And it’s time to renew your Grange membership, too!

“Back to the Land Again” program captures new faces of farm life

Our February 6th virtual program began a little late, but was a great hit, drawing about 40 participants.   It featured the new owners of Hollister Hill Farm in Plainfield, Neil & Catherine Dunlop, telling us about how they came to purchase the farm from the previous “back to the land” owners, the Lights.
The Dunlops first stayed at the farm’s “bed & breakfast” 14 years ago–and the Lights offered to sell them the farm then!  Though they dismissed the idea then, further stays followed, and last year they said yes.   Taking over a farm that incorporates about a dozen different “businesses” has been an adventure–but a welcome one for this family.
Neil worked as a journalist prior to their purchase of the farm, and Catherine still works for Network for Good, a company that provides software and coaching for non-profit groups.  The farm, besides taking in guests at the B&B, milks a few cows, sells beef, raw milk, sells local products ranging from bread to locally-roasted coffee, plus their own syrup, yogurt, pork, chicken, eggs and orchard produce in the farm store.
The Dunlops also described some of the history of Bob and Lee Light, who owned the farm before them, having come to Vermont as part of the “back to the land” movement of the 1970s.   The Lights at one point had 70 or 80 Holstein cows to milk, before “the bottom fell out of milk market”–a story familiar to many VT dairy farmers.   The Lights were part of the origin of Rural Vermont, a farmer/activist organization advocating for locally-based farmer involvement in making agricultural regulations, farmer-based sales of farm products including raw milk, and community-scaled farming.
The audience for this program included quite a few folks who are friends of the Lights, as well as dedicated customers at the farm store, helpers with farm projects–and proud owners of descendants of the barn cats.   One of the fascinating parts of the program was hearing stories from audience members, some new to the Dunlops!
If you missed this Zoom event, you can still view and listen to it.   Just click this Grange website Calendar listing for the event, and click the link there for the recording.  There is lots more that I haven’t tried to include in the description above.
To find more info on the farm and their activities, check out the HollisterHillFarm website.
Thanks to Carl Etnier, the Grange Lecturer, who produced and emceed this interesting Program!   Our next one will be on Saturday, April 3rd.

“Curbside Service” keeps Kids Trade and Play going!

Erin Barry, lead organizer of the clothing exchange for kids, parents and families has been able to keep it going during the depths of the winter, and the heights of the Coronavirus curve in VT.  In January and February, Erin and one other volunteer have filled bags with “pre-requested” items of clothing, games, books, etc., to the best of their ability.  Working safely in the lower level of the basement with social distancing and masks, Erin and her helper have done their best to meet the requests transmitted through private messages to their Facebook page, or by email to Erin:  birthsinnerlight@yahoo.com.  The Facebook page is the best way to keep track of plans for next month’s KT&P, as Erin and the Grange coordinate plans in relation to public health guidelines.

To join the Zoom meeting starting at 5:00 from your computer or smart-phone, use this link:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82616664552

Meeting ID 826 1666 4552

To join the meeting, audio only from your phone, dial this number:  646 558 8656

Before the program:  an informal Grange meeting from 4:30 to 5:00

• A quick look at our finances, as we make our funds stretch with income only from a few tenants.
• Berlin Town tax exemption:  we submitted an “Article” for the Town to vote on (by Australian ballot only) on March 2nd.   Unfortunately, the Selectboard decided to amend our request for complete property tax exemption to be only a request for Municipal–not School–tax exemption, and only for one year.   We will still need to campaign!  and to plan for more tax relief next year.
• Several comments have been received about the timing for our Grange Programs being a bad time to attend, even virtually.   We should discuss this, too, if we have time–I hope we can have a couple of volunteers to come up with possible alternatives, for a more relaxed discussion at our March meeting.

