Celebrate St. Patrick's Day at Rainbow Grange

RAINBOW — On Saturday, March 17, the members of Rainbow Valley Grange will be serving their annual Corned Beef and Cabbage Dinner from 5 to 7:30 p.m. As Daylight Savings Time starts the weekend before, people can take advantage of the longer daylight and come out for the dinner.

Along with corned beef and cabbage, the menu will feature potatoes and carrots, salad, rolls, drinks and dessert. Tracy Lathrop will be the chief cook again, as she did an excellent job preparing the dinner last year. Members of the Youth Fair Team will serve dinner. The Grange Hall is at 2160 Rainbow Valley Boulevard. Dinner is $8 for adults and $4 for children. For directions, call (760) 310-6500.

The proceeds of the dinner will go toward renovations of the hall, which was built by hand in 1947. There was a Fallbrook Grange at that time that was associated with the Citrus Association. A Mr. Johns recruited 31 new members in Rainbow Valley and the new Grange was chartered on February 29, 1940. None of the original members are still around, but Bill Hitt joined in 1946, making him the unofficial Grange historian. He helped build the hall, which started with two outhouses. Indoor plumbing was installed in 1948 and the local school rented the building for a time soon after. It is still used today for community meetings and private parties as well as meetings of the Grange, Junior Grange and Grange Youth Fair Team.

In the fall of 2004, current members painted the inside of the hall and replaced the ceiling tiles and fans. They painted the outside a year later, but as the building is now 60 years old it needs a major overhaul. Fundraisers and grants will be used to finance renovation projects, including replacing the flooring, redoing the kitchen and bathrooms and installing air conditioning.

To learn more about the Grange, all are invited to come for dinner on St. Patrick’s Day.