EAST BETHEL — The Middle Branch Grange has always been part of Jillian Dean’s life.

The hall in East Bethel is where she gathered for community suppers, participated in Christmas pageants and spent time with extended family members, most of whom are grange members themselves. It was also a place where members of other organizations, including 4-H, gathered.

“Our families have lived on the same land for generations,” said Dean, 41, who is currently the grange master. “I think that we’ve been raised in such a way to appreciate that and to remember the community and build up the community.”

That’s why after

That’s the spirit that led members to unanimously approve a proposal to rebuild the century-old Middle Branch Grange hall after it was gutted by a fire last January, .

“Now that we’ve lost the hall in the community, we’re all very motivated to bring it back for the good of the community,” Dean said.

In the meantime, the grange has been meeting at the East Bethel Church’s Octagon Building. The group has more than 80 members, about half of whom regularly come to meetings.

While the organization is still working on gathering estimates, the project could cost up to $1 million. Insurance will cover some of the costs but members expect to have to raise thousands of dollars on their own.

“We may not be able to complete the building in one setting,” Dean said. “We may have to have a shell of the building set up and then work to fundraise to complete it piece by piece.”

Grange organizations and their accompanying halls were once centerpieces of communities in the Upper Valley — particularly in the early half of 20th century. The individual chapters served as social outlets for members — who primarily worked in agriculture — and the communities at large. Granges are considered 501c6 organizations, which means they promote a particular business interest, similar to chambers of commerce.

Eventually, the farming families that formed the backbone of granges began to dwindle in number and branches have struggled to survive. That often means the buildings the granges own fall into disrepair and need to be sold or repurposed.

In the Upper Valley, grange branches have adapted to the changing times in various ways. The Upper Valley Grange building in Norwich was purchased by a nonprofit organization and is in the process of being renovated. Plainfield’s Blow-Me-Down Grange has absorbed the nearby Meriden Grange and is now tasked with selling its building.

Then there’s the Middle Branch Grange which, in many ways, is an anomaly among grange chapters because its membership remains relatively robust. The chapter even has an active Junior Grange program, which has about 10 children, ages 5 to 14.

“I think because we’re multi-generational so many of us, it gives these deep ties to the grange and also the community,” said Dean, who is a fifth-generation grange member.

Lester Gibbs recently received his 70th anniversary pin for grange membership.

“There’s been a long history of the building being there and being an active part of the community,” he said.

‘It’s for our entire community’

In fall 2023, the Upper Valley Grange agreed to sell its downtown Norwich building for $1 to the Norwich Community Collaborative, a nonprofit organization that was established to renovate the hall.

Over the years, the grange’s membership — which combined the Norwich and Hartford granges — had dwindled to a handful of people, including Gibbs.

Gibbs, 84, of Lebanon, belongs to multiple grange chapters including Middle Branch, Blow-Me-Down and Upper Valley. The Upper Valley Grange could not afford much-needed upgrades, including repairs to the two-story porch.

The renovation will cost around $1.6 million and the hope is to have it fully completed in 2026. The work is primarily being funded by grants and private donations.

As part of its outreach efforts, collaborative members have led tours of the space so visitors “can really see the potential of what could be held there,” said Emily Myers, who leads the collaborative’s community outreach committee.

The collaborative has plans to host similar educational programs to what the Upper Valley Grange used to hold, including cooking classes once the kitchen is renovated. In the past year, the new group has hosted a tool and seed swap. They’ve also been regularly hosting pancake breakfasts at the Norwich Congregational Church.

“It’s not just for our town, it’s for our entire community to be part of; to enjoy,” Myers said. “We’re really encouraged and positive that this will be a really good experience.”

The grange will live on in several ways.

As part of the sales agreement with the Norwich Community Collaborative, the Upper Valley Grange will be able to hold meetings at the hall.

Gibbs also is heartened that the collaborative has made it a priority to honor the grange chapter: Recently, the Norwich Community Collaborative received permission from the National Grange to call the hall the “Norwich Grange Hall.”

One of the reasons members of the group wanted to name the building the Norwich Grange is to keep the grange’s philosophy alive, said Myers.

“We really love the spirit of what the grange has meant not only to this community, but to other rural communities, of how it brought people together and educated people,” Myers said.

The renovation is deeply personal to many members, including Myers: Similar to Dean in East Bethel, Myers grew up attending events at the Norwich Grange.

As a child, Myers participated in multiple Norwich Christmas Pageants and has fond memories of the angels that graced the second-floor balcony on the outside of the building. The second-story of the porch was completed right before the pageant on Dec. 19.

People who attended the event took notice, said Michael Goodrich, a custom builder who is on the collaborative’s building committee.

“I think the biggest attraction to the building is the porch,” said Goodrich, who also grew up going to events at the grange.

The group is trying to incorporate decorative items, including parts of columns in the renovation work.

“This our goal: to try to reuse as many items as we can,” Goodrich said.

For sale

Across the Connecticut River and headed south, another grange hall is starting a period of transition. The Meriden Grange combined with the Blow-Me-Down Grange in spring of 2023.

The group plans to put the Meriden Grange, located on Bean Road off Route 120, on the market.

In the early 2000s, Blow-Me-Down Grange on Route 12A in Plainfield was significantly renovated, said Laish Morse, a leader in the organization. It has a full kitchen which makes the hall appealing for community events. Blow-Me-Down has about two dozen members, so operating a second hall and taking on more costs would be a difficult financial burden to bear.

“In an ideal world where it didn’t require so much, it would be nice to have for community things there on that end of town but it’s just not feasible. The construction and renovating; it costs a huge amount of dollars for everything,” said Morse, whose mother, Merylene Simonds, has been a member of Blow-Me-Down for decades. “Ultimately it doesn’t make sense.”

For most of the 20th century, Plainfield residents supported the two grange chapters. In its heyday the Meriden hall was the site of community dinners, lectures and anniversary parties, among other events.

As the 2000s began, the Meriden chapter’s membership started to dwindle. At the same time, the building was in need of repairs, including a new roof. At one point, the group learned that it would cost at least $10,000 to replace.

“How can you raise $10,000 with (only) two or three people doing the work? That seems a little daunting,” said Laura Ward, a Meriden resident who became a member of the Blow-Me-Down Grange when the two chapters merged.

While Ward and her husband, Gary Ward, had made attempts to bring in more programming over the years, it wasn’t enough to increase membership and raise money to support the hall.

“You have so many costs associated with your hall that it’s really difficult to raise a lot of money,” Ward said.

Members are currently in the process of cleaning out the Meriden Grange and will then put it on the market. Since the building is unheated and there are many items to go through, Morse expects it will take some time before it is ready to be listed.

“Personally I would like to see something local, something community driven or something that’s of service to the town if that’s possible,” Morse said.

Liz Sauchelli can be reached at esauchelli@vnews.com or 603-727-3221.