The Grange: A Legacy of Community and Agriculture

BY SYDNEY FLUKER

Before sharing in a conversation with National Grange President, Chris Hamp, the term "Grange" was unfamiliar to me. Growing up immersed in the parallel worlds of 4-H and Future Farmers of America, the idea of a local Grange remained as foreign as biochemical engineering.

Even with diligent research before our interview, I found myself at a loss. A cursory Google search provided me with the concise definition of Grange as a "family, community organization with its roots in agriculture." Yet, the survival of a fraternal organization for 156 years in a society that often overlooks its agricultural workers suggested something more.

So, I wondered: What would keep a family like Chris’s anchored to the Grange across four generations? I imagined an answer that transcends the textbook definition, delving into the essence of a tradition that persists against societal currents.

Fortunately, I was right, and the answer became clearer in our conversation over a cup of coffee in Five Mile Prairie, where Chris’s home Grange is.

Chris Hamp doesn’t have just one definition for The Grange, because there is no one-size-fits-all description — The Grange adapts to the unique needs of each community.

“That’s funny that you talk about an elevator pitch because we talk about that in Grange, you can’t create one elevator pitch,” Hamp says. “I have to create a pitch based on what I know about you, not this flat-out basic pitch, because Grange can be so many things to so many different kinds of people.”

For Chris, Grange isn't just a proper noun representing various organizational levels – community, county, state, and national. It's a verb, an action that presents itself a lot like "help," "care," and "support."

Chris invites a perspective shift, urging people to imagine what will happen when the community’s “doers” are gone. That’s where she says The Grange steps in — filling the gaps their communities need filled.

As per a four-generation family tradition, Chris joined her local Grange upon turning 14.

Hamp is from Monroe, Washington, where she was raised on her family’s dairy farm homestead. She joined Tualco Junior Grange #341 at 5 years old before joining the rest of her family as a full-fledged member in Tualco Grange #284, giving her a solid dose of “the Grange.”

The impacts of being a Grange member on Hamp’s life are not to be scoffed at. She met her husband, Duane, in The Grange. She stayed a Grange member as she attended college at Western Washington University, graduate school at The George Washington University, lived out of state and moved around Washington.

“I can’t imagine waking up in the morning and not being a Grange member and having that thought process, that connection and involvement,” Hamp says. “What it comes down to is that the most fabulous people in the world are Grange members and having that connection is important to me, it always has been.”

Grange, as a proper noun, is the organization at all of its levels — community, county, state and national. In classic grassroots fashion, all policies and movements come from the community Grange halls, with decisions being made at the smallest level before advancing their way up the ladder.

Since being sworn in as its national president on Nov. 17, Hamp has been using her competitive energy to push herself to help Grange grow and become more resilient.

“I’m not one that’s satisfied with stepping in your footprints,” Hamp says. “I want to have my own footprints and I want to bring a whole bunch more people with me.”

Hamp has adopted the motto “Grange Strong” as a slogan of sorts for this two-year term of service. Questions like ‘how does Grange compete for people’s time? How do I challenge our members to ensure their Grange is relevant? How do we work to make Grange stronger tomorrow than it is today?’ guide Hamp’s leadership as president.

Hamp is fueled by a little more than 30 years of leadership experience working in state and local government and the fire service. She retired from Spokane’s Fire District 9 just nine months before reentering the workforce as National Grange’s president.

Hamp began her journey with the fire service as a firefighter in Tumwater, where she worked 24 on-48 off for over five years.

When Hamp moved across the state to join her husband in Spokane, she became Fire District 9’s division chief of administrative services. Though her new job required her to be in District 9’s administrative office full-time, she continued to serve as a volunteer EMT and fire investigator.

Hamp said she had the coolest position in the fire district because almost nothing went through the district without stopping for approval at her desk, giving her a taste of everything from human resources and payroll to the levies going on voter ballots.

Hamp also worked briefly in emergency management for the state legislature and for the state’s fire marshal’s office.

Still, through all of those near-30 years in the fire service, Hamp was a Granger first.

Along with being national president, Hamp serves her local community as secretary at Five Mile Prairie Grange #905, her home Grange. Prior to the election, Hamp served as national vice president from 2021-2023, national lecturer (program director) from 2016-2021, national lady assistant steward from 2013-2016 and national pomona from 2011-2013. She also served as the Washington State Grange Lady Assistant Steward from 1990-1995 and as a Washington State Grange Special Deputy from 1999-2011.

Her zeal for Grange is longstanding, reaching back to being named Washington State Outstanding Junior Granger in 1981, Washington State Outstanding Young Granger in 1986, National Youth Ambassador in 1986 and president of the National Youth Officer Team in 1996.

The community Hamp found in Grange is something she hopes everyone can find. Each Grange is different, run by its own individual members and personalities, but every Grange has one thing in common: working toward building a better community.

On a national scale, Grange members have played a significant role in getting free rural mail delivery, advocating for policies that benefit agricultural workers like fair pricing and supporting initiatives related to infrastructure, education and healthcare in rural areas. Nowadays, National Grange is focused on making broadband accessible for all, no matter which neighborhood or ZIP code one lives in.

In Hamp’s home Grange at Five Mile Prairie, a Grange that has been active since 1929, activism is centered around ensuring their community, families and kids are safe.

“Grange allows you to be some part of something bigger and better than yourself,” Hamp says. “It’s not what’s best for small segments of society, but what’s best for everybody … When you look at our interests in the past, when you look at our interests today, it’s all about making us better, making citizens better, making communities better.”

Grange is on a two-year membership growth trend nationwide, both in chapters and membership numbers, and Hamp plans on pushing that trend forward.

“What I don’t like is when somebody talks about the good old days, which insinuates that we’re not there right now or anymore,” Hamp says. “It’s incumbent upon us being here in the present to make 2024 the best year ever.”

Hamp encourages those interested in joining or learning more to email her directly at champ@nationalgrange.org or visit the website at nationalgrange.org

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