100-year-old Grange hall kept open

By Carol South
Herald contributing writer

February 27, 2008 04:00 am

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Donna Martin remembers when the babies were lined up like cordwood on the tables, sleeping on piled coats while their parents danced the night away.

The Summit City native, born "just down the road," has been connected to Grange #672 all her life.

'This place was used to be packed, standing room only," she recalled of the hall near Kingsley. "This was it! We all came to the dances, people came from all over."

On hand Saturday night to help revive the tradition of dancing -- this time on a monthly basis -- Martin and more than 40 other dancers of all ages enjoyed the live music and calling of the Straightforward bluegrass band. Based in South Boardman, the band has been playing mostly monthly dances at the 100-year-old building since last fall.

One-steps, two-steps, polkas, waltzes, round dances and traditional square dancing had the wooden floors thumping all night as -- once again -- dancers descended from Traverse City, Kalkaska, Kingsley, Cadillac, Fife Lake and Manton.

"We came her as teenagers once a week, came from all over," recalled Susannah Hansen of Kalkaska. "We all lived on farms and used to go to the dances with our parents and that's where we learned to dance."

"The Grange was a big thing," she added.

Now another generation of dancers is creeping in to swing and sway with what had become mostly retirees. The newcomers are slowly building the membership roll of Summit City, helping to preserve an outpost of a nationwide agricultural organization dating to the 1860s.

"We saw a blurb in the paper and came out here and it's just fabulous," said Jim Rantala of Traverse City, accompanied by dance partner Carla Roberts. "I just fell in love with this place, the bandshell, the floor."

Rantala and Roberts joined the struggling Grange to make sure the minimum membership requirement -- 13 members -- was met. If the roster falls below that number and the grange becomes inactive, the charter reverts to the state organization. The building could be sold and a chapter in rural history closed for another community.

"I'm trying to spread the word to anybody," Rantala added.

Marie Dean, the Paradise Township supervisor, has been a member of the Grange #672 for many years -- marrying in to the tradition -- and serves as the master. Attracting new members is a challenge but the local group is determined to soldier on.

One current project is to raise money for building maintenance. Admission to the monthly dances is pay what you can into a box, with proceeds earmarked for work this summer.

"Our membership is mostly older people, it's hard to get young people involved," Dean said, noting the building is rented to community members for weddings, baby showers and other gatherings. "It's a neat old hall but we need work done on it."

Granges in rural areas around the country are in flux with some growing and some shrinking, said Jeff Swainston, president of the Michigan State Grange. The Summit City Grange is one of 43 in the state, what he terms a small figure historically. Other Granges in northwest Michigan include Platt Grange in Benzie County, Torch Lake Grange, Hayes Grange near Gaylord, and Barnard Grange and Peninsula Grange, both near Charlevoix.

As for smaller granges like Summit City, Swainston noted that activity and interest weigh in when evaluating membership numbers.

"We try and work with granges, just like any organization," he said. "Technically, we have a requirement that you have to have a minimum amount of members but we have some Granges where we see more community service done with 10-15 members than with Granges with 50 members."

"We certainly don't want to close any granges down that are making honest attempts to do things in their community," Swainston added.

For more information on the grange organization in the state, see their Web site at www.michigangrange.org. For more information on the Summit City Grange, contact Marie Dean at 263-5802. The next dance will be held Saturday, March 22, at 7 p.m. at 9345 Church Street, Kingsley.

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