If None Join, What Becomes of Organizations?

Modern Americans are many things, but they are not “joiners.” In generations past, certain things were almost expected, not so any longer. Consider Girl and Boy Scouts. There was a time when as a boy approached his eighth birthday, there was an automatic assumption that a Cub Scout uniform was in his immediate future, then later, a Boy Scout uniform. The same went for Brownies then Girl Scouts. Such early beginnings started a youngster on what would likely grow into a lifetime of memberships in a litany of organizations. That was when there were actually free nights in a child’s life. Imagine after homework and before bedtime, nothing. It’s almost beyond reason today.
On the opening day of Middle Township’s baseball and softball season, it would be difficult to reinforce my theory, since the Davies Sports Complex is filled with small bodies in assorted colors and sizes, all in perpetual motion. But that’s where the joining activity seems to slack off.
School sports activities have no problem getting youngsters to throw the ball or carry the baton, but after school is over, adulthood sets in and that’s when many changes occur.
I was talking to a long-time friend who belongs to the Marine Corps Reserve detachment which recently spearheaded the countywide “Toys for Tots” campaign. As with the Corps itself, he said the detachment could use a few good, new volunteers. As an example, he cited a Saturday spent outside one Lower Township business collecting toys. There were similar events scheduled close enough together so that he was spending loads of time seeking toys for poor children when he would rather have been stalking a deer in the deep woods (wherever that might be).
Where are those younger Marines who served in the desert wars and who have returned stateside and hung up their eagle, globe and anchor in the closet? I’m not accusing just Marines, far from it. Consider every veterans’ organization in the county. Membership is aging; officers continue to serve again and again, since there are few young bloods entering the doors of those post homes. Getting a contingent assembled for Memorial Day or Veterans’ Day is a chore, since fewer veterans want to spend evenings or weekends fighting wars again, or even reliving bright spots in their service careers.
Those who don’t believe that should look at those carrying the flags and rifles next Memorial Day. Anyone under 50 would rightly be considered a kid.
Some recent surveys indicate a growing number of Americans don’t claim any religion. Church and synagogue attendance is, in many places, dwindling even as many realize and recognize the need for this nation to return to solid biblical foundations. People who have jobs are often squeezed for time. Some work six days a week and freely admit, “Sunday is the only day I have off. I want some time for myself.” Others shy away from membership citing the cost, even if it’s considered a voluntary charitable donation, as something they just cannot afford.
Many a sermon has been preached on stewardship and giving as an important facet of one’s religious life. Some say it’s the electric bill or the offering plate, so they stay home.
A wise old Jewish merchant related to me a saying that seems true, “Ten righteous men run the world.” It cannot be denied, although some might point to the Talmud and say the actual number is 36, there is truth to what he recounted to this writer.
It’s amazing to read old newspaper accounts of parades or cornerstone dedications and see mention of organizations that once were, but are no longer: Improved Order of Red Men, America’s oldest fraternal organization, according to its website, traces its origin to certain secret patriotic societies founded before the American Revolution, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and the Patrons of Husbandry.
All of those organizations were rooted in earlier times, held secrets among members, and held staunch beliefs in religious and moral values.
As Cape May County’s agrarian population shriveled, so did members in that once active organization known as The National Grange of the Order of Patrons of Husbandry, more commonly known as “The Grange.” Most notable of those structures, now a restaurant is in Historic Cold Spring Village and still carries that revered name. Some of former meeting halls are serving as homes, others as meeting halls. However, the organization in Cape May County is gone. The closest Granges are in Shiloh and Egg Harbor Township. In Delaware, where there are more farms, there are many.
Nationwide, Grange membership is about 300,000, but none locally. At one time, lacking television and radio, such organizations were revered as meeting places, where conversations could be held about politics and raising children and more. Gone is that face-to-face meeting, gone the secret handshakes and convivial atmosphere of sitting down to eat with fellow members.
Masons, too, are experiencing membership dwindle, and along with them, the Order of the Eastern Star for wives and daughters of Masons. Lodges have merged and memberships consolidated. The bottom line, not much new blood is flowing into any of those fine organizations. In older days, sons of Masons would join Order of DeMolay; daughters would join Rainbow Girls, and then when age was right, enter the Star chapter with their mother.
I have no knowledge of Knights of Columbus chapters, but must believe they are in similar straits as other groups. What is to become of the Daughters of the American Revolution or the Daughters of America?
Each town has a favorite service organization to which mostly merchants belong, other than a chamber of commerce. In some places it is Kiwanis, in other towns Rotary International, and in still others it’s the Lions International. Everyone in that town who is “anyone” belongs, but many find it tough to scare up members to have lunch or dinner once a week. Money’s tight, time’s precious.
As with every organization, from PTA on down, a core group begins and then continues for as long as possible. Lunches and dinners are held, fund raisers are staged to raise funds for scholarships or other worthy causes, but then the old members pass on, and, as previously stated, fewer and fewer are in the ranks to take their places.
As more Americans flop on the sofa after work, if they have a job, they may be glued to a tiny device that lets them play games or read the news of the day in their hand. They are less inclined to look up at the clock and say, “Well, it’s time for me to leave for the meeting.” If all those fraternal, social, civic or scouting organizations fade to nothing, what will be lost that is valuable to society? Who will miss them when they are gone? What will take their places?