Corfu Grange #142

May Meeting & Open House

2011-05-09T21:46:00.000-04:00

Hello-

The May meeting of the Corfu Grange is Friday the 13th @ 7:30pm

It is our open house so please to bring a perspective member.

This years presentation is 101 Ways to go Green. Donna Rae Sutherland, assistant direct marketing and
communications and Earth Club adviser at Genesee Community College
is the presenter.

There will also be a baking contest. This years category is a Chocolate Cake.
The scratch
entries may be frosted for the local competition.
Lynette is deciding any rule interpretations.

See on Friday!

PS: Thank you everyone for making the Chicken BBQ such a success, we sold out.

April Meeting and Chicken BBQ

2011-04-03T16:56:00.000-04:00

The April business meeting for the Corfu Grange will be on Friday April 8th at the Hall.
Tureen supper @7pm and business meeting @8pm

Chicken BBQ at the Corfu Grange Hall on Sunday April 17 starting at 11:30AM
The Corfu Grange Hall is located in next to the former IGA in "downtown" Corfu across the street from the Intermediate School
Corfu Grange on the map

Adults - $8.50
Children - $5.00
Includes:
Chicken
Macaroni Salad
Baked Beans
Roll
Dessert

See you there!

February Meeting & Bowling Party

2011-02-07T20:54:00.001-05:00

CANCELLED!!!!
Due to a scheduling conflict the bowling alley could not accommodate us @ 1pm. The next meeting will be at the Perry's on March 11

The February 2011 meeting of the Corfu Grange will be on Sunday Feb 13 @ 1pm at Scopano Lanes in Oakfield.

Photo contest entries are due

Be there or be square!

Christmas Party

2010-12-05T21:42:00.000-05:00

The Corfu Grange Holiday Party will be on 12/10 @ 7:30

National Grange Action Alert

2010-11-19T22:49:00.005-05:00




 

 

Contact Your U.S. Senator to Urge Their Opposition 
to S.510 The FDA Food Safety Modernization Act
November 19, 2010
S.510 would prohibit farmers, food producers, food manufacturing facilities, and U.S.

 importers from retaining full control of their operations, products, product

 distribution, and business records by granting unprecedented authority to the 

 Secretaries of Health and Human Services, Agriculture, and Homeland Security. 

S. 510 is currently on the floor of the U.S. Senate and a vote on Final Passage 

 in the Senate is scheduled for November 29, 2010. Please Email your Senator

 today and let them know that Food Safety is important in rural America but

 this measure misses the target.








Background
On March 3, 2009, Senator Richard Durbin introduced S. 510, the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act. Under the provisions of Title I, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, would be allowed to discontinue a facility’s registration, order a recall of a facility’s product, require owners and operators to evaluate the hazards of their food, implement and monitor preventative controls, and maintain records of such. In addition, both the Secretary of Health and Human Services and the Secretary of Agriculture would be required to devise, implement, coordinate, process, and make public a “Food Defense Strategy.”
Title II of the act requires the Secretaries to fund inspection of facilities, the establishment of projects to explore, evaluate, and track processed food, and train local, state, and federal government employees to comply. While Title III of the act primarily deals with imports and products produced in other countries, it additionally requires the FDA to fund and establish FDA offices in other countries, recognize third-party bodies that train and employ auditors, and do all of this on the American Taxpayer’s dime.
Although Senator Jon Tester (D) of Montana was able to amend S. 510 and reduce the burden of some small farmers and facilities, it does not fix the overbearing intent and implications of the master bill. The only folks who are exempt under the amendment are farmers who sold less that $500,000 worth of food in the previous 3-year period and whose food was sold to consumers, restaurants or grocery stores. (Third-party food brokers are subject to this measure, and are not exempted under this amendment.) Additionally, protected entities would have to sell their products in the state where the product was made, or harvested, or within 275 miles of that original site.
Currently this measure is up for final passage in the U.S. Senate and is scheduled for a vote on November 29, 2010. A similar measure, H.R. 2749, The Food Safety Enhancement Act was passed by the U.S. House last year. This measure also has increased record-keeping requirements.
Grange Policy
At the 144th National Grange Convention held recently in Charlotte, North Carolina, Grangers repeated their support for strong inspection standards on all livestock, feed, meats, and dairy products. Grangers believe the USDA and FDA should collaborate on food safety issues and that the two agencies should be given more power to order food recalls and close down firms with records of serial contamination violations.
The National Grange supports legislation to implement pathogen detection and reduction strategies based on sound science that targets micro bio-contamination by pathogens that may be harmful to consumers. Grangers urge Congress to fund the USDA to develop and implement educational programs relative to the safe handling of foods.
However, the National Grange opposes federal legislation that would presume that all food, including food produced for local market sale and consumption, should be treated as potentially hazardous and would require family farmers to produce and maintain onerous amounts of paperwork indicating what production inputs were purchased and when food produced on an individual farm will be consumed, in order to reach an unattainable goal of total traceability.
Additionally, the National Grange opposes federal legislation that would add an unnecessary layer of national bureaucratic paperwork to the business of producing food to meet local demand without demonstrating any commensurate food safety benefits to consumers, or cost reductions that benefit family farmers or their local customers.
Action Needed
Please email your U. S. Senator and urge them to oppose S. 510, the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act, which causes undue burden to farmers and ranchers with onerous regulatory and record-keeping mandates, and although well-intentioned, misses their target of increasing food safety. The Food Safety Modernization Act is currently on the floor of the U.S. Senate and a vote on Final Passage in the Senate is scheduled for November 29, 2010. Please email your Senator today and let them know that food safety is important in rural America but this measure misses the target.
Sample E-Mail


