Sammamish Valley Grange History

Chapter 6 - The Combining of the Organizations, 1926 - 1945

The combined organization – 1926 – 1945
In January 1926, the remnants of Woodinville Grange and Sammamish Valley Grange met as a new unit. There is a disagreement as to whether this was purely a Woodinville Grange, or a mixture of both. The minutes kept referring to it as “Sammamish Valley Grange #609”, but the minutes also are dated at Bothell – although immediately afterward they indicate they met in the high school gym (this was done until June 1934!)
During this time, the main focus of the group seems to have been to construct (or purchase), and construct, a hall. Not for selfish reasons, but to benefit the community. In addition, building a hall was an important activity for most subordinates in Washington state, as that was a big push of State Master Kegley. That goal was delayed a few years by the Great Depression, but we got back on track.
Under the surface, America was involved in important cultural changes, too. During the Progressive Era, the culture of pleasure began to take hold. However, the attitude was still one devoted to the old Yankee work ethic. This focus began to change more in the 1920’s, then reverted back during the Depression, then became more pleasure-focused, after the War. While we were still in the country, our Grange reflects that trend.
Most of this time was devoted to the two most traumatic events in 20th century America – the Great Depression, and World War II. The man who is the symbol of this era was a Granger himself – FDR. Possibly due to the sixteen years of traumatic experience, Americans had the means, and the will, to remake themselves – in a way, 1946 was a clear demarcation of one era from the next. Our Grange dedicated our (first) hall in 1944, and shortly after that time, one can see a shift in focus. By focusing on the construction of a hall, this allowed for the two organizations to become one cohesive, Sammamish Valley Grange.
It appears that while a majority of the members were from lethargic Woodinville, the activity picked up quite a bit after the merger. This is evidenced in the political activity. In 1928, we endorsed the State Grange on power acquisition. We helped gather petitions for Initiative #1 (on PUD’s). A decade later, we asked that all members contribute $1.00 to “carry on the power bill fight,” and we thought about training activists in our hall for this political effort. By the mid-1940’s, we had a “power committee,” that would address PUD issues later in our history.
One concern that kept popping up throughout our history was on transportation issues. We went on record opposing the Good Roads Commission - although we did send delegates to the Good Roads Convention. We actually had a resolution to not repair the Woodinville-Bothell road (now known as West Riverside Drive), but to put a new one in place (which was accomplished 20 years later as SR 522). We also asked that a road be put in between Hollywood and Bothell (how?).
There were other issues we worked on. We worked hard on income tax petitions (although it did not indicate what position we took). We worked to defeat the proposal to eliminate the tax on margarine (important to members, since the Woodinville area had a lot of dairy farms at the time). In 1934, we took petitions to polling places, supporting Initiatives 84 & 86.[xvi] In 1932, we passed a resolution that County Commissioners (equivalent to County Council members) not get paid if they have another source of income.
We did more than political stuff. The minutes constantly are addressing the needs of the “Eats” committee – indicating the importance of the social aspect of the Grange. By 1939, however, we finally got a Home Economics Chairman (Now known as the CWA). We occasionally did Fair Displays, as we did at the Puyallup Fair in 1928. Along with other local Granges, we had an Eastside Fair, called the Consolidated Grange Fair, with other Granges, and raised $300. The issue of having our broadcasts on radio was brought up again. In 1940, Brother Keith McNulty[1] came to our Grange to discuss the success of a radio program that Cedar Valley Grange was doing, so later on, in 1943, we discussed assessing each member ten cents to do such a program (although this never got off the ground).
One of the concerns shortly after the merger was an attempt to get a hall built[2]. In 1929, we finally purchased some land in downtown Woodinville for $40. (and we sold the building on it for $10!).[3] While that sounds cheap, one needs to place inflation on that number. While the same lot today would maybe sell for six figures (being in downtown Woodinville), that is still significantly cheaper (in real dollars) than land today. Around that time, an average yearly wage was a little over $1000. That means a person could have purchased 25 lots with a year’s salary, or almost all the lots along 175th street. If you take a comparable lot, in a comparable location, today, such as downtown Goldbar, there is no way an average year’s salary could purchase all the lots along it’s main drag, Highway 2.
We thought that a Hall could be built for around $2000. All during this time, however, we cooperated with the school district on using the gym, and even used our building committee funds for improvements, such as distributing $130 for hall improvements. We also worked on repairing the building in which we did our business, and we worked to repair the kitchen in the hall we were using – but we ran out of funds to do that, due to what is mentioned below.
