Don’t forget to come out to the Beach Grange on May 5th for our Longaberger Basket Bingo. Bring a non-perishable food items to receive tickets for free game boards with the purchase of admission, all food donations go to the local food pantry. Play bingo, win Longaberger Basket prizes, have some snacks, and some fun with friends!

Doors open at 11am and open to the first 75 players.

Side notes: July 4th we will be running our food booth at Chesterfield County Fair Grounds this year for the Fireworks display Chesterfield County holds every year. We need volunteers to help and you get to watch a great show from behind our booth.

July 7th is our Junior and Youth Workshop, open to kids age 5 to 19 years. Activities to learn leadership skills, community service, and a great time with friends. Pick up your registration form from a Beach Grange Member, the Beach Grange Building, or the Colonial Height Farmers Market Booth.

Hello again from Beach Community Grange!

Its that time of year for Vendor Bingo!! Come out and get a head start on Mother’s Day/Birthday/Fathers Day/ Christmas shopping with local vendors and play Bingo.

March 24th Doors Open at 11am, Games begin at 1pm

Concession stand will be open

$25 admission with available of additional game boards

We want to say Thank you to those who attended our Basket Bingo February 10th at Beach Community Grange. We had a great turnout and everyone had a great time. Beach Community Grange is strictly volunteer based, and we do all we can to help those in our community, so all the proceeds from this Basket Bingo is going to the Sheppard’s Center in Chesterfield.

A special big Thank You to the volunteers and to those who helped make this Basket Bingo a success.

Make sure to be ready for our next event, Vendor Bingo is March 24th and another Basket Bingo May 5th.

Hello to our visitors of our Beach Community Grange Website!

We have been so busy with our Halloween Party and Vendor Bingo that we have fallen behind of a few housekeeping responsibilities. We apologize to those of you who keep updated by this website. Everything has been updated as of 11/16/17!

Currently, we do not have anything scheduled to the public until after the new year. Members, please keep in touch through our Facebook Page of upcoming things that we may need your help with.

If you have not heard Beach Community Grange has started a Youth Grange (ages 15-35), our wonderful Juniors Leader Pam Wade has been promoted to Youth Leader. A page has been added to our website with Youth information, if you have a Youth that would like to join in our wonderful volunteer organization please contact Pam Wade at (804)-239-7046 by text or call, or message Pamela Wade through Facebook.

Since our wonderful Pam Wade has been promoted to Youth Leader, Stephanie Wolters has become Junior Leader to the Junior Grange. If you have a Junior (ages 5-14) please contact Stephanie Wolters at (804)-307-5588.

Beach Community Grange is thankful for everything our volunteers do, and the community and their support. We hope everyone has a Happy and Safe Holiday and see you in the New Year!

Hello folks! We will be changing what content we will be placing on the website going forward. So here is our new format for our Monthly Meeting information.

Unfinished Business

Big thank you to those who worked the Fair, we had 3 days of rain out of the 9 days we were open, but we still did a great job. Friday we did not feed this judges like we normally do, but there is a Fair Members committee meeting in November where this will be addressed for next year.

We have decided to allow the Sportsman Fellowship Meetings to continue at our building. This fellowship is open to any man that has a desire to hear about the Lord and fellowship with like minded individuals over a dinner, once a month. If you would like more details, please let us know.

We are in the process of making room in our parking lot to accommodate more parking and more handicap spaces. We are also looking for any building material donations to assist with the process of adding a storage building to our property

We are doing great at the Colonial Heights Farmers Market on Saturdays. Banners are in the works to add more information to our booth. We have found a possible way to offer samples of our Stew as well. There will be a possible date for prep and cooking of more Stew since we are getting low for the Farmers Market and the cooler months offer a possibility of more Stew Sales.

Basket Bingo is just around the corner and we are in full swing. We need donations for the table gifts and items for our baskets. Please see Becky or Loretta for details.

