Following several years of work, Riverside Valley Grange #1047 held a ribbon cutting ceremony for their new hall on May 13, 2019.

The ceremony followed several years of negotiation between the Grange and Murrey’s Disposal Company. In an exchange of property, the disposal company received the Grange’s former property and the former Grange hall. The Grange received a new Grange hall, land with paved parking area and landscaping.

Grange members were heavily involved with the negotiations and the design of the new hall. The State Grange Executive Committee was kept apprised of the negotiations and progress being made. Final approval of the property exchanges was made at the January meeting of the executive committee.

Riverside Valley Grange members were joined by the members of several neighboring Pierce County Grange members for the ribbon cutting ceremony. Representatives of Murrey’s Disposal Company also joined in the festivities.

A short program, presided over by Pierce County Pomona Master Jarrod Gardner, followed the ribbon cutting. Speakers included State Master Tom Gwin, State Overseer Karen Jackson, and State Executive Committeeman David Bryant, along with Riverside Valley Grange Master Ken Cockle.

The members of Riverside Valley Grange moved their belongings into the new hall prior to the ribbon cutting. The Grange has purchased window blinds and other equipment for their new hall, as well. Congratulations to the members of Riverside Valley Grange on their new acquisition. We wish you the best of you work for the betterment of your community.

Riverside Valley Grange is located just outside of the City of Fife in Pierce County.

By Pam Matthews

State Grange Chaplain

I want to encourage you to have a memorial service in your Granges this spring. Included in the Lecturer packet is a memorial service. This service is a suggestion only and you may want to use all or any part of it. Or do something else entirely. That is fine; I just ask that your Grange have a memorial service, in the spring, to remember those brothers and sisters who have passed on in the preceding twelve months. A copy of the service will be on the State Grange web site.

I would also like to remind you if your Grange has any members who were Deputies, State Officers, District Directors, or their spouses, who have died this last year, to let me know as soon as possible so I may write a special tribute for these members for the annual memorial service at the State Grange convention.

Grange secretaries, please send me the names of your past Masters and/or spouses who have passed away this last year, for the Memorial roll at the State session. The form is in the secretary’s packet.

If you have any questions, comments, or have a report to make please phone or email me at:

360-352-7043 or mathewstwin@hotmail.com. Put “Grange” in the subject line please.

May the Lord bless you all.

The warmer days of April remind us that summer is fast approaching. Many of us have been on the move forward through the spring and we now have the opportunity to demonstrate how we, as Grange Heroes, will keep busy in the upcoming months.

The next opportunity will be the 130th Annual Washington State Grange Convention, which will be held at the Okanogan County Fairgrounds in Okanogan on June 26-29. Housing and meal information is printed in this issue of The Grange News. In the next issue, you will find a full convention schedule and information on speakers and workshops during the convention. If you haven’t booked your hotel room yet, please do so immediately as our dates are conflicting with the other events in the Okanogan and Omak areas on that weekend.

Just prior to our convention, some of you in the Vancouver and suburban Portland are may want to visit the Oregon State Grange Convention, which will be held at the Molalla High School in nearby Molalla, OR. Their convention begins on June 22 with an agricultural tour, the exemplification of the first four degrees, and their talent show that evening. The official opening of their convention will be on the morning of Sunday, June 23, followed by business sessions. The fifth and sixth degrees will be held that evening. Their convention will continue through Thursday, June 27

Late June will also see the first of multiple Junior Grange camps across the state. The Junior Grange Camping Program is designed to teach Grange values and philosophies, while at the same time enjoying traditional camping activities. Each of the camps is operated by a board of directors, who selects the camp staff and plans the camp activities. Each of the camps is chartered as a Junior Grange, thus those who attend will become Junior Grange members. Camps are held during six different weeks, beginning in late June and going until mid-August. For a complete list of dates and registration information, please refer to the State Grange website, www.wa-grange.org . Once you are on the website, click under “departments” and then scroll down to “junior camp”.

You also have an opportunity to join u at the Grange Day with the Seattle Mariners on July 25. You are invited to join us at the baseball game as the Seattle Mariners take on the Detroit Tigers. Our block of seats will be in Section 137 (between third base and home plate). Tickets are just $30. Order forms are in this newspaper. Be sure to send your order in by July 5.