Doing this work may have been due to the fact that an event beyond our control got in the way of our plans of a new building – the Great Depression. While the causes of this event are still argued today, there is no doubt that it affected our focus in the early 1930’s. We had trouble collecting dues from members. Although we used dances as fundraisers, but we actually lost money on a dance, so we switched to using card parties instead as fundraisers. It was suggested that we fund prizes for boys’ swimming contests, but “after a heated discussion,” (no doubt over needlessly spending money – this was August 1932), it was agreed to fund prizes privately. The Depression resulted in our inability to construct a new building.. This was evident starting in 1930, when we discussed whether it would even be worth it to construct a new building.
During the worst years of the Depression, 1931 – 1932, we acted munificently (relatively) toward one of our main functions – dispensing charity. During those two years, until 1933, that was the main focus of our business. Suddenly, the Relief Committee took on a great importance. In 1931, we kept taking money out of the building fund and put it into the Relief fund, even though there appeared to have been a big concern over money. By August 1932, we had paid out over $800 for the relief committee. At this time, this committee was not focused on sick and ailing members, but on those who really needed charity.
However, by the end of 1933, we got out of this activity. First, we turned over this function to “Kirkland” (Lake Washington Grange) – who was actually going into homes to assess the needs of families. Also, the New Deal got going in earnest, providing various employments to young men.
Clearly, the members got sick of the Depression (but who wouldn’t?). In a skit in December 1934, “Old Man Depression” applied for membership, and was rejected. The members were asked to be silent in rejecting him (as they probably rejoiced when he was “not admitted to the order.”)
During this time, there was a greater concern about ritual. We attempted to create our own “sub-Grange” march at the beginning of meetings. We also were concerned about people peeking at our meetings, so we asked the district for ways to cover up the windows. In later years, we would be well known for our floor work.
Yet there was some change about our mores. In 1934, we elected a law student to membership. One member protested his application due to his profession, stating he was ineligible, but the subordinate disagreed – 14-1. Also, when we first rented out our hall, we rented to a group of poultry farmers - indicating that we were beginning to shift away from agriculture. Also, while victory gardens were being promoted in urban areas during World War II, there was a discussion in 1942 about the need to raise Victory Gardens. However, if this is an organization of farmers, why would such a discussion be necessary? Note in chapter 1 that our early members pretty much raised their own vegetables – so something had changed.
Another example of our mores changes appears to be the disappearance of the Grange’s pacifist attitude of yore. For example, when World War II was breaking out, there was an attempt by some members to get us a resolution to oppose the war, but that was rejected. The way I read it, this person (Brother Swanson) appears to be one of those isolationist America Firsters who have less-than-pacifist motives, for when the master (Brother Wight) was about to give a lecture about the war (in 1941, when there was still opposition) “owing to secretary, [he] did not get too far” (she was reprimanded). At the same time, we supported the Boy Scouts, which the earliest editions of the Grange News opposed as a “militarist” organization.
At the same time, however, we still had one foot in the agriculture world. We sponsored a 4-H club (which we did later on, however). We had a hay-cutting bee. And, at the end of this period, two “exciting” products were much promoted - DDT, and 2-4-D (now known by it’s common name as Roundup).
Also, in that year, Grange Wholesale wanted the names of those involved in the Bothell Store during the 1910’s. We were unable to comply, as it appears that all members who had been involved in that store had moved on.
Some things have remained constant. We were getting junk mail (advertising) and the secretary actually read it out each meeting – there was a motion to prevent the secretary from reading it. We tried to find out what interests members of the community – to get them to join the Grange. Even though it was eighty years ago, Scotch Broom was already a problem – and a Black Lake Grange passed a resolution condemning it! (Although such a resolution is hardly necessary).
We earned a bit of notoriety during this period. In 1926, the State Grange asked each subordinate to assess their members $.50 each member, and turn the money over to the state. We failed to do so, and were singled out. The finger was pointed at the secretary, who felt humiliated. A letter of apology came from the state, and this was supposedly struck from the record. As noted earlier, we were responsible for organizing another Grange.
Gradually, we worked our way southward. Starting in 1928, the community of Hollywood invited us to come and have the meeting there. We rejected this invitation, and stayed in Woodinville another ten years. Remember – in those days, Bothell was some distance from Woodinville, and even more distance to the Hollywood community – quite a commute.

