| July 5, 2019 -- The days are just flying by lately with all of the work involved with moving the State Grange from Glastonbury to Winchester. Unfortunately, there is still a great deal of “stuff” still in Good Will Grange Hall. It’s an immense challenge that has to be completed before the hall is sold… and we expect this building to sell rather quickly as Glastonbury (and this property in particular) sits in one of the most highly sought after towns in Greater Hartford (in Connecticut, really).
My long 990 e-postcard nightmare is finally over! After so many delays due to the website either down or just not operational for a myriad of reasons, I was finally able to file for all of the Granges in the state. All Granges should have received their receipts for the filing in the mail from me. If not, please let me know. I have received questions about the year listed on the filing. The receipts you have received are for the latest report the IRS shows as due for your Grange. Some of the filing years of our Granges do not fall at the same time as some of the others and those earlier ending dates may be the cause for the 2017 year listed on some.
The important thing to remember is that all Granges have filed this year and you are in no danger of being in “trouble” with the IRS unless you have failed to file for three consecutive years. I can assure you, as long as I am State Secretary, you will never be in danger of falling into that category.
In addition, the IRS generates a master list of all Granges that fall under the group exemption umbrella of the Conn. State Grange. I go through this list each spring (and have already done so for this year) making sure that all active Granges are properly listed with the IRS. It’s a complicated system, but in the end I have no doubt that all Granges in the state are in good standing with the IRS with the exception of one Grange that is aware of their status.
As if I needed additional things to worry about, State Session is creeping up on us again. By the first week of August, all Granges will receive the call to State Session and information about registration and reservations with the hotel. Pricing will be exactly the same for both meals and rooms. The only difference will be slight changes in the banquet menu. More on that when things are finalized.
Unfortunately, I received a hand-written note from a Grange requesting seals for members. The request was not written on a form and the name of the Grange wasn’t written on the note either. The note was separated from the envelope so barring handwriting analysis, I can’t tell what Grange made the request. This is why we require the proper forms to be filled out completely when requesting membership awards. The note only asked for quantities of seals and did not include names of members to be awarded the recognition. The forms ask for the name of the member, the Grange originally joined, and the date the member joined. When I receive the request, the information is verified with the State Grange membership records and the awards are issued and noted in the records of the State Grange. If this Grange hasn’t received requested seals and is reading this article, it might be you! Please get in touch with me ASAP.
On the subject of forms… there are a number of Granges that still haven’t sent in their dues for the first quarter (due on March 31). Dues for the second quarter are now due as we pass July 1. I have to remind all Granges that your dues must be current up to the second quarter for your delegates to be seated at State Session.
Enough rambling for this month—get out and enjoy the summer weather! Hopefully there will be more summer than the small amount of spring we were able to enjoy this year.
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