History of Altona Grange No. 127
As Compiled by September 1st 1958
Altona Grange has kept it’s history alive by compiling reports for the old days for newspaper publication from time to time and by narratives told on such occasions as Booster Nights when such present-day members as Lottie Bruning give a first-hand account of the days since the organization of the grange by reminiscing on early day meetings. Other early grangers, such as Mrs. J. D. Steele and Alma (Mrs. Malcolm) Fredell kept historical records of former years when they were active during Grange Lecture hours, also, and some of these reports are still available today.
Delightful browsing can be had in the minutes of old Secretarial records, too, where in barely legible faded ink, the records of the Grange meetings are set down. And the fact that parliamentary procedure was recorded in a more informal manner back in the early days of our Grange, gives a freshness to the records of the meetings that places the reader in his imagination, easily upon the scene. The price of coal to heat the high-ceilinged hall on a wintery night, or poking the mud out of the buggy wheels to help old Bobbin over the hills to Grange meetings were pressing problems in the life of a Granger of those early years. One old time Grange secretary at Altona chattily explained a blotchy page in her records thus : “The reason this page is not very neat is because I had to use Pa’s pen!” And a later secretary discouraged at length on the practice of having men pay in initiation fee of one dollar, while females were admitted to the order for only fifty cents.
A perusal of the records shows that Altona Grange No. 127 was organized in the Bader School House, District No. 13, Boulder County in February of 1891, by State Organizer Beardsley. Levi Booth, Colorado State Grange Master was also present at this meeting. There were twenty charter members, three of whom are still living: Mrs. Lillie Arbuthnot Nolan, of Boulder; Ben Jain and Mrs. Mary Bader Johnson, of California. [I believe there were other possible charter members who did not sign in as the twenty who are accounted for did. An example of why I think this is my Grandfather's, Fred W. Arbuthnot's, obituary which states that he was a charter member of Altona Grange. He had not signed in, yet he was known as a charter member by the Altona/Niwot community. This makes me wonder who else was there but did not sign in.]
Will Roberts, Altona’s first Master, [step-son of J. George Bader] was secretary of Darden Pomona Grange and State Grange Lecturer at the time of Altona’s organization. In the sixty-seven years since, Altona has had twenty-six Masters, two of whom were women, Mrs. M. A. Tobey and Lottie Bruning. Will Roberts, first Master, also became editor of the first state Grange paper, known as the Colorado Grange Exponent. John D. Steele, who at the age of 93 still resides in Altona Community, is the Grange’s oldest member and served the longest term as Grange Master. [His grandson, Harold Steele, has broken that record.]
Twenty-two Silver Star Certificates in recognition of 25 years of Grange service and six Gold Sheaf Certificates honoring fifty years service have been awarded Altona members. The Golden Sheaf holders were: Mrs. Mary Jain, J. D. Steele, Mr. & Mrs. Fred Arbuthnot and Mr. and Mrs. Frank Bruning.
Two days which have become traditional with the Grange were begun in 1892 – Children’s day in June, feathering a large dinner, games and prizes for the children, and Harvest Feast in October, another large dinner accompanied by a display of fruits, grains and vegetables exhibited by Grange members. Alma Fredell, in her item in the February issue of the Colorado Granger of 1935 testifies to the wholehearted way in which Granges of that year brought in the New Year. There were two New years celebrations in Altona Hall that year – a new year’s Eve watch Party with dancing and card games for entertainment, followed by a big New Year’s dinner the next day at which Altona’s officers were installed by Brother R. M. Cessna of St. Vrain Grange. She also mentions in her history of Altona Grange which was compiled a year previously and published in the boulder daily camera, the recreational privileges available to grangers of that time. There was an Altona orchestra, which often preformed at Grange entertainments, and such outdoor recreational facilities as two tennis courts and a horseshoe court under the locust grove. Her research into old Secretarial Records available at that time showed the minutes of Nov 1st, 1892 as carrying the first mention of the Harvest Feast which is now traditional with our Grange.
Newspaper clippings from early day Granger Meetings show that Lecturers Hours during the early years of Altona’s history contained much impromptu talking and audience participation types of entertainment. One lively evening recorded in a newspaper item concerns a bit of entertainment of which several Grange men were resented with fake mustaches and other props and requested to circulate among the audience impersonating certain local politicians of the time.
