WILTON – Folks who still want to become Grange members in East Wilton only have two more weeks left before the Wilson Grange’s property is formally turned over to the state Grange.

Last month, the fewer than 15 Wilson Grange members still active voted to close down the Grange for good, the group’s Secretary and Treasurer Priscilla Beedy said Friday.

“We’re cashing in the chips, so to speak,” she said.

The Grange had been struggling for a few years and was having a hard time getting new members.

More and more younger folks are leaving family farms for the cities, Grange Master Thayden Farrington said last month before the vote. And as for those who stay – they have little free time between long work hours and taking their kids to ball games and clarinet lessons. No one seems to have the time or interest in joining anymore, he said.

“It’s just got so there’s a few of us now – we just can’t really function without new members,” he said.

And those who remain can’t afford to the keep the Wilson Grange going, Beedy said.

“You’ve got your lights, your heat – if you can afford to heat the place,” she explained. “Then there’s the upkeep of the building, and you need to have insurance. It is expensive.”

Without enough members to put on suppers and other fundraising activities, the group just can’t afford to stay active, she said.

Legally, the building will revert back to the Maine State Grange after the Wilson Grange’s last meeting on Sept. 16.

“It’ll be the responsibility of the executive committee and the state Grange master,” state Grange member Suzanne Verrill said Friday.

The executive committee will decide whether or not to sell the building, or what else to do with it, she said.

Unless 13 more people want to step up and take over, that is.

“If they can find 13 people who are interested in keeping the Grange going, they can start it up again,” Beedy said. “But you have to have at least 13 members who are active and participate.”

A few people have already notified her they are interested, she said.

Anyone who wants to join should either call Beedy or Farrington, she said. Or just show up at the Wilson Grange hall at 7 p.m on Saturday, Sept. 16.