MEMBERSHIP MINUTE--By Ann Bercher

     The excitement this early fall began on a Facebook page and quickly became a blog that resulted in interest and eventually the development of a new Grange in Minnesota!!

     TJ Malaskee, a first year employee of the Kelley Farm took Oliver Kelley's vision to heart and began to contact his friends using social media (and they contacted their friends, and so on and so on) until over 180 people had expressed interest in a new Minnesota Grange!

      An information meeting held at the Kelley Farm quickly turned into an organizational meeting and a new Grange was born!!

     The truly exciting thing about this new Grange is that none of them had heard of the Grange before, but the ideas and purpose of the Grange was relevant to a new generation!

    A second exciting incident occurred recently at Lake Hubert Grange, where they received two new members.  These two had been coming to several events in the past, and once they were asked to join, they did so quite joyfully!

     While most of our current Grange members are not on Facebook or use other social media, what we can learn from the newest Grange and from lake Hubert Grange, is that members only become members if we ask them!  Whether on Facebook or face to face, invite your friends, family and total strangers to be part of the Grange.

     Let's keep this momentum going!

By Ann Bercher from the Minnesota Grange Gleaner, Fall Issue, September 2012

NEW GRANGE FORMED IN MINN, NAMED FOR FOUNDER--By Austin Miller

ELK RIVER, Minn. – On Thursday, Sept. 6, the Minnesota State Grange opened the charter to a new Grange, whose name gives nod to one of the National Grange founders.
     The Oliver Hudson Kelley Grange will be the seventh Grange in the state when its charter closes in October. Kelley is one of the eight recognized founders of the National Grange.
     The new Grange was organized at the historic Kelley Farm in Elk River. The Farm, established in 1850, is famous for being the home of Oliver Hudson Kelley, the founder of the National Grange.
Minnesota State Grange President Donna Champion, along with National Grange Leadership/Membership Director Michael Martin, initially held an informational meeting, which Martin said “quickly turned into an organizational meeting” when they saw the excitement in the new members.
     “The Minnesota State Grange is excited to have a new Grange in our state,” Champion said. “It has been many years since we have organized a Grange and this will bring a new generation of ideas and energy to our State Grange. Some of the new members are employees of the Minnesota Historical Society and interpret at the Kelley Farm so they are very knowledgeable young adults. They are very interested in agriculture of today and yesteryear. It will be fun to work with them and their fresh ideas for the future of our State Grange”
     T.J. Malaskee is the chief organizer and newly-elected Master of the Oliver Hudson Kelley Grange. He works as an historic interpreter at the Kelley Farm.
     In a recent blog post, Malaskee writes, “Minnesota’s new Grange seeks to further Oliver Hudson Kelley’s vision of an organization of progressive Americans by uniting the common community, social justice, and agrarian oriented ideas of Minnesota’s rural, urban, and suburban citizens.
     “Founded by Kelley in 1867, The Order of Patrons of Husbandry of the Grange served to unite farmers across the nation. Today, we continue the movement of American values and home-town roots; a non-partisan fraternity of Minnesotans dedicated to The Grange’s historic legacy,” Malaskee writes.
Martin applauded Malaskee for the work he did to organize the Grange and his qualifications as a leader.
     “T.J. Malaskee did the leg work to invite folks to explore organizing this new Grange. He created a blog and they [Oliver Hudson Kelley Grange] have an active social media presence. He is experienced in leading groups, having served as a student senate president in college,” Martin said.
     Malaskee said the charter members have big plans for the newly-formed Grange.
     “We are interested in modern sustainable farming practices, urban, suburban, and rural, as well as the educational, social, and community service aspects that we see as traditional cornerstones of The Grange. Some ideas that we are working on are: supporting the Oliver Kelly Farm through work parties, volunteering and out reach, forming an 1860’s Townball team (the predecessor to modern baseball), creating an annual arts journal and hosting a Spring Frolic Fundraiser and a Modern Meets Historic Harvest Dance,” Malaskee said.
     Malaskee said the group has also had initial discussion about forming a Junior Grange.
     The Oliver Hudson Grange hopes to be presented their charter at the Minnesota State Grange Session on Oct. 19 to 20 at the Kelley Farm.

By Austin Miller

Programs Assistant

The New Grange Newsletter, September 10, 2012 Issue 3

FROM GRANGE MEMBER ELISSA

Every day that I spend on the Oliver H. Kelley Farm begins the same way. I shed the trappings of my modern life and slip into the 1860s. I leave my cell phone, car keys, modern clothing, and reliance on electricity to transform into a 19th century farmer, petticoats, bonnet, and all. A short walk down a dirt path is all it takes to escape any signs of modernity. The 1876 farmhouse shields us from the sun, rising in the east, as my fellow farmers and I begin our morning routines.
    As I clean the ashes from the cast iron cookstove, I begin to think through the day’s never ending to-do list. After the fire is lit, the water is warming, and the windows are opened, I often take a moment to sit on the front porch and watch our resident flock of wild turkeys strut through the hay field, feasting on grass and grasshoppers. I wonder if Oliver and Temperance Kelley ever sat on that same front porch and looked out over the same stretch of Mississippi River while a previous generation of turkeys strolled through the same field.
    The land has changed a lot since the first day Kelley and his family set foot upon it. What was once a vast landscape of oak savannah, bordered by tall grass prairie and deciduous woods, is now a patchwork of farmland, businesses, and homes, crisscrossed with roads and power lines. The Kelley Farm is a small pocket of the past in that swiftly changing landscape. When I leave it each day and put my pants (pants on a woman, simply scandalous) and modern life back on, I am struck by some of the similarities between my life and Oliver Kelley’s. We both spend a lot of time thinking about the land and how to use it to feed our community. We think about how to better the lives of those around us, whether its through lobbying for fair prices to transport and process farmer’s crops, in Oliver’s case, or educating the next generation about respect for land, life, and history, which is one of my personal goals. I want help with that goal, just as Oliver Kelley did 150 years ago. He helped to establish the National Grange in order to unite people in the mission of bettering the lives of family, community, and nation.
    The Grange is still working towards those goals today. I am excited to be a part of a new Grange where we can set our own agenda, keeping with the mission of bettering our human community through cooperation, education, and service and emphasizing natural stewardship for the land that provides for us. The National Grange’s motto says it best: “In essentials, unity; in non-essentials, liberty; in all things, charity.”

