Farming Fraternity Granges Were Once The Hub Of Social And Political Life For Many Farm Families Now They Are Fighting For Survival

CORRECTIONS: (March 11, 1995): Steve Hall is grange master of the McIntosh Grange. The grange was incorrectly identified in a story in Thursday’s Valley Voice.

Fred Linke saw the Spokane Valley’s fertile farmland bring forth bountiful harvests of apples, strawberries, melons and sweet corn.

Linke, who was born here in 1900, has in recent years seen subdivisions and strip malls sprout from that same land.

Back when the Valley was primarily rural, granges occupied a central place in residents’ lives. Organized to champion agricultural interests, granges were once the hub of social and political life for many farm families.

“Back in the ‘20s and ‘30s the Valley was practically all farms,” Linke said. “There were lots of apples and vegetables. That’s all gone now.

“In the ‘30s and ‘40s, most of the people in the community belonged to one grange or another.”

Today, there seems to be little room in the increasingly urban Valley for that traditional farmers’ fraternity.

Linke, a longtime member of the Greenacres Grange, has seen several granges disappear. Recently, the Trentwood Grange went by the wayside. Just this week, the Opportunity Grange was absorbed by the Greenacres group, which itself has only a handful of active members.

The Opportunity Grange had 175 names on its membership roll, but only two members actually attended meetings. “The rest of them don’t bother to come,” said Opportunity Grange master Glenn Kendall.

The two groups joined this week, meeting together for the first time on Tuesday at the simple white Greenacres Grange building on East 32nd Avenue in the Saltese area, hoping that together they could muster at least the eight active members required for an official meeting.

“The grange isn’t one of the main functions for the community like it used to be years ago,” said Mary Cabbage, Greenacres Grange master.

“It’s sad to see this happen, but the way the world is now, everybody’s life is so busy that they don’t really have a need for a grange.

“It’s hard to get the younger people interested in the grange,” Cabbage said.

Robert Clark, Washington state grange master, acknowledged that granges aren’t doing well in some areas. But, he said, statewide membership has increased from 57,000 to 62,000 in the past six years.

When granges were first formed in 1867, Clark said, the vast majority of people in the United States lived on farms. Now only about 2 percent of Washington residents live on farms, he said.

As subdivisions grow where crops once did, granges intent on surviving have broadened their range of interests to become more of a community organization.

“My definition of a grange is a rural family fraternity based in agriculture,” Clark said. “The grange is more involved in very diverse interests in the community as a whole.”

Cabbage and others are working to preserve some of the Valley’s open spaces.

“We’re fighting against development, trying to stop this high-density development going on in the area,” she said.

“Instead of farming, open area spaces will become houses everywhere. We’ve lost the natural wildlife and atmosphere. People who move out here - that’s what they want.”

The Tri-Community Grange, members of which come from Newman Lake, Otis Orchards and East Farms, is also reaching out to its neighbors.

“We try to be a community service,” said Mary Alice Jones, a past master. The grange hall is used for voting, Boy Scout and 4-H Club activities and other group meetings, she said.

The Tri-Community Grange has about 210 members, about a dozen of whom regularly attend meetings. The group is now conducting a membership drive.

“We’re attempting to build up our membership to see what people in this area would like to do,” Jones said. “We need to build or we’re going to dwindle.”

In areas yet unscathed by rapid urbanization, granges seem to be holding their own.

The Neighborhood Grange in the Rockford area has 115 members, about 15 of whom regularly attend meetings. It has managed to recruit members as young as 16.

“Our grange has a good age diversity,” said Steve Hall, Neighborhood Grange master.

That’s a healthy sign, Cabbage said. She worries that coming generations “aren’t going to be able to enjoy nature and know where carrots come from and how we get wheat to make our bread.”

Today’s youths don’t have much access to agricultural training in Valley schools.

Mike Pearson, vocational director for Central Valley schools, remembers when students grew corn and wheat near the high school and studied horse husbandry.

Central Valley High School used to have a Future Farmers of America club. It died for lack of interest about 10 years ago, Pearson said.

“The (enrollment) numbers started to decrease as Valley development started to come in,” he said. “The students didn’t have the horses or the mini-farms. Kids just didn’t really get into it.”

Still, state grange master Clark is confident that younger generations can keep granges going and busy with important issues.

“Because of the diverse programs that the grange has in place, you’ll find that it services far more than than the agricultural sector,” Clark said.

“We have programs that fit just about every community, whether they be metropolitan, suburban or rural,” Clark said. “We can speak out on transportation, flood matters, health reform and parental responsibilities.”

Clark said that granges in Spokane County have been involved with neighborhood crime watches, promoting improvements on local roadways.

“I’m very optimistic about the future of the grange in our state,” he said. “There’s just as much need for the grange today as there was in 1867.”

ILLUSTRATION: 2 Photos (1 Color)