Last night, April 12, 2011, was a great night for the Pennsylvania State Grange.
With the help of Deputy Lorena Baughman, I had the opportunity to present my first charter as President of the PA State Grange to members of Hyndman Grange #1954 in Bedford County. What a way to celebrate Grange Month!
Hyndman Grange was officially closed in March 2009 but the building was never sold. During 2010 then President Betsy Huber had contact with long-time Grange member Calvin Cook about opening a new Grange in the building. With Calvin's help in the area, he got the word out to people that we were working to organize a new Grange in the Hyndman area. When we met for our first organizational meeting in November 2010, the people attending were rallying around a local issue...the school district was considering closing the local elementary school which would necessitate busing the children 20+ miles to Bedford. With this issue in mind, those first attendees were able to recruit more people and they had their official organizational meeting on January 11, 2011. It was decided to keep the old Grange name of Hyndman Grange #1954 because the deed for the building and property was still in that name.
Since that time, they have done a total remake of their Grange hall. They have repainted and wallpapered the entire main hall area and totally cleaned up the basement. They were able to get two refrigerators, a stove/oven, a microwave oven and a large coffee maker all DONATED! They already have a number of hall rentals set up and will hold their first event, a Zumba class, this Sunday.
This is a fantastic group of new Grangers on the move!
