"As the 90th year of the Yakima Valley's first Grange passes, there is plenty to celebrate.
Enough apple pie and fruit punch have been served here to feed the residents of nearby Granger several times over. Couples have jigged and waltzed across the wood-planked upper floor for decades.
Money has been raised, a fire station built, a reading program has been sponsored at the Outlook Elementary School and, for 10 years, members served up cheeseburgers and hot dogs at the Central Washington State Fair in Yakima.There is much to be proud of.
But Outlook Grange members aren't rejoicing just yet. They're lamenting the lack of youthful newcomers or pensively pondering the organization's future. The 20 or so die-hards who come to twice-monthly meetings carry on with business, though the organization's vitality is withering. Three decades ago, membership hit a high of 250 local residents. Now the Outlook Grange has 160 registered members.
The Grange holds little relevancy for younger generations, says member Pat Barr, 62, a woman steward assistant in charge of opening the Bible at the start of gatherings.
Most who regularly attend meetings are in their 60s or older, she says, although a handful are in their 40s. Younger people, Barr says, are just not interested.
"They lose out on a form of family entertainment that has good moral background. I feel sad that Granges have kind of diminished as a priority in people's lives because it's something that needs to be carried on," she says.
The Outlook Grange is the county's oldest, outliving the closing of Granges in Mabton, Toppenish and elsewhere. In 1973, it consolidated with the Lincoln Grange, about 10 miles northwest of the Outlook Grange.
In its heyday, the Outlook organization was a place where good fun and friendly discussions were as regular as Sunday sermons at church.
It formed in 1908 to bring farmers together to talk politics, market prices and agriculture. The country's first Granges came about soon after the Civil War to provide farmers in the South with an organization to help them rebuild their land, according to an Internet site hosted by the National Grange.
Locally, the first Grange meetings took place above the Outlook Mercantile Store, later moving to the high school until it burned down in the 1930s, says 70-year-old Dorothy Cullen, who has been a Grange member since she turned 14.A Grange hall was completed soon after the fire, she says.
Annual dinners to pay for the building and maintain it are among the members' fondest memories. In the Depression years, 35 cents bought a dinner of chicken and noodles, mashed potatoes and gravy, rutabagas, salad and dessert. And of course, that included a dance with live music.
Now the annual dinner in February costs $5 and includes roast beef, turkey, potatoes and gravy, rutabagas, rolls and an assortment of pies, but no dance.
Still, it's considered a good time.
"Everybody that belongs is caring and they do a lot to help and morally, mentally uplift and support other members. They're the kind of people who put other people first," Barr says.
Community service is a cornerstone of the 3,600 Granges nationwide.
In 1952, the Grange helped Yakima County Fire District No. 5 build a fire hall for a truck to protect nearby orchards, dairies and homes.
Grange-sponsored candidate nights have been around since 1986, Cullen says. The group holds a yearly auction and donates the proceeds to Sunnyside's Special Olympics chapter. Members also tutor at Outlook Elementary School, where they sponsor a plaque highlighting the most improved student readers.
About six children take part in Junior Grange, where they learn about crafts and community service and about rituals involved in regular meetings The National Grange, which oversees the country's local Granges, is headquartered in Washington, D.C., and lobbies legislators on rural and agricultural issues - such as farmland preservation and the elimination of direct government
farm programs. Few state or national resolutions are drafted in Outlook, but Cullen says the group should spend more time on such measures.
When the regulars gather, reports are given by members of 10 different committees on topics such as water, energy and agriculture.
Clarence Meeker, one of the youngest regulars, heads up the Grange as its master. The 39-year-old Meeker enjoys seeing old friends at the regular gatherings and learning about the land his family has worked a dairy on since 1938.
He, too, worries about the weak attendance and the future of Outlook's 90-year tradition.
"It's hard to get people out these days - young and old. There's just more going on," he says. But he thinks there are enough people who care about the Grange tradition in Outlook to keep it going for many years to come.
Source: Long-Lived Grange Celebrates Its Past, Worries About Its Future by Devona Wells. Yakima Herald-Republic January 28, 1999