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579 Round the Island Road on Vinalhaven
579 Round the Island Road on Vinalhaven
Founded in the summer of 1908 by a group of Vinalhaven families who gave it the name the Pleasant River Grange #492.
From the National Grange....
Mission The Grange strengthens individuals, families and communities through grassroots action, service, education, advocacy and agriculture awareness.
Vision The Grange in the 21st Century will be a preeminent organization. It will commit to the development of the potential in families, youth and adults of all ages through dynamic programs and experiences that educate, engage and enrich lives. The Grange will be noted for its commitment to the membership through its enabled leadership, its financial and organizational strength, and its ability to make a difference in the lives of children, youth, families and individuals. The Grange will be a relevant, caring and involved part of the community in which its members are located. It will be well known and understood and considered a viable, involved and distinctive organization. A person who becomes a member can expect to find in the organization a clear and impressive pathway to membership, outstanding fellowship with leaders and respected citizens of the community, the encouragement to meet and make new friends and the opportunity to lead and be well led.
The Maine State Grange and its subordinate Granges are registered as 501(c)(8) tax exempt entities, as fraternal benefit societies.
The Grange was founded in 1867 by a Minnesota farmer named Oliver Kelly who was soon joined by others to form the Order of Patrons of Husbandry. The Grange was and is, specifically, a non-governmental, non-partisan, fraternal association that advocates for agriculture and rural America. They believed in the service of others, loyalty, support to the farmer and rural area, and democratic ideals. The Grange also was one of the first groups to admit women as equal members.
Email us at: vinalhavengrange@gmail.com
Call us at: 207-200-1764
Write to us at: PO Box 669, Vinalhaven, ME 04863
1873 - The Maine State Grange was founded
1907 - The Maine State Grange had the highest per capita membership of any Grange in the nation.
1908 - Vinalhaven Grange was founded in the summer by a group of island families who named it the Pleasant River Grange. Alphonso Webster donated the building that still stands today. It originally housed workers at his quarry and when his quarry closed the boarding house was brought to the present location on a sled drawn by horses across the ice of the Pleasant River.
As it was then, it is today, a very grassroots effort with nearly all of the labor and materials being donated.
2018 - after years of dwindling membership the Grange lost its standing and was revived by a small and energetic group.
Alphonso Webster donated the building from his quarry, where it was a dormitory for his workers. He brought it over the ice with several teams of horses. There is a little black and white photograph upstairs in the Grange showing the building being dragged by the horses. Given the condition of the building in the picture you can see how hard the initial Grange members have worked to create the wonderful building it is now.
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