The season of Preparation, Culture and Harvest have passed. It is in the Home that we enjoy the fruits of our labors in the fields of the farm.  In a few weeks we will be in the midst of the 132nd Annual Session of the Connecticut State Grange in Norwich.  We will meet up with old friends and meet new acquaintances for future friendships. Many resolutions will be debated and compromises will result in approval or rejection by all.  This is the most important feature of the State Session is good debate and results in an agreed ending. So please let us all allow for an open mind for the opposition. And we will have a great State Session. This year will be the election of officers, so please be prepared as delegates to keep the balloting running smoothly.

This past year many new programs have come from the State Grange, Grants for a new Community Service Project, American Senior Benefits, a new Grange Store, new certificates, assistance for membership drives from the State Membership Committee. These new programs have shown gains in membership by Granges that have utilized these benefits.

We are expanding our affiliation with American Senior Benefits by offering cash bonuses for Granges having a community-wide meeting that gets three people to make contact with AMB following the meeting. The bonus will be $50. Granges who have a Grange-wide meeting with the same number of contacts to ASB will receive $25. Here’s a chance to open up your halls in an attempt to get new members and provide a benefit for all. Another Medicare open-enrollment is from October to December.

This year we are reviewing a program for Grange Secretaries and Treasurers, as to their duties in these offices. This is in rough format and has to be approved by the Board of Directors. But I feel this is important information because there are many new Secretaries and Treasurers that have no mentors to guide them or some misinformation is given to them. So please participate in this program when released.

Many fairs are ongoing in our local Granges, let us all get out and visit these functions and support our neighbors. Also there are some Granges that are struggling with membership, just remember Affiliate Membership can help the survival of a Community Grange. If you can assist, please consider helping a neighboring Grange by affiliating with them. Your help can help them in gaining new members.

It is sad to say goodbye to Quinebaug Pomona No. 2. September 30, 2016 is their last day. I hope that their members will attend those Pomona Granges that they have been assigned to. They are waiting to welcome you into their groups, so please give them a chance.

As your State Master I wish to thank all the officers, Deputies, and Committee members of the Connecticut State Grange for the assistance you have given me and Marcia over the past two years. Many good things have come out of these past two years and many things need to be changed or improved. But with us all working together we can improve the image of the Grange in the State of Connecticut. Our past history shows that we have had many ups and downs, yet we have always overcome any problem that has been put before us and I feel that we can do it again. So let us roll up our sleeves and work together to move us forward in the next year.