Mohawk Valley Community Grange #922
Minutes–April 23, 2017
The regalia was displayed, Linda M., Master, greeted all “Thanks for being here. We have the opportunity to give the best of our collective talents for the good of our community.”
The meeting was called to order. Donna H. cited a quote about “Speak wisely….”
Present were Linda M., Teresa H., Bob R., Donna H., Thorpe M., Gail W., Julia M.
Dates of interest are:
May 6, the pre-meeting at Linda M.’s;
May 6, 10–12 am for road cleanup. Linda will get the equipment on Thursday.
May 29 – Memorial Day Weekend
June 17 is the Lions’ Music in the Park.
Jim Craig’s mother, Margaret Brown’s, memorial service will be this weekend at Eugene Christian Fellowship.
The minutes from the last meeting, March, were read and approved.
Teresa H. gave the treasurer’s report. The end balance of March is $784.72. Since then, we have gotten $710 net from Bingo, donations in cash and in kind, we have about $2000 in account. We have been charged $10 per month for two months of balance falling below $1000. At the Open House we made $25 on the raffle of the Sno-Cone maker donated by Carrie J. Miscellaneous donations amounted to $90.
In old and unfinished business–Thorpe reported that he discussed repairing the cement steps with a knowledgeable person and his previous opinions as to what needed to be done were confirmed, including a removable middle rail. He has scheduled multiple dates for weddings. Mallory will come to volunteer before her party. We briefly discussed the use of the grange for political events. Do we require that the opponents be invited? Is this a community service or do we need to charge? If it is in the public interest we needn’t. Next time will be decided by executive committee. A motion passed that for all categories of non-recurring events that we will require a cash cleaning and damages deposit. (The $200 amount has been previously voted on.)
Volunteer hours for March: Thorpe M.–102, Kelly M.–45, Randy P.(non-member)–9, Walker (non-member)–5, Julia M.–83, Donna H.–5, Lew H.–64 (care giving), Bob–20, Teresa–20, Gail W.–10, Linda 30..
The Harvest Fest/Fundraiser date should be the weekend before Halloween, October 21. April is Grange Up 2017. We may approach the groups who regularly use grange for new members: VFW, Art Studio, Yoga Classes, others. We discussed the Open House. Julia stated that we post the hours and stick to them. Linda thought we should designate a photographer as we got no photographs of her presenting the certificates of appreciation to the first responders, EPUD, and the caretakers. Gail W. thinks grange members should wear name tags at our events.
Mary Cole Days–August 12–We can do Bingo in the fire hall 1–3 p.m.. We provide the prizes. Tammy is the contact person, also Steve Wallace.
We may approach the VFW for help with the electricity–send a letter to them. Fred VanCampen is the one to approach. They next meet May 8. Donna will deliver a letter to them.
Linda reported for the scholarship committee. She sent applications to the eligible schools in Springfield and the Mohawk Valley. Applications are due Thursday, May 8.
Grange Refresh and Facilities committee had nothing additional to report.
The Oregon Grange (Mark Noah) opposes Senate Bill 181 and advises we write to State Representative Phil Barnhart with our opposition. Rep.philbarnhart@state.or.us or 541-607-9207.
The measure requires every grange to send in a non-profit statement to the assessor’s office every year or it will be put on the tax rolls. With no intermediate steps, this could be costly to granges if there were some mis-communication between old and new officers.
The August 11–13 Mohawk Valley Music Festival invites our participation. Bob mentioned that his manager does not want a lot of people coming and going. If we do it we’ll probably just do desserts. Probably only 4 passes for booth staff will be issued. The Reggae Festival is off.
We did not discuss our level of participation in Mary Cole Days, except for Bingo. Julia usually oversees the parade for MCD. We did not decide on a parade entry. A motion to do Bingo in the fire hall was moved and passed. Anniversary observance is planned for December 3, 2017. A breakfast is considered to mark the event. Julia is looking to get new bids to replace the electrical box (breaker box): Beacon Electric, Builders’ Electric, and we’ll need a permit. She and Thorpe will meet with them to determine what the building needs to be safe and efficient. Julia, Bob, and Dan M. will be on the committee and plans to meet on Tuesday, April 25th.
Julia has found successful grant writers to help us with our proposals. She needs to know what we specifically need. The consensus was that we need help with maintaining the grange facility.
We plan another Bingo in September and need to start accumulating nice, new prizes. We need to have a schedule we can publish so that community can count on consistency.
The meeting adjourned at 7:40.
Respectfully submitted, Gail Weathers, Secretary