In its hey day, the Cedar Valley Grange was a major social center for Lynnwood — even before the area was known as Lynnwood.
That was a different time: a time when farms and vegetable gardens were as commonplace as strip malls are today.
“In the ’40s and ’50s there were gardens all over the place,” said Vera Adamson, who grew up in Edmonds and now serves as the Grange’s communications director. “My mother used to sell the vegetables from our garden to neighbors.”
On Sunday, Aug. 9, Cedar Valley Grange will celebrate its 100th birthday, making it twice as old as Lynnwood, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary through March 2010.
The local grange, 20526 52nd Ave.W, is just one of thousands of Granges around the United States and dozens in Washington.
Since their founding in the 19th century, granges have served as social glue for farm families. Today, many of those grange halls that were once surrounded by farm land now lie in midst of what have become urban areas.
The Cedar Valley Grange is considered to be the oldest social organization in the area that, until 1959, was known as Alderwood Manor.
A fraternal organization, the Cedar Valley Grange is the local unit of the “Order of Patrons of Husbandry,” a nationwide organization “designed to appeal to people in rural areas,” wrote K.W. McAunulty in a historical booklet celebrating the local Grange’s 90th anniversary. An off-shoot of Freemasonry, the organization has grown in influence to become a major political force nationally in support of farmers and agriculture.
Margaret Sherman, 81, used to run the Cedar Valley Grange as its “master.” Today, she oversees the facility’s rentals. Her sister, Marian Whetham 77, of Everett, keeps the books.
Sherman joined the Cedar Valley Grange in 1966, seven years after moving to the area with her husband.
“We joined the grange in Shelton as teenagers,” said Sherman, who spent her working life with Safeway Stores, Inc. The two left their parent’s Shelton farm as brides with their new husbands.
In the old days, grange members would bring their children to the meeting hall. Sherman and Whetham said they remember the Shelton grange hall having a meeting hall upstairs. Children, even infants, were ever present.
“There was no such thing as a baby sitter in those days,” Sherman said.
“You took your kids with you,” said her sister.
Grange halls in all but the most rural areas are seldom the social focal point of the area. They still serve an important function however, providing space for community groups.
The classic wooden floor dance hall at the Cedar Valley Grange is an element popular with many groups, including Dudes and Dolls Square Dancers that meet there twice a month; the Dancing Jewels, a round dancing group; Sno-King Folk Dancers; Seniors Ballroom Dancing; and Scandia Folk Dancers.
“We kind of watch who we rent to,” Sherman said. “Most of our groups are really good about cleaning up after themselves.”
Today, the Cedar Valley Grange is one of several fraternal organizations in the Lynnwood area. Its focus, aside from providing space to dance groups, is to serve the community, Sherman and Whetham said.
The organization donates to the Lynnwood Food Bank and provides school supplies for Cedar Valley Community School as well as supporting Medic 7 and the Lynnwood Fire Department.
“They have been supporting Cedar Valley School for probably as long as the grange has been around,” said Leann Tronsdal, Cedar Valley Community School office manager. “They’re very supportive of us.”
As with many fraternal organizations, the grange has struggled with attracting younger members. “Seems like a lot of people kind of got away from community service in the 80s,” said Dan Hammock, communications director for the Washington State Grange.
Things got so bad for Washington granges some “thought were not going to make it,” he said.
That downward trend is shifting.
The Chimicum Grange in Jefferson County was “on life support,” he said. Today, it has several active members.
“It’s just a matter of getting the right people that have the kid of enthusiasm to really get their hands dirty in the community,” Hammock said.
Others hitting the centennial anniversary are both the Tualco Grange in Monroe and Garden City Grange in Snohomish hit the century mark.
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