| September 7, 2017 -- It’s hard to believe summer is just about over! While I’m not a great fan of hot and humid weather, it seems like this summer has been more of an extended warm spring. As we get closer to State Session in October, there are a few reminders you should have.
Every Grange should be represented at State Session. Your delegates to State Session can be any member(s) of the Grange in good standing if elected to be delegates by your Grange. We know it’s not always possible for the Grange Master or Overseer to attend, but your Grange is entitled to be represented and vote at Session.
There are a small number of Granges that have not paid their dues for the second quarter of this year (Due June 30) and one Grange that is behind two quarters. Granges cannot be officially represented at State Session with seated delegates unless all dues are paid up through the second quarter of this year. We hope those Granges will get current soon and have delegates in October.
State Session is not just for the delegates and State Officers. State Session is open to ALL members to attend and enjoy. We have printed the rough schedule for the session in this issue. If you are interested in attending a day or days, please fill out and return a registration form (also included in this issue). Registration is not required to attend the Lecturer’s program at the Banquet (although advance purchase is required to have a meal at the Banquet) and the Sixth Degree is free of registration charge. Hotel reservations are easy to make by contacting the Holiday Inn in Norwich at a very reasonable rate of $92.00 plus taxes. Just mention the Connecticut State Grange when calling. If you have not attended Session for a while and have a suggestion or reason for not attending, please let me know what those are. We are always looking at Session to find ways to make keep it relevant and enjoyable to our members.
There have been questions about the Dues Receipts. They will be sent out in September. However, response from Granges has been very slim. I have repeated last year’s order for those Granges that did not let me know. They all have to be printed together at the same time. So this is the only way it can be done in a timely manner.
There are still about a half dozen Granges that have not sent in their officer and committee lists for the Directory. If you know you haven’t done so, please do it right away. Without the benefit of Pomona handbooks, there is no way to accurately update missing Granges without the cooperation of those Granges. Thank you for your help with this.
At State Session information will be distributed regarding a relatively new program offered to all Granges at all levels. It is a membership database program that will manage your membership records, online and in one place. We currently use the program at the Central Office for our Quarterly Report to National Grange and it works quite well. Each Grange has been already assigned a unique password and has some of the membership information entered from membership lists already provided to National. It will be up to Subordinate and Pomona Secretaries to maintain that information to ensure that it is accurate and up to date.
The Grange Store will return to State Session this year with many new items for sale, from shirts, to mugs, bracelets, jewelry, ties and more. It’s one stop shopping without the shipping charges!
On the subject of Pomona Granges – there continues to be questions regarding regalia and (specifically) Fifth Degree equipment. All of these materials should stay in place where they are currently stored. Sashes, Bibles, table scarves, implements, staves, rugs, etc., will be collected at a time and date to be determined. Please do not bring them to State Session. Degree equipment and paraphernalia should be inventoried and a copy of that inventory should be provided to the Central Office with a note on where it is located. When new Pomona Granges are organized and opened, we will provide that information to them so they can decide if there is anything they would like to use. Your help with this will save all of us a lot of time and energy moving things around.
Are you still collecting G Notes? We are! We will continue to accept G Notes up to and during State Session. Keep saving them… we’ll never turn away money! Like last year, there are several Granges that have been going above and beyond looking for them.
Until next time, enjoy what is left of summer and the fall colors to come. |
