Hello!
I am Dan Keeley, Master (President/CEO) of the Maplewood Grange this year. My responsibilities include website administration, Hall emergencies (plumbing, electrical and etc.), meeting planning and administration and executive functions in general. I am also able to fill in for many of the other members responsibilities if they are not available. My priorities as Master are to make the Grange active, exciting and relevant to the community without demanding excessive time or resources from the members. To that end we have made the hall available for charitable organizations at reduced rates, shortened meetings and reduced the famous grange formality at regular monthly meetings, reserving the beautiful but time consuming ceremonial aspects of the grange for special meetings. We also participate in state grange functions such as the annual state meeting, legislative day and various officer education programs sponsored by the state and Pomona grange organizations. See "Officers" page for the organizational chart and officer titles of our organization. Read on for a description of the grange organization in general and Maplewood in particular.
A Grange is a family oriented, agriculturally focused fraternal organization open to all. We operate a hall for our meetings and other community functions, benefit charitable organizations such as 4H and Scouting, offer college scholarships, support Deaf awareness and lobby for our values in the community at large. Click the following link to see a summary of the history of the national grange. Maplewoods local history is also summarized below
I am Dan Keeley, Master (President/CEO) of the Maplewood Grange this year. My responsibilities include website administration, Hall emergencies (plumbing, electrical and etc.), meeting planning and administration and executive functions in general. I am also able to fill in for many of the other members responsibilities if they are not available. My priorities as Master are to make the Grange active, exciting and relevant to the community without demanding excessive time or resources from the members. To that end we have made the hall available for charitable organizations at reduced rates, shortened meetings and reduced the famous grange formality at regular monthly meetings, reserving the beautiful but time consuming ceremonial aspects of the grange for special meetings. We also participate in state grange functions such as the annual state meeting, legislative day and various officer education programs sponsored by the state and Pomona grange organizations. See "Officers" page for the organizational chart and officer titles of our organization. Read on for a description of the grange organization in general and Maplewood in particular.
A Grange is a family oriented, agriculturally focused fraternal organization open to all. We operate a hall for our meetings and other community functions, benefit charitable organizations such as 4H and Scouting, offer college scholarships, support Deaf awareness and lobby for our values in the community at large. Click the following link to see a summary of the history of the national grange. Maplewoods local history is also summarized below
MAPLEWOOD GRANGE:
IN ESSENTIALS, UNITY
IN NON ESSENTIALS, LIBERTY
IN ALL THINGS CHARITY
What is Maplewood Grange you may ask? Well, it’s a pretty long, and pretty great story, for Maplewood and for the Grange in general. The Order of the Patrons of Husbandry, better known as the Grange or the Grangers, was founded in 1867 in Fredonia, New York, by a member of the freemasons, Oliver Hudson Kelley, as a fraternal society for farmers, rural folk and their families. Designed partly to help the country recover from the Civil War, the grange was a new secret society, although the secrecy sometimes necessary after the civil war and during the conflicts with the rail roads has become mostly symbolic. The Grange was arranged on more or less Masonic lines, dedicated to promoting rural life and open to all, in contrast to many other organizations of the time that were restricted along gender, class or racial lines.
Taking the oath of membership involves promising to obey the laws of the state and the nation, as well as the orders of Grange superiors as long as those do not conflict with law or religious belief. While the rituals are strongly Christian, the Grange is open to members of all religions and makes a point of deferring to an individuals religious convictions.
The Grange has had a powerful educational and self-help component from the start as well as political significance. Grangers were instrumental in founding the Populist Party and in the establishment of a secretary of agriculture (before 1889, there was no such post). Since then, the Grange legacy has included establishing and/or lobbying for agricultural colleges, agricultural research stations and extension services including 4H, the FFA organization for students and the expansion of the rural free delivery network operated by the U.S. Postal Service.
Currently the Grange lobbies at the national and state levels for many charitable and agricultural causes, mostly centered on promoting family life and family farms. It also contributes to community life by maintaining Grange Halls, used for many purposes, especially in smaller communities, and by contributing to many charitable and community based causes.
Our chapter of the Grange, Maplewood Grange #662, was organized at the Barlow City Hall on March 6, 1925, becoming the 18th grange in Clackamas County. A small group of farmers from Aurora, Barlow, Canby, and Macksburg had decided something should be done to better their home and economic life, and after some research found that a Grange might fit their needs.
On March 20 the Tualatin Grange sponsored an obligation ceremony for Maplewood’s 74 prospective grange members and installed the officers with Brother Baveland of the Oswego Grange officiating. Avon Jesse was the new grange’s Master, or CEO if you will. At the same meeting the name of Maplewood Grange was proposed and accepted. If anyone knows who dreamed up the name or why I’d be grateful to know.
