Elizabeth A. Lake, Program Director
1008 Stanton-Lebanon Road
Lebanon, NJ 08833
Phone: (908) 236-7874
E-Mail:
Committee Members
Genevieve Sliker
P.O. Box 402
Califon, NJ 07830 Brenda Muhlbaier
9 Russell Mill Road
Woolrich Township, NJ 08086 Mary Ziegelmeier
Spread the News about the Grange
Strengthening and revitalizing our Granges is essential to ensuring the future of our organization, and good Grange programs are vital to a strong, successful Grange. We need to spread the word about the Grange and work together in building strong, active Granges. Make your Grange something to “read all about,” whether it be in the local newspapers, or on your Grange’s website or a Facebook page. Build a strong, active Grange with positive activities and publicity.
How strong is your Grange? A strong Grange needs to continually work to build up their Grange and promote their work out in their community! We must encourage our members to spread the news about the Grange to family, friends and the community. Upon the program director falls the responsibility of helping their Grange be strong and meet the needs of their community and its residents, with programs that provide variety and substance, spark interest, keep members involved, and also provide entertainment and educational value. Publicizing programs and activities is essential to have growing attendance and participation.
Program directors are encouraged to secure outside speakers for programs, while other programs can be developed for in-house presentation, with members participating in the presentation. All programs should be well balanced, with informative materials and substance, leaving members feeling that they would have missed an interesting and informative program had they not been there. Programs should generally be between 20 minutes and 40 minutes in length. Longer programs are appropriate for special occasions or celebrations. Shorter programs are necessary when time is critical. Members should help their program director spread the news about their entertaining and informative programs.
Interesting and informative programs will help your Grange to answer the needs of your community and give your members something to read all about. We need to attract new members, keep current members active, and bring inactive members out. Programs well planned in advance and publicized, inviting the community to attend, will truly help your Grange have a strong future for the betterment of your community.
Mission Statement
The mission of this department is to focus on the education and enrichment of our Grange members, as well as the citizens of our communities. Our goals are to encourage the promotion and publicity of our organization in an appealing manner to prospective members, interest our members, attract our inactive members, and interact with other associated organizations.
Calendar of Important Dates
Please watch “The Gleaner,” quarterly newsletters, and mailings
for reminders and details as event dates approach.
Date
Event
March 11, 2012
Grange Family Day at the Trenton Titans Game
April 1, 2012
Deadline for Essay Contest
May 5-6, 2012
Spring Fling Weekend Bus Trip
May 19-21, 2012
Mid-Atlantic Program Directors’ Conference, hosted by Pennsylvania, in the Altoona area
June 9, 2012
Grange Family Day at the Trenton Thunders
August 31 - September 3, 2012
Fall Weekend Bus Trip
Community Concerns
It is important to maintain your good health and to help build your Grange. A Grange is only as strong as its members and members acquire their strength from good health. Invite the community to join your Grange for a healthy program. Some suggested topics are:
• Diabetes Awareness
• Cancer Awareness
• Arthritis Awareness
• Stress Awareness
• Sleep Disorder Awareness
• Allergy and Asthma Awareness
• Mental Health Awareness
• Stroke Awareness
• Skin Care Awareness
• Heart Awareness
• Vision Health Awareness
• Drug Awareness
Community Awareness
Build community awareness about your grange by having a Community Night this year. Grange Month is an excellent time, but so is every other month of the year when it comes to building and promoting your Grange! A successful evening will be achieved when you build upon the ideas of you members. Have a meeting to plan the event, send out invitations to other organization in your community as well as to residents of the community, friends, and neighbors. Send press releases to newspapers serving your community, announcing and inviting everyone to attend the event. Plan a special program of entertainment and education for the enjoyment of all attending. This is also an excellent time to recognize the accomplishments of members of other organizations such as police, rescue squads, and fire departments. If presentations are made, take pictures of the recipients and have follow-up publicity. Set-up a display in your hall focusing the activities, projects, and events of your Grange and, if possible, have a computer slideshow with special pictures.
Program Materials Available
This department is willing to assist you with the preparation of a program that you feel would help build up your Grange and meet the needs of your Community. Please send me your requested subject and any ideas or pertinent information you have. A program will be developed and returned to you by mail. A roster of programs will be developed and published in our newsletter so that other program directors may benefit from your ideas.
Bi-Monthly Newsletter
This department will to send out a bi-monthly newsletter – “Timely Tidbits” – this coming year, offering program information, ideas, and tips and bits that we hope you will be able to use to strengthen your Grange and build up your membership, building upon today’s issues. If you have an idea for a program you would like to see included in an upcoming issue, please contact Elizabeth Lake.
The Dictionary Project
The Education and Enrichment Department is continuing The Dictionary Project for 2012. This project is designed to provide a dictionary for third-grade students. The idea of the program is to aid third-grade teachers in their goal to see all their students leave at the end of the year as good writers, active readers, and creative thinkers. This ideal can be reached by providing third-grade students with their personal dictionary for use during the year, which they keep and take with them into the fourth grade and throughout their school career.
A dictionary is perhaps the first and most powerful tool that a child should own. Its usefulness goes beyond the spellings, pronunciations, and definitions it lists; it is a companion for solving problems that arise as a child develops his or her reading, writing, and creative thinking abilities. Students benefit from an increased self-reliance and resourcefulness, inspired by the maxim, “look it up.”
This program is an opportunity for children to expand their vocabulary, and for many, to actually own their own dictionary. We in the Grange believe strongly in community service, and the power of the gift resides in the giving. We would like to see each Grange take on this project and give one dictionary for each third-grade student in your local school. Dictionaries can be secured by contacting The Dictionary Project, P.O. Box 1845, Charleston, SC 29402; (843) 856-2706; or at www.dictionaryproject.org. There are a couple of different dictionaries available, at a cost of $1.25 to $2.00 per dictionary.
