Secret of Green Bluff
According to Diane Huff, the true heart of Green Bluff isn’t found in sprawling orchards or corn mazes. It isn’t found in hayrides, jumping castles or apple cider.
The heart of Green Bluff, she believes, is found behind the doors of the old Grange that sits on the corner of Day Mount Spokane Road and Green Bluff Road.
When Huff was looking for a commercial kitchen to use for her specialty food business, she went to the Grange. There, she said she discovered the secret of Green Bluff. The Grange is much more than an old building; it’s an active farm organization with a long history of community service. “This is the core of people who believe in Green Bluff,” Huff said.
Established in 1909, Green Bluff Grange remains committed to preserving the farming community. Members meet each month to discuss Green Bluff business.
Helen Laws is Master of the Grange. She called their recent meeting to order. “The work of the day demands our attention,” she said. Grange meetings are conducted with great formality. Officers wear blue velvet sashes with gold braid, and address each other by title.
They follow a format from the Grange manual, and the archaic words added solemnity to the proceedings. “Worthy Steward, are the gates properly guarded?” asked Laws. The two dozen attendees then stood for prayer and saluted the flag while the Official Musician played “America (“My Country ‘Tis of Thee”) softly in the background.
The first order of business was to honor a recently deceased member with a special ceremony called, “The Draping of the Charter.” Chaplain Sylvia Simpson informed attendees that Lucille Brownlee had “Gone through the gates of the Grange of Heaven.” The pianist played “Amazing Grace,” while officers marched slowly to the official Grange charter and reverently draped the document with a swath of sheer black fabric.
Then members and guests were asked to share memories of their departed sister. Brownlee had been a member of Green Bluff Grange for 74 years. Diane Huff said, “Lucille was tiny! You always knew if you saw a tractor driving down the road with no one visible behind the wheel, it was Lucille.”
Other members spoke of her punctuality and work ethic and recalled the time she went up in a hot air balloon. “She was a wonderful example of a farm wife and a woman of great spirit. We will miss her,” Laws concluded.
The passing of faithful members is what most concerns Huff. She said though the Grange has around 300 enrolled members, only about 15 are truly active. This core group of Grangers sponsors a variety of community activities.
Each year the Grange hosts a play performed by the Old Orchard Theatre Troupe. Many of the performers are Grangers. All proceeds go toward a scholarship fund for Junior Grange members or cast members. This year’s performance of “Divine Stella Devine” raised over $4,000. “We usually award four scholarships per year,” said Laws.
In addition to raising these scholarship funds, the Grange takes toiletries and books to the Veterans Home each month, and sponsors an exhibit at the Spokane Interstate Fair. “We had a grand slam this year,” said Bonny Walker. “We took all the awards and trophies, including the People’s Choice award.”
Grange Secretary Frances Enburg laughed when recalling the judges’ comments about color and design. “We don’t know anything about that,” she said. “We had blue, so we used blue.”
Members also contribute to a penny drive to raise funds for a deaf awareness scholarship. And the Grange will soon be hosting barn dances for the community.
But more importantly, the Grange is still influential in local politics. According to members, the Green Bluff Grange was instrumental in the formation of the Water Association and the Volunteer Fire Department. They are also very involved in zoning legislation. Indeed, Green Bluff may not have been zoned for agriculture if not for the Grange. According to the Washington State Grange Web site the local Grange has sponsored a variety of initiatives and legislation. As Helen Laws said, “We are a political force.”
The meeting concluded with Laws asking, “Worthy Overseer, are the labors of the day complete?” She then charged the group to “Add dignity to our labor.” They slowly filtered downstairs to celebrate a member’s 90th birthday with cake and coffee.
Not all members are senior citizens. Sharlee Abrams is 16 and an officer in the Grange. “A friend got me started in the Grange,” she said. “It makes me feel like a part of the Green Bluff community. I like talking with the older people. It’s really fun.”
As the group laughed and visited over steaming cups of coffee, longtime member Roy Riley said, “Belonging to the Grange means I’ve got a piece of the farmer yet in me.” His wife, Ladoris, added, “This is kind of home to me. There’s still work to be done, but the Grange needs younger people to survive.”
Most members have roots that go as deep into the soil of Green Bluff as the roots of the gnarled apple trees that dot the horizon.
“These are the people that make sure community life is taken care of,” said Huff. “There’s a comfort for everyone on Green Bluff to know there’s the Grange.”