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While some granges are thought of for their social aspects of get-togethers and community activities, Jomni Tarbell regards the East Pembroke Grange for its influence on her future career in preventative medicine research, she says.
The 22-year-old University at Buffalo senior credits her membership for the additional education she has gained about rural health care.
“The grange does a lot of health awareness programs. We recently did one about educating seniors about what to expect when they go into surgery. We have a large partnership with a rural mental health organization that was founded here in New York. We have a partnership at a national level with them, and so we do a lot of work with rural health disparities, especially for seniors and other vulnerable communities,” Tarbell said during an interview with The Batavian. “So that kind of inspired me because I think that those programs are very important. So if I could do research that would benefit and help create programs like that, I think that would be really great.”
It’s fair to say Tarbell has been an active member of her grange, joining at about 7 years old, being selected as state ambassador in 2017 and now serving as leader of the Junior Grange for the three remaining members after the Covid pandemic ravaged a once-thriving membership.
She is also organizing a Quarter Carnival for this weekend to celebrate the organization’s 90th year and promote it with fingers crossed to attract more members. The group will be selling popcorn and hotdogs and having old-fashioned games and prizes — bean bag toss, drop the clothespin into the bottle — while also having members on hand to talk, provide information and answer questions.
The Junior Grange was founded in September 1934 by a group of children aged 5 to 14. The grange is an off-shoot of the 4-H organization, she said, but members don’t ever age out as they do at 4-H. There are national programs available through the grange and nonpartisan programs that also set it apart from other youth groups, she said.
Locally, East Pembroke worked with a grange in Connecticut a couple of years ago to revise health definitions for the Q fever, a rare but fatal illness that can spread especially amongst dairymen.
“Over these 90 years, we have been nationally recognized for our activities in agriculture advocacy, leadership development, cultivating creativity, developing life skills, teamwork, and community involvement,” she said.
Members go on a lot of field trips, such as to honeybee farms, recycling facilities and ecosystems, to learn more about agriculture and the environment. They also set up a booth at Genesee County Fair to spread their knowledge to visitors. Community service projects include making cards for veterans at the VA Hospital and baking cookies for a senior living housing facility in Batavia, she said.
As she has gotten older, the scope of her participation has evolved, Tarbell, of Darien, said, and she has grown more with leadership, done more public speaking and gotten involved in “Sign a Song,” using sign language. Overall, however, her participation has been about engagement with others.
“A lot of it is going to places and going on field trips, and then bringing professionals in their field, or people who are experts in their area, coming in and giving workshops to us, and then a lot of it is just playing games and just having a place to have fun,” she said. “And me, personally, as the junior leader, my main goal with my program is to have something where the kids can have fun and have a bright memory and also help them kind of build some skills that they could use, either professionally or just in their life, to make their lives easier. And then building a sense of community and learning how important community is and how much you kind of need community in your life.”
They accept residents from anywhere in Genesee County, and have even had people from outside of the county, she said. The regular East Pembroke Grange has about 60 paying members and core attendance of 30, she said. It will be a hub of activity this weekend since youth will be visiting, including the national youth ambassador, from across the state and staying at the grange.
The Quarter Carnival is from 3 to 5 p.m. on Saturday at 2610 School St., East Pembroke. Attendees are encouraged to bring their quarters.