Dictionary numbers are already in thanks to Ms. Pam. She has already called all of our schools on our list and has a total number for the Words for Thirds Program. It was motioned that any Dictionaries left from last year be passed out at the Farmers Market to school aged children. It was approved and will be done at the next Farmers Market.

New Business

It was announced that Pam will start a Youth Grange (ages 15 to 34), our Grange is growing and we need to be ready to grow with it. We believe that Pam will be a great Leader for the Youth program. Now that Pam will be leading the Youth Grange, Stephanie will be the new Leader for the Junior Grange (ages 5 to 14). Pam will head up the first Juniors Meeting September 19th for a craft and to say good-bye to the kiddos.

Next Friday is our first Bingo of the new season, if you would like to donate a dessert or a dinner, they are welcome to. (Dinner meaning, a side dish or meal such as Lasagna or green beans, etc.)

State Session will be held at Bellafont Grange October 14th & 15th. Please see Melinda if you will be attending, Bellafont needs a head count for the dinner on Saturday. Also, if you have not received your 6th Degree you can Saturday before the dinner. If you would like to submit something in and of the contests, a list will be provided on our Facebook Page. Submissions need to be presented Saturday at Bellafont or given to someone that will be going if you can not attend.

Halloween Party is October 28th at 6:45pm to 9pm. We have decided that it is better for the Trick or Treater’s to come on the Saturday before because of possibility of school in the morning for some. This makes it possible to enjoy the festivities without having to miss out on the fun. We will not book any rentals on the two weekends prior to our Halloween Party so we are able to get things decorated and set up. This is a FREE and SAFE event to the public so please make sure to get the information out to your friends, family, and neighbors.

Suggestions

Pray for those who have been effected by Harvey and those who will be effected by Irma.

As always if you have any questions or comments please leave them here or call a member, we are always happy to hear from you!

Hey everyone, we hope you have been having a great summer. The Grange is getting close to getting back into our normal routines for the fall and winter season. We would like to make a few reminders that are coming soon.

August 26th to September 2nd we will be at our newly painted Grange Building at the Chesterfield County Fair. Come join in the festivities by purchasing our home cooking or joining us in the kitchen by helping us serve the community. We always welcome volunteers!

September ?? (date questionable at this time) our Junior Grange will start meeting again!! Our Juniors this summer went to the Southeast Region Conference in Florida and are looking forward to the new possibilities coming from the National Grange. If you have a child starting at age 4 to age 16, they are welcome to join in for only $5 for the year! Meetings are held twice in a month, but September will only be one meeting because of school starting the first week.

Bingo will be starting back September 15th and will be going through the school season on Fridays. Make sure to keep tabs on Special Bingo’s like Vendor Bingo or Basket Bingo. These Bingo’s are fund raisers for special groups in your community to help continue what they do for the community.

Well I guess that is all the housekeeping we need to remind you about at this time. Remember we meet the first Thursday of the month and we welcome the public to attend. If you have questions or would like to join our wonderful volunteer organization, leave a comment, post a post on our Facebook page, call the Beach Grange or a member, or just stop at our fair booth and say Howdy!

Sorry for the lack of communication lately, we have been busy bees and summer fun has gotten in the way. Here is the update from our last meeting, if you have any questions or comments please leave them here or on our Facebook Page. (Notes taken by Jayna)

Notes from Thursday’s Meeting:
7/29 – Pamona Meeting at Beach Grange – we have a rental conflict so date and/or location may change.
8/5 – Quilt Blocks due. See Melinda for details.

Juniors – no update

Sunshine – no update…

Building and grounds – Fair building got rave reviews. Thanks Larry and all others who helped him get this done! Thanks to the membership for allowing him to do this.

Bingo – met 2 weeks ago. Changes to program and numbers of players vs. payout are coming. Need volunteers for Friday night bingos.