Elissa Mallory is an historic interpreter at the Oliver Kelley Farm, and a leader in Minnesota's New Grange.

MINNESOTA'S NEW GRANGE HAS PARTIES!

Minnesota’s New Grange is a social organization which seeks to encompass the involvement of our diverse membership.  Our group has a number of parties (committees) which you can be part of, helping provide leadership, direction, and decision planning, or just be a member and partake in the fun and enjoyment of our many events and activities!

Our parties consist of:

LEADERSHIP TEAM; the executive body of the traditional thirteen leadership position, the leadership team sets the agenda, offers leadership and guidance, and participates in outreach, communication and public relations for our Grange.

SCHOLARSHIP & FUNDRAISING PARTY; provided guidance and leadership in raising funds for our Grange Scholarship, and to support our activities, events, and other costs associated with our Grange.

CHILDREN, YOUTH & FAMILY PARTY; supports and provides leadership, activity planning, and mentorship for children, youth, and family within our Grange and statewide communities.

COMMUNITY SERVICE PARTY; supports and leads our strong commitment to community service and support of the Oliver Kelley Farm.

ATHLETICS & ACTIVITIES PARTY; organizes our 1860s town ball players, volleyball team, and other sports related and outdoor events and activities such as our Grange’s annual camping trip.

SOCIAL EVENTS PARTY; the party and events planning group who plan our Grange and community events and activities such as our annual Harvest Dance and Spring Frolic Fundraiser.

GREEN LIVING PARTY; the leadership group that focuses on contemporary issues of agriculture, urban farming, sustainable living, and legislative agendas for our Grange.

WHICH PARTY WILL YOU JOIN!?!

A FARMER IS A SORT OF "JACK OF ALL TRADES. . . "

. . .and needs to be well posted in all live languages, the dead languages are not so important.  He must be able to control his temper also, for he will be provoked frequently at the behavior of his livestock.  Cows will sometimes kick over the milk pail--pigs wont always go the way you want them and oxen are always at the furthest part of the pasture when you are in a hurry to yoke them.  He must never get discouraged at losses for the armyworm will destroy his grain.  Horses sometimes fall dead in their stalls at night, (we had a costly experience on this) and crops usually turn out about two-thirds the quantity most men calculate upon.  He generally has a good appetite, however, and has the best he raises to eat if he will, and the man that won't eat the best he can is a fool and no farmer.  --OHK, 1856

Our Grange is a "jack of all trades," too.  Making it the success we have the capability of involves innovation, leadership, partnership, team-work, and charity.  We're making it the best.

OHK QUOTATION OF THE DAY:

After the 1866 Minnesota State Fair showcased buggy plows and other riding field equipment , Oliver Hudson Kelley writes: "Won't it be fun to be a farmer, when we can ride while doing all our farm work?  Now we can ride while plowing, drilling in the seed, reaping and mowing, ride while raking our hay, and if fortune favors us, we can ride to prosperity."  Yes, Grange Members, let us ride to prosperity and do something good.

IT STARTED IN MINNESOTA

This summer, a diverse community of engaged Minnesotans is breathing new life into The Order of the Patrons of Husbandry, or The Grange.  By developing new and innovative ways to draw on both the rural backbone of home-town values and the growing movements of urban farming and sustainability, Minnesota’s New Grange is a community leader in progressive ideas. Thousands of local Granges are active on the East and West Coasts, but in Minnesota, only six local granges remain with a membership of around 130 persons.  At the disbandment of one of these Granges, Minnesota will lose its voting rights within the National Grange. 

The Grange wont have a quiet death in the state that fostered the organization’s ideas of progressive action for farmers and rural Americans.  Nearly a century and a half ago, Oliver Kelley--perhaps the most famous agriculturalist of the 19th century--wrote: “What I design is this. . .a social fraternity of farmers all over the country.  Encourag[ing] them to read and think; to plant fruits and flowers, beautify their homes; elevat[ing] them; mak[ing] them progressive.”  The exciting and affirming concept of this local, grassroots organization is that the members of each Grange chapter democratically set the agenda for their initiatives.  This is happening once again in Minnesota; as a positive source of community involvement and interaction.

Minnesota’s New Grange makes use of Oliver Kelley’s Minnesota farm,--a Minnesota Historical Society Site, and National Historic Landmark--holding monthly meetings; addressing issues that are pertinent to our members and our communities at local and state levels; providing fraternal and community social events such as seasonal parties, harvest dances, musical events, sporting events, classes, outings, and arts shows; supporting education through resources, mentoring, and scholarships; assisting the Oliver Kelley Farm Historic Site through work parties, outreach, and endorsement; sponsoring and partaking in community service projects; and actively partaking in the National Grange.

As excitement grows and momentum continues, now is the time to become part of this amazing group of statewide citizens dedicated to bettering the places we live and call home.