
circulate petitions, vote in primary and local elections and
serve as election judges.
HB4486 allows craft distillers to manufacture up to
100,000 gallons of spirits per
year (now 35,000) and sell up
to 5,000 gallons (now 2,500) to
non-licensees.
HB5566 creates a working
group within the P-20 Council
to focus on tuition, financial
aid, and other issues related
to keeping higher education
affordable in Illinois.
HB 5576 expands insurance
coverage for birth control by
codifying in statute what is
already required by the federal
Affordable Care Act.
HB5684 requires local units
of government to disclose significant raises to an employee’s
salary just before retirement
that would have an effect on
the employee’s pension.
HB5973 will help inmates
who undergo rehabilitation
and training in various fields,
such as barbering and cosmetology, to obtain the necessary
state licenses upon release.
HB 6037 allows the degree
of mental illness of criminal
defendants to be considered
in sentencing. This is one of
many pieces of legislation to
reduce both overcrowding in
our prisons and incarceration
due to mental illness.
The House is not in session
this week in observance of
Passover. We return to Springfield on May 3rd to begin hearings and debate on Senate bills.
Well that's enough for now,
prayers and good tidings to all.
Secretary's Report
By Elaine Hecathorn
Spring is here. I hope everyone is able to get out and enjoy
the weather.
We have a wooded area behind our house that has numerous
birds, many squirrels, 6 white tail deer that Gary leaves corn
for – the squirrels enjoy it too - and a new arrival has been a fox
that we have seen a few times.
If your Grange has not sent in its quarterly report, it is late.
Please see that it is sent in as soon as possible. Again, if you
have any resolutions you may send them in at any time. News
for State Session will be coming shortly. Remember, it is not just
for delegates, all members are welcome to attend.
Page 6, Granger - May 2016
Ruling Expands Options For Grange Attendance, Involvement
By Joe Stefenoni
National Grange Membership/
Leadership Director |
membership@nationalgrange.
org
Over the last 148 years the
Grange has seen many advances in technology and
improvements to rural life.
Our generation is no different
than our Grange forbearers,
when at the end of March
National Master/President
Betsy Huber issued a ruling
that allows Grange members
to participate in Grange meeting via electronic methods
(phone, video conference, etc.).
Through this ruling, Grange
members will now be able to
attend and vote in the Grange
meeting without being physically present at the meeting.
In her ruling, Master Huber
stated,
“In today’s world, people
are much more mobile than
in 1867 or even 1967. Grangers
are required to travel for their
employment or even move to
another part of the country
or world. Grange members
proudly serve in the armed
forces or the Peace Corps, far
away from their communities.
Some Grangers temporarily
relocate to warmer climates
for several months of the year.
Our youth may live at college
for 8 months out of the year.
Grangers may be nursing
home residents or may be temporarily home-bound. Many
of these members would like
to remain connected to their
home Grange while they may
be unable to attend in person, and certainly their home
Granges would appreciate
their participation and input.”
While virtual attendance at
a Grange meeting will be new
for some of our Granges, there
are Community Granges that
are models of success for this
format. Queen City Grange
#1298 of Charlotte, NC was
organized in February of 2012
and from its inception has met
through a combination of in
person and electronic means.
They utilize group emails as
well as website jotform for
any voting they might need to
conduct. Queen City Grange
President Jessica Horton said
that “since we have members
living over an hour apart,
across a large city, it’s just too
hard to get everyone together
on a regular basis.”
The members of Queen City
Grange aren’t strangers to one
another. Other than Grange
meetings, members participate
in community events together
and conduct service projects
as a group. This year Queen
City Grange members will
be attending Herb Fest and
Moo & Brew where proceeds
go to benefit the Second Harvest Food Bank of Metolina.
As community service their
Grange puts together backpacks for school children and
sponsors “angels” at Christmas
time. They use email to coordinate dates and time for when to
complete their projects.
Sister Horton offered some
advice for Granges looking
to start utilizing an electronic
medium for their members to
participate in Grange meetings.
Collect emails from all your
members and be sure to capture an email on your membership application
Create a professional email
address for your Master/President so that it can be passed
along when a change of leadership occurs. This will also make
you appear more professional
to outside groups and nonmembers.
Start things with a welcome email from the Master/
President of the Grange, letting
everyone know what are the
protocols/etiquette
Don’t spam members with
a high amount of emails. Send
only one to two emails a month
with all the necessary updates,
not two emails a week.
I encourage all Granges to
find a way to use this medium
as a way of being able to include more people in their
Grange meetings. This format
will be a way to include college
students, members serving
in the military and members
who travel to maintain connections with their local Grange
and take an active role in the
progress of their Community
Grange.
