Flora Grange No. 1762 Records (Boone County)

The Flora Grange No. 526 organized in 1873.  Until the meeting hall was built in the fall of 1873 they met in a schoolhouse.  The grange disbanded in 1889 due to non-payment of dues to the State Grange.  In 1910 Flora Grange No. 1762 was organized.  A new hall was built on Stone Quarry Road in 1946 due to the condition of the old Grange building.  On October 12, 1978 a fire caused approximately $35,000 in damage to the Grange Hall.  The insurance company totaled the building so the Grange demolished it and rebuilt a new wood structure.  On April 18, 1980 the new building was dedicated.  Pancake, chicken and roast beef dinners were served to pay for the hall.  They also earned money by hosting dances, serving dinner to other organizations, bake sales, and food stands at sales and at the Boone County Fair.  In April 1998 the Grange passed a Vision Program that included eight items.  Included in the eight items were the following: to promote the grass roots legislation policy to area residents and community members, to publicize the Grange to the community, to have more community service projects working as a team, and to change the obligation ceremony to be more user friendly with easier words to understand and speak and with a more comfortable approach in presentation. Resolutions for the Flora Grange included changing fees for personal truck licenses to be less than the fees for trucks for hire, putting up county roads signs and marking them on maps, keeping a six day mail delivery service, having farmers start conserving soil before the government enforces strict measures, and promoting the use of ethanol as a gasoline additive because of the great market for corn and the ability it has to decrease our dependency for oil from other countries.  Also included in the Grange’s resolutions were the concern for energy conservation and for land preservation due to the loss of prime farm land to urbanization energy conservation Flora Grange was involved in many community service projects such as taking boxes of cookies to shut-ins for Christmas, sending Christmas bags to the men over seas,  ringing bells for the Salvation Army, delivering meals on wheels, participating in CROP Walks, keeping Bloods Point Cemetery trimmed and mowed, collecting newspapers, bottles, and cans for recycling, saving used eyeglasses, hearing aids and hearing aid batteries, assisting local families with their electric bills, and collecting canned goods for distribution to needy families.  As with all Boone County granges, the Flora Grange is involved in the running of the Boone County Fair every year. Many charities benefitted by receiving cash donations from the Grange.  Some of the donations went to the Red Cross, the Arthritis Foundation, March of Dimes, CARE, Muscular Dystrophy, Goldie Floberg Children’s Home, Belvidere Park District, the Grange Deaf Fund, and the St. Joseph’s and Highland Hospitals in Belvidere.  Money was also donated to the Belvidere Tornado Disaster Relief Fund organized by the Pomona Grange, Xenia, Ohio Tornado Disaster Fund, and to the Oklahoma City rescue workers through the Red Cross.

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