New youth leaders bring enthusiasm to roles

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Each year, the National Grange selects youth and Junior members to serve as leaders and representatives of peers in their age group. This year, a new Junior Grange Ambassador and two Outstanding Young Patrons will serve as the leadership team, and will bring fresh ideas, plans, and new experiences to their departments.

The new Junior Ambassador selected for the 2022-23 year, was Annette “Nettie” Hartley from North Scituate, Rhode Island. When asked why she wanted to apply to be a Junior Ambassador she said that Junior Grange “is her life,” and to be at the National level helping other Junior Grange is a dream. When she was asked what her goals were as the National Junior Ambassador she replied, “to bring in more members, the Juniors are not our future, but our today. We are the next officers [at the local level] and National officers of the Grange.”

Not only was Hartley selected as the National Junior Grange Ambassador, she was awarded the National Community Service Director’s Pin by Pete Pompper. She stated that she was very surprised to be awarded it, and when she found out that her parents knew about it, she was even more surprised. She went on to say that this project was the biggest thing her Junior Grange had done. When they first started they didn’t know if they would even hit their $1,000 goal. To find out that they had raised $5,000 was astonishing. Pompper chose to give her the award because of her tenacity and ability to meet and exceed goals for her community.

One of the two young women to win the position of Outstanding Young Patron (OYP) was Gail Switzer from West Chester, Pennsylvania. When asked why she applied to be an OYP, Switzer said it was because she was a Youth Ambassador when she was a teen, and she wants to work with the Youth and Young Adults, as well as represent Pennsylvania throughout the nation. When asked what her goals were while being the OYP Switzer said she wants to get more young adults involved in the Grange, and work on bridging the gap between the more seasoned young adults and the 14- and 15-year-old youth members.

BY JIM DUMOLT
Communication Fellow