February Minutes

​The Maplewood Grange #662  FEBRUARY general  meeting was called to order on  February 22, 2026, downstairs at approx.3:40pm by Master/President, Dan Keeley with the Opening of the Grange’ reading.
 
The Pledge of Allegiance was recited.
 
ROLL CALL  (Secretary):  Members present:  __8__                        (Mandatory – Quorum  “7”)
Dan Keeley, JoAnn Keeley, Don Sether, Vicki Pounds, Betty Chipps, Mindy Ferris, Troy Bayless and Sharon Boucher..
.
Visitation:  none                 Guest(s):  none  :                           

Members acting Pro-Temp:  Gatekeeper;  Betty Chipps,
 
PROPOSALS for MEMBERSHIP  (Dan Keeley) – none, the Art Class went elsewhere.
 
MINUTES  (Secretary, Betty Chipps): 
The January 25.2026 meeting minutes were emailed February 21, 2026 for your review.  Note: A second .docx send was emailed to Dan on February 22 as he was unable to open doc.  Approval of minutes was deferred till the February meeting giving members additional time to review.
 
SECRETARY’S REPORT  (Betty Chipps):– none

COMMUNICATIONS  (Betty Chipps, Secretary)
 
STAGE Clothing & Shelving update: 

• 2 out of 3 hanging racks behind the Stage have been removed. 
• The metal cubicles need a home or are going to second-hand outlet,

 
The OSG Executive committee encourages Granges who carry Liability Insurance apply for Q2 Dues credit via the Insurance Dues Credit application - OSG deadline is March 31, 2026.
Application will be emailed and postmarked January.
 
COMMITTEE REPORTS
HALL REPORT  (Dan Keeley)
No paid rentals scheduled, one is gratis.  Chaps, Zumba and Bridge City Soccer have long term contracts.  Home School groups here at EOM.
 
HALL PROJECTS - in priority order  (Dan Keeley)
Water Heater - replaced with new from George Morlan.
Couple of dining room benches getting wobbly
Bathroom exhaust fans
Remove old meter base and patch roof
Insulate crawl space under bathrooms  (1/2 done=Women’s room)  Men’s:needs foamboard
Northeast side roof needs additional screws=
Kitchen counters need refinished
Kitchen needs exhaust hood and fan
Repainting or siding replacement needed.  NE and NW sides and under eves of hall
Interior of the hall needs some deeper cleaning and minor repair.
Spring Cleaning Day:  March 22nd at 1:00pm


Paint is also failing on soffits (front of building), NW and SW sides of the hall.  Shall we scrape and paint or patch for now and replace siding in 2027?   Don Sether suggested paint.
 
COMMITTEE REPORTS
 
AGRICULTURE  (Dan Keeley) – The U.S. farm economy is experiencing a sharp downturn since record high crop prices peaked in 2022, with inflation-adjusted net cash farm income for corn and soybean farmers down by 45 percent, and overall net farm income excluding government payments down by 26 percent.  One university study (from Georgia) lists average net income for Oregon farmers of $27,000 per farmer. 
 
Don Sether reported   wheat is down, beef and hazelnuts are making money.   Dan said they received bonuses from Hazelnut market.
 
COMMUNITY SERVICE (JoAnn Keeley) – Had a good turnout for the 2nd BackPack Buddies food prep on Saturday, February 21, 2026:  Vicki, Sharon, Roberta, JoAnn, Judi Aus, volunteers from Chaps and Petticoat Sue Harrell and Denise Davis.  Milk was greatly appreciated.


DEAF and BLIND (Roberta Elders) – absent
 
EDUCATION (Dan Keeley) – Excerpt from Nicholas Kristof column in NY Times
A ray of hope is emerging in American education.
 
Not among Democrats or Republicans, each diverted by culture wars. Not in the education reform movement, largely abandoned by the philanthropists who once propelled it. Not in most schools across the country, still struggling with chronic absenteeism and a decade of faltering test scores.
 
Rather, hope emerges in the most unlikely of places: three states here in the Deep South that long represented America’s educational basement. These states — Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi — have histories of child poverty, racism and dismal educational outcomes, and they continue to spend less than most other states on public schools.  Louisiana ranks No. 1 in the country in recovery from pandemic losses in reading, while Alabama ranks No. 1 in math recovery.  The state with the lowest chronic absenteeism in schools is Alabama, according to a tracker with data from 40 states. Once an educational laughingstock, Mississippi now ranks ninth in the country in fourth-grade reading levels — and after adjusting for demographics such as poverty and race, Mississippi ranks No. 1, while Louisiana ranks No. 2.
 
The gist of the article is that accountability and high standards for schools, teachers and students can turn the tide even without spending big money on facilities.  Please read this important article:
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/09/opinion/red-states-good-schools.html
 
LEGISLATIVE  (Dan Keeley) –  There's some concern being raised about IP28 which appears to have enough money behind it to pay for a lot of signatures, maybe even enough to make the November ballot. Measure would ban most hunting and fishing as well as most animal husbandry.  Probably not a serious threat but may want to avoid signing it.
 
