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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Huckleberries Online

Grange: Rich In History, But Dying

Avery Bright remembers when the Cloverleaf Grange was the hub of a close-knit community focused on farming and family values. Couples waltzed across the wooden floor on Friday nights, or gathered during election season to listen to candidates debate the issues. Over the past century, the grange hall on McGuire Road in Post Falls also hosted 4-H meetings, rummage sales, wedding receptions, potlucks and cowboy-themed church services. “I spent a lot of my life inside those walls,” said Bright, 87. “Now, I’m one of the only ones left.” Dying membership is threatening Idaho’s oldest grange/Becky Kramer, SR. More here.

  • Kathy Plonka/SR Photo: Avery Bright, at the Loyalton of Coeur d’Alene assisted living home, talks about his membership in the Cloverleaf Grange on Thursday. Bright joined the grange in the early 1950s and held most of its offices over the next 40 years. There are only 22 members left in the grange.

Question: Is the Grange tradition worth preserving



Huckleberries Online

D.F. Oliveria started Huckleberries Online on Feb. 16, 2004. Oliveria's Sunday print Huckleberries is a past winner of the national Herb Caen Memorial Column contest.