The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1908-08-28
LOCAL CHANGERS
FIRST ANNUAL
BASKET PICNIC
Big Crowd in Attendance at
Hunts Grove
NATIONAL OFFICER PRESENT
Address by Head Of the Order and by
Master Of State Granee-Good
Program Of Sports.
NATIONAL OFFICER PRESENT

Bennington Grange, No. 800, Pat
rons OF Husbandry, held its first an
lnual summer outing at Hunts upper
grove Thursday and the event proved
"A success in every way. The grange
had secured for the occasion two Of
the best speakers connected with the
order and the 500 or more people in
attendance had an enjoyable time.
Nearly every town in the county
was represented in the attendance.
People were present from Dorset, Man
chester, Hoosick, Stamford, Reads
boro, Pownal and other nearby towns.
A portion of the crowd came over the
steam road from the north and by the
two trolley roads leading into the vii.
lage but the larger majority were
Obliged to use horse power in making
the trip.
In the morning there was a game of
baseball between mines representing
Bennington grange and Stamford. the
latter winning by score of 7 to 2.
The battery for Stamford was Cole
and Seeger while the Percy Brothers
were on the points for Bennington.
Plans had been arranged for a bas-
ket picnic but tables were set for the
invited guests under the trees.
The address of welcome was deliv-
cred by Dept c. A. Rice and the re-
Spouse was by Rev. J c. Mitchell of
Pownal.
The principal addresses of the day
were delivered by G. w. Pierce OF
Brattleboro, Master of the Vermont
state grange, and by Ex-Governor n.
j. Batchelder of New Hampshire, mas
ter of the national grange.
Mr.. Pierce urged the members OF
the order to thoroughly post them,
selves on the important matters that
are to come up before the legislature
this fall. He cited the facts that man
,uel training and elementary agricul.
ture and manual training had been in
troduced into the public schools of the
state through the efforts of the order
Mr. Batchelder spoke of the iniu
ence of the grange in national legisla
ton. The removal of the tax ON de
natured alcohol in an effort to secure
a cheap power fuel for the farmers
had been accomplished by the efforts
of the grange and that the enactment
of the rural free delivery law was
largely due to the influence of the
grange in Congress. The order now
was working to accomplish four Other
things. a parcels post, postal savings
banks, national legislation for gooC
roads and the election of United
States Senators by direct vote of the
people
The two speakers were frequently
applauded and their remarks apparent
ly met the approval of the audience
The sports held in the grove proved
Unusually Interesting, The 100 yar(
dash was won by Burt Cole Of STAN
ford, the sack race by G.. W. Rice o.
Bennington, the girls potato race by
Florence Lyons of Bennington and the
boys sack race by Robert Jepson o.
Stamford.
One of the enjoyable features of the
afternoon was the dancing period al
the pavilion from to g. to the excel
lent music furnished by Goldsmith
orchestra.
From every standpoint the picnic
was an unqualified success. The de
tails we're carried out with the per
feet precision that characterizes al
the public efforts of the grange an(
reflected much credit upon all YhC
= took part in planning or carrying on
the arrangements.