In the News

Dartmouth Grange Announces 2019 Community Citizen Awards

March 27, 2019

Dartmouth Grange Announces 2019 Community Citizen Awards

March 25, 2019 ; Dartmouth, MA: On Tuesday April 2nd, at 7:30 pm, the public is invited to join the Dartmouth Grange #162 in honoring local community members and a nonprofit with its Annual Community Citizen Award.  The presentation of this award is a tradition associated with Grange Month, celebrated in April each year.  The Dartmouth Grange #162 presents this award to individuals or groups to recognize their outstanding achievements in our community. The Grange is the nation’s oldest national agricultural organization and one of the oldest fraternal organizations in theCommonwealth of Massachusetts.

 The 2019 Community Citizen Award recipients were chosen for their dedication to strengthening our community by sharing knowledge and resources related to agriculture, engineering and youth engagement for communities across the South Coast and RI. The Dartmouth Grange is proud to recognize educator and grower Steve Walach of Friends Academy, Lu Yoder of Westport, an innovative agricultural machine fabricator, and Meatworks , the organization that worked tirelessly to design and build a USDA-inspected meat processing facility in Westport, MA.

Each recipient is unique in their quest to connect communities to their passions:

Steve Walach started the service learning program at Friends Academy over ten years ago, seeking to connect middle school students with projects and ideas outside the school walls. This includes Steve’s ‘garden’ which produces thousands of pounds of fresh vegetables each year, harvested, weighed and delivered to an area food pantry.

Lu Yoder, a man of many talents, shares his knowledge of design, engineering and problem solving with small, local farms. Having fabricated several bike-powered machines including root vegetable washers and grain threshers, Lu continues to empower growers by offering the plans free of charge.

Meatworks has opened our region’s newest state-of-the art slaughter facility, proudly offering services with the highest animal welfare and humane handling standards, food safety standards, and full traceability via their integrated scale system.

Please join us in celebration on Tuesday April 2, 7:30 pm at the Dartmouth Grange #162 Patrons Hall located at 1133 Fisher Road in Dartmouth where the awards will be presented. This event is Free and Open to the Public and Refreshments will be served following the awards presentation. For directions or more information, please call the Dartmouth Grange at 508-636-1900 or visit www.dartmouthgrange.org

For more information, please contact:
Sarah Cogswell, Lecturer, Dartmouth Grange
508-542-0434
cogswell.sarah3@gmail.com