Located in the middle of town, the Naples Grange looks much the same as it did nearly 100 years ago when it was built.
Yet no longer is it a place where neighbors come together to enjoy good company, dances and banquet suppers. The cast-iron stove in the kitchen is cold. The upstairs hall is all but empty except for a few chairs, books and play props on an abandoned stage from which actors have long since taken their bows. And in the corner, the lonely keys of an old piano are collecting dust.
But Billi Lynn Burke, the grange’s new master, hopes to change all this by raising money to fix the grange building, recruiting younger members and getting the community back involved with what has traditionally been a central gathering place for townsfolk.
“If we wait any longer, the history will be gone,” Burke said. “I want to slow back time, smell the roses and let everybody know their neighbor.”
Burke, known around town as “Mrs. Tux,” joined the grange a year and a half ago after being “roped in” by her mother-in-law. She says the grange membership has dwindled recently and most of the current members are senior citizens. She and other grange members are worried that the grange will fade as its members pass on.
The building itself needs repairs like handicap accessibility and insulation so the grange can become a year-round community center. Lead paint needs to be removed from the hall upstairs and old windows need to be replaced.
Recently, Burke and Town Manager Derik Goodine created a committee to “breath new life” into the grange. They have teamed with Bob Nault, who runs Naples’ Before and After Daycare, and Donna Forke, head of the senior program for Lake Region Healthy Community Coalition, to try to bring renewal to the grange. Both Nault and Forke have expressed interest in housing their programs at the grange once the building is improved.
If both programs made the grange their new home, the elders of the community would once again be given the opportunity to mingle with the younger generations, Burke said. This would enforce the old tradition of the grange where once young and old used to sit at the same table for grange suppers.
Ruby Whitney, now 90, first became a grange member when she was 15 years old. Born in Harrison, Whitney joined the Naples grange 70 years ago and remembers when “the hall was packed at all times” and people would fill the dining room for grange suppers. Back then, farmers still gathered at the grange to talk about their crops and swap stories of the harvest.
“It was one of the leading organizations at the time because of the (local) agriculture,” Whitney said.
She remembers many grange suppers, dances, plays and entertainment the children would provide.
Whitney, a former grange master herself, has stayed with Naples grange because of the friendliness among members. Although with membership in decline, the grange has become more and more inactive, she said. She hopes a renewal of activity will lead to a rebirth of the grange for, as she says, “You’ve got to be doing something to keep people interested.”
Goodine has been working with the grange members to apply for foundation and community development grants. He was the town manager of East Sangerville in 1994 when its grange was “resurrected” by a group of younger members who turned the building into a community center, artistic venue and coffee shop.
He also remembers a time in the not-too-distant past when, on any given Saturday night, the grange was the place to be for entertainment.
He hopes the same will be true for Naples in the not-too-distant future.
Karen Wright Singer, daughter of Edward Singer who once owned the grange, is also interested in working with the town to help revive the grange, Goodine said. After Mr. Singer passed away in 2003, he gave the grange, also known as the Singer Community Center, to the town.
The only life the grange has seen recently is a teen camp held there last summer. Game tables still crowd the downstairs of the grange, but the town may not be able to hold camp there next summer if improvements aren’t made to the building.
But already there is light at the end of the grange hall. The grange has recruited ten new members, including Burke’s husband Tux, and more have expressed an interest.
“If we just start out with one task at a time, it will evolve into something,” Burke said.
She hopes someday the grange will be a place where people feel free to relax from the busy world and, by reuniting the community with its grange, give neighbors a space to gather in good company.
If you would like to join Naples Grange 94 or donate money to the cause, call “Mrs Tux” at 693-4663.
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