By Brittney Oliver

2018-19 Outstanding Young Patron

Reprinted from The Patron's Chain Newsletter - Day 5

Take a minute to stop and just think about the Grange. What is the very first word that comes to mind?

Was ‘progress’ within your top five words? Just a hunch, but I’m guessing that a variety of several other words wandered through your mind instead. And you’re probably not alone in that thinking. For a lot of Granges and Grangers across the country, this organization has lost sight of our great history of progress. The National Grange was founded on the idea of progress. Progress in agriculture, economic issues, gender rights; the list goes on and on.

But, how do we go about progressing the interests and impact that the Grange has on our membership, in our governments, and most importantly in our communities? I truly believe the answer lies within our youth and young adults. Before you know it, this generation will be the ones in those gold sashes. So why aren’t we more actively seeking new young members and training them to be the leaders we want to continue the legacy of this organization?

In Worthy National Master Betty Huber’s internal address, she focused on the need for our organization to re-think membership recruitment when it comes to the young adults of Generation Y. Then, on Thursday night Betsy hosted a Young Leaders Council meeting with several young adults from all across the country in attendance. The purpose of the get-together was to brainstorm and discuss all aspects of the Grange and how our organization can better utilize, involve and gain more young adults and youth in all levels of the grange. This is a great start.

During the nearly two-hour meeting, several topics were explored, and no rock was left unturned. We dug into the core of the youth and young adults in today’s world. What are their needs, wants and goals? How can we, as an organization, make the Grange more desirable to the up and coming generations? What can we do at the national level to lead the effort in keeping our youth and young adults active, engaged, and excited to bring their friends to join? Under Betsy’s direction and guidance this group of selected young adults will continue the conversation via digital meetings. Of the suggestions brought forward, several out of the box ideas were explored. What if we restructured the youth awards program; what would it look like? Why not give the National Youth Officers additional opportunities to grow their leadership skills throughout the year? What if we were to set learning tracks for youth members based upon their specific interests of the organization? The questions are starting to be asked, will continue to be asked, and all ideas will be reviewed to find the opportunities that could progress the Grange to engage the next generation.

All pies are handmade in a room full of ladies who truly love to make pies. They aren’t typical pies every pie is handcrafted using only the best local fruit. Huckleberries from the berry fields of Mt. Adams were hand-picked by Shirley Pence. Sweet Cherries donated by Kay Kayser Thompson from a secret tree that only she knows the location. Succulent peaches came from the Columbia River orchards at Maryhill.

Goldendale Grange is fortunate for its community support and generosity. Many of our pie customers not only purchase holiday pies but also donate many of ingredients with the knowledge they’ll eventually be used to provide a scholarship to deserving young individuals.

For over 150 years the Grange has been known as a family oriented organization. Our pie project exemplifies that claim. Kay Kayser Thompson and her daughter Luann supervise the kitchen crew. Their grandson, third generation Miles helped briefly and has been taught to hold his own in a kitchen full of women while creating his own yummy pie. Grange Master, Mary Anne Enyeart and her grand-daughter Anna were covered in flour while kneading tubs of pie dough. Grange member Lanae Johnson provided a precious moment when she was caught explaining her secret to making an awesome pie to Noah, her 12-year old grandson. Lanae is also an accomplished cake baker-decorator and in constant demand. She has exhibited her artistic ability by providing beautiful cakes for most of our special grange events. We were fortunate she found the time to participate. This year’s pie baking crew consisted of twenty-five ladies that included both grange members and non-members.

Our group of special ladies not only love to make pies they’re also extremely critical of the pies they make. If a pie doesn’t meet their expectations they don’t hesitate in discarding it. The day before our pies were to be delivered the ladies discarded a group of pies that didn’t meet their expectations. Showing true dedication, these ladies arrived at 4 o’clock the next morning to remake the rejected pies before delivery time that same morning.

Holiday pie sales has been our premier community service projects for many years. This is only one of the many projects we do that helped gain us recognition at the 2018 National Grange Convention in Stowe, VT as a National Distinguished Grange. An elite group of only 33 granges found throughout the county.

Following our previous State Grange themes of “Charting Our Voyage”, “Setting Sail for a Brighter Future”, and “Crossing the Horizon”, we are planning to “Discover Opportunities for Success” over the next year. The National Grange has chosen a “Grange Super Heroes” theme, thus we will combine and use both themes in our state.

