Eat fresh-baked goods and see crafts made at the Grange Building

To the Editor:
Lots of things are going on in the Grange Building at the Altamont Fair this week. We’re located between the 4-H Building, and the Culinary Building.

We’ll have freshly demonstrated and baked goods every day with homemade pies on Thursday, Aug. 19; strawberry shortcake on Friday, Aug. 20; cinnamon buns on Saturday, Aug. 21; and homemade cookies on Sunday, Aug. 22.

Besides being able to watch the baking demonstrations daily, you will also have the opportunity to purchase some and enjoy them with your coffee or milk in our Grange building. There will also be booths from each Subordinate Grange and each Junior Grange, and each Pomona (County) Grange.

These booths are always very interesting and educational in a fun way. These are never boring to see. Every Grange designs their own booth, and they’re all judged for creativity, educational value, and so much more.

Each day, there will be a craft being demonstrated by different Grangers. Many of these crafts are often from years ago, and possibly forgotten by many.

Two Grangers will be demonstrating kitchen and farm items from years ago. Many are unknown to most of the fair-goers.

On Thursday, a special long-forgotten craft of making a rug from socks will be demonstrated. The demonstrator will be showing how you can vary the shape of the rug as you’re crocheting it ….

There will also be some home-grown plants for sale at the Grange building, along with lots of homemade items — kitchen towels that can be hung on your stove or refrigerator door, an Altamont Fair favorite every year. We’ll have our specially requested “scrubbies,” and a great many other items.

Be sure to check out the variety of homemade items in our Grange building. You will also have the opportunity to see some of the items being handcrafted while you’re there.

This is also a great place to start your holiday and birthday shopping, and you’ll usually find handknit or crocheted baby items. 

There may be fresh produce available, depending on everyone’s garden this year. This is always dependent on the growing season and weather. The abundant rain that we’ve been having may have helped some items and ruined other items. Keep in mind that July is usually our best growing month, and this July we made the record books for rain.

Make sure to stop by the Bethlehem Grange 137 booth for more information on becoming a member of the Grange. There will be applications for all age groups: Juniors, ages 5 to 14; Youth, ages 15 to 35; and Subordinate Grange members, ages 15 to 105.

There are a lot of benefits to becoming a Grange member, plus savings for you as you shop online. We will also have our Event Card, listing all of the remaining dinners and projects on the 2021 calendar.

As a Chapter of “Stars4ourTroops,” we will have stars available for first responders, health-care workers, veterans, and more. We will also be able to accept your worn or tattered flag at our booth.

We also accept pull tabs from soda, beer cans, soup cans, and pet food. Bring your pull tabs with you and deposit them in our container for the local Ronald McDonald House.

Bethlehem Grange 137 also accepts your old eyeglasses and hearing aids for the Lions organization; they are distributed to people that otherwise would not be able to obtain them. We’ll have our Lions Box to accept your old eyeglasses and hearing aids.

We’re also a food pantry that supports five neighboring food pantries; we can accept nonperishable items only. If you’d like to drop off items, we’ll gladly accept them, at the Bethlehem Grange 137 booth. 

Bethlehem Grange 137 is also getting ready in two-and-a-half years to celebrate our 150th birthday, in our historic building, which is on the National Register of Historic Places.

Carol Carpenter

President

Bethlehem Grange 137

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