Basket bingo – check presented to Jeffrey Reed Foundation. Brought his dad to tears. They were concerned about funds and being able to keep going with this. Check provided when with scholarships for the next 2 1/2 years! Jeff Reed as a boy was a boy scout that met at the Grange building who’s troop leader was Rob and Mel. Jeff Reed passed during his deployment and went to school at L C Bird, there is now a scholarship fund and veteran assistance fund in his name. (WOW!)

Unfinished Business – 4th of July went wonderful! Bags and prepped packages were very nice. Sales lost because no credit/debit cards accepted. Will look into having square app for the fair! Pricing was better than all other vendors!
National Night Out at Mid Cities – Grange is taking drink machine to sell sodas. See Nick for details!
First Tee Luncheon on June 6th – went well, thanks everyone.
Rental for Colonial Heights Farmer’s Market – NEED VOLUNTEERS! Started selling stew – sold 11 out of 15 first time! Set up – arrive around 8:15 am, opens at 9:00 am and goes until Noon. See Janet or Kimberly if you can volunteer or have questions.

New Business – Fair is coming! August 25th – Sept 2nd. See Facebook for updates from Robert. Becky will check with Rob regarding spraying for bugs at fair building. 8/22 is food buying trip. Make sure you sign in and out when at the fair. This helps us keep track of hours worked for community service book.
Planning a 1/2 stew batch for Sunday 8/13. Need Volunteers to help.
Fall Basket Bingo set for 9/30. Melinda will send out save the dates. To benefit: Journey 4 Hope for Autism. Crystal will get Melinda info on them.
7/19 at 7:00 pm – Kitchen staff meeting at Grange. Need more volunteers – we have lost 3 helpers. Please come if you are interested in working in the kitchen for Friday night bingos.

Suggestions for the good of the Order: Stay Cool, stay hydrated, and don’t talk with your mouth full!

Sorry this is late!

New Members: Sarah Kiracofe was voted and obligated in tonight, mother to members Jayna and Jaimie.

Committee Reports:

Sunshine– She was MIA for the meeting but sent word that she had sent out this months Birthday cards, Sympathy, Get Well Soon, and Thinking of You cards.

Juniors– April 18th was our Nature Conversations with the “Bat Lady”, everyone loved hearing about Bats and gardening. April 19th was our Weather Talks with Matt Denardo from Channel 6 News. We donated food to him for his food bank drive, and he recognized the Grange on several of his broadcast. May 2nd was our formal meeting and our craft for Mother’s Day, sorry its a secret till the Mother’s of the Grange receive their present from the Juniors.

Buildings & Grounds– Grass has been mowed, mulch was put down, and the fair building needs to be washed and painted for the season. Thank you to all that have helped with the mulch and to those who will volunteer for the fair building cleanup.

Communications:

Essays are in and have been decided on, winners will be announced.

Thank you card from Larry Donathan

Thank you card from Lucy Core for the Bunny Visit at Easter

Unfinished Business:

Breakfast with the Bunny was a great turnout, we had a total of 150 people participate and 6 new juniors applications. Thank you to those who helped in the kitchen, Kim for doing crafts and Robin for the photos of those who sat with the Easter Bunny.

Bunny at Lucy Core as always is a wonderful thing to see, if you have never helped with it you should! Jessica got to see Mrs. Fox and Rob got to see an previous neighbor of his. Everyone enjoyed their gifts from the Bunny and please come help next time, it is so rewarding.

Health Fair was not a great turn out but the vendors were amazing. If you missed it Rob (6’5″) went into the “Down and Out” House that the Fire Department brought to show kids how to escape a fire in a mock house. Rob tried to escape through a window that was child sized, very interesting. Let’s hope we get to see this again next year.

Kids Only Bingo was a great turn out and the children were great sportsmanship. We did more than the scheduled 10 games, and there was a lot of prize swapping between the kids. If a kid won more than once they offered their prize to those who didn’t win.

Citizens Award Dinner where we awarded Earl Spencer with the Citizens Award for donating Ice to the Grange at the Fair for the past 20 years! 5 year pins were handed out. Betty Rakley’s Son came to accept her 25 year pin on her behalf. Ernie was award this evening (5/4/17) her 55 year pin.