Why is Rural America Being Left Behind in Lifeline Reform?
By Betsy Huber
National Grange President
Major portions of rural
America have no access to
broadband. Fewer than one
in five Americans (17 percent)
can't access what the Federal
Communications Commission
(FCC) defines as broadband,
but that level is three times
higher - a whopping 53% when it comes to rural America. And what about those
parts of rural America with
broadband access? According
to the 2015 State of the Internet
Report, the average connection
speed in many rural areas is
slower than those in Estonia,
Uruguay, and Thailand.
That's why the millions of
us who live in rural America
can muster no more than two
cheers for the Lifeline Reform
plan recently drafted by the
FCC that shifts the focus of
the federal Lifeline program
to broadband. It's a good move
that makes sense in the long
term, but it doesn't have to
be done with such haste that
it severs the wireless Lifeline now helping millions of
low-income residents in rural
America.
The problem is that the FCC
timetable for shifting Lifeline
from a wireless focus to "broad-
band only" is out of sync with
the reality of the availability of
adequate broadband in rural
America. The FCC wants to
start a phase out of wireless
Lifeline almost immediately
and then hang up on it altogether in 2019. After that,
Lifeline would only subsidize
broadband and landline phone
service.
That's the wrong timetable
for rural America. The FCC's
own data show that as many as
22 million rural Americans lack
access to connections to broadband at download speeds of 25
megabits per second (mbps).
The Commission also has reported that one in five rural
Americans lacks access at the
even slower speeds of 4 mbps.
The access gap is even worse
for people living on Native
American tribal lands, where
the lack of access surges to 63
percent.
While there is much to admire in the FCC's plan for a
$9.25-a-month subsidy focused
over time on broadband, the
truth is that it probably won't
result in one new mile of broadband cabling in rural America.
All signs are that our communities of non-urban areas will lag
for decades when it comes to
access to essential broadband.
The FCC knows this and so the
unfortunate appearance is that
the Commission's current Lifeline reform plan is a calculated
slight to rural concerns.
In less than 45 months the
current wireless Lifeline service will vanish. For rural
Americans who have no way
to use a broadband subsidy,
the demise of Lifeline by 2019
will mean that they are effectively cut out of the program.
Their only sin: living in rural
America.
To make matters even worse
for those living in rural America, the FCC wants to impose
minimum standards on wireless Lifeline that almost certainly would force a co-pay
arrangement for subscribers.
This would make participation
in the program burdensome, if
not completely unaffordable,
for many low-income rural
dwellers. Many of the poorest
people with the least access
to help live in rural America,
these are not consumers who
will be able to continue using
Lifeline if they have to pony up
cash that they just don't have.
By phasing out wireless
Lifeline and offering only
a broadband program they
can't access, rural Americans
will not be helped by Lifeline
reform. Instead, will we rural
Americans become the first
and perhaps largest group of
disconnected victims of the
reforms? I ask the FCC: What
good is Lifeline reform in rural
America if broadband is not
available now and you are
killing wireless service?
Let us know if you've personally experienced difficulties with access to internet
broadband and high speed
connectivity.
May 2016 - Granger, Page 7
By Patty Bearth, Illinois State
Lecturer
Happy Spring!
I hope your cameras have
been busy taking pictures. I've
seen some excellent pics on
facebook of double rainbows,
storm clouds and spring plants
emerging. It is the time of year
for 1st communion pics, Mothers Day, Memorial weekend
will be here before we know
it. Easter, although it was rainy,
did anyone get some collecting
eggs pics?
Get your hands busy writing
some interesting stories and
poems. I'd like lots of entries
for students of the university
to judge.
Have your elders received
and special gift from a junior?
I've been saving 2 liter soda
bottles if anyone needs some
for your cloche creation. (I'm
glad I have friends that drink
soda.)
Then there are the new National Lecturer contests to
work on also. They have been
printed in previous Illinois
Grangers. Here is the last
contest for this year from our
National Grange Lecturer. The
rules state to create the program using computer power
point software. If you need
help with that I will get you
help. Just ask me. Even though
the instructions below state
to email entry to Amanda, I
would like you to email me the
entry &/or send paper copy to
Illinois State Grange Session
in September so your State
Grange peeps can benefit from
your entry also and be judged.
We can have a great Lecturer
Talent contest at State Session
with all your help!
LECTURER’S PROGRAM
IN A BOX CONTEST
Alone, any Lecturer can only
create so much, find so many
experts and come up with so
many ideas, but with more
than 2,000 Lecturers around
the country, there are innumerable opportunities for great
programs to be shared around
the Grange nation. For this
reason, we are announcing a
new contest from the Lecturer’s
Department called “Lecturer’s
Program in a Box.”