Dear Senator___________________,
I am writing to urge your opposition to S. 510, the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act. As a Grange Member dedicated to healthy and sustainable agriculture, and a competitive rural America, I strongly urge you to oppose this measure that threatens the livelihood, restricts competitiveness, and seeks to bury our farmers and ranchers under unnecessary record-keeping, while missing the target of strengthening food safety.
The National Grange is the nation’s oldest agricultural and rural community organization, and has evolved to incorporate the interests of non-farm rural families and communities, as well as the traditional interests of family farmers and ranchers. It has nearly 3,000 state, local, and grassroots chapters across 40 states and the legislative program of the National Grange dates back to the late 1800’s. To us, the importance and endurance of our agriculture is just as important today as it was to our founding members in 1867.
There are currently 15 federal agencies with enforcement powers over at least 30 different laws relating to food safety. Farmers and ranchers currently work very efficiently alongside federal, state and local regulators to ensure that every guideline is followed and each law and regulation adhered to. Our farmers and ranchers are extremely concerned with the safety of their products and each day stake their name and livelihood on the quality of their products. A handful of careless farmers and regulators have placed a nation of farmers and ranchers under an unnecessary microscope and the recent salmonella outbreaks of 2009 have thrown food safety into the political spotlight.
Although I believe the intentions of S. 510 were to get a safe product from farm to fork, this measure will only bury our farmers and ranchers in agriculture with an undue burden of paperwork, while duplicating the currently successful state and local authorities who oversee compliance on-site. Additionally, the amendment by Senator Jon Tester (D) from Montana may seem to be a good fix for carving out smaller farms and producers. However, these producers can be just as likely as large entities to be affected by contamination. After all, it should not matter what the size of an operation is, which markets it sells its’ product to, or even how far away that market is – the bottom line is how safely the farm is operated.
S. 510 also calls for the FDA to fund offices in other countries, which would cost a great deal to employ when certain agricultural fixes and systems remain problematic on a domestic level. Deploying third-party entities abroad only seeks to divert funds to other countries, while we continue to have uncontrolled federal spending.
Grangers continue to dedicate their farms and ranches to putting a safe product on America’s plate and are passionate in doing so in a safe and well-regulated manner, but the passage of bills like S. 510 only succeed in creating more bureaucracy and less efficiency. In today’s economic times where agricultural profit margins are minimal, if they exist at all, our farmers and ranchers and the millions of workers whose jobs depend on this industry, need your assistance to lesson their regulatory burden, not increase it.
Again, we kindly urge your opposition to S. 510, the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act and thank you for your time and consideration on this matter.
Sincerely,
Your name Your Grange number
If you have any questions or comments regarding this Action Alert, please contact Legislative Program Assistant Molly Thompson by e-mail: gboatright@nationalgrange.org; or by phone: 1-888-4GRANGE, ext. 107. Thank you for your grassroots participation in the National Grange Legislative Program.

Roast Pork Dinner

2010-10-27T21:05:00.000-04:00

Roast Pork at the Corfu Grange

ALL YOU CAN EAT
Sunday November 7th

Starting at 12
Eat in or take out
Adults = $8.50
Children 5-12 = $4
Menu:
Roast Pork
Mashed potatoes
Squash
Dressing/stuffing
Rolls
The Corfu Grange is located across the street from the Pembroke Intermediate School on Rt-77 and next to the former Corfu IGA
corfugrange.blogspot.com/
thanks and see you there!!

