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The Maine State Junior Grange met on May 4 in Augusta. Before the meeting the Junior Grangers worked on pages for the scrapbook contest. Bobby Faulkner did an excellent job filling the Master’s chair. Mia and Cameron Rae became Jr. Grangers by obligation and were put right to work as Lady Assistant and Steward. Thank you to the committee members and subordinate Grangers who helped with the meeting.

Preparations for Junior Grange Camp are underway. Camp will be held Saturday-Sunday, July 6-7 at South Sangerville Grange and is open to all youngsters 5-14 yrs. old. If a child is not yet a Junior Grange member, we will be conducting the degree work during the weekend. Other activities planned include crafts, ritual instruction, community service and other fun activities. Camp registration forms are available on the Maine State Grange website (Junior Program Resources) or from the Junior Director (293 E. Neck Rd., Nobleboro 04555-8608).  Detailed information will be sent on receipt of registration, or contact me.

The 2013 Maine State Junior Grange program, the National Jr. Grange program and the flyer for the Memorial Bricks are posted on the state grange website. Memorial bricks ordered during the fall and spring have arrived and been placed in the garden. Additional bricks may be ordered at any time.

It is my sad duty to inform the Grange membership of the passing of former State Grange Flora and Secretary, M. Yvette Herbert.  Yvette died Thursday morning after several months of failing health.  Condolences may be sent to:

Services will be held on Saturday, May 25 at Old Town Riverside Grange Hall on Route 9E out of Brewer, if you pass the Eddington town line you have gone too far.  The hall is just before the Eddington town line.  Visiting hours will be 10am to noon with a Memorial Service at noon, refreshments will be served after the service.

Webmaster’s note:  View the official obituary here: http://bangordailynews.com/2013/05/16/obituaries/mary-yvette-herbert/. According to it, online notes of condolence may be expressed at http://www.birminghamfuneralhome.com.

www: Webmaster Walter Writes

I have several pieces of big news this month… that might at first seem a bit self-serving. The first is that my book–Small People – Big Brains– is published and has been released! (There’s more information on my “brain leaks” blog and it’s available from Amazon and Barnes & Noble.) My other big news is that I learned some powerful lessons during the course of the publishing experience.

Getting the book to market included a very stark reminder I faced of how easy it is to focus on all the wrong things. I’m a fairly detail-oriented person and have learned that “the devil is in the details” in more ways than one. The common interpretation of the quote is that it’s often easy to come up with an idea, but getting the idea implemented requires details–what seems easy at first glance, becomes difficult in the doing. My experience was ultimately something of the opposite. I found myself often getting bogged down in the details–sometimes to the point of procrastinating over some minor point, making things harder than necessary, dreading the details and the decisions.

One memorable example was getting drawn into a friendly debate with several author colleagues over the “best” font to use in the book. Fortunately, I didn’t invest a lot of time in that particular topic, but I could have. I ended up observing to my colleagues that “a published book with a less than perfect font choice (which is ultimately a matter of opinion anyway) will probably outsell an unpublished book with a perfect font choice.”

Fortunately I remembered that my goal was to get my book finished, published and on the market. My goal was not to become a typesetting or publishing expert. Once I focused on the goal, the details became fairly easy.

I’ve occasionally joked that one thing technology accomplishes is allowing us to do the wrong things faster. If anything, technology can encourage a loss of focus simply because there are seemingly endless opportunities to explore, learn, discuss, and create. Pick just about any idea you have and enter a few words in Google or the search engine of your choice. I guarantee you won’t find it difficult to spend hours doing just that. In the meantime, you’ll forget what you set out to do in the first place. And, if you’re not careful, you’ll end up getting discouraged and distracted. The devil is in the details.

And it’s not just about technology. How many times have you (or your Grange) thought of something–an idea for a program, an improvement to your hall, a way to gain members or recognition by the community–only to find yourself thinking, “Wait, what about…” One of my favorite sayings is, “Jet pilots don’t use rear view mirrors.” When you’re travelling that fast, you probably don’t want to spend much time looking at what’s going on behind you. Keep your eye on the prize and your hand on the controls!

Our website is about communication, news and events. If you find yourself delaying sending information because it’s not complete or perfect, consider that you may be yielding to the devil of the details. While it’s important to be accurate and as complete as possible, some communication is better than none.

Last month this site had nearly 1900 views–representing people looking for information–and that doesn’t include those who are getting the information by subscribing to the site. In looking at recent activity, nearly half the searches centered on events. Have you submitted yours?

Let’s get this plane–and the Grange–moving!

