Membership

Regular Membership - This membership gives you all benefits and entitles you to full voice and vote at the Grange. Individual membership dues are $40.00 a year and are prorated for the year when you first join. The Initiation fee for new members is $5.00. Family membership dues are $80.00 a year and are also prorated for the year when the family joins, and has a $10.00 one-time initation fee for the new family.

To join, a person or family must submit an application along with the appropriate dues and fees to the Secretary of the Grange. Two members of our Grange must sign the application as sponsors who recommend you to membership. The Grange must vote to accept the applicant(s) into members. You must then attend a meeting to participate in our Welcoming Ceremony. At that time you are a full member. Application

Associate Business Membership - This membership is available to any business or organization that is incorporated, or has an assumed business name. The cost is $100 annually. This membership entitles you to the benefits of the Grange but not to vote at meetings. Application

If you wish to learn more, contact our Membership Chairman or come to any Grange meeting and sit through one of our meetings. We don't have any secrets, just a lot of fellowship, fun, and activities.

Benefits of Grange Membership

Friendships and fellowship with people who share traditional American values of patriotism, belief in a supreme being, and care about our community. The entire family is welcome to participate in our activities from infants to senior citizens. Fun and enjoyable activities. Meetings, community service projects, special activities, and even fund-raisers are all designed to be a great time for members and visitors.

Hall usage*: Each member is entitled to one free non-commercial hall use during each year for family purposes. Members needing extra space for a reunion, or family celebration need to contact the rental chairman for availability.

Oregonians Credit Union: Grange membership entitles you to membership in this credit union.

Participation in any Clackamas Pomona Grange event.

Visit the Oregon State Grange and National Grange websites for a current list of their benefits and services.

*This one of the privilages of membership at Boring-Damascus Grange.
If you intend on joining another Grange be sure to check with them about the unqiue benefits they may provide.

History of the Patrons of Husbandry

The Grange came into being in 1867 because of the vision of Oliver Hudson Kelley, a Minnesota farmer and activist. He had long held that farmers, because of their independent and scattered nature, needed a national organization which would represent them much as unions were beginning to do for industrial workers. Farmers were at the mercy of merchants for both needed farm supplies and for marketing their crops. Railroads and warehouse companies were taking advantage of farmers as well.

Kelley and some of his friends organized the National Grange (officially known as the Order of Patrons of Husbandry) as a fraternal group similar to the Masonic lodge. The early leaders were responsible for promoting cooperatives which had the potential of helping farmers economically. Effective lobbying efforts were undertaken early and this activity remains a bulwark of Grange service to rural America. Education of rural residents was championed by the early Grange and, due to Grange agitation, dramatic improvements were made in rural schools. The birth of the Extension Service, Rural Free Delivery, and the Farm Credit System were largely due to Grange lobbying. The Grange at all levels is strictly nonpartisan and does not endorse candidates for public office nor contribute to their campaigns.

At the national level, the Grange actively lobbies for causes which are in accord with organizational policy. All policy within the Grange originates at the local level and the organization remains as one of America's best examples of democratic grass-roots activism. The primary legislative objective of the Grange is to represent the views of rural residents and the agricultural community. These issues include transportation, farm programs, rural economic development, education, health and safety concerns and many others. Each year the policies are summarized and published in booklet form.

Early in its history Grange leaders realized that social interaction was especially important to rural residents. For over 140 years Grange halls have existed as community centers where residents gather for educational events, dances, potlucks, town meetings, political rallies and other meetings. Junior Grange, 4-H, FFA, scouting and Camp Fire groups have thrived because of Grange support and each year tens of thousands of Grange members participate in numerous community service projects.

A wide variety of social, leadership and educational opportunities for members of all ages have been made available throughout the organization' s long history. Members not only receive personal satisfaction from accomplishing something they enjoy, but they share in the greater reward of being an active part of an organized effort to bring people together for good times, constructive activities and honest, hard-working community building.

For a complete history of the National Grange, see People, Pride and Progress: 125 Years of the Grange in America by David H. Howard (Washington, D.C.: The National Grange, 1992; 336 pages, hardcover, bibliography and index, Foreword by former U.S. Rep. Thomas Foley, former Speaker of the House of Representatives). Copies are available from the National Grange, 1616 H. St. NW, Washington, DC 20006 for $12 each plus $3 each for postage/handling.