Dec 14th, 2022 - Monthly Meeting: Officers and Planning for the New Year

Wednesday, Dec 14th, 7-8pm

Please join us as discuss any restructuring we want to do in 2023.

• Is there anyone interested in becoming an officer? Our current officers are willing to continue serving, but at some point, new faces with fresh energy and ideas will need to step up to to carry the Grange into the future. The Grange is such a resource to our community with much untapped potential. Learn more about what is involved and bring those you’d like to work with!

• Are you not ready to become an officer, but willing to join an advisory board? If there is enough interest, we are considering forming a board.

• We are also in need of someone to volunteer and help with minimal marketing - updating the website, sending monthly newsletters, and maintaining our Facebook page.

• One idea is to restructure our meetings going forward, separating Grange business from educational programs. It’s all up for discussion!

Due to the busyness of the holiday season, there will not be the usual potluck gathering this month prior to the meeting.

Hope to see you there!

Nov 9th, 2022 - Monthly Meeting: A Gathering at the Table

Wednesday, Nov 9th, 6:30 - 8:00

It’s November, a traditional month to reflect on all our our riches and blessings.

Let’s use this time together to celebrate the food we produced, by bringing a side dish, dessert, or beverage that includes some item from our farms’ bounty!

Let’s celebrate ourselves and our creativity and our labor by sharing with each other something new we tried this year or some aspect of our work that went really well, what we did, how it turned out, and what we learned!

Let’s enjoy the diversity of our farming community by sitting together at the table and hearing each other’s stories and learning about each other’s passions for their work!

Roast turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, and juice will be provided, as well as tableware.

Oct 12th, 2022 - Monthly Meeting: Meet the Candidates Night

EVERYONE INVITED!

Wednesday, October 12th
Chimacum Grange - 9572 Rhody Drive, Chimacum, WA

6:15 pm – Come early for an informal potluck meal downstairs and get a taste of delicious local food. Great chance to visit with your neighbors and see what the Grange is up to these days!

7:30 - 9:00 pm – Come and meet the two Jefferson County Commissioner candidates, Marcia Kelbon and Greg Brotherton upstairs in the historic hall. The candidates will have the opportunity to present their ideas and platforms followed by brief rebuttals. At that point, the floor will be opened for audience questions; each candidate will be given time to respond to each question.

We look forward to seeing you there!

Aug 17th, 2022 - Monthly Meeting: Picnic Potluck, Ice Cream Social, and Discussion about a Grange Internet cafe

EVERYONE INVITED

It’s SUMMER – Join us at 6:15 for an Outdoor Potluck Picnic followed by a PIE SOCIAL! Please bring a picnic and/or a pie option. The Grange will provide vanilla ice cream :)

At 7:30 we’ll have a brief discussion to get started organizing an Internet cafe at the Grange. There are many in our farming community who do not have reliable Internet access. How could the Grange set itself up to serve this need?

HOPE TO SEE YOU THERE!

July 17th, 2022 - Pancake Feed to celebrate Inter-Dependence Day

The grange is at it again, reviving its pancake tradition after 2 missed years due to COVID. In the past, the Grange pancake breakfasts were held the Sunday of Farm Tour. This year we are holding the breakfast as part of Chimacum’s Inter-Dependence Day.

Sunday, July 17th, 9-11 am
Enough for 100 people – first come, first serve.
Suggested donation of $5 for adults, kids free!

Menu

Spelt Buttermilk Pancakes:
Made with Spelt donated from Finnriver Grain Co and quality ingredients donated from Chimacum Corner Farmstand

Egg and I Pork Breakfast Sausage:
Generously donated by Doyle Yancey of Egg and I Pork

Coffee and Fruit Juice

Volunteers

Please contact us at chimacumgrange@gmail.com if you’d like to help volunteer alongside your neighbors. Volunteers are needed:

July 13th, 2022 - Monthly Meeting "Growing Your Grange"

GRANGE MONTHLY MEETING

Our July monthly meeting will take place this coming Wednesday, July 13th.

6:15 - Join us for food and company downstairs. The Grange will be providing supper and a salad. Bringing a potluck item is appreciated but optional.

7:00 -Follow us upstairs for the meeting. The topic is “Growing Your Grange.” We’ll brainstorm activities and topics for upcoming meetings. What would you like to see that benefits and engages the community? Is there something you are interested in presenting? The hope is to schedule out the next 6-9 month calendar.

June 15th, 2022 - Monthly Meeting: James Cassidy, Organic Soils evangelist, via video presentation

EVERYONE INVITED!

Join us at 6:30 for soup and bread provided by the Grange
and any optional potluck item you choose to bring.

At 7:00 we will welcome Dr James Cassidy
Soils Professor at Oregon State University
Via video entitled “Cover Crops and Crop Rotation”

The main topics of conversation will include:

• The origins of soil; where it comes from, how it is created

• Composting and mulching

• The benefits of cover crops and crop rotation.

Dr. Cassidy is an enthusiastic speaker who entertains as he informs–his presentation will make you fall in love with your soil! He established a CSA farm to provide his students with hands-on opportunities to learn about crop production as well as the entrepreneurial aspects of farming. Click to read more about this very inspiration transformative man, rockstar of the famed band “Information Society (InSoc)” turned rockstar organic soils evangelist.

May 18th, 2022 - Monthly Meeting with Joe Holtrop, Executor Director Jeff Co Conservation District, and Doyle Yancey of Egg and I Pork

6:15 pm - Join us for soup, bread, healthy home-made food and anything optional you choose to bring.

7:00 pm - Joe Holtrop, Executive Director of the Jefferson County Conservation District will be discussing:

• The work of the Conservation District on behalf of local agriculture

• The history of success of local farmers in implementing conservation practices

• The impact on farms of the recent attempt by the Washington State Legislature to establish much larger buffers on streams

7:30 pm - Doyle Yancey, our newest Grange member and volunteer, owner of Egg and I Pork will be leading a conversation about community-building and how the Grange can play a role.

We look forward to seeing you there – Everyone invited!

April 27th, 2022 - Monthly Meetings Resume with Richard Tucker, executive director of the Jefferson Land Trust

After a two year COVID hiatus, we are thrilled to announce that monthly Grange meetings are resuming and everyone is invited! We’d love you to attend:

April 27th, 2022

Join us at 6:30 for soup, bread,
and anything optional you choose to bring.

At 7:00 we will welcome Richard Tucker,
executive director of the Jefferson Land Trust.

The main topics of conversation will include:

• The tools the Land Trust has available to protect farmland in Jefferson County

• Their work to protect and develop forest preserves such as Arlandia and Valley View Forest

• Conservation measures to protect streams for salmon

• Community education about conservation of environmental assets

We are also interested in hearing your ideas as to who you would like to hear from or what you would like to learn in future Grange meetings. We want the Grange to be relevant to your needs and interests! We’re working on some fun ideas of our own.

Going forward, we’ll try and settle back into the monthly “Second Wednesday of every month” schedule. The evenings will always begin at 6:30 with socializing and sharing in a light dinner followed by the “official” meeting starting at 7:00. We’ll keep you posted about future meetings by newsletters and on our website.

It is interesting to note that the Chimacum Grange was founded in 1918, the year of the Great Influenza pandemic. I guess this is nothing new, picking up after yet another pandemic. Here’s to another 100 years!