July Minutes7/23/2023 Maplewood Grange #662 general meeting was called to order at 4:26 PM, by Master/President, Dan Keeley, on Sunday, July 2, 2023 with the “Opening of the Grange” reading. .The Pledge of Allegiance was recited.
Visitation: (none) Guest: (none) Members acting Pro-Temp: JoAnn Keeley, Gatekeeper, Betty Chipps, Chaplain ROLL CALL (Secretary): Members present: 8 (Mandatory – Quorum “7”) Dan Keeley, JoAnn Keeley, Don Sether, Roberta Elders, Betty Chipps, Sandy Shew, Vicki Pounds, and Troy Bayless. PROPOSALS for MEMBERSHIP (Dan Keeley) – None MINUTES (Secretary): The June 25, 2023 Grange Meeting Minutes were emailed 6/23/2023. The June Minutes received the following two corrections:
Dan asked for any questions or further corrections to the June minutes? Hearing none, the June Minutes are approved as presented. COMMUNICATIONS (Secretary, Betty Chipps) – also See last page.
2nd Place – $ 500 awarded to: Pam Furlan, Beavercreek Grange 3rd Place – $ 500 awarded to: Cortland Saunders, Springwater Grange SECRETARY REPORT (Betty Chipps) The 2023 2nd Quarter (dues) Report ended June 30, 2023 with a payable to OSG of $213.75:
Jay Sexton, OSG President’s, Life Membership ‘status’, per June 13, 2023 correspondence: Life Membership Information: In normal years, line’ H’ would show the Life Membership income, for your Grange, being subtracted from your 2nd Qtr Dues. In 2022 all our investments saw “unrealized” losses of 11.5%, so there was no investment credit to subtract from your Grange’s 2nd-Qtr dues. The OSG Exec. Committee considered how to handle this situation during the meeting on March 25th 2023. Rather than accept a loss in the Principle of the Life Membership Fund, the Exec. Committee approved a loan of $27,175.30 from the OSG Emergency Fund to the Life Membership Fund, preserving the value of these accounts at the January 1st, 2022 level, with the plan to repay the loan over the next five years to the Emer. Fund from the Life Membership Fund earnings There will be no interest charged on this loan. This will slightly reduce the earnings from the Life Memberships for those 5-years until the loan is repaid. Also noted: The OSG Exec. Committee reported, at the June 3rd meeting, for the period JAN 1 - MAY 31, 2023 investments have increased 3.67% making ground on the loss of 2022. COMMITTEE REPORTS HALL (Dan Keeley) – Four party rentals on the books. Chaps, Gamers and Zumba still have long term contracts. Mower has been serviced and returned to the Grange. Vicki Pounds questioned who the four rentals might be? Dan Keeley responded (as of Agenda date): July 22, August 5 (today’s contract), September 9, and September 16 (Rodriguez). HALL PROJECTS - in priority order (Dan Keeley): Some grading and additional gravel needed on parking areas - COMPLETE. Front ramp needing paint again - Dan removed railings, painted at home, now COMPLETE. Repainting under eaves of hall – Contract project? Northeast side roof needs additional screws Kitchen needs exhaust hood and fan Kitchen and dining hall floors need refinished. Kitchen counters need refinished (paint or formica). Kitchen (on ramp side) walls and under ramp - has been washed, await touch-up paint. Rear door Threshold (rotted out) - purchased new threshold ($120) - awaits installation. Gray Water Tank report: gray-water collection has been rerouted to the new clean-out and a faucet installed at the edge of the rear lawn area. Research found the gray-water tank, approximately 30-feet South of the Grange (westside) rear corner, was rusted out and drain lines were plugged with sand. Drain lines were cleaned out between the old tank and the grange and 1” Plastic pipe was slid into the tile from the gray-water tank, ran toward the grange and connected to the new faucet supply pipe behind the backup refrigerator. A new faucet was then installed on the edge of the lawn area in a valve can. New ¾” plastic pipe was then run under the kitchen sink, along the west wall, through the concrete foundation wall and now dumps into the new septic system clean out, which flows to the septic tank. AGRICULTURE (Dan Keeley) – Bad news / Good news.. Turkey’s currency has continued to devalue