We used to square dance there every Saturday night. Most of the time I walked to and from the grange four and a half miles. Walked home at midnight and got up at 4 o’clock in the morning to milk the cows.

Walt Stone

We put on a lot of plays. In one I remember “Murder in the Light House”. Marguitte was the one who was murdered. The light house was a pail with a lantern on top. Bob McDermott let us borrow the Hampton Hill Garage carts, the ones that go under the cars, for a stretcher. We ran around that light house nine times with that stretcher. People provided sound effects. Storms, wind. I remember “Murder in the Barber Shop”, too. We used catsup for the cut throat. There was catsup all over the place. We used to do a lot of that stuff in the old days. We had contests, people with glasses versus people without glasses, people living east of Route 97 versus people living west of 97. The Grange brought everyone out. We used to know everyone back then.

Henry Moon

The times I remember most were right after World War II. We used to have some great programs. A lot of work went into those programs. Everyone participated. There were competitions, and whist parties, and fairs…We had a good time.

Peggy Hoffman

I remember when it was THE action center of the community. Neither of the town’s churches had large halls as they do today. So many a wedding reception was held in the Grange Hall after the ceremony, including my own. There were weekly whist parties at the Grange enjoyed by the adults, and regularly scheduled square dances for the young and young at heart. Many different groups hired the hall for their activities. A drama club put on plays and local music groups put on concerts. The Grange itself put on suppers or chicken barbecues. It was a busy place. During the World War II years particularly the building saw heavy use. With gas rationing, residents couldn’t buy pleasure gas to go out of town, so business boomed for local facilities.

Pearl Scarpino

Those were the good old days. There were all sorts of things at the Grange. My son John won the State Price title. My oldest son Adolph was elected the National Prince of the Grange in 1968. He was the only one who came back with the title.

Minnie Halbach

Once we had a fashion show. The men were all dressed as women. I remember Jim Rodriguez sprawled on a settee dressed in pink satin. My father was dressed in a suit, and my mother nearly fainted when he came out in heels and a purse. We had women’s degree teams when we took on new members. Dorothy Holt had a lot to do with that. We all wore long black skirts and white blouses and had parts to say. Walt Stecko who was Chief of the State Police taught us how to march.

Peggy Fox.

My mother played whist every week there. She wouldn’t have missed those whist parties for all the world.

Claire Winters