WESTBROOK – Dave Gowen, the master of the Highland Lake Grange in Westbrook, has strong family roots with the Grange and the Duck Pond Corner neighborhood.

Next month, Gowen will begin his fifth year as Grange master, and 10th as a member of the Grange. With his family’s history in the organization, it was an admittedly late entrance for him.

“My family has been involved with this Grange since it was founded,” he said Monday. “I guess it was my destiny. I couldn’t avoid it.”

Though the organization has added four new members in 2014 – bumping its membership to 27 – the Grange is on a constant search to boost its base. Gowen said that while the Highland Lake Grange has always been a tight-knit group made up of primarily Duck Pond Corner residents, it is trying to attract members from other Westbrook neighborhoods and beyond.

“We’ll take members from anywhere,” he said.

“A lot of people think of the Grange and think just about its history, and that’s good, but we want to look forward,” Gowen said. “We have a long tradition in the neighborhood here, but the key is to keep it going, and continue to be active in the 21st century.”

This year’s new members include Westbrook Councilor Mike Sanphy, who is also president of the Westbrook Historical Society, and Ryan Doody, the boyfriend of Gowen’s daughter, Hannah Gowen, 19.

“It is difficult to get younger folks to join,” he said,” referencing other community organizations such as Lions and Rotary, where member bases are aging.

According to historical information supplied by Sanphy, the Westbrook Grange was founded in 1875, first meeting in a room in a former school on Duck Pond Road. In 1889, a new building was erected at 9 Hardy Road. In 1934, the name was officially changed to Highland Lake Grange.

The National Grange of the Order of Patrons of Husbandry, a nonprofit fraternal organization that advocates for rural America and agriculture, was formulated in the years following the Civil War as a way to establish grassroots activism. Official state Granges were organized in the following years, with thousands of subordinate Granges nationwide.

Gowen said if a Grange gets to the point that there aren’t enough members to hold a meeting, the state Grange organization can shut it down, adding that Highland Lake is not in danger of this, yet.

For a Grange, Highland Lake’s membership is relatively young, Gowen said, with the majority of its members in their 50s.

“I bring the average age down quite a bit,” said Hannah Gowen, who joined the Grange at 14, which is the minimum age to join. She said that Doody began coming to supper events, and enjoyed the atmosphere.

Hannah Gowen said the Grange is a great way to participate in community service, and she has extended her service while at the University of Maine last year.

“It’s just a chance to do something different, and not sit around at home,” she said, referring to Grange events. “It’s a nice place to slow down, and put the technology away.”

Gowen added that during the last year he has reached out to friends and neighbors about joining, searching for candidates who may have children who are grown and have more time to devote to other interests.

For an organization directed toward farmers, Highland Lake Grange doesn’t feature any members who own farms, and instead, focus is placed on community service, agriculture and neighborhood enrichment.

Some of the agricultural programs offered have been as simple as weed prevention for gardens or meet-your-local-farmer nights. The Grange has expanded its offerings to programs run in tandem with the University of Maine’s Cooperative Extension, a partnership that began after Gowen reached out to the organization.

However, some events, such as a recent workshop on canning, have been canceled due to a lack of participants.

“Sometimes people come, and sometimes people don’t,” he said, adding that it was the first of these events that has been canceled. “I was a little discouraged because we promoted it for months.”

This past spring, the Grange established a Community Service Award, given to longtime Westbrook volunteer Ann Brown, and Gowen said the award created a tremendous atmosphere around the Grange.

“It greatly exceeded all my expectations,” he said. “It brought all these new people into the Grange.”

“It’s a way to make yourself better while making the community better,” Hannah Gowen added.

She said that she’s attempted to persuade more friends who are interested in community service to join, but that busy schedules prevent many from committing.

While membership may be low, Gowen said, the Grange isn’t struggling financially. The organization, through hall rentals, its programs and public turkey suppers, makes do, he said.

“With a neighborhood Grange like this, you get to work with your neighbors to do something positive,” he said.

The Grange also serves as headquarters of Boy Scout Troop 83, which has been operating out of the building’s basement since the mid-1990s.

“It’s one of the important parts of our Grange mission today, to continue to provide a home for them, as well as the Girl Scouts,” he said, adding that Girl Scout Troop 193 also uses the Grange for meetings.

Gowen said that in exchange for the rent-free space, the scout troops assist the Grange with their turkey suppers. He said many Eagle Scout projects have restored parts of the building, including renovating the kitchen, and regular yard work.

“There’s a real tie here in the neighborhood to the scouts in the Grange,” he said.

While regular work seems to barely keep up with the aging building’s needs, the organization’s meeting room on the second floor, where the Grange hosts official meetings, has been recently restored.

Gowen said the Grange qualified for a Community Development Block Grant, which they matched, and resulted in a massive improvement project for the space.

As Granges across Maine and the nation are dealing with dwindling membership, there are occasional signs of life, including a recent resurgance of interest in West Bath, where last year, a defunct Grange was re-established.

John Brigance, the master of the West Bath Seaside Grange, which turned heads last year after reopening following a long hiatus, said the first year has been good, but membership is still a major concern.

Brigance said while they technically have a fair amount of members, they have struggled with getting consistent attendance of enough members to hold official meetings.

“Trying to pry people away from their TVs and their computers is the hardest thing you can do,” he said, adding that Granges are trying to refocus their mission with a more modern twist on agriculture.

He said now, farming has gone two ways, with massive commercial farms and small, backyard farmers. Brigance said the Grange is looking to the latter for new membership.

“We’re trying to get out and meet the people, and go to local farmers markets,” he said.

Referring to his new Grange membership, Sanphy said Tuesday that he saw the Grange as “part of our heritage.”

“The programs appeal to me, and it’s great to be a part of the community up there,” he said.

“We’re not trying to go back in time and say, ‘This is what it was like in 1950,’ ” Gowen said. “The thing is, what will add to your life in 2014.”

Dave Gowen, master of the Highland Lake Grange, and his daugher, Hannah, sit in the upstairs meeting room of the Grange in Duck Pond Corner. The Grange, more than 100 years old, is trying to appeal to new and younger members.