| June 15, 2017 -- Our annual Awards Luncheon was fantastic with special guest of honor, Edith Remington, honored for 80 years of service to our Grange. She also served a Grange in Florida for several years, maintaining joint membership. State Senator, Mae Flexer, presented Edith with a citation from the State General Assembly, cosponsored by Senator, Heather Somers and our State Representative, Kevin Skulczyck. Russell Gray presented Edith with a framed citation, naming Sunday, May 7th as Edith Remington Day in Sterling. National Master, Betsy Huber, sent a letter honoring Edith for her Grange dedication. When Edith spoke, she told several fascinating stories from her early days in Grange, highlighting the service Grangers did and continue to do to make the lives of folks better. One fact she recalled was that our Grange Hall served as a bomb shelter during the War. She and other ladies sewed black curtains to cover all of the windows. Our hall had access to water, had electricity, lots of blankets and bedding was donated. We had a wood furnace, wood stove and even had a 5- seater outhouse. She continues to create beautiful afghans, donating them to American Legion, veterans and our Grange for fundraisers!
We also presented Deborah Sharpe with her 25 year certificate and Jody and Jodi Ann Cameron, Neil and Marlene Cook, Jane Eaton, Rebecca Gervais and Betsy Molodich with their 30 year certificates. 40 year certificates were presented to Albert Exley, Alan Champagne, Charles Cole, Amos Cornell Jr., James Larkin Sr. Michael Molodich and Janet St. Jean. R. Wesley Hopkins was recipient of his 50 year, Golden Sheaf certificate, while Lorraine Thurlow was awarded recognition for 55 years of membership. Last but certainly not least, Marie Exley received a seal for her 60 years of Grange membership. Paulette Craig delivered Ron Coty with his 60 year award at “The Colonial” and Russell Gray delivered George and Louise Molodich their 50 and 25 year certificates respectively. The remainder of the recipients (15 in total) will have been delivered by the time that you read this.
Our Juniors did several humorous skits during the afternoons’ program as well as Jenna Wesa (trumpet), Brianna Gervais and Lillian Sharpe (piano). The Juniors raised $1,100.00 on their “May Calendar” fundraiser. They plan to donate all this money! They have 4 Juniors planning to attend Camp Berger this summer.
Finally, two former Junior Presidents, Carly Sebastian and Trevor Gervais, were awarded the annual Scholarships from our Grange at the awards luncheon! Carly plans to attend Eastern Connecticut State University majoring in early childhood education and Trevor has been accepted at Lincoln Technical Institute, where he will major in Diesel Mechanics. Both have held various offices in Subordinate Grange too as well as being part of the Ekonk/CT Youth Drill Team for several years.
Our exchange with Richmond was extraordinary as usual and they presented “The Gong Show” to everyone’s great delight. We were especially pleased to have Beckett Truppa Gagas (6 months) join us with proud new parents Andrea (our LAS) and Christian! Visit Ekonk anytime--every first Monday at 7:30 p.m. |