October Meeting and Grange Hall clean up day

2010-10-06T13:30:00.001-04:00

The October Meeting of Corfu Grange #142 will be on October 9th @ noon (note the time change) at the hall. Pizza will be provided by the Grange.

Topics to include:

- planning for Roast Pork Dinner on November 7th

- Clean up the Hall, it will take much more than one afternoon to accomplish all that needs to done at the Hall but have to start somewhere.

1- Discuss the larger repairs.

2- Assign smaller groups for each room of the Hall.

3- Clean clean clean clean.

Thanks again everyone for a fantastic officer installation ceremony last month.

Lots of local Grange doings in September

2010-09-03T08:45:00.001-04:00

Hello-

The September meeting of the Corfu Grange is Friday September 10
6pm Tureen Supper 8pm Installation of Officers

Rehearsal will be on Thursday evening

In other local Grange events:
East Pembroke will be putting on the 1st and 2nd degrees at the East Pembroke Grange Hall (on School St) Tuesday Sept 28 @ 7pm

Western NY Legislative Day will be Saturday Oct 2 at the East Pembroke Grange Hall.
http://www.nysgrange.org/Legislative/Genesee_Oct_2_2010.pdf
This is always a great event where you can often meet your local state representatives and other govt officials.

What Can One Person Do?

2010-08-02T22:33:00.000-04:00

What Can One Person Do?

A message from National Grange President Ed Luttrell

What can we do about economic uncertainty, the oil spill in the gulf, runaway government spending, and all the other challenges that face us in America? How do we deal with the immense flow of information that seems to overwhelm us on a daily basis?

Family, friends, and community are the answer.

As individuals, we often seem to be powerless against the huge challenges that are before us. One person can’t fix the economy, the actions of one individual will not stop the oil from escaping from the sea floor, and one lone voice will not slow the spending of our government. However, when people start to seek common ground and work together they can, and will, make their community a better place to live. Once that happens communities can start to band together and solve state-level problems and the process continues onward to our national government.

Organizations like ours are the real community organizers. Unlike other groups, the Grange doesn’t depend on the government for funding and we don’t presume to speak for our members until they have had the opportunity to be a part of the discussion.

Since 1867, Granges have been organized in tens of thousands of communities. Fire departments, FFA, co-ops, credit unions, ambulance services, fairs, 4-H, and so much more have been started because people found they had power together through the Grange. Schools have been supported, parks and other recreational opportunities have been started, and cemeteries maintained due to the muscle of people coming together through the Grange.

That process continues to this very day. We are an old organization that is constantly renewed and kept young by people who add their ideas and voices to their community as members.I’ve seen a lot of new Granges formed over the past few years. From New Hampshire to Alaska to Arkansas, people are seeing
that there is power when you belong to a grassroots organization that allows the local members to determine the direction of our organization.

So what can one person do about the huge issues of the day? They can join the Grange, get involved as their time allows, and make a difference in their community.

Membership is not about money as ours is an inexpensive organization to join. Most of the budget of a local Grange comes from fundraising rather than the voluntary dues paid by members. This is due to a focus on the family and the knowledge that we must be affordable to the entire family.

Grange membership is not about everyone agreeing, it is about different ideas and perspectives being discussed in a friendly civil fashion and each member learning during that debate. It is about the search for common issues and solutions, not about total agreement. The only issue we are in agreement on is that our debates and actions must be that of honorable, moral people.

Many times over the past 143 years, our organization has rallied the forces of our American communities to change our nation. History teaches us that individual Americans can make a difference; it is just that we must work together through organizations like the Grange to do it.

What can one person do? The real question is what can stop a group of people, a Grange, from accomplishing anything?

Ed Luttrell
National President

August Meeting

2010-07-23T08:23:00.000-04:00

Howdy-
The August Meeting for the Corfu Grange will be Friday August 6th @ 7pm @ Darien Lakes State Park Shelter #2.
The Grange will provide hot dogs, please bring a dish to pass.
The State Park picnic is always a fun meeting for the whole family.

Hope to see you there!

July meeting - Friday July 9th @ 7:00pm

2010-06-22T21:34:00.000-04:00

The July meeting of Corfu Grange #142 will be Friday July 9th @ 7:00pm at the Corfu Grange Hall.
Bring a dessert to pass.
This meeting will be the 2010-2011 planning and election meeting so bring your ideas.

The trip to Hidden Valley Animal Adventure was a rousing success. Thirty-seven Grangers and friends went on a safari and enjoyed a lovely lunch in the lodge of this new Wyoming county attraction. Two thumbs up all around!