after upending hazelnut prices last year, which experts see as a disquieting though not necessarily disastrous omen for 2023’s harvest. “We’ve hit rock bottom and we expect a two to three year dig-out of this hole to get back to profitable prices,” said Larry George, president of the George Packing Co., a major Oregon processor. The lire’s value against the dollar and euro fell roughly 50% in the year preceding the 2022 hazelnut harvest, contributing to the plunge in Oregon’s initial prices to 40-53 cents per pound, from about 80-90 cents the previous year. JOHN DAY, OR. — New Biochar producer. Giant mounds of what appears to be black powdery charcoal or crushed pencil lead lie piled outside a towering industrial plant built in recent years on the Malheur Lumber property in John Day. It is Biochar, an up and coming product. Similar in appearance to charcoal used for cooking, but it can be added to soil to make it highly fertile for agricultural and gardening use, particularly in tropical areas with high rainfall. It can also be used as a carbon water filter to remove pollutants, such as chemicals and metals, from storm drains and old mines. The new plant, which employs 18 people, started production of biochar made from wood waste in April. It generated 100 tons of finished product in June and is expected to produce 500 tons this month. Krumenauer said, “The hope is to ramp up production to about 10,000 tons per year and begin marketing the product to customers in 2024.” COMMUNITY SERVICE (JoAnn Keeley) – Foster birthday parties: We reached out to the state organization. They said “fantastic idea” and that they would get back to me. Still no luck, will pursue when things slow down a bit. EDUCATION (Dan Keeley) – no report. LEGISLATIVE (Dan Keeley) – The bill proposing ranked choice voting (RCV) as an option in Oregon passed the Legislature and will be on the ballot in November. If it passes in November, the state will use the system but my understanding is it is optional for local jurisdictions. Our new Oregon Secretary of State is LaVonne Griffin-Valade. Secretary Fagan’s resignation cast a dark shadow over the Secretary of State’s office. Oregonians rightly demanded quick action to rebuild trust in the many important programs housed in this agency. Ms Valade says she thinks you deserve to hear exactly how she plans to rebuild trust. See bio at State of Oregon: Oregon Secretary of State - Meet the Secretary. She has also stated she has no interest in running for the office at the end of her appointed term. How do we attract a competent candidate that wants to actually do the job rather than as a stepping stone to governor's office? Annual salary of $77,000 plus $250/month for qualified expenses doesn’t seem likely to do the job. MEMBERSHIP REPORT (Dan Keeley) – State Grange will increase Subordinate Grange dues to $50 versus $45 (ByLaw change will occur one-month before end of year: at NOV. meeting. Betty will contact OSG and order Membership Cards. POMONA REPORT (Dan Keeley)
STATE SESSION REPORT (Dan Keeley) – State Session went fairly well. Our resolution concerning Ranked Choice Voting (RCV) went down but so did several others (including the one promoting a study of moving Oregon’s borders. I talked with several folks about the RCV issue and was surprised that the “conservatives” and the “liberals” agreed on one thing: they did NOT like RCV because neither the far left nor the far right wings of political factions would likely get elected under that system of counting votes. Jay Sexton did a pretty good job moderating, at least until we had an amendment - to an amendment - to an amendment of a resolution. YOUTH REPORT (Mindy Ferriss) – None TABLED BUSINESS – Bike rodeo idea TREASURER’S REPORT (Vicki Pounds) – The July Treasurer’s Report (emailed 7/20/2023) had an opening balance of $10,844.74 on June 23 and on July 20 reflected an ending balance of $12.173.10. The report will be ‘filed for Audit.’ UNFINISHED BUSINESS (Dan Keeley)
Betty Chipps motioned for the Harvest Fair use of the hall, on October 28, to be ‘free of charge which benefits ‘91 School’s indigent kids lunch issue, Don Sether seconded, motion carries, VSO.
