One of the stated goals of the Masonic Fraternity is to make good men better. Masons are taught that each of us is an unfinished ashlar stone, rough from the quarry. Through life, we polish that ashlar striving for perfection as we grow personally. By the Worshipful Master’s station in the East of the Lodge, there are two ashlars, the rough one and the finished one to stand there as examples. In Grange, we have our case of implements: the ax, plow, harrow, spade, hoe, pruning knife, sickle and agate. Sounds like the introduction given to candidates in our First Degree where it is stated that our aim is to create a better and higher manhood and womanhood. In the allegorical teachings of Masonry, lessons are taught in the backdrop of the building of the temple of King Solomon, a representation of the fact that Masons are being taught to build and improve the temple of our own body and soul.

In the Grange, we use the four seasons of the year to represent our own progression and growth in life as we better ourselves. Think of the implements in the case on the President’s station and of the charges attached to each representing the lessons in self-betterment. For those of you that haven’t seen all the degrees or haven’t seen them recently, pick up the Subordinate Manual and read the degrees through to understand the valuable lessons contained therein. This, Brothers and Sisters, is what we believe in and stand for, and in turn it is what binds us all together in fraternity. A guide not only to how we treat and relate to each other, but how we ought to get on in all our personal interactions with others. This is why we have at times been called the “Aggie” Masons.

As I write this on May 4, Ted Powell and I are back from National Leaders Conference in Sparks, NV. This will also be the location of the 2027 National Convention. It is a very nice convention facility in a naturally beautiful area with plenty of restaurants and meeting space. We were presented with many seminars full of useful ideas. One of the first presentations was called “Imagine. Align, Act” done by National Communications Director Phil Vonada. The first step in this paradigm is to IMAGINE what you would like to be as a Grange. Imagine broadly and boldly without worrying about the reality of what will be. Just IMAGINE what you might want: be bold, creative, and perhaps a little non-traditional. Think about serving your community but not necessarily as it’s always been done.  Be visionary and inclusive by involving the community. Next ALIGN. Think of going out into the community to engage instead of waiting for them to come to you. The Grange is strong on community service and dinners but falls short on communication with and to the community. Welcome visitors to your halls with regular and inviting events. Keep your halls active. Improve advocacy by networking and coordinating events with other groups. Program to attract diverse viewpoints and interests. The final step is to ACT. This can be the hardest step to take because the ideas must crystallize into reality. Think about what you must do to move along new projects. Consider barriers to their initiation and how to remove these barriers to fulfill your goals. You may have barriers to goals that can be dealt with short term, say within 6 months, others may require building up to, say within 6 months to 2 years. Those needing more than 2 years are what we can call the long term or 2050 vision as you should consider the long haul after you are all gone and others take over. The best goals are the most specific and not just general meaningless statements.

Another good presentation was put on by consultant Jen Jones of Whip-Smart concerning the rebranding of Grange in preparation of producing the Grange of the future. While you may think the effort is to change the organization, I tell you it is not, but rather to clarify what we are. Part of the thinking is that meetings are actually less important than events and projects. We have all experienced the turnoff feedback we get when you pressure someone to join by pushing meetings on them. There is a move to alternate business meetings with fun program meetings. You must allow people to want to join so they can be involved in what you do for your community. It was determined that the biggest barrier to getting folks to join is not age of life stage, but language and traditions that create the atmosphere of insider versus outsider. While tradition is identity to many members, the reality is that we actually create connections between people and make great and observable impacts in our communities. Grange brings people together to strengthen communities, so that the Grange is the place to belong and contribute to this. Stress the togetherness and impacts we have over our fraternalism in a confident manner. Confidence in tone is essential to your elevator speech. As part of the rebranding, there is consideration of redesigning the seven-sided Grange logo due to its arcane and cryptic significance clear only to insiders. While we may cherish this bit of history, realize that it is only about sixty years old. Sixty of out 159 years of history; clearly a fairly new concept of short duration compared to our totality.

Stay tuned for more topics from the conference. A side discussion Ted and I had with National President Chris Hamp concerned Grange fundraising efforts. GoFundMe pages are OK ways to raise money. Auxiliary “Friends Of…” groups are OK as long as they are properly incorporated as 501(c)3 with bylaws and directors that are Grange leaders so that proper control of funds raised is guaranteed. If these 501(c)3 organizations use the word Grange in their legal title, they must be properly licensed with National Grange to be legal with respect to our protected Grange trademark. By-’laws and incorporation papers should be supplied to the Connecticut State Grange Secretary.

As far as other non-Grange 501(c)3 non-profits receiving money donations or grants and passing that money on to a Grange, those non- profits become legally responsible and liable for any improper financial transactions with respect to IRS regulations on income tax and deductibility matters. With these things in mind, they give our Granges several different options to raise needed funds for projects and hall maintenance.

Until next time, get out there and keep on Granging! Be Grange- Strong.