Folks might like to check out the Spencer Creek Grange website (http://spencercreekgrange.org) where we are tracking Granges that have passed Farm Bill reform resolutions which we hope will be adopted as State and ultimately National Grange policy.  We’re also tracking the Farm Bill as it snakes its way through Congress.

Bette Horning is shown here with the Enterprise Grange focus table for our recent National Day of Prayer Ecumenical Service. It has the Bible and explanations of Flora, Ceres, and Pomona. The table explains how Flora represent flowers, Ceres represents cereal and grains, and Pomona represents the Pomegranates and pom-de-terres and other fruits and veggies.

Since Grange is not a church or religious organization and is non-partisan, it is a very good place to have an Ecumenical National Day of Prayer Service. We only asked that everyone respect the fact that others may pray differently than they do.

Boy Scout Troop #610 did a wonderful job of presenting the flag, leading the Pledge and then three of them read prayers for families, local governments and National Government. We included an explanation of how Muslims, Jews and Christians all have their roots in the same God going back to Abraham. We had a Native American Prayer and a prayer for children that was from Islam and Jewish Prayers and St. Ambrose church had a well written piece about the persecution that Christians are feeling all over the world.

Special music was provided by CJ Roy and St. Ambrose Choir members. Bette read ‘What is a Veteran’ by a Marine Chaplain, Father O’Brien, and leading prayers, with audience participation, for those who have served since WWII. Benediction from ‘The people’ and Grange ended the program.

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I am pleased to announce that Junior Grange Camp will be held Saturday-Sunday, July 6-7 at South Sangerville Grange. The Junior Committee appreciates So. Sangerville’s hospitality for the second year in a row. Junior Camp is open to youngsters 5-14 yrs. old. If a child is not yet a Junior Grange member, we will be conducting the degree work during the weekend. Other activities planned include crafts, ritual instruction, community service and other fun activities. Application forms and detailed information will be available soon, or contact me.

The 2013 Maine State Junior Grange program, the National Jr. Grange program and the flyer for the Memorial Bricks are posted on the state Grange website.

Get all the rules here.

WWW – Webmaster Walter Writes

I will willingly acknowledge that I am not a huge fan of Facebook… that said, I’m also willing to acknowledge that a number of Granges have created pages and a number of members are “on” Facebook.  One of my major issues with Facebook is the lack of privacy that results… I recently discovered, for example, that at least two of my “friends” are involved with an online dating service. (I thought one of them was married!)

Anyway, before we talk about Facebook Pages you may be creating for your Grange, let me just remind you that your behavior on Facebook may well reflect on your Grange. You are a Grange Ambassador! Please think before you post!

In February 2011 National Grange recognized the growth of social media and the National Grange Executive Committee adopted a website and social media “code of conduct.” The code is part of the Maine State Grange Web Policy, but let me share a few points from it with a few editorial comments.

All websites, Facebook groups or pages, and all other internet based social media platforms representing the  Grange must be under the jurisdiction of a Subordinate/Community, Pomona, or State Grange.

In short, an individual should not just decide to start a Facebook page on behalf of his or her Grange. There are many good reasons for this, but let’s focus on the fact that the page is representing the Grange–not an individual. As such, members should be engaged and involved in order to assure the page is monitored and posts and comments are appropriate. This also helps if the original member loses interest because there will be others ensuring the page/group is kept up-to-date.

No partisan or sectarian comments, opinions, statements, or endorsements may be posted on the website or page.

For reasons sociologists are still exploring, many people feel very free to make bold, sometimes outlandish statements on social media. If your Grange has a Facebook page or group, members should be monitoring themselves and the page to make certain inappropriate comments are not being posted. If the page is identified as a “Grange page,” one person’s opinion should not be represented as Grange thinking.

Note that these guidelines apply to websites as well. Regardless of the venue, we need to keep our Grange Face smiling and positive. That’s not to say there is no room for “healthy debate”–in fact  (lecturers note!) I’ve had one or two folks suggest we might consider more debates as part of our programming.

One additional thought: The National Grange Style Book includes the statement, “For external purposes, you may refer to the Subordinate Grange as a Community Grange or pluralized as local Granges.” We truly do have our own language in the Grange… but we might well consider the impact our language has on others. Step outside tradition and habit and ask yourself if most people would be more inclined to be involved in a “Subordinate Grange” or a “Community Grange.”

I thought so! Want to take it one step further? I actually had someone (not a Granger) recently explain that she thought “Grange Meeting” meant members only, but that a “Grange Program” was for everyone. So just maybe instead of Subordinate Grange Meetings we ought to be promoting Community Grange Programs!