| April 1, 2020 -- On March 17, the State Master announced that all Granges should cease all meetings and activities through at least April 1 with a reassessment after that date. No one really knows when it will be safe to resume meeting in groups and doing the many things we do outside of the home on a daily basis. We are all hoping it will be sooner than later.
In the meantime, I would strongly encourage you to reach out to members of your Grange and see how they are doing, especially if they live alone. Isolation is so much more difficult when you go it alone. Give them a phone call, use FaceTime or send them a daily email. It will make both of you feel better!
Our Granges may not be able to meet in-person but there are resources available to us. Freeconferencecall.com and Zoom offer excellent platforms for holding online meetings. The National Master has temporarily relaxed the National Digest clause (6.12.1) requiring Granges to meet at least once a month. Try holding a virtual meeting or at the very least invite members of your Grange to an online gathering to chat and reconnect. Let me know if you need any assistance in getting an online meeting organized.
The work of the State Grange continues (with limitations, of course). I am in the State Grange Office on a regular basis and get a great deal of work done there and in my home office. Please feel free to contact me if you need anything. I am able to fulfill your orders for Membership Recognition certificate and seals, so please send them along. If you need Golden Sheafs or letters and certificates for 75 years and beyond, please understand that National Grange has reduced staffing at the headquarters to minimize the health risk for staffers so orders may take a bit longer to arrive. I would expect there to be an additional amount of lag time once we are able to resume more regular routines.
I sent a letter to all Granges in mid-March explaining the suspension of Grange activities through April 1 and also discussed the payment of quarterly reports. I have extended the deadline for the March 30 quarterly report to May 31. This means no late fee will be assessed if your quarterly report is received on or before May 31, 2020. Of course, if you are able to send your report in on time, please do so. We still have to compile our report to National Grange and having reports in as early as possible helps greatly. Several weeks ago, a mailing was sent to all Granges that included the 990N E-Postcard filing receipts, Legislative Policy Guides, Journals of Proceedings and any billing due to the State Grange. I thank all of the Granges who have responded with payment of past invoices and quarterly reports. When sending in those quarterly reports, please remember to settle these invoices as well.
Until next time, please take care of yourselves and check in with your Grange family as well!
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