Rome Grange celebrates 100 years
Rome Grange celebrates 100 years
In April, 1908, the farmers just northeast of Bellingham - along and north of the current Mt. Baker Highway - organized their own Grange. The highway was not there then, but that is the area. The Gr
In April, 1908, the farmers just northeast of Bellingham - along and north of the current Mt. Baker Highway - organized their own Grange. The highway was not there then, but that is the area. The Grange will celebrate these 100 years with special events each Saturday in April from 3 pm to 8 pm. They have planned well and each Saturday is well worth considering for something worthwhile to do. You can click the poster above for a larger view - or click the link at the bottom of this article for an easy to print pdf file of the poster.
Of interest to us political junkies is the founding of the Bill Mize Political Forum in 1963 at the Rome Grange. This forum for decades was considered the official start of political campaigning in Whatcom County. This has diminished in recent years as our lawmakers in Olympia have played games with our election process. On April 19, the Grange will have a town hall meeting to commemorate the 45 years of the forum with a special tribute to Bill Mize by Ken Nuckolls at 3 pm. Ken worked with Bill for many years on the forum as they both belonged to the Kiwanis Club and it co-sponsors the forums.
I've just finished working with CoCo Lomas and Bill's nephew, Robert Nein, on a short biography of Bill. It is being framed and will hang on the wall next to his photo. The photo was put up a couple years ago and is one I took of Bill in 1978 for a newspaper ad. He was endorsing the adoption of our Whatcom County Home Rull Charter. It passed in no small part because of the backing by him and other respected political elders. They old ones encouraged the young ones to move into the future.
Bill founded the forum to bring rural and city folks together so as to better understand each other. He said that “we, as farmers and Grangers, have to tell our story to non-farm people and try to understand their problems as well.” He set a great example for us today.
Of interest to us political junkies is the founding of the Bill Mize Political Forum in 1963 at the Rome Grange. This forum for decades was considered the official start of political campaigning in Whatcom County. This has diminished in recent years as our lawmakers in Olympia have played games with our election process. On April 19, the Grange will have a town hall meeting to commemorate the 45 years of the forum with a special tribute to Bill Mize by Ken Nuckolls at 3 pm. Ken worked with Bill for many years on the forum as they both belonged to the Kiwanis Club and it co-sponsors the forums.
I've just finished working with CoCo Lomas and Bill's nephew, Robert Nein, on a short biography of Bill. It is being framed and will hang on the wall next to his photo. The photo was put up a couple years ago and is one I took of Bill in 1978 for a newspaper ad. He was endorsing the adoption of our Whatcom County Home Rull Charter. It passed in no small part because of the backing by him and other respected political elders. They old ones encouraged the young ones to move into the future.
Bill founded the forum to bring rural and city folks together so as to better understand each other. He said that “we, as farmers and Grangers, have to tell our story to non-farm people and try to understand their problems as well.” He set a great example for us today.