As we enter our 152nd year as a Grange organization, we may reflect on our successes of past years. We just completed our 152nd Annual National Grange Convention in Stowe, VT. I, along with State Executive Committeeman David Bryant, served as the delegates from the Washington State Grange. David was on the Grange Law Committee and I was on the Conservation and Ecology Committee. While many of my committee’s resolutions focused on plastics and recyclables, we also discussed current Grange policy on drift net fishing, forest practices, mining regulations, and hydroelectric power. No topic was left untouched as we explored all aspects of our committee work.

Moving on to 2019, we are planning an expanded series of Grange Leadership Conferences throughout the state in January and February. The schedule can be found elsewhere in this issue. The plan is to include each of the State Grange Directors in the conferences. Each of the conferences will begin with a general session for all Grangers, where we will provide you with tools and ideas on where and how you can discover opportunities for success in your Granges. This session will be followed by a breakout session where you will choose one to attend. The sessions will include a training for Grange Secretaries and multiple presentations focused on opportunities for Grange Lecturer, Family Living Chairs, Membership Chairs, Community Service Chairs, and Youth and Junior Programs. We will distribute a great deal of information for each Grange. I suggest bringing a carload of people from your Grange so you can be represented at each of the sessions.

Also in this issue, you will find a list of dates for the upcoming year. Two important dates are Grange Legislative Day, scheduled for January 29 in Olympia and the State Grange Convention, which will be June 26-29 in Okanogan.

The past year has zoomed right by. Each day has brought new challenges to the Grange. Thank you for your support and guidance in meeting those challenges in a fair and concise manner.

As we approach the holidays, you are invited to join us for a Holiday Open House at the State Grange Office on Tuesday, December 18 from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Join us for a time of socializing and enjoy light refreshments.

From the officers and staff of the Washington State Grange, our best wishes to each of you for a wonderful holiday season. Let’s demonstrate how Grange Super Heroes can work together discovering opportunities for success in the Granges across our state!

By Heather Hansen

Legislative Lobbyist

Washington voters were clear about one thing, they do not like new taxes. Initiative 1631 which would have created a carbon tax resulting in higher fuel and energy prices failed decisively. This is not the first time. In 2016, Initiative 732, another carbon tax, failed. Earlier this year, the legislature tried to pass a carbon tax, but didn’t have enough votes. One would think that after three failed attempts in as many years, supporters might accept that the people of Washington do not want this tax. That does not appear to be the case. Supporters are already talking of going to the legislature with another try in 2019.

Initiative 1634, passed with nearly as large a margin as 1631, banning local governments from creating new taxes on food items including sugary drinks. On both initiatives, King, Island and Jefferson Counties voted opposite from the rest of the state.

Initiative 1639 passed giving Washington State some of the toughest gun control laws in the country. The map was different for that one, with thirteen out of thirty-nine counties voting in support. Most were on the west side of the state, but Spokane and Whitman Counties voted yes while most of southwest Washington voted no.

Measure 940, concerning additional training for law enforcement focused on de-escalation, passed in seventeen counties.

In the legislature, the Democratic majority in the Senate increased by two seats to 27-22. In the House, the Democratic majority increased by seven seats for a final count of 57-41. That means the Democratic party will control the agenda in 2019.

The new committee structure will not be finalized until the legislature begins on January 14. But there will be numerous changes.

In the House, there will be a new ranking Republican on the Ag and Natural Resources Committee since Rep. Vince Buys was defeated. There will also be a new ranking Republican on the Environment Committee since Rep. David Taylor was defeated. The Commerce & Gaming Committee will need a new ranking Republican since Rep. Cary Condotta retired. The Finance Committee will need a new Chair following Rep. Kris Lytton’s retirement. The Transportation Committee will also need a new chair following Rep. Judy Clibborn’s retired and a new ranking member since Rep. Mark Harmsworth was defeated.

In the Senate, the Committee on Economic Development and International Trade will need a new chair since Maralyn Chase was defeated. The Labor Committee will need a new ranking Republican since Senator Baumgartner retired. The State Government Committee will need a new ranking Republican since Mark Miloscia was defeated.

It is possible that the committee structure will have more significant changes as leadership finds places for new members.