This contest is open to any
Lecturer at any level of the
Grange. Lecturers may engage other members or nonmembers to assist in creation
of the program but must have
contributed to its creation,
editing and presentation. All
programs should be presented
at a Grange meeting before
submission.
Rules
1. Program must be submitted as a .ppt file by email to
[email protected]
by October 31, 2016 or Oct.
31, 2017 for judging at the November National convention.
You may choose to create this
program on any presentation
software, including Keynote,
Prezi or others, but please convert and save to .ppt.
2. Program must have a title
slide
3. Program must have at
least 10 content slides
4. The last slide of the program must include the name
of the Lecturer who is submitting the program, the date and
Grange information (name,
number and state) where the
program was presented and
names of any contributors to
the program
5. Submission must include
sample notice to the community (flyer, media alert) on how
to promote the program to the
broader public
6. Program must include
in .ppt or as a stand alone
document at least two of the
following:
Suggested activity (during
Grange meeting or directly
following)
Suggested further reading/
viewing list
Word search or crossword
(saved as PDF)
Song lyrics, Poem or other
creative work to engage audience
Video or audio clip
Fact Sheet (saved as PDF)
Game suggestion
Sample letter to elected official (as PDF)
Other tool or idea to engage
audience with the presentation during the meeting or as a
Grange thereafter.
Submissions & Uses
All programs submitted
by the deadline will be blindjudged by a panel and all Lecturers who submit a program
will receive a certificate of
participation. All submissions
given a “Quality” or “Outstanding” or “Exceptional”
rating will be compiled into a
document and distributed electronically to Grange Lecturers
as an Idea Book, similar to those
distributed in the 1950-70s.
Judging
Informative and factual (40
pts.)
Professionalism (grammar,
language, approach, etc.) (15
pts.)
Interest factor (would it attract non-members to come to
listen?) (10 pts.)
Interactivity/Engagement
Potential (15 pts.)
Creativity in concept (10 pts.)
Reflective of Grange principles/values/issues of interest
(10 pts.)
Ratings
To receive a Quality rating,
your program must have a 70
pt. or higher average across all
judges
To receive an Outstanding
rating, your program must
have a 85 pt. or higher average
across all judges
To receive an Exceptional rating, your program must have a
95 pt. or higher average across
all judges.
From your National Grange
Lecturer Programs to be Released by Lecturer's Department Monthly, Contest Announced
Thanks to my time in the
National Office as a staff member from 2011-14, I had a great
sense of the importance of the
role of Lecturer nationally and
on a local and state level in
the Grange, and I was keenly
aware of the massive resources
the Lecturer's Department had
once been able to provide to
Lecturer's and members across
the country.
From this, I drew inspiration
from past Lecturer's and Program books to provide Lecturers with sample programs that
can be used in a variety of ways
to either spark new activities,
outreach and advocacy of local
Granges.
Starting this Grange Month,
I plan to release one program
each month to Lecturers for
use in their meetings. These are
created as "programs in a box" with all kinds of resources, tips
and tools for the Lecturer to use
to provide a program that fits
their Grange or stretch beyond
their normal approach.
The first of these programs
is a prototype that looks at the
town created by the New Deal
under our fellow Granger, President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Green Towns of the New
Deal - Download PDF | Download PowerPoint
Green Towns Song of the
Lyrics - Download
Green Belt Towns of the New
Deal Word Search - Download
Green Belt Towns List Download
Transcript of Audio in New
Deal Towns - Download
It has been tested by two
local Granges that are very different from one another. One
is very active, with many programs that engage the public in
their little town. The other has
been described by the Master as
"exemplifying the quiet, peaceful citizens part of our ritual,"
often meeting in a member's
home or local restaurant.
Clearly, programming would
be vastly different from one
meeting style to another, but
the outline, suggested activities
and ways to engage further on
the topic offered allowed each
Grange to pick what they were
comfortable or equipped to
introduce to their membership.
Each program is created in
PowerPoint, not because I expect that any Grange will have
the technology or inclination to
show it as such, but because it
allows the key information and
notes to be printed in a very
easy-to-use and understand
fashion. For Lecturers looking at the material at home,
preparing to present in their
meetings, they can link to the
internet if available to get more
resources that are provided or
they can sometimes see and
hear more information in audio or video clips embedded
into the program file. There
are activities such as a word
search for Granges who like to
have puzzles and tip sheets or
fact sheets for distribution for
Granges that like to have folks
take something home.
For those Lecturers who
shy away from computers,
State or Pomona Lecturers - or
State Masters - can provide a
printed PDF of the PowerPoint
that still gives all the necessary
information, tips, engagement
and advocacy options to the
Lecturer without ever touching the computer.
