8/6/2019 May Kaleidescope -- Grooving at the Grange

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By JULIE RAEFIELD-GOBBONews staff writer

Does it really matter if we forgethow to feed ourselves? Wont therealways be great big box stores out

there to sell us our mega-sized let-tuce bags or a drive-thru ethnicfood chain to cook us our soy-cellu-lose-infused beef tacos?

These assumptions and the un-derlying question are significantones especially in light of up-coming rises in fuel prices, whichin turn affect the cost, quality andavailability of food, and our overallability to sustain ourselves.

For some local residents, newworld problems are sending themlooking for old-fashioned, forward-thinking solutions that supportfood security.

Call this new movement a re-turn to the Grange.

What, you ask, is a Grange?That, as it turns out, is a very in-

teresting question and one that thecurrent growing membership ofthe Rockford Grange on BarrettDrive is ready to answer.

One of the founding members ofRockford Grange, Lucille Wyers, isfirst up to share her wisdom ongrangers after 67 years as a mem-ber, having served as Grange Mas-ter for 10 of those years.

Personally, I live a simple life. Igrow my own food and preserve it

for the winter. Its a very sensibleway to live, said Wyers.

But, theres more to the Grangethan just learning the ways ofgrowing and preserving food intime honored ways. The Grange is

also a place where practices arebacked up with policies throughgrass-roots organizing.

The Grange was a populist move-ment that formed in opposition tomonopolistic corporate capitalism,commercialized agriculture andthe rampant political corruption inthe later half of the 19th century.

If people get together and shareideas in a democratic way, you cansolve problems, said Wyers.

And she should know. Wyers andher husband, Teunis, were origi-nally drawn to the Grange in orderto support a rural electrificationproject, around the time that Bon-neville Dam was just beginning toproduce power.

Without the work of my depart-ed husband and Walter Wells at theGrange, we would not be now en-joying the low electricity rates thatwe do, said Wyers.

Beyond power policies, grangershave prioritized improving or pro-tecting other aspects of rural lifeand community sustainability.

Today, at the Rockford Grange,those objectives include creatingconnections which support localfood producers and family farms;offering country living classeswhich teach newcomers home gar-dening, composting, food prepara-tion and preservation skills; pro-viding space for an organic-localfood buying cooperative; renting fa-cilities for homeschoolers, commu-nity groups and small faith organi-zations; and facilitating ongoingcountry dance and square dancegatherings.

Two other Hood River granges,

Pine Grove and Parkdale, alsomaintain memberships which sup-port sustainability practices.

Rockford Grange is attractingsome added support from membersof the Gorge Grown farmers mar-ket who are now revitalizing thegroups membership.

Our goal is to stay a communitycenter for the thoughtful process ofsustainability planning, said TomPenchoen, current RockfordGrange Master.

The Rockford Grange is housedin a lovely historic building nowowned by West Side Fire Depart-ment, which features beautifulhardwood floors and a stage per-fect for hosting regular squaredances and popular monthly coun-

try dances (on th e second Saturd ay,September through June) featuringlive music from The Mill StreetString Band.

Current county dance coordina-tor Tom Hons credits the Mid-Co-lumbia Folk Society members, in-cluding Keith and Karen Harding,Sally Donovan and Tim and LaurieSouthworth, for establishing andmaintaining the country dances,which started in 1990.

Its really amazing to see theyounger and older generationsdancing together. You see this bigsmile when someone tries it whohas never done it before, saidKaren Harding.

The informal country dances are

family-friendly and requireno experience, as eachdance is taught just before it is per-formed. They represent just one ofthe grangers efforts to supportrural community-building.

Gene and Bonnie Wright, long-time Rockford members, continuetheir lifelong tradition of officialsquare dancing, keeping the floorsof the grange hall in tip-top, well-

used shape.We dance with a Plus Club fromdancers around the area, saidGene Wright, former Grange Mas-ter. The square dancers were theones who kept the granges alive fora long time, doing all the buildingmaintenance. Weve got one of thebest square dance floors andacoustic qualities in the U.S.

The country living classes, estab-lished by current Rockford Grangesecretary Linda Short, are de-signed to share wisdom fromskilled gardeners, home canners,gourmet cooks, homesteaders andothers working on sustainabilityand food security, with new audi-

Wednesday, May 4, 2011 B1

Inside: B2, Parkdale newsI B3, HappeningsI B5, YesteryearsI B6, ClassifiedsI B11, Neighbors

Rockford Grange revives green ideas, guides a new generation

HISTORIC AND QUAINT beauty,including a great dance floor, atthe Barrett Road site; at left, cur-rentGrangemembers invite new-

comersat a recentgathering;andbelow, Country Living instructorKristie Genslerand helper UlbadoSerano demonstrate large-scalecomposting techniques.

