Home on the Grange First: PA Grange started in Montgomery
BY BARBARA C BARRETT | THE LUMINARY
“Everyone is welcome to a Grange function.” These words were given to a well-attended audience on Sunday afternoon, August 18th at the Thomas Taber Museum in Williamsport by Elizabeth Downey. A lifetime resident from Huntersville, Downey served as chair of the Pennsylvania State Grange Executive Committee.
She spoke on the history of the Eagle Community Grange which was the first Grange that started in Pennsylvania. Downey said she was a Grange member all her life. Her grandparents donated the land for the Allegheny Grange. “I have a long history,” she said. “I even got married in the Grange.”
The Grange is a fellowship service with opportunities to build stronger communities. It is a non-partisan organization to press for legislative issues for farmers and their families. “We only support policies,” Downey added. “We are also a lobbying organization. The Grange created legislation and adopted a non-partisan resolution.”