At the first regular meeting it was voted to purchase a building in Barlow for $500 and spend $646 to patch it up. In October of the same year they conducted a membership drive with 211 applications received! Can you imagine that for a nonprofit today? 173 candidates were initiated on January 14, 1926. On March 20, 1926 they celebrated the first anniversary, serving dinner to 150 grangers. H.E. Keen, Editor of the Oregon City Newspaper and the Honorable Walter Pierce, Governor of Oregon were the program of the evening. I am so jealous.
As invitational dances were the order of the day, it was voted that any member attending dances or socials under the influence of liquor would be put out of the hall. For the second offense, the person would be barred from dances or socials for six months. The dance commission was also instructed by the city of Barlow to forbid the dancing of the Charleston on the dance floor. At the 78th anniversary celebration of Maplewood Grange Vesta Mark, a founding member, told those present that the reason the Charleston was forbidden was for safety, not a morals issue. It was because the building was an old "box-like" grocery store which had a basement beneath it. The building was old and unstable, so when a group of people starting dancing with vigor the building started shaking and swaying. The city was afraid that the floor would cave in or the building would tumble so they instructed the grange’s dance commission to forbid the dancing of the Charleston.
Early Grange activities included a baseball team, picnics and other social activities. The November 11, 1927 minutes state that Master George Berg borrowed a radio and the greater part of the afternoon was spent listening to football games. At the February 10, 1928 meeting it was voted to send $96.40 raised by dances to the State Grange to help promote the income tax bill, a grange lobbing priority.
Well, apparently the Charleston dancers were frustrated as the hall was reported unsafe and beyond repair in 1937. The members voted to tear down the old building and build on a new site. The present location at the Top-of-the-Hill, Aurora, Oregon was selected on March 26, 1938 and work was started. Less than 3 months later on June 14, 1938 the Grange held its first meeting in the new hall. Although the hall was far from finished, the first dance was held July 30, 1938 and with dances as a main source of revenue, the hall was completed at a cost of $1900, plus labor, most of which was donated. Today we still rent the dance hall to dance groups on week-ends including the Chaps and Petticoats and Silver spurs square dance clubs, continuing the tradition which began 65 years ago.
The original building did not have a full basement under it. The kitchen was where the alcove is at the bottom of the stairs on the west end of the building. As years went on, the remainder of the basement was dug out and completed. A drill team was organized and in 1933 took first prize at the Pacific International Livestock Show in their division and in 1953 the visiting drill team helped install the Queen's Rodeo Court at the Clackamas County Fair. Maplewood Grange has entered a booth at Clackamas County Fair every year since being organized and has received many prizes for them. Among grange’s many projects the grange has supported Ronald MacDonald House, Future Farmers of America, GWA GrangeYouth Scholarships, Easter Seals, Cancer Fund, made bonnets for cancer patients, recycled paper and aluminum containers, saved pull tabs, volunteered to help shut-ins, visited the elderly, done displays at County Fair, fielded a drill team, helped organize the Clackamas Credit Union and the Grange Supply Store in Gladstone and others.
Many things have been accomplished in the past for both Grange members and our community and it will continue to do so in the future for:
The things are mighty few on earth,
That wishes may obtain.
What'er we want of any worth
We've got to work to gain.
As of this writing 27 men and 3 women have had the privilege to serve as Master of
Maplewood Grange, each with the aid of the members working hard for the interest of the
Grange.
Although we do not enjoy huge meeting attendance today, our Grange spirit is still present. As Mr. Glover told those at the installation meeting in 1925, "Maplewood has the opportunity to accomplish many things, which will be of lasting value to her state; and if you're a friend of agriculture and all mankind, we need you in the Grange." The preceding history was compiled from previous histories written by Vesta Mark and Mildred Sether.
IN ESSENTIALS, UNITY
IN NON ESSENTIALS, LIBERTY
IN ALL THINGS CHARITY
What is Maplewood Grange you may ask? Well, it’s a pretty long, and pretty great story, for Maplewood and for the Grange in general. The Order of the Patrons of Husbandry, better known as the Grange or the Grangers, was founded in 1867 in Fredonia, New York, by a member of the freemasons, Oliver Hudson Kelley, as a fraternal society for farmers, rural folk and their families. Designed partly to help the country recover from the Civil War, the grange was a new secret society, although the secrecy sometimes necessary after the civil war and during the conflicts with the rail roads has become mostly symbolic. The Grange was arranged on more or less Masonic lines, dedicated to promoting rural life and open to all, in contrast to many other organizations of the time that were restricted along gender, class or racial lines.
Taking the oath of membership involves promising to obey the laws of the state and the nation, as well as the orders of Grange superiors as long as those do not conflict with law or religious belief. While the rituals are strongly Christian, the Grange is open to members of all religions and makes a point of deferring to an individuals religious convictions.