If you would like to participate in this project and need assistance in contacting your school or securing dictionaries, please contact Elizabeth Lake, at (908) 236-7874; 1008 Stanton-Lebanon Road, Lebanon, New Jersey 08833.
Literature Recycling
The Education and Enrichment Department will continue the collection of new or like-new children’s books, to be donated to the Children’s Home Society of New Jersey for their FACES (Family and Children Early Education Services) literary program – a fun-with-books interactive reading program for foster children. If you are unable to collect books, small monetary donations will be accepted to purchase new books for the children. Books may be donated to this department at any Grange activity. Books will be distributed as accumulated.
Gallivanting Grangers on the Go
The Education and Enrichment Department will be sponsoring the following bus trips in 2012: May 5-6, 2012: Spring Fling Weekend Bus Trip August 31 - September 3, 2012: Labor Day Weekend Bus Trip to the Thousand Islands
Arrangements are being made for the trips. Be sure to watch “The Gleaner” for reservation form and details of each trip as time draws near.
Mid-Atlantic Program Director’s Conference
The 2012 Mid-Atlantic Program Director’s Conference is tentatively scheduled for May 19-21, 2012, and will be hosted by Pennsylvania, in the Altoona area. Workshops and activities are planned to benefit the program director and all Grangers. More details will be forthcoming upon receipt.
Please mark your calendar and plan to join with Grangers from the surrounding mid-atlantic states for a fun-filled, educational, and informative weekend. You do not have to be a program director to attend!
Grange Family Days
Come and be a part of our Grange Family Days at the Trenton Titans (ice hockey) and the Trenton Thunders (baseball) games. We will secure a block of tickets so our Grange family will be seated together and enjoy fun and fellowship with our family from all over the state.
On Sunday, March 11, 2012, we will attend the Trenton Titans game, starting at 4:00 PM at the Sun National Bank Center, located off Route 129, on the corner of Hamilton Avenue and South Broad Street, Trenton.
On Saturday, June 9, 2012 , we will attend the Trenton Thunders game, starting at 7:05 PM at the Mercer County Waterfront Park, One Thunder Road, Trenton.
Both dates are tentative, pending any changes in the teams’ schedules. Watch “The Gleaner” for more details as soon as available.
New Jersey State Grange Open Essay Contest
The Education and Enrichment Department will be conducting an open essay contest. Entries must be at least 300 words in length, and may not exceed 500 words. Our contest is open to non-members and there are two categories … one for high-school students and one for adults. Essay may be on any subject or topic, at the selection and discretion of the writer.
The deadline for submission is April 1, 2012. All entries must include the author’s name, address, county of residence, phone number, word count, and must designate if student or adult division (if student division, include school name and grade).
Judging will be based on the following criteria: content (55 points), originality (30 points), clarity (10 points), and grammar (5 points).
Prizes will be awarded for each class as follows: first place … $50.00, second place … $40.00, and third place … $30.00.
Program of the Year
Share with us a program presented this year that you felt was newsworthy. Your program can be based on any subject and can be most unusual or unique. There will be two program categories, one for programs which included an outside speaker, and one for programs that were presented in-house by the program director and Grange members. For the speaker category, please provide a brief synopsis of the information presented, as well as any other program materials for the evening. For the in-house program category, please provide the information for the evening program and the number of members you involved. If available, please include a picture from the evening.
Please include your name and Grange name with your program information, as well as the date program was presented. All programs are due by noon on the opening day of state session. A booklet of all programs will be distributed to all those participating in this project.
Snapshot Contest
Share with others the memories in your life by entering your photographs into our snapshot contest. Entries can be a snapshot of minimum size 3" x 5", and up to 8" x 10". Although not required, entries may be backed or matted. There will be two divisions: standard processing (35mm film or digital pictures with standard processing and no computer enhancement), and computer-aided photographs (photographs that have been enhanced or altered via computer assistance). Please include your name and Grange name with your snapshot and indicate whether commercial processing or computer aided. All entries are due by noon on the opening day of state session.
Please include your name and Grange name with your snapshot and indicate whether commercial processing or computer aided. All entries are due by noon on the opening day of state session.
Decorated Door Contest
Let’s jazz up the doors to our hotel rooms with a little decoration! Use any type of decorations you desire to be creative and decorate the door and/or door frame to make them attractive and festive. All decorations must be affixed with suction cups or masking tape (must be non-damaging to paint/wallpaper), which we will supply. There will be two classes for judging: holiday and general. Monetary prizes will be awarded in each class. (A great place to shop for the decorations is your local dollar store.)
Scrapbook Contest
Scrapbooks are a fantastic way to preserve your family memories and showcase the special events and important times in your life. Share with us your scrapbook of memories by submitting an entry into our scrapbook contest, with a complete scrapbook or individual scrapbook pages.
Entries will be judged separately in three separate classes: complete scrapbooks, individual page/pages (maximum of 5 individual pages), and Grange memories. All entries are due by noon on the opening day of state session.
Card Contest
Spreading the word of Grange activities and staying in touch with others can be showcased in our 2012 card contest. There will be two divisions: computer generated (created within software and printed) and freehand (non-computer-aided artwork, decorations and lettering). There will be three classes within the divisions: (A.) invitation/announcement for a Grange function, (B.) greeting card (e.g., get-well, thinking-of-you, or birthday), and (C.) holiday card (Easter, Thanksgiving, Christmas, etc.). All entries are due by noon on the opening day of state session. Make your Grange newsworthy and spread the word!
Reservation Form
If you would like to make reservations to attend any of our events, please take a moment to submit the form below. (* = required information.)
