History and Mission

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History

The National Grange is structured with state, regional, and local granges. The national grange was formed after the Civil War (1861 – 1865) by eight men and one woman from the Northern States to help resurrect border and Southern farms ravaged by four years of war. Since both the founding and subsequent Patrons of Husbandry were agents of unity, its growth was exponential, reaching 858,050 after seven years.

Those early grangers lived in an America torn by bitter political feelings that needed to be healed for the welfare of all — and so do we today. Those volunteer men and women chose to work to bring people together — and so do we today.

Prunedale Grange 388 gets a new paint job
The Prunedale Grange is located at 17890 Moro Road, Salinas, California 93907.

In 1867 President Andrew Johnson commissioned Oliver Kelley to go to the Southern states to collect data to improve Southern agricultural conditions. In the South, poor farmers bore the brunt of the Civil War and were suspicious of Northerners like Kelley. But he found he was able to overcome these sectional differences as a Mason. With Southern Masons as guides, he toured the war-torn countryside in the South and was appalled by the outdated farming practices, damaged buildings/equipment, and difficulty of getting seeds. He saw the need for an organization that would bring people from the North and South together in a spirit of mutual cooperation to rebuild America as he once knew it.

After many letters and consultations with neighbors and friends, Grange #1 was born in 1868 in Fredonia, New York.[2] Seven men and one woman co-founded the Grange: Oliver Hudson Kelley, William Saunders, Francis M. McDowell, John Trimble, Aaron B. Grosh, John R. Thompson, William M. Ireland, and Caroline Hall.[3]

The organization was unusual at that time because women and any teen old enough to draw a plow were encouraged to participate. The importance of women was recognized by requiring that four of the elected positions could only be held by women.[4]  Additionally, the Grange was the first national fraternal organization to have women leaders (Master/President) co-equal to men. This equality was established long before women gained the right to vote.

Many of the 1980s state and local granges adopted non-partisan political resolutions, especially pushing for free rural mail delivery, and regulating railroad transportation costs for local short-haul shipments by farmers. Today, we can see that their’s was a battle against harmful monopoly business practices.

Mission

Prunedale Grange #388, founded in 1927, proudly follows the tradition of volunteerism described above. We do that via our mission of promoting North County community wellbeing, farmer values, and local agriculture. We are a 501c non-profit volunteer organization that supplies a number of significant benefits for North County residents and travelers passing through Monterey County. We initiate or support issues, initiatives, and legislative action. But the Grange as a non-partisan organization does not endorse nor support individual political parties or individual candidates running for office.

Here are examples of our past and ongoing volunteer actions.

In 2016 members of our grange were instrumental in forging a county zoning initiative that protected ongoing oil operations while preventing toxic oil fracking techniques from threatening water sources and 74,000 farm jobs in Salinas Valley, known as the Salad Bowl of America. How big was this win? Monterey County is the only oil-producing county in California and in the United States to ban local fracking operations.

Since 2015, our grange has also volunteered our buildings to county law and fire agencies as a disaster shelter and our large parking lot as a staging area during fire or traffic emergencies, as well as a landing/takeoff site for helicopter ambulances.

Additionally, we provide at a minimal cost a Youth Center building for North County Future Farmers of America, Girl Scouts, Cub Scouts, summer tutoring, and other youth-focused training. To better protect school children, we also allow parents and local schools to use our parking lot as a safe place to load and offload students traveling to and from their schools.

Boy Scouts
Boy Scouts

Monterey County government organizations (like the Registrar of voters and Public Works), homeowner associations, neighborhood watchdog organizations, religious sects, and other non-profit community organizations pay minimal donations to hold periodic or annual gatherings. For example, the SnipBus uses our Youth Center parking lot to provide a neutering service for feral cats in North County. This non-profit service reduces a food source for nuisance coyotes and reduces the knockdown of the quail population by cats hunting birds.

Individual families or clubs rent our affordable facilities for private events like car shows, scrapbooking, dancing, weddings, quinceañras, celebrations of life, and other events. And we host grange events benefiting the community like are annual rummage sale and question and answer forums for candidates seeking to be elected as a county supervisor or to the Board of Education.

Rummage Sale at Grange, Prunedale, California
Annual Rummage Sale

Membership

So, after considering our history and mission, and the opportunity to volunteer and provide a meaningful benefit to North County families, please become a Grange member. Step forward and be an agent of unity among our neighbors. It’s easy. Just download our membership application on our “Join the Grange” page. Then drop it off or mail it to the grange with a $40 individual donation or a $50 family donation.

Join the Grange – Have Fun!

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Prunedale Grange is an association of men and women volunteers who have worked for the betterment of North County since 1927. Our non-profit facility has for decades been a community asset for local families and farmers. Come join us and gain the satisfaction of volunteering while protecting and improving the quality of life in this part of the county.

Come join us and share your ideas and energy. Then turn your ideas into reality. For example, do you think a community garden would be an asset to our neighbors? We’ve got the land. Join us and take on birthing that project. Or do you think the Board of Supervisors needs encouragement to do something to improve our traffic issues? Or do you think local small farmers could take advantage of the Grange’s influence, at the local and state level, on issues affecting them?

So, come join us. Take the opportunity to benefit families and small farmers in our community. You’ll be happy you did. Just download the membership application at the bottom of this page.

Just click the download icon in the upper-right of the form

Fill in the top section. The application fee is $5, an individual annual membership is $40, and a family membership is $80. A benefit is that after being part of our team for 6 months, you will only pay the membership rate for any rental you decide to host.

Do A Luncheon
Grange Luncheon
Do a Rummage sale
Rummage Sale
Guest Speaker Night at the Grange
Speaker Day

Prunedale Grange Membership Application Form

Mail this form with a check to:

The Prunedale Grange #388

17890 Moro Road

Salinas, California 93907

Photo Tour – Large hall, parking lot, and Youth Center

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Aerial View Grange’s Large Hall, Parking Lot and Youth Center

These photos are intended to give you an immediate feel for the layout of our facility, the size of the buildings, and the flexible setups available in our large hall. Of course, you can physically inspect the hall, parking lot, or Youth Center after we receive your renter reservation/information form. NOTE: Scheduled touring of the main hall requires a small fee as shown on the renter reservation form that will be returned when you sign a rental agreement.

The aerial view shows the Youth Center above the large hall and large parking lot.

Plenty of room for Outdoor and Indoor Events

Large Hall and Parking Lot – Doings

At the large hall do what you want to do.

Large Hall Setup Examples

Click any image to open lightbox which will enlarge your image view and you can scroll through the gallery of setup examples.

Youth Center

Use of the Youth Center includes all of the parking and lawn areas, as well as the hall capable of handling groups of up to 40 people.

Outside view Youth center with PODS