The Grange Movement is 150 years old. 🌀 Rockford Grange #501 in Hood River, Oregon is 110 years old in 2023!
Rockford History
The Rockford Grange #501 was established in 1913. Built in 1921 our Grange building was the largest Grange Hall in the state of Oregon. This Grange, #501, has had various names during its 100 years, including Park Grange and West Hood River Grange. At one time there were over 200 active Grange members.
Since WWII rural life, and subsequently Granges, across the country, have been on the decline as people left the country living for urban areas. Modern media became more focal than community gatherings. Many Granges during this period were lost and the Granges that remain sometimes question where they fit into modern culture. We of the Rockford Grange believe that bringing families and neighbors together is of enduring value to people, and the spaces where we can gather are to be enjoyed and protected.
Our current Rockford members seek information about Grange history in the Hood River Valley. The decades between the ‘40’s, and the ‘90s are mostly unknown to us. We know that the WyEast Whirlers, a Square dance group kept the Hall functioning as a Grange beginning in the ‘70s. The Mid Columbia Folklore Society has held 2nd Saturday Country Dances at Rockford since 1990. The Unitarian Universalist congregation has met at Rockford since 2007. Our current Grangers began to revitalize the Grange in 2010 when the Hood River Valley community was in danger of losing Rockford Hall as the older generation of folks aged on.
If sleuthing historical records and interviewing elders of the larger community are of interest to you, we would welcome your help!
Rose bush planted 2015 in Honor of Lucile Wyers. b.1916-d.2014. She was a member of Rockford for 71 years, serving as Grange Master for 10 years.
Lucile and Grange members helped to start a Public Utilities District in the Hood River Valley so that rural residents of Hood River county would have electricity in the 1940s. Hood River Electric Co-op is a result of those efforts.
Grange Movement History
The Grange is a family, community organization with its roots in agriculture. The original Grange was founded in 1867, formed as a national organization with a local focus. Granges, including Rockford, were instrumental in bringing needed services to rural areas, such as postal service, utilities, farm supplies (Montgomery Ward & Grange Supply became Hood River Supply), rural fire protection, state agriculture schools such as OSU and their Extension services, 4H and FFA- and the list goes on. Today the National Grange is part of the advocacy for Broadband services to rural areas.
The Grange has four levels, Community, County or District, State, and National. Our local membership sets the direction and activities for the Community Grange in true grassroots fashion, and those decisions seep up to the national level.
The original motto of the Patrons of Husbandry, the Grange.
“I Feed You All”. lithograph by American Oleograph Co., Milwaukee, 1875. (Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division).
2015 Rockford Grange officer installation.
George A. Palmiter received First, Second, Third and fourth Degrees at Rockford Grange in 1917, and was elected Master of Rockford Grange in 1918. He continued in this office until elected as Oregon Grange State Master from 1923 to 1938. As our Grange Hall was erected by 1922, Rockford Hall mortgage was burned in 1937 by brother Palmiter. He died in Portland in 1938. --Inscription on photo by Edward Power in 1939
Curious?
Want to dig deeper? Two good books to start:
Spirit of the Grange; The Wisdom of Demeter, by Ann Brigit Waters (2016) A contemporary exploration of Grange lore and history, from a woman deeply committed to making tradition and experience of Grange rituals interactive.
Exploring Traditions— Celebrating the Grange Way of Life, by Walter Boomsma (2018) A collected series of his columns from the Maine State Grange website. He reads a bit like Garrison Keillor
Meet your current Grange Officers
Ideally our officers hold their office two years and there are enough members to enjoy learning and taking leadership roles in various capacities and interests.
Master/web editor
Karen Harding
overseer
Aera atkins
Karen is a retired Child Care provider in the Hood River Valley. Food was a big part of the curriculum at their home and forest, oriented day care. Where our food comes from, what are it’s qualities, how do the nutrients help our bodies, as well as gratitude for Mother Earth, the farmers, plants, soil, Sun and rain, were all regular conversations during the meals they served for 30 years.
The Grange Movement’ strong populist history, events and rituals that celebrate the seasonal, agricultural community, and our resourceful, worthy, Grange family make Karen proud, and humble, to serve as Rockford’s current Grange Master.
Steward
Tom Hons
LECTURER
Keith Harding
Secretary
Dennis Carlson & Beth Hartwell
CHAPLAIN
Beth Hartwell
gatekeeper
Shannon Perry
Keith hails from New England by way of Alaska. He grew up near Granite Grange #7 in New Hampshire, playing ball games in it’s yard. He has a fond memory of the custodian replacing the windows, rather than forbidding the kids access. The Health of people, forests and planet keeps him passionate about life in the Hood River Valley, mid-Columbia watersheds. Besides nurturing children at StarShine ChildLife Habitat, he served on various Forest Service collaborative groups, the Justice/Witness team and council for Riverside Community Church UCC, the Mid-Columbia FolkLore Society board, the HRC Library board, the Columbia River Peace Fellowship board, a founding member of a HR men’s world concerns discussion group, Columbia Riverkeeper --especially focused on Hanford clean up, coaching of Community Ed soccer and Baseball teams, as well as a founding member of Waucoma (democratic) School, when his kids were young.
Serving as Rockford Grange Lecturer gives Keith a place to share his vision and concern for our beloved planet within the Grange community.
Secretary duties include taking minutes and posting them once a month. Making Quarterly Reports of changes in membership and dues sent to Oregon State Grange.
Receives dues and all monies for the Grange, for the Treasurer.
Recieves and brings necessary correspondence incoming to Rockford Grange to our monthly meetings.
Special Projects (Executive committee?) (3)
Bonnie Cox
Bonnie has been a grange member for __ years and is a key player in organizing many of our events. Bonnie Cox moved to Hood River from the Willamette Valley where she worked in various agricultural extension projects with area vegetable farmers and also farmed organically with a friend. Her two years of Peace Corps work in Bolivia further developed her interests in community development and marketing as she trained farmers in modern beekeeping methods and helped them get their new products to market.
Treasurer/ Webmaster
Howard Cohen
musician
Your name here?
Assistant stewards (2)
Your names here?
pomona
ceres
Flora
Howard has been a Grange member since 2017 and brings his IT and Program Management skills to the Grange. Prior to joining the Grange he was the leader of the Santa Monica Mountains Trails Council, a non-profit group dedicated to enhance and preserve the trail system, promote public awareness and build, monitor and maintain trails with various government agencies. When Howard isn’t running ultra marathons, he and his wife Jeanne con be found on their flower farm in Hood River and have been learning what it takes to be a farmer.
What talents do you bring? We mostly need a song leader. And one who brings songs for us to sing together. Instruments would be wondrous.
The Staves are used in the traditional Grange rituals by the Steward and the assistants. The rituals are allegories for our journey through life, our growth in understanding our place in the creation of farms and gardens through the seasons of the year, through the seasons of our lives. The cultivation of wisdom would enliven the hard work of farming.
In the beginning as a fraternal organization, and carefully defending the organizational work of reforming railroad and granary policies that were unfair to farmers the Stewards and the Gatekeeper used a secret password to protect the meetings from outsiders.
Welcome women! Now is our time to personify Goddess! Create your own crown if you like.
Ceres/Demeter is Goddess of grain, of Summer. She is Patroness of the ‘Patrons of Husbandry’ aka The Grange.
Pomona is Goddess of Harvest of fruit, of Autumn and Orchards.
Flora is Goddess of Spring, of Flowers and Beauty. Duties are mostly of blessing, occasional ritual and Cosmic Wisdom.
