Edgewood Grange members Terry and Darla Simmons helped distribute dictionaries to every third grade student at Hedden Elementary School this month. Here, Terry shakes the hand of grateful student Blake Barnett (left). (Photo courtesy of Elaine Smith)
EDGEWOOD – From the outside, the Edgewood Grange Hall at 1806 Meridian Ave. E. looks pretty ordinary and nondescript. Constructed in 1909, its humble exterior resembles that of an old-fashioned schoolhouse or church reminiscent of the Old West, with aged whitewash paint and no frills or sophisticated architecture.
Inside its humble walls, however, the hall teems with life and industry – folks busy at work putting their time and creative efforts to good use with ambition and heart. Edgewood Grange members gather there every week to visit, laugh and combine their energies to do something nice for people whom they don’t even know.
The oldest grange in Pierce County, in 2009 the Edgewood Grange will celebrate its 100th birthday. The all-volunteer organization thrives on community donations. “Everything we take in goes back out,” said Edgewood Grange secretary Dee Jarvis.
Just this month, members of the Edgewood Grange – or “grangers” as they’re called –hand delivered brand new dictionaries to every third grader at Hedden Elementary. This is the third year in a row the Edgewood Grange has done this as part of a national grange initiative in which about 100,000 dictionaries have been distributed in five years to third graders across the country. Jarvis said a printer in Virginia gives the grange “a very good price” on the books.
Jarvis said the local grange also delivers dictionaries yearly to Algona/Pacific schools and to Northwood, Hilltop and Mountain View elementary schools in Edgewood.
“As a teacher, it’s heart-warming to have community members who don’t have children in our school showing up with a personal gift for my students,” said Hedden third-grade teacher Elaine Smith. “It shows the children that the community cares about their learning and about them as students.”
These are no ordinary dictionaries, for they include a wealth of information beyond the meanings of words – a table of weights and measures, the Declaration of Independence, the U.S. Constitution, maps of the seven continents, biographies of the 43 presidents and facts about the planets in our solar system.
“The dictionary can grow with them as their educational needs change,” Smith pointed out.
“They also show the letters of the alphabet in sign language and in Braille,” Jarvis noted. She revealed the grange does for the deaf what the Lions Clubs International does for the blind. “It’s our pet project,” she said.
Other third grade teachers at Hedden were thrilled with the grange’s gift too. Teacher Carly Grab said, “It’s probably one of the only opportunities many of our students would have to receive something like that.” She added meeting the grange members and accepting their gift personally provided a great opportunity for the students to practice their manners in making eye contact, shaking hands and saying a sincere thank you.
The Edgewood Grange is busy with other projects as well. Through their “Quilts for the Brave” program, lady grangers sew hundreds of quilts by hand from donated materials and ship them to the military base in Bethesda, Md., as gifts of appreciation for soldiers injured in the war in Iraq. They also sew “travel kits” stuffed full of toiletry items for residents at the Tacoma Women’s Shelter, and hand-make stuffed toy animals for firefighters to give to children who have been burned out of their homes. They collect eyeglasses for the needy, food for the hungry, school supplies, clothing and pajamas for children of the poor.
For more information about the Edgewood Grange, to get involved or donate, call Dee Jarvis at (253) 848-6033.