For now, there is a gap between the years of 1935-1939. Hence, I do not know what we did. One can presume that we worked on the blanket primary – at least we advised our State Representative in January 1945 that we opposed abolishing it. And, we did finally get a hall. We may have played a role in organizing the Bear Creek Grange, too, in 1936.

By 1939, we purchased the old Hollywood Schoolhouse from the Northshore School District. Apparently, there was some balance with that district for the loan, But we had to pay it off. And the building needed a lot of work. We had to meet downstairs, and it was so cold, the piano would not work properly. And we wanted to refurbish the kitchen. There was a concern about the safety of the building we had just purchased. Much of the meeting time in the late 1930’s – early 1940’s was devoted to the building itself – more so than today. We thought of various ways to raise money. We thought about issuing bonds – but we were advised against doing that. We also sold magazines as a fundraiser. But we were unable to raise sufficient funds. So we made a resolution to address the problem. While I will not put the resolution in full, I will summarize the key points of it below:

“AND WHEREAS the said Grange owes a balance of [$417] to School District #46 upon said real estate; AND WHEREAS the building upon said real estate is not suitable for the purpose of said Grange, and it is desirable that quite extensive improvements be made therein, in the approximate sum of $[1170+525 in expenses already incurred], which two sums aggregate the amount of $2000.00;
…
“NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, by Sammamish Valley Grange No. 286 that the proper officers of said Grange be, and they hereby are authorized, empowered and directed to execute said notes and mortgage, and to do all things necessary, legal and proper to perfect said loan:”

To help raise funds, we sold off the land in downtown Woodinville for $100, around June 1940. Twenty members (or their families) signed twenty notes in the face value of $100 each. The terms of the agreement were that each member was to pay $1.00 per month, and the face value was 6%.
To help pay for our loan, we needed various devices. In the first year, we had started renting to various organizations. However, to rent the hall, it was a specific action item under new business – there was no Hall Rental Chairman. In addition, during this time, we also had a lot of dances and card parties.
However, the dances led to problems of their own. Since we were now the ones having the dances, we showed a concern of improper conduct outside the dances. The success in fundraising was questionable, as wartime travel restrictions prevent people from getting there (in fact, one of the awards one member got from winning a National Grange essay contest was $5.00 in gas stamps!) And, the Musician’s Union was not too happy we were not using union musicians - they did their best to get us to stop (apparently, to no avail). This dispute shows a change in Grange attitudes from 20 years before – both Granges were willing to support unions in strikes then, but now, we were willing to circumvent unions when it best met our interests. Eventually, we discontinued the dances when we were secure enough, but we did continue with the card parties. In 1945, we finally created a Hall Rental Committee.
For our Grange, there was significant financial distress due to the war. In February 1943, it was mentioned that the need for money was urgent. This led to some interesting actions. For example, there was bickering about the price of a teaspoon, and there was also a motion to purchase a broom. We had to have constant penny drills just to stay afloat.
Not only was the building our only concern during this time, however. World War II, being a “total war,” absorbed much of our energies, and may have contributed to the financial distress of Sammamish Valley Grange. In fact, most of our community service was devoted toward the war effort. However, the war affected us in many ways. As mentioned above, Victory Gardens were stressed. We paid the dues of members who served overseas. We had a salvage committee (as that was stressed during the war). We asked members to bring their own sugar to meetings (as there was a severe sugar shortage). The dances eventually had to be discontinued due to the curfew (although they were restarted again). We planted a tree for each SVG member who gave their lives in the war.
By this time, we were truly a different organization than the two organizations that merged in 1926. Brother Rice gave a talk in 1940, talked about the “old times” and mentioned the increased membership and activity level. Another sign of the times was the it was announced in 1944 that GIA was going to over auto policies – which ultimately would be the crutch that many Granges, including ours, would rely on, 50 years later.Also, our concern about financing finally dispelled, removing a big worry of ours for almost 40 years. We felt wealth enough to purchase a new jukebox in 1944. We also dedicated our hall in December 1944, which was dedicated by State Master Carstensen. In the January 1945 minutes, it was noted “A wonderful gain in the last few years” was done in terms of financing. Another quote “Brother Lindgren expressed the hope a new corner would soon take charge.” Now that a major concern of ours had been addressed, we could finally focus our energy on the things that gets Granges going in the first place, with this nagging issue resolved (for the time being.)
[1] Interestingly, I met Brother McAnulty over sixty years later at his Cedar Valley Grange Hall. He was still enthused about the Grange when I met him.
[2] When looking at building prices, one clearly needs to take into account inflation. As yearly wages were about 25 times greater today as then, multiplying these numbers by 25 would give a rough estimate of comparative prices.
[3] In the 1939 minutes, it indicates that the land was sold in 1939 for $100; that was used to pay off the mortgage on the Hollywood School House. While this appears to be a loss, one must remember that the Great Depression itself was due to deflation, so prices were lower by this time

posted by EricMatthew @ 10:48 PM