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New Sebastopol Grange officers sworn in

Our new officers were sworn in at our general meeting on February 23. We thank them for their commitment and their dedication. With the support of our members, we look forward to an exciting and productive year ahead.

For more information, see our Leadership page.

Leadership Team
Top: Vince Scholten, President; Evan Wiig, Lecturer, Executive Committee; Jerry Allen, Sonoma County Ponoma President, Sebastopol Grange Past President, Alan Hahn, Assistant Steward; Peter Schurch, Musician; Lawrence Jaffe, Gatekeeper, Executive Committee. Bottom: Lynn Scholten, Grace Pomona; Ariel Scholten, Grace Flora; Laura Shafer, Steward; Karen Perry, Secretary–Recording; Gary Abreim, Treasurer; Jeanna Collet, Vice President. Not pictured: Barton Stone, Chaplain; Leandra Swent, Grace Ceres.

 

 

New Sebastopol Grange officers sworn in Read More »

Read this inspiring story if you support sustainable agriculture and the legacy of the Grange

Please read this inspiring story if you support sustainable agriculture and the legacy of an organization that stood up to the railroads, land-grabbers and real estate speculators in the 19th and early 20th centuries and can take on today’s destructive monopolies.

Now is the time to join the Grange! It’s not just for farmers!

Grangers, the Time is Now

by Ellen Taylor

Ellen Taylor, a 40-year Humboldt County resident and long-time Granger, looks at the strife that has occurred within the national grange and how the legacy and the spirit of the Grange can live on to protect our food system.

 

Grange

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Sebastopol Grange Rap

By M.Shafer-Porte modified by Laura Shafer

Join up!

Join the Grange. Please fill out this form.
People ask, “What do I get if I join?”
For 33 dollars a year,
What do you get? This here:

You get your name on the A list with
Notables of your Community,
You can put this on your resume,
Shows involvement, commitment, and unity.

You can stand and complain
With The Grange by your name,
Seek improvements in the game,
We respond to your exclaims
Of society arrangements
In this game that we all play.

With your contribution dues,
We throw public meetings
And fund-raisers too,
And with incoming revenues,
Support community events and schools…

BoomboxTogether, we support the farmers,
Clean the fields and halls,
Keep an eye on the flies,
Make our compost,
Make some friends…

So put your ante in the pot,
Put your money where you holler,
What else do you get these days for 33 dollars?

Sebastopol Grange Rap Read More »

Grange Scholarship Committee grants awards

The Grange Scholarship Committee announced their scholarship recommendations at the January General Meeting for members to vote. Our Grange voted to fund the Parkside Elementary School Garden Project to add an herb garden and to rehabilitate some of the existing garden boxes at the school site.

In the Youth Scholarship category, Pauline Allen was awarded a scholarship to continue her college studies next school year at Evergreen State College in Ecology/Environmental Studies and Jannike Allen was awarded a scholarship to begin her college studies in Environmental Science.

In the Member Education category, applications are still being accepted. Get more information on our Scholarship page.

**Dena Allen

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Sebastopol Grange Officers elected

Vince Scholten is the Sebastopol Grange's new president.
Vince Scholten is the Sebastopol Grange’s new president.

Grange members elected officers on January 26th. Congratulations to:

President – Vince Scholten

Vice President – Jeanna Collett

Secretary – Recording – Karen Perry

Chaplain – Barton Stone

Lecturer – Evan Wiig

Steward – Laura Schafer

Assistant Steward – Alan Hahn

Gatekeeper – Lawrence Jaffee

Jerry Allen. Photo by Darla Schoenrock.
Outgoing president Jerry Allen was awarded a vintage Granger pin in honor of his service. Photo by Darla Schoenrock.

Flora – Ariel Scholten

Pomona – Lynn Scholten

Ceres – Leandra Swent

Musician – Peter Schurch

Executive Committee – Hrieth Pezzi

Treasurer – Gary Abreim

 

 

 

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Granger Stanislaus “Stash” Wiecek receives Red Cross honor

The American Red Cross Gold Country Chapter honored Sebastopol Granger and PG&E employee Stanislaus “Stash” Wiecek and another PG&E employee for tending to six rescue animals during the Valley Fire in Yolo and Lake counties last year.

PG&E linemen Jeff Wolford and Stanislaus “Stash” Wiecek were surveying fire damage to PG&E facilities and helping to restore power when they came across four horses and two burros. The animals’ owner, Mary Quinn, had just moved to Lake County to establish a refuge for her nonprofit that rescues abused animals. The fire forced her to evacuate without the animals and then it destroyed her home.

Wolford and Wiecek provided water and food for the horses and burros for six days until the owner was able to safely return and care for them. They fed the animals apples, hay and grain, and gave them water. Quinn credits the PG&E employees with saving the animals’ lives.

“It’s just really, really nice to be associated with something positive that happened out of this catastrophic tragedy in this community,” Wiecek said. “And it’s going to take a long time for them to rebuild and do that so it’s nice to be part of something comforting and positive.”

Watch video.

Stanislaus Wiecek
Mary Quinn with Stanislaus Wiecek, left, and Jeff Wolford, the PG&E employees who tended to her horses after she fled the Valley Fire.

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Recent victories in anti-GMO efforts

Organic farmers are racking up new victories … as a growing number of counties line up to bar genetically engineered (GE) crop cultivation throughout the country. A federal judge in Jackson County, Oregon, recently upheld a consent decree that designates the region a “GE-free zone,” a ruling which officially protects the decree from appeal, granting new protections to farmers, consumers and the environment.
Could it happen here in Sonoma County?

Why does this matter? Read more here.

AND on GMO labeling:

Campbell Soup Co said it will label all its U.S. products for the presence of ingredients derived from genetically modified organisms, becoming the first major food company to respond to growing calls for more transparency about contents in food.
The company, which also makes Pepperidge Farm cookies and Prego pasta sauces, said it would withdraw from all efforts by groups opposing such measures. (bit.ly/1OeE1Md)

Several activist groups have been pressuring food companies to be more transparent about the use of ingredients, especially GMO-derived ones, amid rising concerns about their effects on health and the environment.

Several big companies such as PepsiCo Inc, Kellogg Co and Monsanto Co have resisted such calls and have spent millions of dollars to defeat GMO-labeling ballot measures in states such as Oregon, Colorado, Washington and California, saying it would add unnecessary costs.

Read more here.

Campbells

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Grangers on KOWS-FM radio Mon., Jan. 4,, 5-6pm

Evan Wiig, director of the state-wide Farmers Guild and Sebastopol Grange Lecturer, and farmer Caiti Hachmyer will be interviewed on KOWS-FM on Jan. 4, Mon., 5-6 p.m. on KOWS newest program, “A Better World IS Possible,” hosted by Sebastopol Granger Shepherd Bliss.

Petaluma Grange Vice-President was recently interviewed on this program. Other Grange members will be interviewed on coming “Better World” programs, which airs the 1st, 3rd, & 5th Mondays of each month. Ricard Heinberg of the Post-Carbon Institute will be interviewed on Jan. 18. He will be speaking about issues such as the Paris climate change meeting, peak oil, and the transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy.

You can listen on http://kows107-3.org/. All shows can be streamed live on KOWS.FM, in the Occidental area.

http://kows107-3.org/kows-shows/show/a-better-world-is-possible/

KOWS

 

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