INFO: The State Grange’s 150th birthday is September 27, 2023 and the folks at the convention would like to have some sort of celebration at all the community granges. We discussed the possibility of moving the community dinner (we decided, at the May meeting, to have in 2024) to this year, 2023, Discussion: Maplewood could do Pumpkin Decorating in combination with the Harvest Fair fundraiser on October 28th and serve dinner (3-6:30pm): Troy Bayless suggested Dinner to be Pasta with three sauce options: a.) White sauce, b.) Meat Sauces and c.) No-meat Sauce. Combine with Garlic Bread, Salad. and Desserts. Make it a donation option for a good cause and Troy will Chair the Dinner Committee. Suggestion was made to obtain a kitchen permit for evening of food service. Betty Chipps motioned to go with Pasta Dinner, in conjunction with Bayless fundraiser, and have proceeds go to ‘91 School charity, Troy seconded. Dan asked members for a show of hands for approval, all in favor, motion passes. We discussed how to get some better attendance. In addition to word-of-mouth, Advertising suggestions were: a.) place on Canby School website via individual in Canby’s Health and Wellness Dept. b.) place on familyfellowshipfundraisers.com c.) place on maplewoodgrange.org d.) list in Canby Herald ‘community section’ (email: John Baker) e.) Grange Facebook f. ) Vicki suggested: Advantage Magazine coupons & article on fundraiser via Matt Nelson g.) Invite POMONA Junior Grangers
NEW BUSINESS
Ken Fessler 2023 Dues. Mindy Ferris gave $45 cash for 2023 Dues. . - BILLS presented – Reimbursement to Dan Keeley: June Expenses Cleaning Supplies $19.27 Door threshold 120.00 Paper Products 92.30 Sub-total, per JUN Gr. mtg $231.57 Pizza for clean up day 29.96 Bolts for ramp 17.40 Caulk for ramp 9.18 Boards and paint for ramp 62.32 Ramp sub-total: $88.90 Heat pump Electrical straps 2.97 Heat pump conduit 78.34 Heat pump conduit 13.48 Heat Pump sub-total: $94.79 …now up to Code! Website (no longer free) 144.00 Toilet repair part 19.99 Vacuum cleaner repair 7.98 July Expenses Inspect / locate septic tank 320.00 Pump out tank 385.00 Excavate septic tank 241.66 Pipe for lawn faucet 51.24 Fittings for lawn faucet 44.21 Drill for new gray water Pipe holes in wall 66.37 Pea gravel for septic tank 72.00 Gravel for repair of parking 38.00 Gray water pipe fittings 17.25 Pipe for new gray water 51.93 Grey Water Septic exp. $1,287.66 Total $1,904.85 Betty moved and Vicki seconded to pay the bills of $1904.85, motion carries, VSO. Expense notes: Grey Water disposal Septic Tank project ($1,095.47) was authorized by the Executive Committee as an emergency repair to avoid canceling a rental. Lawn water faucet took advantage of abandoned drain line (in existence at old septic tank) to place pipes without digging a trench. Heat pump conduit ( $94.79) was not up to code and needed to be replaced before hiring an electrician to replace the electrical service. Door Threshold ($120) is rotted out and must be replaced.
MEMBERS SICK or IN DISTRESS (Dan Keeley) – Note received from Ken Fessler with his membership check: said doing OK after some tribulations. Executive Committee State member, Louise Holst (related to Jessie-Jo Guttridge of Springwater Grange), had cancer and has passed. GOOD OF THE ORDER (Dan Keeley) – Don’t count the days, make the days count. (Muhammad Ali) HEIRLOOM PROGRAM – (picture: tractor in grain field) SINCE GOD PLACED MAN ON EARTH, AGRICULTURE HAS EXISTED. THERE IS NO OCCUPATION THAT PRECEDES IT, BEFORE LITERATURE EXISTED, BEFORE GOVERNMENTS WERE KNOWN, AGRICULTURE WAS THE CALLING OF MAN AND ALL THE FRUITS OF SOCIAL PROGRESS SINCE THEN GREW FROM THE BROWN SOIL. (Installation Ceremony, Installing Officer) NEXT MEETING – Sunday, August 20 at 4:30 PM. CLOSING – Meeting was adjourned, by Dan Keeley, at (approx.) 5:38 PM (downstairs). Respectfully Submitted, Betty Chipps Secretary AuthorBetty Chipps, Secretary. Edited by Dan Keeley Categories |
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