2009 Annual Report Northland Pioneer Grange #1

The Northland Pioneer Grange #1 has been busy with the following activities this year:

	Awarded one $2,000 college scholarship to a Matanuska-Susitna Borough high school graduate, Michelle Wetherell. This award is an annual scholarship that has been given for over 20 years.
	Grange members are actively involved with the AG in the Classroom project, which is in its fourteenth year. A $500 scholarship will again be awarded to the best presenter and the Grange donated funds for presentation supplies and stipends. This project continues to be enjoyed by all who participate.
	The Grange continue to support the Palmer Arboretum project. This year the Grange and State FFA convention joined forces in April to prune, rake, and dispose of wind and snow damaged plant material. A local plant nursery has donated flowers each year to place below the Arboretum sign (constructed through a Division of forestry Arbor Day Grant).
	The Grange participates in planting flowers each year at the U of A Experimental Farm’s Flower Gardens.
	Donated funds from the Fall Harvest Dinner donations and Auction to community youth functions, including 4-H and Future Farmers of America (FAA) students totaled $2,800.
	The Grange held its annual Christmas potluck and Chinese gift exchange in December.

The above if for the period May 3, 2008 through May 2, 2009. Members at last report, 36. Gained 3, lost 5, for a current membership of 34. There are two Gold Sheaf Members, the same as last year.

2009 Annual Report Two Rivers Grange #3

We had a great year. As you all know, some years are better than others. Our weather was not the best. But we had lots of attendance for our summer meetings. We have a great group of active members. They are so active in the community that winter meetings were kind of hard to do. Because of all the activities that came with sled dogs and children, we were all very busy.

This year the Two Rivers Grange #3 held one breakfast per month for the summer and we had lots of fun. We had some children help serve our guests. On one or two occasions, the Two Rivers Girl Scout Troop came and did community service by serving our guests.

The Two Rivers Girl Scout Troop asked us for some help. They needed some flags they could carry and be able to take for different activities. We were able to help them out. In turn, we received a plaque from the troop. This was a great honor.

Our Mutkala Fund is still a very important part of our community. We have helped out many students this year. For example, we have two young men who have been able to acquire Reindeer to raise and then sell for butchering. They gave us a very interesting report on their project. Another young man was able to go to a Ballet School in California and we had a young lady go to Porte Rico for a student exchange program for school. What great things we are seeing children do with just a little help! This is a wonderful tool that we have to help out our community.

We are looking forward to the year coming up – we have some more that everyone wants to do.

Next year will be the Two Rivers Grange #3’s 50th Anniversary. We are looking forward to seeing you all (and many more) at next year’s state meeting, which we are hosting at our grange hall.

Your Two Rivers Grange #3 Worthy Master,

Charlotte Strickland

2009 Annual Report North Pole Grange #6

2008 has been a good year for the North Pole Grange.

	We continue to maintain a good relationship with the faculty and student body of North Pole High School.
	The watercolor club formed 2½ years ago has become a huge success. This provides weekly activity for the community as well as a very popular art show on the third Friday of each month. The monthly show rivals the larger galleries in Fairbanks in terms of number of attendees and is known among local artists as the best private gallery in the interior. This is our largest revenue source.
	We established low raised planting beds on our front lawn last year. The local Master Gardening Club is assisting with this project. Last year two beds were dedicated to flowers and one bed to a potato crop. The potato yield, approximately 30 pounds, was served at Friday fund raising dinners and was part of a turkey dinner at the November art show. These dinners have become monthly events.
	We partnered with the Interior Rabbit and Cavy Club to host their first annual show at the grange. We may also do an animal show later this summer. The rabbit show was attended by over one hundred visitors with entries from all over the State.
	The North Pole Grange was instrumental in establishing the 2008 “Christmas in Ice” event for the City of North Pole. The event saw over five thousand visitors and enjoyed substantial contributions from BP, Flint Hills, Conoco Phillips, and the City of North Pole. “Christmas in Ice” for 2009 promises to be an even bigger event.

Throughout the past several years we have tried numerous schemes to involve more people in the Grange itself. North Pole is a small community with a lot of competing activities. The movers and shakers in the community are already heavily involved in a myriad of other community activities. The Watercolor club and the “Christmas in Ice” events bring hundreds of regular participants to our Hall each month along with a few new faces every week. This has resulted in a sparked interest in the Grange. Rather than assimilate the smaller clubs into the Grange itself, the current strategy is to enable their success by helping them organize and feel at home with the Grange. They focus on their organization and help the Grange when called upon to participate in Grange activities. This strategy is gradually bringing a more dynamic and more affluent group of people to the Grange and at the moment appears to be the light at the end of the tunnel for recruiting new members.

Our membership remains small, but is steady.

Respectfully submitted this 2nd day in May 2009 by

John E. Poirrier

President, North Pole Grange #6.

2009 Annual Report North Star Grange #10

The North Star Grange projects for the year included:

	Maintaining clean up of Aldridge Park. The park with a playground, picnic area, and ball fields continues to be a wonderful place to spend a summer day in Fairbanks.
	Crocheting by member Alice McKee has provided 48 afghans and lap robes to local charities such as Interior Center for Non-Violent Living, Veterans in Fairbanks, land also cancer patients in Yuma, Arizona. All were contributed in the name of the grange.
	Placement of a framed copy of the Bill of Rights is on display for the public in the Borough building. The grange plans to expand this project to have copies hung in Fairbanks schools. Thanks are due member Frank Turney for heading up this effort.
	North Star Grange #10’s web page continues to be updated by Ann Roberts. The site contains not only information on this grange, but also other local granges and the state grange as well.

The following projects are on-going and will be worked on in 2009.

	Working with local businesses and schools to create a training program whereby high school students would be able to get on-the-job training for school credits. This program would teach basic job skills and work ethics to the youth of our community.
	Environmental issues are a growing concern in our communities and the grange hopes to help the community in its effort to recycle and work toward achieving sustainable life styles.
	Developing a park in downtown Fairbanks is in the beginning stages. At this time, we are awaiting word from the Alaska Housing Authority on the status o the property. The borough’s Department of Parks & Recreation has shown an interest in helping us make this project a reality if the land becomes available. Our vision for the park is to have the usual playground equipment, chess/checker tables, a picnic area, and hopefully, a community garden.

In closing, North Star Grange #10 was happy to have added two new members in 2008. Our hope for the year is that the State Grange continues to grow in numbers and in service to our communities.

Fraternally,

Danell Kirschner President

2009 Annual Report Greater Anchorage Grange #11

Number Eleven, chartered April 25, 2004, maintains a small membership. Unfortunately, we have dropped one and gained only one.

Our main project throughout the year continues to be sending flat rate packages to service men overseas; and member, Lee Hill, provides wonderful receiving blankets for preemies in Anchorage’s hospitals. At this point, she has contributed over 700 hours toward preemie blanket creation and she and other volunteers were honored by Providence Hospital with a train ride, certificate and lapel pin acknowledging her 700 hours of service.

Submitted by,

Gaye V. Hunt, Master – Greater Anchorage #11