WHATELY – Since 1951 Adelia Bardwell belonged to the Whately chapter of the Grange. Most of those 70 years her friend, Ruth Leahey, shared the fun.

“I’ve know Adelia for many years,” Leahey, president of the chapter, said recently. “I’m only 76. A lot of members are a lot older, they’re hanging in there. (But) we had a very good meeting last night. Fifteen members got certificates for membership for 920 years, combined.”

Bardwell’s 70 years of membership wasn’t the most for a Whately resident. That distinction went to James LaSalle, who joined the Grange 75 years ago. Back then, most 14-year-olds rushed to join.

“You joined when you were 14,” Bardwell said. “The Grange was the place to go. Everything that happened in town, socially, happened at the Grange. We met twice a month … and lots to do after the meeting. They’d push the chairs back and dance. Other times, they’d play cards.”

Bardwell remembered the smell of flowers at the meetings, the fragrance coming from bouquets brought by a member, and the yummy smells of the snacks served afterward. The Grange was designed on the plan of an English farm, but for Whately folks it’s a community service organization where everybody has fun too.

“We are a community service-minded organization,” Leahey said, “and we work with the American Legion, the VFW. There’s so many things we’ve done over the years…Our meetings are always open to the public. Anyone can come. We do not have a Junior Grange. We tried to get one going and it didn’t fly.”

Bardwell, once in charge of the chapter, had fond memories of when times were formal.

“When we joined, when ever there was a special event,” Bardwell said, “the ladies wore floor length gowns and the men wore suits and ties … The ritual is very important. There was a dress code that was lost.”

“Probably the most fun I had as an adult was accompanying my husband, as part of his installing suite,” Bardwell said. Installing was the process of appointing new officers. “We traveled the length and breadth of the state, doing installations … We would go sometimes two or three, sometimes even four nights a week, to go do installations … Last night, one of the people there was at Worcester. He looked at me and said, “We’ve had so many good times together.” That’s because of the traveling and the installations.”

“But my pride,” Bardwell said, “was the number of things we have been able to do for our town. One of our big projects was a well child clinic, where the parents could bring the kids, and we had a doctor who came and helped them … Where we see a need, or a missing link, we have stepped up to take a leadership role.”

Bardwell remembered times picking up trash along a stretch of state road sponsored by the chapter. Young girls often served on fair committees, organizing the animal and human attendance to the Cummington and Greenfield Fairs. She recalled a time when pollutants fouled a farmer’s well, after which Grange members helped clean the well, and got the farm ready for planting more tobacco.

“If there was a fire,” Bardwell said, “and the house needed to be washed to get rid of the smoke, we coordinated with the church, and we got all the dishes washed with a special solution to get rid of the smell … If someone needed something, they knew they could come to the Grange.”

According to Bardwell, more recently the Whately Grange has staged the annual Memorial Day parade honoring veterans and their families. “It became too much for the American Legion, who used to be in charge of it, but they too, with aging members, were unable to carry it out … so the Grange members, we said, ‘we miss it, we want to bring it back.’”

The pandemic also tapped the sense of responsibility these Grange members feel for their town.

“We had a member’s son pass away, during Covid [-19],” Leahey said. “Four of us got together and made food for the family. They couldn’t go to a restaurant, so we prepared and delivered it Christmas morning.”

It may be time for these two sisters of the Grange to assume new roles in the chapter. They’re assuming new roles in the community they served in the Grange.

“I’ve been very active in Grange,” Bardwell said, “but at this point I’m trying to step back. We’re down to a small group.”

Leahey has funded community improvement’s since her husband died. In his memory, she donated funds to refurbish the Veterans Memorial in front of Town Hall.

“My late husband died two years ago in April,” Leahey said. “I felt they were planning to do this renovation [so] when he died, I donated it in his memory.”

The dedication of the refurbished Veterans Memorial is scheduled for November 3. No time has been decided upon.