County and area fairs will begin in mid-July and last into October. Many Granges will participate in the fairs with their elaborate Grange displays. If you haven’t started your fair design, now is the time to start the first sketches of your display for this year. Some of you will choose to create an “agricultural produce” display, while others will prefer to create a “project” display. Whichever you choose, I encourage you to take the time to design and execute a well-planned booth this year. Your work is should be designed to give an accurate portrayal of our organization and the work we do to improve our communities and agriculture as a whole. Take the extra moment as you create your display to see that it portrays a positive image of our organization.

While some Granges are preparing displays, others will be operating food concessions at a fair. Once again, take the time to see that food is prepared properly and all health guidelines are met. Granges have a strong reputation for quality foods. For those without food concessions, I ask that you support your brothers and sisters by patronizing their food concessions.

In August, the Montana State Grange will host the Western Regional Grange Youth and Leaders Conference on August 9-11 at the Echo Valley Campgrounds, near Elliston, MT. Registration material will soon be available and will be printed in next month’s newspaper.

In addition to the above activities, many Granges will be holding picnics, barbecues, open houses, and celebrations in their own communities. Take each opportunity and make the most of it as we work to invite our friends and neighbors to join us and learn how Grangers are heroes in each of our hometowns across this great nation!

By Heather Hansen

Legislative Lobbyist

It’s all over but the budget, mostly. The legislature has passed all cutoff dates. For the most part, bills are either passed or dead. But this process is full of exceptions, so some dead bills will come back to life and a few live bills will fail to make it past the Governor’s desk.

The House and Senate have each passed three budgets – operating, capital and transportation. There are many differences between the two sides, some are large, some are small. For example, the Senate Capital budget includes $2 million for health and safety grants for fairgrounds. The House budget does not. The House Capital budget includes $1.2 million for fencing to keep elk out of farm crops. The Senate budget does not. Before the legislative session can adjourn, both sides must agree on all three budgets. The last constitutional day of this legislative session is April 28. If the budget has not been finalized by then, a special session may be called.

New bills are still being introduced. Most of them are new taxes. One of the most recently introduced bills is SB 6017. It was sponsored by eight Democratic Senators, most of them fairly new to the legislature. The bill would impose an additional excise tax on any business that pays an employee more than one million dollars. If an employee makes more than $10 million dollars, the tax rate would be 10%. According to the prime sponsor, Sen. Joe Nguyen, it is “a tax on wealth inequality.” In the private sector, many highly paid employees get much of their compensation in stock options, so if the bill were to pass, the number of employees covered may be fewer than expected. Ironically, there are five public employees who make more than one million dollars per year. They are the University of Washington football coach who makes nearly $5 million per year, the WSU football coach, the WSU basketball coach, the UW basketball coach, and the UW chief investment officer. Since the state does not tax itself, their salaries would not be included.

You may wonder why I’m writing about this since it is very unlikely that any Grange members fall into this category. In both the House and Senate, there have been new bills introduced that are being referred to as Robin Hood bills. They take from the rich and give to the poor. This may sound appealing to some, but many farmers appear to be “rich” on paper because they own land. And imposing new taxes on highly paid employees has the potential to create unintended consequences. Some of the most innovative companies may choose not to come to Washington if we enact such taxes.

Washington’s economy has been booming for several years, especially in the Puget sound region. Eventually, there will be a downturn. State spending grew $11 billion during the past four years. State lawmakers have taken advantage of the commensurate growth in tax revenues to invest in education and other important programs. But now the policy think tanks are getting anxious as the legislature continues to consider more spending rather than saving for a rainy day.

Hunter Orange: State law requires hunters to wear fluorescent orange clothing to ensure they are visible to others. ESSB 5148 passed the legislature unanimously. It would allow hunters to wear either fluorescent orange or fluorescent pink clothing.

Overweight Farm Trucks: SSB 5883 would allow vehicles carrying farm products to exceed total gross weight limits on occasion. Recognizing that it is difficult to weigh in the field, this bill would allow each driver to exceed total gross weight limits by two thousand pounds twice a year.

Wolves: HB 2097 sponsored by Rep. Joel Kretz requires the Department of Fish and Wildlife to maintain sufficient staff resources in Ferry and Stevens counties for ongoing response to conflicts between gray wolves and livestock, and for continued implementation of proactive nonlethal deterrents. It also directs the department to develop and implement conflict mitigation guidelines for each wolf recovery region. Cattle producers, tribes, and conservation groups all supported the bill. The Center for Biological Diversity opposed it.