MICHIGAN STATE GRANGE MASTER/PRESIDENT
Christopher D. Johnston
6241 Grand River Road
Bancroft, MI 48414
(989)634-9350 (H) (989)666-6648 (C)
msgprez19@yahoo.com

MICHIGAN STATE GRANGE OFFICE
404 S. Oak Street
Durand, MI 48429
(989)288-4546
msgrange1873@yahoo.com



JULY/AUGUST 2026 GRANGE NEWS
State Session
In a few short months we will be gathering at the First Methodist Church in Three Rivers, Michigan for our 153rd Annual Meeting of the Michigan State Grange. You will be soon receiving the credential reports and deciding who you want to represent your Grange as your delegates. Remember you can send three delegates, however, the third one must be a youth member, aged 14-35. This also applies to Pomona Granges as well. Plan to send your representation as well as attending yourself. More information about the session will be out in the Michigan Grange News, but you can also find it on the website.

This year we are in the process of trying to host Susan and Mark Noah as our National Representatives. Susan serves on the National Grange Executive Committee. Both Susan and Mark have previously served as President of the Oregon State Grange. Please be sure to welcome them.

With the State Session, comes time for resolutions. While you can be working on resolutions all year long, now is the time to start getting them turned in. They are due to the office by October 1st. As a grassroots organization, our policy is set by the members through the resolution process. This is the time to set our policy and let the National Grange as well as our Legislators know our stance on issues that impact our day to day lives, whether they be local or national, this is our chance to have our voices heard.

The Legislative Policy committee has been continually meeting and going through the policy book. They will present their proposed changes at the State Session. Our plan is to have these changes in your delegate folder for you to review at your leisure and then we will have a time during the session where you can challenge any of the changes the committee suggests. The committee won’t be getting through the whole policy book this year and will continue to meet next year.

National Session
This year’s National Grange Session will be in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma. November 9-14th. Registration starts August 1st, however you can make your hotel reservations now, and we highly suggest you do. The hotel doesn’t have quite the capacity as we normally have, but there is an adjacent hotel that they are working with to hold members. You will still go through the main hotel to make the reservations. The National Grange Convention Management Team is looking for volunteers, so if you are planning to attend and are interested in helping out, there is a volunteer interest form on the National Grange website.

Distinguished Grange
Connie would like to remind Granges that the Distinguished Grange Award program year is over, so start submitting the applications! They are due September 1st. Many of you are already doing so many of the options that it just takes completing and submitting the form to receive the award. You can find the application on the National Grange website and you can submit the application online, email, or snail mail. You can always reach out to Connie for assistance or more information! She would love to show off Michigan as the highest percentage of applications!!

MAY/JUNE 2026 GRANGE NEWS

​Thank You
I’d like to thank the directors for their time in putting on the Michigan State Grange Day of Learning held on April 25th. Tricia Eidsmoe, thank you for finding and securing the location. The facility was easy to find, plenty of space, clean and welcoming. Thank you to all who took time from their busy schedule to attend and learn about the programs the different departments have to offer. As well as listening to me discuss with all of you the future of the Michigan State Grange. The Directors will be meeting during convention to discuss and plan the future Day of Learning.
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National Grange Leaders Conference
At the time of me writing this article, the National Grange leaders are meeting in Sparks, Nevada for the annual Leaders Conference. There is discussion about rebranding the Grange, as well as hearing from the National Lecturer, Youth, and Junior Leaders and the Executive Committee. On Saturday there was a break in the action to observe the annual running of the Kentucky Derby. There will be more information coming from National in the next few weeks about events that occurred at the Leaders Conference. If you haven’t already, take the time to contact the National Grange and make sure you are on the email list to receive all the latest information that comes out in the Grange Today. And maybe even sign up to receive the Good Day magazine that comes out quarterly. It is full of information from the various departments and leadership. And is only $16.00 a year to subscribe. Included in every issue are even some recipes that you may like to try.
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State Session
This year’s session will be located in Three Rivers, at the First United Methodist Church. The host region is already in full swing with planning a successful session. The Legislative Policy Review Committee has also been hard at work already and will continue to be for the rest of the summer. Come prepared for many proposed changes to our current policy. We plan to have those proposed changes printed and in the packet, so when you register, you can start reviewing the suggested changes prior to the start of the meeting.
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National Session
The National Session this November will be located in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma at Stoney Creek Hotel & Conference Center. There is another really close hotel that will be the overflow hotel. You can make your hotel reservations now through the National Grange’s link. By registering through Stoney Creek under the National Grange, if all the rooms there are booked, the hotel will reserve your room at the overflow hotel, which is just a paved parking lot away from the conference center. They did not say in the meeting if the rate will differ, but that they are working with the other hotel so our guess is that it will be the same rate.