Dexter Grange seeks members to retain charter and Scout sponsorship

By Mike Lange
Staff Writer

    DEXTER — There seemed to be no shortage of volunteers at the Nov. 9 hunters’ breakfast at the Dexter Grange.
    While adults cooked heaping plates of eggs and home fries, several Boy Scouts collected money at the door, manned the serving line and helped clean up the hall afterwards.

Observer photo/Mike Lange

    BRINGING HOME THE BACON — Scout Jordan Mason helps Rick Ahern with the hunter’s breakfast on Nov. 9 at the Dexter Grange.

    But it’s a different story when it comes to membership. “We’re down to 11 members now,” said Andy Mitchell, a Scoutmaster and overseer or vice president of the Dexter Grange, “and only seven usually show up for meetings.”
    According to the rules of the national organization, a subordinate Grange must have a minimum of 13 members — nine men and four women — to retain its charter.
    Compounding the problem is the fraternal order’s sponsorship of a local scouting group. “We’re the charter organization for Cub Scout Pack 75,” explained Grange member Rick Ahern. “The Boy Scouts also meet here, but they’re sponsored by the VFW. So if we’re not considered viable by national (Grange), the Cub Scouts will have to find a new sponsor.” Ahern’s wife, Krystal, is Cubmaster of Pack 75.

Observer photo/Mike Lange

    OVER EASY — Andy Mitchell, Grange overseer and Boy Scout leader, cooks eggs at the Nov. 9 hunter’s breakfast.

    While many fraternal orders are struggling, Dexter Grange’s problem is somewhat unique since the organization is financially stable. They own their building and have three tenants on the ground floor: Scavenger’s secondhand store, a barber shop and a small meeting area for the Dexter Club.
    Still, without enough people to fill the offices and the duties required by the National Grange, the local organization may have trouble keeping its doors open.
    Walter Boomsma of Abbot is the Maine State Grange webmaster and the publicity director of Valley Grange in North Guilford. “I do know some of the state Grange officers have been working with the Dexter folks, but the real key is always community support,” Boomsma said. “Without it, there’s definitely an uphill battle.”
    Boomsma also said that while it takes 13 members officially to maintain a charter “that’s not enforced if the Grange is trying to rebuild. In Dexter’s case, two people would do it officially. But it really ‘takes a village’ to handle everything like building maintenance, etc.”
    This isn’t the first time that the Dexter Grange has been on the endangered list. Elaine Thomas; her late husband Allan Thomas and the late Dana Wilbur revived the organization several years ago. “Membership is a tough sell nowadays to the young people,” Thomas said. “But yet, it’s the young people we’re serving with our programs.” In addition to sponsoring Scouting groups, Granges award scholarships, promote reading programs, healthy lifestyles and conservation.
    Ahern said that while the Grange membership is dwindling, the Boy Scout pack is growing. “We’re up to 13 Tiger Scouts alone,” he said, “but only two of our Scouts have parents in the Grange.”
    Boomsma said that merging some Granges might eventually be necessary “since the numbers are just not there. It would be interesting, for example, to look at the Granges in the greater Dexter area – Dexter, North Dexter, Garland and Ripley — and wonder what would happen if they looked at joining together.”
    But Boomsma conceded that the Grange has historically been considered “as a community place. So until we are ready to change the way we think about community, it becomes difficult to rethink the organization.”

Observer photo/Mike Lange

    SCOUT’S HONOR — Boy Scouts Stephen Thomas, left, and Bryce Greaves collect donations at the Dexter Grange hunter’s breakfast.

    Mitchell, Ahern and Thomas say they’re determined to keep Dexter Grange running. “Some people who’ve lived here all their lives don’t have an idea what we stand for,” said Mitchell. “They think you have to farm to be eligible.”
    The Grange, officially known as the Patrons of Husbandry, was formed in 1867 in Minnesota by farmers who wanted an organization that would represent them much as unions were beginning to do for industrial workers. The first Maine Grange opened in Lewiston in 1874.
    Gradually, the Grange branched out from its agricultural focus and campaigned for the rural free delivery (RFD) mail system, voting rights for women and educational reform.
    Membership in the Grange is open to anyone age 14 or older, and the Dexter Grange meetings are held on the second Wednesday of the month at 7 p.m.
    Anyone interested in more information can stop in on meeting night or visit www.mainestategrange.org.