The seventh annual Amazing Grange Day will bring community members together this Saturday from 9 a.m.-2 p.m. at the historic Marys River Grange Hall in Philomath. Featuring a high-quality rummage sale and popular pie auction, money raised from the event will go toward kitchen renovations.
Judy Hays-Eberts, who was installed as president of Marys River Grange No. 685 in January, said the event represents the organization’s biggest fundraiser of the year for proceeds that go entirely to the hall.
“We do a few things in the year — the plant sale that we do in the spring goes to benefit Philomath Community Services but this is something we are doing for our hall,” Hays-Eberts said. “This year, we have a goal of accumulating money to remodel our kitchen next year.”
The event’s signature pie auction operates on a unique system that has proven popular with attendees.
“It’s a silent auction for the pies except that if a person really wants it on the spot, they can pay $50 and take their pie,” Hays-Eberts said.
The kitchen renovation project addresses practical needs for the busy community hall.
“We only have a two-basin sink and we need a three-basin sink and a separate hand-washing station,” Hays-Eberts said. “Our building committee has plans to expand our storage and also to put in what needs to be done if indeed we get better appliances in the future.”
Since its inaugural Amazing Grange Day in 2018, which raised funds for a new roof, the event has become a cornerstone fundraiser for the organization. The event was canceled in 2020 due to the pandemic but has otherwise been held annually.
The fundraiser serves a thriving organization. Marys River Grange No. 685 boasts approximately 150 members, making it the second-largest grange in Oregon, trailing only Columbia Grange in Corbett. The membership has grown from 131 members at this time last year.
“We have really good support from the community and here, for instance, almost every meeting we have someone who’s applied to join,” Hays-Eberts said.
The grange demonstrates its community commitment beyond fundraising. Items that don’t sell at events are donated to local organizations, such as children’s clothes that go to June’s Kids Kloset at Philomath Community Services.
“We try to keep everything out of the landfill,” Hays-Eberts noted.
The historic Grange Hall, built in the 1930s and expanded with the Junior Hall in the 1950s, serves as a community hub throughout the year. The facility hosts bingo nights, country dances, bluegrass jams, yoga classes, a spoon-carving club, occasional concerts and a health-care clinic for farm workers. The building is also available for private event rentals.
Members recently completed a comprehensive renovation and restoration of the Junior Hall, which had been showing its age before the upgrades.
“Everything that’s done at the hall is volunteer-based so the money goes to actual materials,” Hays-Eberts emphasized, highlighting how donations directly support facility improvements.
Marys River Grange Hall is located at 24707 Grange Hall Road in Philomath.
