Big Thunder Grange continues to grow and serve By Lisa Rodgers Reporter This article is part of a series of articles leading up to the Boone County Fair on August 5 – 10. BOONE COUNTY- Could one project needed at the Boone County Fairgrounds create a new Grange? Well the answer is “yes”. In 1993, Rodney Paulson was the Grounds Manager at the Boone County Fairgrounds and was seeking help handling winter storage. Existing Granges at the time were looking to form a new Grange. In April 1993 with 18 members present, Big Thunder Grange began with the purpose of this specific project in mind. Big Thunder Grange was named after Indian Chief Big Thunder that lived in the area and for the coincidental thunderstorm that rocked the building during the first meeting. “For the last 21 years Big Thunder Grange has helped with winter storage at the Boone County Fairgrounds. This is our big project every year and includes six weekends. Three weekends are in the spring and three in the fall. It requires many volunteers and many man hours. Over 200 units are stored each year. They have to be put into storage in the fall and released each spring.” Dave Geske President/Master of Big Thunder Grange said. “Big Thunder is a community service organization. In addition to our winter storage project we ring the bell for the Salvation Army, hold our annual toy show in November, and host our annual Christmas Bazaar in December,” explained Geske.. “We are also active in the Belvidere Hometown Christmas weekend participating in decorate/donate a Christmas Tree and gifts to a needy family in the community. We also make afghans for our service men and veterans and supply them with toiletries and other personal items. We participate in the Granges Food Frenzy and also we support a cancer team in The Relay for Life event.” “During the fair we host the Friday Night Fish Fry in the Dining Hall. All our members are very active during fair week and donate countless hours to the Boone County Fair. We also hold fundraisers and donate our time and talents when needed in the community.” “We currently have 34 members. We are always looking for new members who would like to help make our community better by joining Big Thunder Grange. All our members are very active during fair week and donate countless hours to the Boone County Fair. We also hold fundraisers and donate our time and talents when needed in the community.” Geske concluded. For more information on Big Thunder Grange contact Dave Geske at (815) 975-8276. Big Thunder Grange meets the fourth Thursday of each month at 7:00 pm at the Community Grange Hall located on Rt. 76 on the Boone County Fairgrounds property.
Posted on: Tue, 24 Jun 2014 06:04:37 +0000
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