By Scott D. Johnston

Humptulips native Tom Gwin will wield the gavel as master, or president, of the Washington State Grange at the organization’s 128th annual convention through Saturday at the Ocean Shores Convention Center.

“We’re looking forward to bringing the convention back to Ocean Shores, and assisting the county with a little bit of economic impact,” Gwin said. The state Grange returns to the Ocean Shores venue after a successful 2013 convention at the same facility.

Gwin said a broad program over four days brings about 500 attendees, along with family and friends, to the coast.

Gwin said the event takes a large cast to plan and produce. “Well over 100, if not 150, have some responsibility in putting bits and pieces together,” he said.

Their website describes the Washington Grange as “a fraternal, grassroots nonprofit organization rooted in agriculture and committed to providing the people of rural Washington a strong and respected voice among our elected officials.”

Gwin said 230-240 voting delegates are expected here, from more than 250 Grange chapters at the local and county levels in the state, including nine in Grays Harbor County.

A 1979 graduate of Hoquiam High School, with a bachelor’s degree in agricultural economics from Washington State University, Gwin grew up on a small family farm that his mother and aunt still operate near Humptulips. His grandfather ran dairy and later beef cattle. “Now it’s just a hobby farm, a small operation with about 30 head,” he said. “We get the (farming) experience, but don’t have to depend upon it for our livelihood.”

He was manager of four Grays Harbor County fairs, the last in 2002. Since 2004, he has been manager of the state 4-H part of the Washington State Fair in Puyallup, after serving as president of the board of directors of the state 4-H organization. “We put about 3,000 kids through the fair each year,” he said.

He has been active in state Grange leadership since being elected lecturer, essentially state program director, in 1999. He chaired the host committee that produced the state convention in Ocean Shores in 2013. In 2015, he was elected master, the equivalent of president, of the state Grange. He is seeking reelection this year.

Gwin noted that advances in technology have “eliminated part of the manual labor, but increased the mental workload” required for successful farming. That has resulted in fewer people involved in farming and fewer who understand the agriculture industry, he believes.

Partly because of the distance from the I-5 corridor and high transportation costs, there are “not a lot of active farmers” in the Humptulips area. “So, our programming has diversified to focus more on community service,” he said.

The Humptulips Grange operates the local food bank, and purchased a community building in 2015, which now serves as the Grange hall and can be rented for various events.

Gwin said his job with the Grange is “to guide the organization into the future… being progressive in our ideas… looking out for what is in the best interest of rural Washington. His two jobs keep him always busy and on the road, putting an average of more than 40,000 miles on his car each year.

He said a major function of the state convention is to develop policy. “We don’t get involved in partisan politics,” he said, but the state Grange does employ a lobbyist to work at the state capitol, just a few blocks away from the organization’s office in Olympia. It is the voting delegates who each year agree on the legislative focus the Grange will pursue. This year, 42 resolutions have been submitted by different Granges in the state, to be considered during the convention.

The annual meeting started Wednesday morning with the work of the convention beginning in earnest this morning. This evening will see the Grange Celebration Banquet, which includes the presentation of several membership awards and recognition of the 2017 state Grange scholarship winners, as well as a fund-raising auction that supports the activities of the various Grange departments.

Several speakers will bring delegates up-to-date on current issues of concern. State Representative Mike Chapman, D-Port Angeles, will speak at 8:30 a.m. Friday, and Representative Brian Blake, D-Aberdeen, is scheduled to speak at 9:30 a.m. Both representatives serve as members of the House Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee.

The largest crowd of the week will be present at the annual Grange Talent Contest program on Friday at 7:30 p.m. The popular production is open to the public with no admission charge. The program will include performances from individuals and groups who passed through the district talent contest in April. The youth department will also hold public speaking and sign-a-song contests.

The winners of those events will advance to the Western Regional Youth and Leaders Conference Aug. 4-6 in Buena Park, Calif.

The evening’s top talent winner will perform at the 151st annual National Grange Convention this November in Spokane. The Grange Leadership Award, the highest honor bestowed by the state Grange, will be presented at 11 a.m. Saturday.

The newly elected state officers will be installed Saturday afternoon, followed by the completion of business and the rapping of the gavel to close the convention.