Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
After falling below the minimum number of 13 members in recent years and the closing of an agreement with the Palouse Arts Council to keep up the building, Palouse Grange No. 177 has begun anew.
After the Arts Council agreement phased out last summer after not being able to come to terms on a price to buy the hall, a new movement began this spring to rekindle the local Grange chapter.
“We just wanted to be able to use the Grange Hall building and to work on it,” said Heidi Kite, the new Palouse 177 Grange Master.
The Palouse Grange charter had never been closed; it was just dormant due to low membership.
Last May, Kite arranged a meeting to talk about revitalizing the group. State Grange Membership Coordinator Rusty Hunt came to town and sat down with Kite, her husband Sam and daughter Dottie, along with Mayor Michael Echanove.
It was the first of a series of meetings, with two more taking place in June.
“Then we had another meeting and a few more people showed up,” said Hunt of the process.
At each meeting, new members were signed up and paid the $45 per year annual membership. Many are not involved with agriculture.
“Either we were going to have to close the Grange or find some new members,” said Hunt.
As the meetings progressed, members of other Granges provided input and advice, including Kevin Kramlich of the Wilcox Grange, Greg Jones of North & South Palouse Grange and Scott and Laura Lyle of Pine Grove Grange at Albion.
“Most folks in the new Palouse Grange are not familiar with the Grange,” said Hunt. “So this allows for there to be someone to call to get quick answers if something comes up.”
After two more meetings in August, the Palouse Grange now has 22 members.
“It’s a young group,” said Hunt. “They have a lot of energy. They’ve got some great ideas.”
Fundraising has commenced, including a rummage sale in August, the cake walk for Palouse Days, three sale items for the upcoming Haunted Palouse and a photo booth.
The new members have written out a project list for the building to continue work the Arts Council had done. The list includes installing gutters and drain tiles, and a ramp for handicap access.
“The current group, they’re not interested in owning the building,” said Mayor Echanove, who is among the new Grange members. “It’s just kind of a different focus for the building. As Mayor I’m excited to have the Grange going in Palouse.”
While the state grange retains ownership of the cinder-block building, the local chapter is responsible for the property taxes, insurance and utility costs.
“It seemed a shame to let that building go to waste,” said Paul Smith, a member of the Palouse Arts Council. “For us, it was just impractical to continue. So if somebody can fix it up and move in there, everybody benefits.”
The new Palouse Grange 177 has rented the hall once, for an ‘80s dance put on by the Viking Crew sports boosters. Plans for an adult dance in October have been put on hold because the group could not book a band.
“That’s our only stage left in town,” said Kite. “That’s the reason to save it. Overall, we want to keep working on it, for use by people in Palouse and outside, to be another option to be used in Palouse.”
“We just breathed some CPR into it,” said Hunt, referring to what the state grange office did. “But we just helped them out, it’s the people of Palouse who made this happen. We just helped them on their journey.”
Next year the grange will send two delegates to the state Grange convention at Ocean Shores.
The Palouse Arts Council had operated the building under the auspices of Grange 177, from 2003 to 2011. The agreement, entered into with the remaining members of the Grange at the time allowed for use and rental of the property in exchange for the council’s paying for the electricity, insurance and property taxes, along with maintenance and repairs.
While vacating the property last fall, refrigerators and stoves were removed from the hall and donated to the Palouse Community Center.
Garth Meyer is a former Whitman County Gazette reporter.
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