The topics will be varied
and by no means are they suggestions on policy or mission
of your or any other Grange.
Instead, they come from members' suggestions, questions or
areas of expertise. Often these
will be created by members or
committees who have agreed
to assist in this endeavor, truly
creating a Lecturer's Department for full-service support.
Should you use a program
created and distributed by the
National Lecturer and create
additional resources or materials, you can send or email them
to me and we will include
them on the web page dedicated to Lecturer's programs.
To download the first program and content materials,
and to find other programs as
they are released, please visit
http://www.nationalgrange.
org/lecturers-programming/
Page 8, Granger - May 2016
Deaf Activities Report
By Sister Cara MageeJohnston
New Partnership Announced
The National Grange recently partnered with National Farm to School Network to
advocate for safe, nutritious,
locally and regionally sourced
fresh foods for school-aged
children.
The NFSN was founded in
2007 and allows individuals
interested in farm to school
initiatives sign up for free
as members on its website,
www.farmtoschool.org.
Members receive regular
updates and can tap in on
the network’s vast array of
resources.
We look forward to gathering materials that Granges can
use to educate members and
their communities about farm
to school and other locally
sourced food initiatives.
Granger can attend the 8th
National Farm to Cafeteria
Conference, June 2-4 in Madison, Wisc.
This event is the only national gathering of stakeholders from across the farm to
cafeteria movement, making
it a crucial leadership development opportunity to advance
community health, build economic opportunities for farmers and producers, and ensure
long-term sustainability for
local food efforts nationwide.
Registration is open now, including pre-conference short
courses and field trips. Event
organizers expect more than
1,500 attendees, and the last
event sold out before the registration deadline, so don’t wait.
BackToTopRegistration
closes May 16. Learn more at
farmtocafeteriaconference.org.
In our hearts,
every day is
Mother's Day!
Well they say “April showers bring May flowers”. With
all the rain we {here in Louisiana (and I’m sure in Illinois
too} have had, this April, there
should be a plethora of flowers
this May.
It has been a long week of
Statewide testing (April 25-28).
I had the opportunity to use
my interpreting skills. “My”
students have small group testing, with the test read aloud. I
know it seems strange to have
a test read aloud to Deaf/Hard
of Hearing students. However,
since there is some residual
hearing, it is of benefit; especially for the interpreting accommodation to be “fulfilled”.
I interpreted ELA, Math for
three days and Science on the
last day. While I’m obligated
to not discuss the test items,
all I can say is WOW! The way
some of the passages/questions/ answers were worded, is
not the way I would have “developed” the test. Guess that’s
why I’m teaching/interpreting.
We have one more session to
do, Social Studies. This will be
a “pilot” computer based test.
That should be an experience!
I’ll elaborate on that in my June
article.
By the time you this month’s
Illinois Granger comes out,
the Deaf Grass Movement,
National Deaf Rally will have
come and gone. Did anyone
see any coverage? Did anyone
take on my suggestion of inviting an audiologist from a local
hearing aid facility, or speech
pathologist who specializes in
deafness, or perhaps you could
contact a local high school or
college offering Sign Language
classes and invite either the
instructors or students to speak
with you about sign language
for a Grange Month program
related to Deaf Awareness?
In other news, the National
Grange Deaf Awareness Grant
Program is a fund that was
developed within the National
Grange Foundation for the
purpose of supporting deaf
activities within the Grange.
Because funds are still available, this grant program is being offered to assist states with
funding various deaf awareness activities. In the past these
grants helped Granges in Idaho, Iowa, Michigan, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Washington. These are the Guidelines: Grants up to a maximum $500.00 will be awarded to each approved application and will be awarded to the
3 “winning” State Granges. The
winning State Grange(s) will
have the option of transferring those funds to the Community or Pomona Grange
conducting the deaf activity
included in the grant application. The Grange Foundation is looking for projects
with not only an impact on
deaf education, but plans
that involve members working with deaf community in some way. The Foundation will give preference to
Granges who are doing more
than fundraising. Finally, the
Requirements to be included
on the “application”: Name
of State Grange, Name and
Address of Contact Person,
Date of Submission, Name of
the Project, Description of the
Project, Anticipated number of
people involved, Anticipated
impact on the Grange (State
and/or Local), Anticipated
impact on the Community or
State and Other anticipated
results of the project. If you
would like to know more
about these projects, please go
to www.grangefoundation.
org. With my focusing and
“talking up” the Deaf Grassroots Movement, I’m hoping
no one objects to my submitting the DGM of Illinois as our
“project”.
Until June, remember “May
flowers bring June brides”.
Quotable Quote: (in honor/
memory of Statewide testing)
“Signs are to the eyes what
words are to the ears”