Redmond’s Happy Valley Grange will turn 100 next month

September 11, 2009 3:32 pm
Youths enjoy the ride on the Happy Valley Juvenile Grange float during a parade near Redmond in 1954. The Redmond Happy Valley Grange will celebrate 100 years of community service as one of the oldest organizations in the Redmond area
Youths enjoy the ride on the Happy Valley Juvenile Grange float during a parade near Redmond in 1954. The Redmond Happy Valley Grange will celebrate 100 years of community service as one of the oldest organizations in the Redmond area

Happy Valley Grange No. 322 will celebrate 100 years of community service as one of the oldest organizations in the Redmond area, with an open house from 1-4 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 4. The hall is located at 19720 NE 50th St., just east of Redmond, off Redmond-Fall City Rd.

The open house will feature a short music program and Grange memories of the past, historical displays and light refreshments.

The Happy Valley Grange was organized on Oct. 1, 1909, because local farmers and rural dwellers were concerned about protecting their rights. The first Grange in the state of Washington was formed in 1889, the same year that Washington became a state.

Farmers and loggers of Happy Valley “were in need of an organization where their voices could be heard, as well as to help their community. A place for social activities was also a priority,” Lorraine Mills, secretary of the Happy Valley Grange, explained in a press release.

Initial meetings were held at the Happy Valley School House but the space soon became inadequate for the number of people who were joining. A small parcel of ground next to the school was purchased from G.H. Turple, a charter member. There, members built a new hall, which was eventually expanded to include a dining room, stage and restrooms.

“The dedicated group of pioneer members did much to support the Grange motto, ‘The Greatest Good for the Greatest Number,'” said Mills. “The Grange is a national organization and is non-partisan; however, good legislation is of top interest, working for equality for all.”

Throughout its long history, Happy Valley Grange has participated in a national program to purchase school books for local youth and has an ongoing college scholarship program.

The family-oriented Grange has often been a presence in the Redmond Bike Derby with booths and parade entries and was active in the petition to install Redmond’s first traffic light. The Grange hall has been used as a voting precinct and meeting place for a variety of community groups.

“The Grange, originally started as an agricultural organization, has kept pace through the years with changes in rural life,” said Mills. “There are few farmers in the area anymore, but the Grange is still interested in supporting them because, ‘The farmer feeds us all.'”