The site for Altona Grange was purchased at the cost of $3.25 for one and a half acres, including the deed and recording, and by 1895; work was begun on the hall. The original size was 24 by 50 feet, with a 14ft. ceiling, costing a total of $350. Most of the labor was donated; what must be paid for came at the rate of $1 per day per man, $2 for a man and a team. The lumber as bought from Geer and Tiffin, and sawed by William J. Tiffin, father of Dr. Charles Tiffin, at the sawmill located in Geer canon on the place now owned by the Heils.
Completion of the construction was celebrated by a housewarming dance on July 4, 1896 with invitations being sent to the following Granges; Boulder Valley, Left Hand (which are still flourishing in Boulder County), Longmont, Hygiene and Pleasant View (in what is now Rinn are). The three latter Granges have since been reorganized under different names.
In 1906 the first kitchen, 8 by 10 ft was built. It was enlarged in 1919. Hitching posts were erected in 1906 and a fund started for horse sheds. By 1907, the sheds had been erected and were large enough to house ten teams. In 1908 the hall was painted. The two coats of paint cost $50. The roof was re-shingled in 1912 for the sum of $36.75. Oyster suppers were a favorite means of raising funds, and oysters at that time could be purchased for one dollar per gallon.
The first lights were iron chandeliers and bracket lamps, illuminated by kerosene. An item in the July 5th issue of the Niwot Tribune in 1935 tells of the purchase of the 32 volt light plant by Altona Grange from Crain’s Automotive service in Boulder, so the luxury of this new system followed the gasoline lanterns which had replaced earlier kerosene lamps.
The years 1934 and ’35 seem to have been the years, too, when Altona was especially interested in the Travelling Gavel programs among the Boulder County granges, with St. Vrain, Crescent, Boulder Valley and Pleasant View as well as Altona participating in these impressive Travelling Gavel by candlelight ceremonies. 1935 was the year, too, when Altona Grange, according to a Jan 24th item in the Boulder County Miner and Farmer was presented with a framed picture of the Altona Degree Team with this accompanying note: “The frame from this picture was made from a Black Walnut tree grown on the farm of Levi Booth when he signed the charter of the Altona Grange and is presented with the compliments of D. W. Working,” Both D. W. Workiing and Levi Booth were past state masters of Colorado Grange.
In 1943, Altona’s hall was lined with Celotex and a new floor was put in, In the next two years the basement was dug and the hall moved over it, and an addition put on. The lumber for the forms and frame came form the mountains of Boyde Burining near Buckingham Park, and was donated for Grange use. In 1948 also, the exterior of the hall was covered with asbestos siding. All labor, with exception of the excavation of the basement was donated. In contrast to the $350 spent on the erection of the original hall, materials for these later improvements came to $1,500. Wages in 1948 were one dollar per hour, compared to one dollar per day in 1895.
The more recent years of 1956 and ’57 have seen such additional Grange hall improvements as the painting of the basement ceiling and ceiling of the main hall, the installation of five long fluorescent ceiling lights in the main hall, and the construction of eight tables of light toned wood, two and a half feet wide and nine feet long. Further recreational equipment was added to the basement facilities by the donation of a pool table and game boards by Lewis Cowles of Boulder.
Much of the recent improvements on the hall have been made possible by a fund granted to Altona by Miss Marion G. Howe of Worcester, Massachusetts as a Memorial to their brother, Fred Howe, who died June 18, 1949. Mr. Howe was an active member of the beautification of the grounds. Present-day members who recall him as the elder genial member who was referred to, in the Longmont Ledger of Nov 8, 1951, as the “sage of Potato Hill”, can read with interest in earlier-day newspaper item. This item states, “One of the scenery-loving young bachelors, Fred Howe, arranged a pretty ceremony at the planting of a couple of young evergreens near the driveway (of Altona Grange Hall). He had brought the trees from the mountains nearby.”
Financial progress of Altona Grange was slowed over the years by the loss of funds in two bank failures. Theft, also has taken it’s toll, a specially regretted loss being the Grange trophies. These awards from various kinds of Grange competition were a source of pride to the Grange and were irreplaceable. But, in spite of discouragements, Altona continues in the Grange program of farm education and entertainment, mutual aid and assistance to it’s members and service to it’s community.
Compiled Aug. 22, 1958
Lecturer: Doris Steele
and Historical Committee of Lottie Bruning and Jewel Jenkins
and Historical Committee of Lottie Bruning and Jewel Jenkins
Other articles about Altona Grange and the Grange organization:
What is a Grange?
Establishment of the Altona Grange, no. 127 in 1891
Masters of the Altona Grange, No. 127
Purpose of the Grange as written in 1874
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