On my way to work this morning, someone made a hasty and rather abrupt lane change which made me wonder if he/she knew where he/ she was going. I assumed probably not, but it brought me back to our discussion of Mission and Vision statements at the kick-off Grange Mentor Program Sunday night. Do you and by extension your Grange know where you are going? What is your current mission and vision for the future? Some stated that this is a hard discussion and may not be necessary. In some cases this may be true but I guarantee that some Granges need this discussion. It is a difficult topic because it forces people to face difficult realities that you may be wandering aimlessly without a purpose. And by the way, just quoting old Grange pamphlets isn’t particularly meaningful as missions and visions can and should change. I hope you have all read The Cameron’s column from the February Granger: “Who Are You?” This is the other half of the above question and probably should precede it. We all want to think we have some idea of our identity, both personal, and by extension, our Grange. By asking who we are as a Grange, whether it is Community, Pomona, State, or National, we are really asking what those bodies do that makes a significant difference. Today. Not in the past, except as a side-note perhaps. We are in the present and moving forward, not back. The questions of “what you do?” and “why do you do it?” tie in with my first question of where you are going in the world.

The mentoring team met and they were presented with my vision for the program. They are to be available to you the Granges and your specific needs. While I have provided an outline of topics or guidelines for the process, I want them to be receptive to your specific needs. This will and should vary from Grange to Grange as no two are the same. There are also a few adjustments to the mentor assignments, and these will be updated in this Granger.

The Mentor Program is to tie in with the Performance Improvement Plan (PIP) from National Grange. While its formal rollout is after the National Leaders Conference in early May, I have chosen to jump the gun and get an early go on it. National Grange Executive Committee Susan Noah from Oregon joined out Sunday Mentor kick-off.

The PIP will require Granges to assess and evaluate themselves on paper (think of it as homework) which will be collected. These programs are to strengthen Granges and increase membership. Do or Die! You don’t want your Granges to pass on to The Great Grange Above, do you?

In two months, Vice President Ted Powell and I will travel to the Nugget Resort in Sparks, Nevada for National Leaders Conference. These are always good and I can’t wait.

For some time, National Grange has been lobbying as part of a consortium on the MCED (Multi- Cancer Early Detection Act), and this finally passed Congress. This is significant to rural folks who are more heavily affected cancer and other chronic health conditions due to a lack of available healthcare options.

The new National Lecturer, Dr. Richard Stonebraker from Maryland, has ended all contests in his department. He felt that all the competition took away from the true purpose of his position. That is to educate, train, and offer guidance, and be a resource for all Lecturers. He is a vocational agricultural educator by profession. I applaud him for having the courage to make such a change and do things differently. We all need to consider his approach, I think. States are encouraged to run their own contests as they wish.

With the changes to healthcare coverage likely to come out of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, our National Legislative Director, Burton Eller, would like anyone actually experiencing changes to their coverage to report those changes to him with advocacy education and awareness.

As winter wears on, consider working on craft projects at home and in your Granges to make items to donate to the New England Grange Building store at the Big E. This year is the year for Connecticut to make a quilt for the quilt raffle. Dawn will be looking for help in producing this quilt so all you quilters, consider donating your time and talents to helping produce a worthy product. Also consider donating your time to work in the store for part of the duration of the Big E.

Food security is an important consideration in our society today, and a worry for many. Food prices have increased drastically in the past couple of years. Project Sustenance is a worthy project of the National Grange in which to be involved. A limited food bank like Winchester Grange, dinners, chili cook-offs; the possibilities are many.