Submitted photos

at the Grangat the Grang

ROCKINGAT ROCKFORD: Activitiesinclude(this side, top to bottom):countrydances;Phoebe Wood meeting a dance partner; Cerealism from extreme recycling art classfrom the Country Living Series; Dan Rowe at the Grange meeting potluck and GrangeMaster Tom Penchoen demonstrating gardening and planting techniques.

Submitted photos

Grange Gigs:

All events at RockfordGrange, 4262 Barrett Drive

May 14: Open Houseand Potluck, doors open at4:30 p.m. for tours; 5:30 forpotluck. Event is free.

May 14, June 10: Coun-

try Dance, 7 p.m. Family-friendly and open to every-one; dances taught on site.

M a y t h r ou g h J u l y:Country Living Classes.Info online at hrcommuni-tyed.org or see the Com-munity Education catalog.Classes include seed sav-ing, sprouting techniques,f o od f e rm e nt a ti o n,fall/winter crop planningand storage, pie making,canning club, Mexicanfood basics, sausage mak-ing, winter gardening andThai cooking.

ITS REALLY AMAZINGTO SEE THEYOUNGER AND OLDER

GENERATIONS DANCINGTOGETHER. YOU SEE THIS BIG

SMILE WHEN SOMEONE TRIES ITWHO HAS NEVER DONE IT

BEFORE.KAREN HARDING

Please see GRANGE, Page B12

8/6/2019 May Kaleidescope -- Grooving at the Grange

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B12 Hood River News, Wednesday, May 4, 2011

ences.Classes are offered

through Hood River Com-munity Education, and canbe signed-up for throughthe online catalog. Classesare often held at the grangebuilding.

Remaining classes forthe year include seed sav-ing, sprouting techniques,food fermentation,fall/winter crop planningand storage, pie making,canning club, Mexican foodbasics, sausage making,winter gardening and Thaicooking.

In conjunction with theCountry Living series, OSUExtension also offers sus-tainability and food securi-ty classes. What many peo-ple dont realize is that thenational Grange movementhelped establish the Exten-sion Service.

The historical impact ofthe Grange movement hasbeen significant and in-cludes legislation that cre-ated agricultural experi-ment stations, the PureFood and Drug Act, Feder-al Farm Credit and ruralmail delivery.

The Grange has consis-tently promoted conserva-

tion practices and forestryprotection, wildlife protec-tion, better highways, in-land waterway improve-ment, healthy soils andpeace and goodwill amongnations.

Theyve done a lot ofgood things, said WandaTaylor, Rockford secretaryfrom 1991 to 2008. You haveto get involved to really getthe most out of it.

Whether you plan on at-tending a class or the nextupcoming country dance(May 14 at 7 p.m.), Rockfordinvites you to put yourideas on sustainability towork alongside of others.

To help pay the musicians,dances are $7 for adults and$1 for children. Teens are$2, but no one is turnedaway for lack of funds.

If youd like more infor-mation or just want to takea peek inside to see thewonderful dance floor, con-tact Tom Pencheon at 541-386-7998, or join the openhouse May 14 at 4:30 p.m.The grange is located at4262 Barrett Drive at thecorner of Markham Road.

GRANGEContinued from Page B1

OSU Extension Service

will present a workshop on

managing pests and dis-

eases on home fruit trees on

Saturday, May 14.

The program will be held

at the OSU Mid-ColumbiaAgricultural Research and

Extension Center in Hood

River from 2 to 5 p.m.

The primary purpose of

this workshop is to provide

home fruit growers with the

information they need to

have healthy, pest-free fruit

t r ee s . T h e p r o g ra m w i l l

f o cu s o n k ey s p ri n g a n d

summer pests.

The training is co-spon-

s o r e d b y t h e C o l u m bi a

Gorge Fruit Growers as part

of its Backyard Fruit Tree

Program, which is a pro-

gram to reduce the impacts

of pests from unmanagedhome fruit trees on commer-

cial orchards.

The workshop will be of-

fered at no charge, but pre-

registration is required.

To register for the pro-

gram or for more informa-

t i o n , e m a i l

steve.castagnoli@oregonsta

te.edu or call the OSU Ex-

tension Service office in

Hood River at 541-386-3343.

Extension, Fruit Growersoffer home orchard class

SPRING

SCENESFlowers are everywherethese days, even in vehiclesof transportation. Well, thisold farm wagon used tomove, anyway. Tulip Trailer

is Lois Neufeldts title for herreader-submitted image.Want to see your image inprint? Send us Spring Scenesimages (ideal size 1-3 MB) tohrnews@hoodrivernews.com,with brief photo details.

Photo by Lois Neufeldt

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