PA Grange Family Picnic @Delgrosso Park

More than 35 Grangers converged on DelGrosso Park (formerly Bland's Park) in Blair County on July 26th for a family picnic. As usual, Grangers brought more than enough food to share and if anyone went away hungry it was their own fault. Everyone had an opportunity to meet new Grange friends and talk to old ones all afternoon or to tour the park and take in some of the rides. A typical Grange Good Time!

PA Grange Young Marrieds Name Young Couple of the Year

Press Release

PA STATE GRANGE

Date: July 22, 2009

Contact: Carl Meiss

Public Relations Dir.

publicrelations@pagrange.org

Release: Immediate

RE: PA State Grange Young Couple of the Year Named

Centre Hall--Julie and Dustin Kunkle from Berks County have been named the 2009-2010 PA State Grange Young Couple of the Year.

The Young Marrieds/Young Couples of the PA State Grange held their annual weekend in conjunction with this year's 6th Annual PA State Grange Family Festival held at the Centre County Grange Fairgrounds JUly 16-19.

Dustin and Julie Kunkle take over from Christie and Joel Straub from Mercer County who have served as the Young Couple for the past two years.

The Kunkles are from Tilden Township where they live with their 18 month-old son Connor Lee. They have been married for 10 years and both are Lifetime Grange members from Shartlesville Grange #1512. Julie has been a Granger for 13 years and Dustin since he was 6 years old. Dustin works at Kantner's Tire Service in Shoemakersville and Juile is a stay-at-home mom and student. Julie enjoys reading and needle point and Dustin is a true Pittsburgh Steelers, Penguins and Pirates fan who enjoys part-time farming with his parents and sister as well as Grange activities. Dustin is a past Master (Pres.), past Assistant Steward and presently serves as Overseer (V.P.) of Shartlesville Grange #1512 as well as PA State Grange Deputy for Berks County, while Julie is a past Lady Assistant Steward at Shartlesville Grange #1512. Both are graduates of Hamburg Area High School.

Couples competing for the honor of "Young Couple" must have been Grange members for a minimum of two years and neither partner may have reached their 35th birthday. Contestants are judged on an interview, ambassadorship qualities and a written test of Grange knowledge. The selected Young Couple helps to promote and generate enthusiasm for the PA State Grange Youth Department programs and contests. The Young Couple will also serve on the State Grange Youth Committee for one year during their reign.

PA Junior Grange Royalty Named

PA State Grange

Press Release

Date: July 6, 2009

Contact: Carl Meiss

Public Relations Director

publicrelations@pagrange.org

Release: Immediate

RE: PA State Junior Grange Names Royalty

HOWARD, PA - The highlight of the annual PA State Junior Grange Camp is its Friday evening coronation of the new Junior Grange Princess and Prince.

For 2009-2010, the PA State Junior Grange Princess is Jennifer Reed and the Prince is Zech Houser.

Jennifer is the daughter of Jeff and Karen Reed and hails from Susquehanna County where she goes to Montrose Area Junior/Senior High School. Her school activities include soccer and concert band. She is a member of the PA State Junior Grange #1 and helps with activities at the Fairdale Grange #1157 outside of Montrose.

Zech's parents are Ronald and Janet Houser of Centre County. He attends Bellefonte Area High School where he is involved in the CPI program (which is anything to do with computers), as well as band and marching band. Zech belongs to Logan Junior Grange #182 in Pleasant Gap and has held numerous offices within the Junior Grange.

Runners-up this year were Lindsay Schroeder from Virginville Junior Grange #436 in Berks County and Daniel Pratt from PA State Junior Grange #1, who hails from Venango County.

The PA State Junior Grange Royalty is chosen every year at Junior Grange Camp, held again this year at Camp Sylvan Hills Christian Camp in Howard, PA, June 28 - July 4. All 13 and 14 year-old campers (as of January 1, 2009) are eligible to compete for the titles. The finalists are selected from the results of a "Grange Knowledge" test given at camp. The contestants are then evaluated on an individual interview before the judges, an impromptu question asked and answered in front of all the campers and staff and the judges' impressions of the campers.

The Junior Grange Princess and Prince's responsibilities are to promote the Grange and especially the Junior Grange around the Commonwealth. They will be required to attend Ag Progress Days in State College in August, 2009, the 2009 PA State Grange Session to be held in October in Johnstown, the 2010 PA State Farm Show in Harrisburg, the PA State Grange Planning Meeting in Spring, 2010, and next year's PA State Junior Grange Camp, as well as other functions, fairs and events throughout the Commonwealth.

The Grange is a family fraternal organization dedicated to the betterment of the American quality of life through community service, education, legislation and fellowship. The Grange includes members of all ages from their Junior Grangers (ages 5-14), Youth Members (ages 14-23), Young Adults (ages 23-35) and Regular Community (local) members (age 14 and up). The Grange represents approximately 13,000 Pennsylvanians across the Commonwealth. It is the oldest agricultural and rural advocacy organization of its kind in the United States. The National Grange (Patrons of Husbandry), representing about 150,000 members, began in 1867 and the PA State Grange was chartered in 1873.

Junior Grange Camp to Spikes Game

PA Junior Grange Camp kicked off at Camp Sylvan Hills, Centre County, on Sunday June 28, 2009.

On Tuesday afternoon, the campers were bussed to Penn State where they took a tour of the State College Spikes' Medlar Field ballpark. The Spikes are a Single A farm club of the Pittsburgh Pirates. They were led by Junior Grange Director Karen Mohn and her staff and they were met at the park by State Grange Master/President Betsy Huber and Public Relations Director Carl Meiss.

After the tour, campers hiked to Berkey Creamery on the campus of Penn State University where they were treated to ice cream cones.

They then hiked back to Medlar Field and cheered on the State College Spikes who lost to the Mahoning Valley Scrappers 4 to 6. Junior Princess Ashley Mohn and Prince Bobby Wike had the honor of throwing out the first pitch and each received an autographed baseball afterwards.