June meeting and tour

2010-06-02T20:51:00.000-04:00

Howdy-

The June meeting for the Corfu Grange will be a tour and luncheon at the new Hidden Valley Adventure in Varrysburg to followed by a catered lunch on Saturday June 12.
The cost is $15 for Grange members and $25 for non members.
http://www.hiddenvalleyadventure.com/

Meet at the Grange Hall @ 9:15 AM to carpool to Varrysburg.

Thank you everyone for making the May open house and defensive driving events great - good attendance at both events however the Harper Hill Farm presentation was slightly more exciting than 7 hours of driving tips.

Corfu Grange 2010 Open House

2010-05-04T10:39:00.001-04:00

Corfu Grange 2010 Open House

Friday May 7th @ 7:30 pm at the Corfu Grange Hall

featured presenter- Charleen & Joe from Harper Hill Farm in Darien will talk about Oberhasli goats and soap making.

Come hear about goats, soap and your community Grange! Refreshments including a Cinnamon Roll contest will be provided.

1

Chicken BBQ at the Corfu Grange

2010-04-02T15:16:00.001-04:00

Chicken BBQ at the Corfu Grange
Sunday April 18
Starting at 11:30
Eat in or take out
Adults = $8
Children = $4
Menu:
Chicken
Mac salad
Baked beans
Roll
Dessert
The Corfu Grange is located across from the Pembroke Intermediate School and next to the Corfu IGA

thanks and see you there!!

What is the Grange today?

2010-01-31T22:01:00.001-05:00

Catching up with the Corfu Grange

2010-01-31T21:34:00.000-05:00

Hello and sorry for the lack of updates.... while we may not have been busy on the internet Corfu Grange was been busy.

In November we had our annual Roast Pork Dinner which was very successful and sold out completely.
In December The Corfu Grange co hosted a community Christmas Party with the Corfu Free Library. A great time was had with entertainment by Bart & Kevin and goodies provided by the Grange, yum yum.
January saw the Grange holding a meeting at a generous members house for a day of outdoor winter fun for some and gathering around the woodstove inside for others. Good conversation and cheer was shared.

The February Meeting will be held at the Union Hotel in Corfu @ 1pm on Sunday February 7th, pizza and bowling are on the agenda, hope to see you there!

October Meeting

2009-09-30T14:32:00.000-04:00

Hello-

The October Meeting of Corfu Grange #142 will be on Friday Oct 2 @ 7:30pm
Please bring a desert to share.

Plans will be made for the Roast Pork diner on Sunday Nov 1

State Grange is Oct 23-26 right around the corner in Batavia.

August 14 meeting @ Darien Lakes State Park

2009-08-09T20:58:00.000-04:00

Howdy-

The August meeting of Corfu Grange will be @ Darien Lakes State Park on Friday August 14th @ 6:30 pm.
Hot dogs will be provided by the Grange, please bring a dish to pass. Look for fellow Grangers at one of the picnic pavilions.

Congratulations to the Corfu Subordinate and Junior Grange fair booths both earning 1st place ribbons at the 2009 Genesee County Fair.

July Meeting

2009-07-09T11:57:00.000-04:00

July's meeting will be on Friday July 10 at 7:30pm. Members are asked to bring finger foods to share.
This month we will be working on the fair booths as well as having the annual photo and art contest. Potential entrants should consult the NYS Grange Website for categories and rules: http://www.nysgrange.org/lecturer.html.

Boat Ride and June Meeting

2009-06-03T17:36:00.001-04:00

The Corfu Grange June 2009 meeting will be held in conjunction with a boat ride on the Lockport Locks & Erie Canal Cruises on Saturday June 13 @ 10am (be early because the boat leaves on time)
http://www.lockportlocks.com/

A business meeting & luncheon will follow.

Chicken BBQ Sunday Sunday Sunday

2009-04-15T21:08:00.000-04:00

Chicken BBQ at the Corfu Grange

Sunday April 19 starting @ 11:30

Adults $8

Children $3.50

menu:

chicken
macaroni salad
baked beans
roll
dessert

Bowling Party - Sunday Feb 8

2009-02-04T15:56:00.000-05:00

The Corfu Grange Meeting and Bowling Party will be held Sunday Feb 8th at the Union Hotel in Corfu @ 12:30

Holiday Party - Friday Dec 12

2008-11-16T08:43:00.000-05:00

Whooo Hoooo - The Corfu Grange and the Corfu Library will be having a Holiday Party on Friday December 12 at the Corfu Grange Hall @ 7pm
The party will have snacks, songs, fun, games and a visit from someone who lives at the North Pole.