       The end-of-year fundraising campaign by the Friends of the Capital City Grange Hall brought generous contributions to help support the Grange while rentals can’t be allowed.
The online concert is part of how the Friends are saying THANKS!
All you need to do to get connected is to send an email to fccghvt@gmail.com, and we’ll send you the Zoom link.   See below for YouTube and Facebook live-streams for the music!
Starting at 7:30, you’ll have a chance to connect directly with other folks who are attending, using Zoom breakout rooms!  Tell all your friends to join too!  There will be more socializing after the music!
From 8:00 to 9:00, local musicians will perform; all of them are regulars at the contra dances held at the Grange.

• Aaron Marcus Montpelier-based piano, keyboard, accordion and banjo player will play for you.
• Joanne Garton, also a Montpelier resident, plays fiddle–and may do some Scottish dancing!  Joanne & Aaron often play together, as The Turning Stile.
• Jaige Trudell & Adam Broome, Quebec residents, will send pre-recorded performances.   Jaige’s fiddle and Adam’s guitar and jaw-harp are also dance favorites at the Grange, where they perform as Maivish!  We may or may not get a glimpse of their son Aubrey, visible (in his younger years) on Jaige’s back in the photo below.

No charge for this event!   Three ways to particpate
All you have to do is RSVP to:  fccghvt@gmail.com to get the event link for Zoom, starting at 7:30 PM.

OR:  join on the FCCGH YouTube channel, where the music will start at 8:00 PM:  YouTube: https://youtu.be/KdAnA6fZr60
OR:  join on Facebook for the music at 8:00:  https://www.facebook.com/events/768818083987580/

   P.S.–the FCCGH is paying these fine musicians, plus Zoom and Sound tech Oliver Scanlon to put on this event!  Much planning and behind the scenes work by Joanne has gone into this event, as well.   We are grateful to everyone for joining us to celebrate generosity and this new year!

P.P.S.–if you are on the CDU email list, this may be the second reminder you are getting…we’re glad you are interested in both newsletters!

        P.S.–the FCCGH is paying these fine musicians, plus Zoom and Sound tech Oliver Scanlon to put on this event!  Much planning and behind the scenes work by Joanne has gone into this event, as well.   We are grateful to everyone for joining us to celebrate generosity and this new year!

End of the Year fundraising campaign by the
Friends of the Capital City Grange Hall…

…quite a bit of a mouthful, no doubt, but we are very grateful to have them as part of the Grange “family”.   Every year for the past several, their end-of-year campaign has raised money for Grange improvements, including the “new” dance floor installed in 2012, the basement fire exit improvements in 2014, the new lower level bathrooms in 2015.  Earlier this year, we completed the major insulation, waterproofing and renovation of the lower level, all funded by donations to the Friends and grants they have received.
This year, the fundraising is centered on getting the Grange through the current Coronavirus shut-down in rental income.   The letters that went out from the Friends to their mailing list of donors have been very generously answered–so far, over $5,700 in donations!  We are hoping for more–but this should get us through until sufficient progress is made in vaccinations to allow groups to start to congregate, dances to begin again, and other events to rebuild.   We hope to not have to deplete our savings account, and be ready to accommodate rental groups in our beautiful Hall and even-more-beautiful lower level!
If the Friends don’t have you on the mailing list for the appeal, please send an email to me, or direct to fccghvt@gmail.com and we’ll be happy to send one out!  Or–you can make a donation online, anytime, at:  http://capitalcitygrange.org/donate/.  Either way, you’ll get a reply to document the tax-deductible contribution you have made, and big thanks!   Any size of donation is very welcome.  We want to be here to welcome everyone back once it is safe!
This fundraiser has built on the success of the online concert with Pete’s Posse, which the Contra Dance Umbrella sponsored in September.  That raised about $5,300!   Since the Friends have far surpassed their goal of $4,000 more, they will sponsor another online concert, on January 23, 2021, featuring The Turning Stile–the duo of Joanne Garton and Aaron Marcus, joined by talented guest artists!
We can get through this together, pooling our resources to keep the Grange and the Hall going as the vital community resources which they have been for so many years.