SB 1598 - Requires certain health benefit plans to provide coverage for preventive health services in accordance with federal rules in effect on June 30, 2025, (ie before Trump admin. changes) and immunizations as recommended by the Oregon Public Health Officer in the future.  Focus here is on continuing full insurance coverage of things like vaccinations, prenatal care, vitamins and well child visits.
SB 1586 – A supersiting bill to add 1700 acres of farms to Hillsboro’s urban growth boundary without the bother of public hearings and etc. normally required for UGB expansions. Ostensibly for the purpose of developing high tech industries but also allows and subsidizes data centers which have been previously proposed for the area.  Estimate from Thousand Friends of Oregon suggests that developers stand to make approximately 1.7 billion dollars off the deal (and lawyer approx. $500 million)
 
GRANGE DAY at the Legislature is Wednesday, MARCH 4, 2026 starting at 9:00am
Where:  Oregon State Grange office:  643 Union St. NE, Salem, OR   (see FLYER)
 
POMONA Report  (Dan Keeley) – Cookie Booth – Do we want to do a shift or sign up individually?  Aug 18-22.  Choose to sign-up individually.  Online sign-up for shifts (coming soon).  Cookie Dough: making at Butte Creek, Scotts Mills:   Mindy, Roberta, & Troy. are interested. The 150th year Pomona anniversary committee established to recommend festivities for this summer., volunteers welcome.
New passwords were shared for Community and Pomona granges.
 
OSG Report  (Dan Keeley) - Log Cabin restoration committee – committee for log cabin restoration met Jan 24.  A preferred alternative is installing a concrete foundation to replace the rotten logs (and build after 2027).  Planning proceeding for the annual convention in Baker City.  Contest entries needed.  Many categories.
 
SCHOLARSHIP COMMITTEE  (JoAnn Keeley) – Awaits April 15th to pick-up Scholarship Applications from Canby, North Marion and St. Paul schools.  Accepting  AG/Forestry applicants, Trade School too (mechanical, equipment maintenance, etc.).
 
TREASURER’S REPORT  (Vicki Pounds)  – The Treasurer’s Report for February 2026 at Maplewood Grange meeting was emailed 2/19/2026.   .
The opening balance, as of January 26, 2026 was $13,557.47. and the ending balance on February 19, 2026 was $13,644.24.  Hearing no comments or corrections, the report shall be filed for audit.


Membership dues are due.- current renewal $50, later dues could possibly be $60 (or more).
 
UNFINISHED BUSINESS  (Dan Keeley)
Cleaning Day Preliminary job list on website at www.maplewoodgrange.or
 
NEW BUSINESS   (Dan Keeley): 
 
AUDIT COMMITTEE REPORT  (Dan Keeley, Mindy Ferris and Betty Chipps)
Dan and Betty (Mindy had a work commitment) met at Maplewood Grange on February 22, 2026 at 1:00pm to perform a review of Accounting records for the year 2025  

• Rental Contracts were compared to Transaction Records (bank deposits, security refund disbursements and retained funds) and found to fairly represent conditions of the Grange. 

Transaction Records (book activity) was tested and found: 

• Transaction Registers balanced to monthly Bank Statements after outstanding items.were reconciled
• Bank activity compared to accounting support documents - testing validity of transactions.
• Sampled Grange Minutes (typically 4th Sunday balances) blended with month end Registers and subsequent transactions agreed to meeting date.

 
At the 3:30 pm Grange Meeting, Treasurer, Vicki Pounds, was presented with The Audit Report of Bank transactions agreeing to year end Book balances.  In summary, the Audit Committee found the Maplewood 2025 Accounting records to be representative of the Grange and a model of fine accounting.  
 

1. BILLS presented toTreasurer – Reimbursements:   Dan Keeley:

Weebly domain cost                           $67.90
Supplies for new yard light         6.31
New water heater                    612.56  (George Morlan)
Plumbing hardware                   32.51
Old Water heater disposal  $    5.00
Sub-total         $724.28
 
Bill reimbursement request by JoAnn Keeley for Community Service Project:
BackBuddies                             $301.27   (foods filled 73 backpacks)
                        Total            $1,025.55
 
Mindy motioned to pay the bills, Don Sether seconded, motion carries.
 

1. Downstairs Benches:  Two ladies, Norma and Barb, clean the downstairs bench seating in exchange for being allowed to park their cars at the Maplewood parking lot.
   JoAnn proposed we hire these ladies to clean the upstairs benches, as well.   Suggestion was well received.
   
   
2. Mower- returned to shed:  in a couple weeks, Dan Keeley is bringing the Mower back to the shed.

 
MEMBERS SICK OR IN DISTRESS:  Troy Bayless reported on his wife: Gina’s surgery to repair her rotator cuff went well and she's starting to use her arm again.  Your prayers were appreciated.
 
GOOD OF THE ORDER:  Victory awaits those who have everything in order.  People call that luck.  (Ronald Amundsen, Norwegian explorer)
 
Don Sether extended an invitation to the Molalla Grange on March 14th for Potato Bar feed and meeting.
 
HEIRLOOM  PROGRAM   (picture: a bunch of brilliant, red roses)
IN KIND WORDS AND DEEDS DISPENSE CHARITY AS FREELY AS FLOWERS DO THEIR PERFUME.   (Flora, Fourth Degree :  Winter Year D-3)
 
CLEANING DAY:   March 22, 2026 at 1:00 pm at Maplewood Grange.  
NEXT MEETING:   March 22, 2026 at 3:30 pm at Maplewood Grange. 


MEETING ADJOURNED at  approx. 4:38pm with ‘Closing of the Grange’ reading.
 
                                                                                    Betty Chipps, Secretary
Maplewood Grange