The Grange has had a powerful educational and self-help component from the start as well as political significance. Grangers were instrumental in founding the Populist Party and in the establishment of a secretary of agriculture (before 1889, there was no such post). Since then, the Grange legacy has included establishing and/or lobbying for agricultural colleges, agricultural research stations and extension services including 4H, the FFA organization for students and the expansion of the rural free delivery network operated by the U.S. Postal Service.
Currently the Grange lobbies at the national and state levels for many charitable and agricultural causes, mostly centered on promoting family life and family farms. It also contributes to community life by maintaining Grange Halls, used for many purposes, especially in smaller communities, and by contributing to many charitable and community based causes.
Our chapter of the Grange, Maplewood Grange #662, was organized at the Barlow City Hall on March 6, 1925, becoming the 18th grange in Clackamas County. A small group of farmers from Aurora, Barlow, Canby, and Macksburg had decided something should be done to better their home and economic life, and after some research found that a Grange might fit their needs.
On March 20 the Tualatin Grange sponsored an obligation ceremony for Maplewood’s 74 prospective grange members and installed the officers with Brother Baveland of the Oswego Grange officiating. Avon Jesse was the new grange’s Master, or CEO if you will. At the same meeting the name of Maplewood Grange was proposed and accepted. If anyone knows who dreamed up the name or why I’d be grateful to know.
At the first regular meeting it was voted to purchase a building in Barlow for $500 and spend $646 to patch it up. In October of the same year they conducted a membership drive with 211 applications received! Can you imagine that for a nonprofit today? 173 candidates were initiated on January 14, 1926. On March 20, 1926 they celebrated the first anniversary, serving dinner to 150 grangers. H.E. Keen, Editor of the Oregon City Newspaper and the Honorable Walter Pierce, Governor of Oregon were the program of the evening. I am so jealous.
As invitational dances were the order of the day, it was voted that any member attending dances or socials under the influence of liquor would be put out of the hall. For the second offense, the person would be barred from dances or socials for six months. The dance commission was also instructed by the city of Barlow to forbid the dancing of the Charleston on the dance floor. At the 78th anniversary celebration of Maplewood Grange Vesta Mark, a founding member, told those present that the reason the Charleston was forbidden was for safety, not a morals issue. It was because the building was an old "box-like" grocery store which had a basement beneath it. The building was old and unstable, so when a group of people starting dancing with vigor the building started shaking and swaying. The city was afraid that the floor would cave in or the building would tumble so they instructed the grange’s dance commission to forbid the dancing of the Charleston.
Early Grange activities included a baseball team, picnics and other social activities. The November 11, 1927 minutes state that Master George Berg borrowed a radio and the greater part of the afternoon was spent listening to football games. At the February 10, 1928 meeting it was voted to send $96.40 raised by dances to the State Grange to help promote the income tax bill, a grange lobbing priority.
Well, apparently the Charleston dancers were frustrated as the hall was reported unsafe and beyond repair in 1937. The members voted to tear down the old building and build on a new site. The present location at the Top-of-the-Hill, Aurora, Oregon was selected on March 26, 1938 and work was started. Less than 3 months later on June 14, 1938 the Grange held its first meeting in the new hall. Although the hall was far from finished, the first dance was held July 30, 1938 and with dances as a main source of revenue, the hall was completed at a cost of $1900, plus labor, most of which was donated. Today we still rent the dance hall to dance groups on week-ends including the Chaps and Petticoats and Silver spurs square dance clubs, continuing the tradition which began 65 years ago.
The original building did not have a full basement under it. The kitchen was where the alcove is at the bottom of the stairs on the west end of the building. As years went on, the remainder of the basement was dug out and completed. A drill team was organized and in 1933 took first prize at the Pacific International Livestock Show in their division and in 1953 the visiting drill team helped install the Queen's Rodeo Court at the Clackamas County Fair. Maplewood Grange has entered a booth at Clackamas County Fair every year since being organized and has received many prizes for them. Among grange’s many projects the grange has supported Ronald MacDonald House, Future Farmers of America, GWA GrangeYouth Scholarships, Easter Seals, Cancer Fund, made bonnets for cancer patients, recycled paper and aluminum containers, saved pull tabs, volunteered to help shut-ins, visited the elderly, done displays at County Fair, fielded a drill team, helped organize the Clackamas Credit Union and the Grange Supply Store in Gladstone and others.
Many things have been accomplished in the past for both Grange members and our community and it will continue to do so in the future for:
The things are mighty few on earth,
That wishes may obtain.
What'er we want of any worth
We've got to work to gain.
As of this writing 27 men and 3 women have had the privilege to serve as Master of
Maplewood Grange, each with the aid of the members working hard for the interest of the
Grange.
Although we do not enjoy huge meeting attendance today, our Grange spirit is still present. As Mr. Glover told those at the installation meeting in 1925, "Maplewood has the opportunity to accomplish many things, which will be of lasting value to her state; and if you're a friend of agriculture and all mankind, we need you in the Grange." The preceding history was compiled from previous histories written by Vesta Mark and Mildred Sether.