Pie auction night at the Grange

We really do love our little community Grange. “Grange” was a word we had never even heard until we moved to Eastern Washington, but it’s the kind of national fraternal organization that has been around for 150 years, promoting and celebrating the agricultural lifestyle.

Of course when Steve and I joined the Green Bluff Grange we immediately stepped into officer roles where we could whip the “back office” operations into shape, slowly dragging our local chapter into the new millennium. Steve as Treasurer immediately moved the books to an actual accounting system, and he also modernized the facility by getting Internet access and taking credit card payments by Square. I set up a shared Google drive for our document archives and moved our membership system to Excel, am overhauling our scholarship program, and most importantly (at least yesterday), combined the longtime “Booster Night” practice with a popular annual event, the Pie Auction!

Booster Night is a chance to recognize length of service with the Grange. Amazingly, we have folks who have been Grangers for 65+ years! But the Pie Auction is what everyone comes to see. We had about two dozen gorgeous pies for auction last night, and the bidding was furious. One homemade apple pie went for $225!

Steve and I did our part in the fundraising, bringing home two pies which actually constituted our dinner and the kids’ dessert last night.

Here’s a picture of the program (made with the help of AI, of course), my winning-bid happy face, and our haul at home: homemade huckleberry-cheesecake and peanut butter pies. Not shown: Steve the Treasurer settling everyone’s auction bills.

Montana calls the Grange “Scouts for Grownups”, which actually is kind of fitting, just take out the badges and camping parts and add in monthly pancake breakfasts and fun little community events like this!