Deer Lagoon Grange Building Fund

Introduction

Built in 1904 for the Lone Lake Norwegian Lutheran Church, the Deer Lagoon Grange hall, located on Bayview Road 1.2 miles north from Bayview Corner, is showing its age. Most important, the south wall has developed a slight bow and sag, and needs to be drawn back to be plumb and level. Over time this condition could compromise the structural integrity of the building. Acting now will minimize the cost of repair (estimated to be $46,500), and help launch the building into its next hundred years of service to the community. We have the engineering done, building permit in hand, and a construction bid from a local builder. All we need is your help to do this important work.

In addition to structural repair, the building plan includes additional electrical outlets, an appropriately sized range hood for the kitchen, and associated wiring. All these changes will make the building more useful to its constituency.

Deer Lagoon Grange #846, organized in 1926, was first housed in a building at Bayview Corner, when Deer Lagoon extended all the way to Bayview, prior to construction of the dike. In 1935 the Grange moved into the old Lutheran church building and has remained there ever since. The hall is also enjoyed by many other community organizations and individuals. The current roster of regular users includes South Whidbey Community Church, SWCC Men's Group, Weight Watchers, dance groups, and South Whidbey Rock Club. The facility is also used for family celebrations, business meetings, art shows, theater performances, concerts, community clubs, and other events. Wi-Fi access and the projector system make the facility excellent for teaching and for interactive internet seminars.

The facility is host to the Grange's Food: Back to Basics series, which aims to educate the public about the production, procurement, preparation and preservation of food, including livestock. Over the last three years, the series has brought the public free classes on fruit tree management, bee keeping, heirloom dry beans, food buying clubs, cooking from the pantry, raising chickens - both for eggs and for meat, Black Welsh Mountain sheep, wool processing, goat management, Indian cooking, raising meat rabbits, sheep and goat obstetrics, Mexican cooking, dairy goats, fermenting foods, canning and dehydrating, artisan bread, no-knead bread, coupon shopping, winter vegetables, community supported agriculture and cooking with children, among others.

The facility also hosts the Grange's collective food buying program, which allows members of the public and grangers to acquire good food at good prices, by combining their buying power and sharing transportation. In recent years, we have supplied the community at large with access to tuna, peaches, tomatoes, cherries, apples, berries, green beans and other foods.

The Grange building is designated an Island County Historic site. The original structure was constructed as a church in 1904 with lumber from Burke's Mill on Lone Lake. When the Grange modified the building in 1938 it used maple flooring salvaged from Fort Casey in Coupeville.

Aside from being custodian of this historic hall, Deer Lagoon Grange #846 has a long tradition of working with other institutions which support the local community. Annually, the Grange and its members are superintendents for the Fruits, Vegetables, Herbs, Honey, Compost, Grains and Grasses and Baking Departments of the Island County Fair, as well as serving the Fair in other capacities. The Words for Thirds program distributes free dictionaries to third graders. And the Grange was among those petitioning WSU to establish an Extension Agent position for Island County.

The Grange hall has been a significant community center for over 100 years. The building has been home to Norwegian Lutheran Church, Trinity Lutheran Church, Veterans of World War I South Whidbey Barracks #1210, and Boy Scouts, Cub Scouts, and 4-H Clubs. The Grange hosted events for Senator Scoop Jackson and State Senator Jack Metcalf; and community meetings which helped gain a ferry landing in Clinton and the setting up of road signs on local roads so that people knew the way to Langley, Clinton and Freeland. Grange sponsored events over the years also included: Ice cream and pie socials, and pancake breakfasts for the fishermen on opening day on Lone Lake (the menu included bacon, eggs, hash browns, and pancakes all prepared by Grange members and served by young ladies from Langley High School; the price of breakfast included sit-down service and parking for the fishing day!). Other popular events before the days of television were Whist and Pinochle tournaments.

Today, our objective is to keep this structure in service to the community and to preserve its historic nature, while making the building more useful and functional to keep pace with the evolving needs of the community.

The total cost of the work will be about $46,500, including contingency funds for cost increases and unanticipated problems. We hope that you will help us reach our goal, in whatever amount you feel comfortable giving.

Thank You!

For a printable account of the Building Fund Project Click Here

For a printable Building Fund Sponsor Form Click Here

Donations

The Grange gratefully acknowledges the following donors to the Building Fund

LEGEND

Nancy Nordhoff

PIONEER

Memory of Elsie and Roald Melver

South Whidbey Community Church

Flat Rock Productions

Gary and Tarey Kay

Deer Lagoon Grange Membership

Shirlee Read

STEWARD

Rotary Club of South Whidbey

Whidbey Island Bank - Freeland Branch

BENEFACTOR

Judy Crain

Chuck and Judy Prochaska

Dr. Ray O. Ellis

Sooja C. Nehrlich

Whidbey Telecom

Joanne Hicken

Andrea Linton

Claudia Pettis

Russ Weston

Rome Grange #226

Chris Williams

Marc Wilson and Anza Muenchow

Wendy Sundquist

Peter and Linda Casale

Robert and Roxie Chamuler

Mike McVay

Jeffrey Ewing

CONTRIBUTOR

Dennis and Cheryl Kamera

Brian and Emmy Atwood

Sue Ellen White

DONOR

Sally S. Berry

Nancy Waddell

Donna Jenson

Jim Hicken

Wilbur and Karen Bishop

Virginia Lindsey

Michael Seraphinoff & Susan Prescott

Linda Good

Sharon Dunn

Sherrye Wyatt

Judy and Jerry Kaplan