Marj Power obituary–remembering our friend

The following obituary appeared recently in the Times-Argus, submitted by Marj’s children, who wanted to share the story of Marj’s life and accomplishments with the public, as well as her friends in the Grange community:

MONTPELIER – Marjorie J. Power (née Fisher), 78, died July 26, 2020, at McClure Miller Respite House in Colchester, of Acute Myeloid Leukemia.

She was born November 20, 1941 in Philadelphia, the only child of Fred and Mary Fisher. During her childhood, her cousins served as surrogate siblings, especially during summers which were spent together on Lake Fairlee, Vt. She attended Philadelphia High School for Girls, 1959, and studied economics and history at McGill University in Montreal, B.A. 1963, and then at the University of London.

In England, Marj married Michael Power, and they settled in Wallasey, near Liverpool, having two children, Ben and Pinky. While she lived in England, she taught school, stayed home with her children, and attended law school. She was also active in folk singing, peace, justice, and nuclear disarmament protest, and sewing and machine knitting.

After divorce, she returned to Vermont with her children. There, she attended Vermont Law School, J.D. 1984, and was an attorney for the State of Vermont for over 20 years, working for the Public Service Board and the Division of Rate Setting.

Ever invested in her community, Marj served on the Montpelier City Council from 1993 to 1997 and was elected a Justice of the Peace in 2016. Politically passionate, she ran for local and state office on the Vermont Progressive Party ticket and was known to spend hours at the Legislature knitting as she kept her eye on proceedings. In particular, she was an outspoken advocate for single payer healthcare, most recently with Vermont Health Care for All, having lived happily under such a system in the U.K. She was a vigorous, long-standing member of many organizations: the Older Women’s League; the Barre Historical Society, with whom she helped save and run the Socialist Labor Party Hall; the Capital City Grange, for contra dancing, community building, and as Grange Lecturer; Everybody Wins, where she shared her love of reading with elementary school students; the Council of Vermont Elders; and the Onion River Exchange.

Her hobbies included her treasured contra dancing—she danced around the country with the goal of dancing in all fifty states; technology, computers, and gadgetry of all kinds, giving regular tech advice to her children on what she called “mother’s help line”; weightlifting at the Montpelier Senior Center, a program she called “strong women live forever”; and needlework, especially knitting, for which she won prizes at State and New England levels and clothed babies as far away as Germany. In later years, she didn’t hesitate to drive the 1500 miles to Kansas to visit her grandchildren. She always laughed about strangers who treated her like a little old lady, then were shocked by her strength and stamina.

She is survived by her son, Benjamin Power, of New York, N.Y., and daughter, Rebecca Power, of Baldwin City, Ks., beloved cousins, and her grandchildren, Isla and Simon Ellis.

A private service will be held for family at Post Mills Cemetery and a public memorial service at the Old Labor Hall in Barre, Vt. when gatherings are allowed. Memorial contributions may be made to the Barre Historical Society for The Old Labor Hall, PO‌ Box 496, Barre,‌ VT 05641 or to the Friends of the Capital City Grange Hall to support the contra dance community, PO Box 192, Northfield Falls, VT 05664. We invite you to share your memories of Marj by visiting https://www.facebook.com/groups/marjoriepower.

December meeting report:

December 5th, an “even-numbered month” featured a brief, Zoom Grange Meeting and then a program from 5 to 6 PM.   Carl Etnier, Lecturer and Zoom-master, did his best to make sure everyone was heard.
The meeting reviewed the Treasurer’s report, and discussed the few Hall uses before the end of November shut-down of get-togethers at our Hall and elsewhere.  We had some discussion of planning for the vote on extension of our Berlin tax exemption, as well.
An in-house Program:  Grange lecturer Carl Etnier provided his own program this month, giving an overview of “COVID and Central VT–how it has affected us, and how have we responded?”  Carl is the host of his own radio program on WGDR (91.1 FM in Plainfield) and WGDH (91.7 in Hardwick).  He is also a journalist for the Montpelier Bridge.  He  has had a “privileged perch” to watch the response of local, state and federal governments to deal with the Coronavirus pandemic, plus the efforts of local organizations, communities and individuals.
Carl had run a local news program on the radio station, and revived it to report on COVID in March of 2020, as the only programmer in-studio.  He  has since relocated his studio to his own house.   The news program was supported by Corporation for Public Broadcasting funding until the end of May, with daily reports and a full hour once a week.
Carl reported on the initial “scramble to communicate” by the VT Public Health Dept. and the rest of the state government.   This evolved into a regular and very well-regarded press conference which is broadcast on VPR, every Tuesday and Friday.  The “Dashboard” on the vermont.gov website, plus daily Facebook Live events by Senator Tim Ashe, and 2-3 times/week FB Live events hosted by Lieut. Gov. David Zuckerman provided additional points of view on the pandemic and efforts to resist it.
Among many changes in regular life, the Legislature allowed Town Selectboards to hold remote meetings, and held remote hearings and proceedings itself.  While this has been awkward for many, it has also allowed some new input from people who could participate by Zoom but who could not necessarily have made it to the State House in normal times.
Carl mentioned several examples of people and organizations that re-purposed themselves in response to pandemic needs:  Erin Aguayo, who has worked with the “Days for Girls” organization making washable menstrual products for girls and women across the world, switched her local volunteer group to making face-masks.  Also, a rabies vaccine clinic in  Hardwick relocated to being mostly outdoors during the summer months, to keep providing services safely.  Farmers’ Markets, originally banned to reduce gatherings were able to switch to online pre-order and pickup systems, before adjusting to be able to provide safe, spread-out in-person markets by about mid-May.  Many local businesses greatly increased online purchases–including Morse Farm–“as busy as Christmas!”–reported by co-owner Burr Morse.  Musicians started providing online concerts, with payment by donation or online ticketing.
Other public services were modified too–local buses kept running with no-cost rides, limited capacity, and riders entering at the front and leaving through a rear door.
Some people were able to return to small-scale “normal” operation for a while this summer, before resurgence in the fall. Carl cited musician and music producer Colin McCaffrey, who recorded enough musicians in summertime to give him plenty to work on processing the recordings in the winter, when he can’t have people in the studio.
Many towns have created “Mutual Aid” organizations, volunteers who coordinate social services and the work of a wider network of people.   One example is the Groton VT Social Services Committee, another is the Northfield VT Mutual Aid committee.  The latter has, among other things, set up a mask-making group, which produced well over 3,000 masks and gave them away to community members during the spring and summer months.
Carl reported also on the “solution” found to the problems of homelessness in Vermont.   State government has put many homeless people into hotel and motel rooms, vacant due to COVID.   This provides public health protection by reducing crowded homeless shelters, and letting individuals and families socially distance themselves.   But it is clear that this is not a long-term solution–when travel starts up again, the hotel/motel rooms will no longer be available.
Grange member and Chaplain Alison Forrest, head of the Huntington Elementary Food service reported on that town’s effort to expand provision of food beyond the school.   This has included feeding all kids 18 and younger, in school or not, including 1 & 2 year-olds, at no cost, and extending community food provisions through the summer months.  Federal funding through the COVID relief funds supported this through the end of the year (editors’ note:  as I write this on Christmas day, we still don’t know if funding will be extended!).   Alison and her crew figured out how to send out “Meal Kits” instead of individually packed portions, greatly reducing packaging and waste–this required a change in regulations, negotiated through VT-wide discussions.  Her school kitchen was providing 500 meals a week during the summer, and about 1,000 per week when school is in session.
Overall, this program and discussion showed how many ways we have changed organizations and their operations to meet our needs–and the impact this has had on so many of us.  We know that even with all the ingenuity and volunteer spirit Vermonters have shown, that many more people now face food and economic insecurity, with no clear end in sight.  We all hope that vaccination will eventually allow resumption of a more predictable and secure way of living, but until then we will need to follow the limitations of activity and requirements for wearing masks and keeping separate that the medical professionals advise.