It was another stormy Wednesday night on March 12. We had to cancel our meeting and move it forward one week to March 19. We had some very daring Grangers who attended that meeting. We had the Photography Contest. Berta Burr took first place in the Scenery Category; Martha Babbitt won first in the People Category, and Corrine Philpott won first in the Animal Category. We also had the Apple Pie Contest, and Corrine Philpott came in first. These winners will go on to the Rensselaer County Pomona Contest If their photographs win there, they will go to N.Y. State Grange to be judged. After the contest we all enjoyed apple pie and ice cream.
The March 26 Meeting
What a surprise – March 26 was good weather. We had a covered dish supper, and it was delicious. We had our program right after supper.
The Lecturer announced who our speaker was, David Filkins. David has been a teacher for sixteen years. He taught GED, General Educational Development, in the Schenectady School System. When a person doesn’t have a high school education, they could get a GED. David told us the first thing the student did was take a test of twenty-five questions to see “How Are You Smart?” All these tests are published by McGraw Hill. They also publish all the books to study for the test. In 1978 they revamped the test. David said the Grange was a big push behind this program. They revamped again in 1988, 2002 and 2013. The 2013 test is a test on getting ready for college. The test consists of fifty questions and an essay at the end. This test is given all over the U.S.A. and Canada, in English, French and Spanish and Braille. Many famous people have taken the G.E.D. After a person passes the GED, you get a Certificate of Employability. David has taught in many unusual places, like the jail. He said he felt very safe there. He answered questions. The Lecturer thanked David for a very interesting program.
Our next meeting is on April 9. Marion and Omer Brenenstuhl are in charge of the program. They are having Paul Davendonis from the Rensselaer County Sheriff Department as speaker. The Refreshment Committee is Marion Hynick and Berta Burr.
Don’t forget – we are having a food drive or money for the HACA food closet.