Lecturer’s Conference in PA was great, got to see some old friends and some folks who were related to others in VA. Took a tour of the wooden quilt blocks and made some of our own. Beach Community Grange will be hosting the 2019 Lecturer’s Conference so be ready!

We have WiFi!!! The Beach Community Grange has finally come into the 21st Century and has set up Wifi for the Building. There will be a Guest password for those who rent or Vendors for our Vendor Bingos and other events. If you have questions on this password please see Rob.

New Business:

Brunswick Stew will be May 28th and 29th. Prep is Sunday May 28th at 6pm and Cooking is Monday May 29th at 6am. We need volunteers for both days, please!

Dictionary Program is coming up again. Bruce Thompson called and wanted to make sure we are still doing our 8 schools this coming year. The Grange was also in the word of the day email from the Dictionary Program in April because they knew it was National Grange month. The word of the day was “Do-er” and Holden Grange in Massachusetts was featured.

Bingo next Friday (May 12) will be short staffed due to an obligation that many members need to attend. Kitchen staff will be covered, Nick will be on the floor and Janet will be calling. Sorry for the short handedness but we will make it through.

July 4th Fair Grounds Fireworks is in prep. Our application and payment has been delivered so we are ready to go to have our Fair Booth open. We need volunteers to help run the booth, Prep is the 4th at Noon to 1pm and Sales at 4pm. If you are volunteering please park at the baseball fields at Byrd High school and take the shuttle to Gate 3. Inform those at Gate 3 that you are with the Grange to help serve as a Vendor, and wear your Grange Shirt and Visor. June 3rd the inside of the building will be cleaned and June 17th or 18th we will move the soda machine. Volunteers will be needed for these dates as well.

First Tee Luncheon is coming up June 6th, so those who can volunteer to help serve lunch will be needed.

Basket Bingo’s and Vendor Bingo’s for next year are in prep. If you know of a non-profit non-government affiliated program that needs donations, please gather some information about them and turn it in to Melinda so it can be voted on as our folks we are sponsoring for these Bingo’s.

Farmers Market is paid for till April 30th of 2018, we have a center spot and will need volunteers to help run our table. Every Saturday the Farmers Market in Colonial Heights is open from 8:30am to 12:30pm. We will have a kit put together for those who will run the table, i.e.: brochures, member packets, table, banner, tent, etc. This is a way to get our information out there and to get back to our roots with Farmers.

Members Sick or in Distress:

Melinda’s Dad had surgery for his Bells Palsey on his eye, and he is doing great.

Jon Walters 98% blockage but came to the meeting and is looking good.

Cathy Maggard  still having issues with her back but doing good.

Literary Program:

Melinda passed out a flyer that gave information on Ticks and Lyme Disease. Virginia is a hot spot for Ticks with Lyme Disease and we all need to make sure this spring and summer that we are watching for Ticks. The flyer gave helpful tips on how to keep ticks at bay from your yard, what to do if you have or find a tick, and warning signs of Lyme Disease. Please keep a watchful eye on yourselves, children, elderly and pets.

Suggestions for the Good of the Order:

Check for Ticks!!!

As you may have seen the Grange is celebrating its 150 years of service. We at Beach Community Grange have been doing it in style this month during Grange Month. We have had a Fools Raffle, to a health fair, to teaching our Juniors about nature/bats and lastly our Breakfast with the Easter Bunny. This month has been a fantastic month for our Juniors and our Members. If you have not RSVP’ed with Melinda for the Membership Recognition Dinner please do so, the dinner is April 25th at 6pm. We want to thank everyone that has come out to help with set up for our events, those who enjoyed each event, and those who continue to serve our community. Remember, we still have some Grange Month activities still to come that are carrying over into May. Take the time to browse this website for details or our Beach Community Grange Facebook page. If you are not yet a member or a parent of a Junior make sure to check us out and our upcoming events to see what we do for our community.