Tova, Author at Capital City Grange

Bakers: get your ovens ready, countdown to the baking contest–this Saturday! Plus decisions on the Basement project & property lines.

April 10, 2018 by Tova

Grange Notes by Tim Swartz, President (with everyone’s help) for April 5, 2018

Weather you’re ready or not–we have a substitute judge to evaluate the muffins

Merry had to scramble to find a “relief eater” for our judging panel for the “Apple Muffins–your own recipe” contest. Anne Donahue had to withdraw–with regret–due to a family commitment, so we we will be in the capable hands of forecaster Roger Hill, along with our other local celebrities. They will be tasting the variety of muffins we expect–see the “rules” section below for how to prepare your tasty treats for judging, and the official criteria.
Our other judges:
Lynn Spencer–Berlin elementary art teacher, and curator of our Kids’ Art show displayed on the walls of our Hall. Also a baker, including apple pies sold at Ellie’s Farm Stand farther south on Rt. 12.
Jeremy Hansen–Berlin Selectboard member, and organizer of Central VT Internet.

The pressure will be intense…see how they manage!

Rules for Baking Contest

DATE: April 7, 2018; 4 pm

APPLE MUFFINS – use your favorite recipe! We welcome interesting variations–perhaps you know how to make delicious muffins that avoid an allergen like wheat, or eggs, or dairy? Do you like to include whole grains, unusual sweeteners, nuts, spices? We want to taste your creativity!

PRESENTATION:

6 muffins on a paper plate, with a 3X5 card taped to the bottom.

ON THE CARD SHOWING: recipe used

On REVERSE SIDE OF CARD (not showing): name + contact information

REMEMBER: You NEED NOT BE A GRANGE MEMBER to participate in the 2018 Baking Contest at CCG# 469.

PRIZES (in addition to bragging rights!)

FIRST: full 1 yr membership in CCG#469 + choice of utensils from King Arthur + bag of party favors
SECOND: choice of utensils + bag of party favors

THIRD: utensil remaining + bag of party favors

Official judging criteria:
Appearance……………….20 points
Color…………………….….20 points
Texture…………………....20 points
Taste…………………….….40 points

Time to vote on supporting the Mess Hall to Dining Hall project

The Friends of the Capital City Grange Hall are preparing to submit the grant application, to get funding for the basement improvements which you have heard about.   At the Friends’ fundraiser last Labor Day Weekend, a good number of votes supported the choice of this project as the next priority for the FCCGH, which is our fundraising/project planning organization.   We’ve decided that it is time to repair the water-leakage problems we sometimes have, to insulate the bare concrete walls to make them much comfortable and energy-efficient, and to provide new, clean and cleanable wall, floor and ceiling surfaces.
Since last fall, the FCCGH has been consulting with Grange members with expertise, plus contractors and energy consultants to figure out the best way to accomplish these goals.   It looks as if the project will cost between $40,000 and $50,000, half of which could be provided by the VT Arts Council Facilities Improvement grant for which we are applying.
The FCCGH has been advised that they are more likely to get the grant if the Grange (for whose benefit these improvements are to be made) is willing to invest in the project, and has asked if we will pledge $5,000 to it.    The Grange members will need to vote on this at our April 7th meeting. Please join us for this decision!

Another decision to make: property lines

At our last meeting, I introduced the subject of the property line survey, which our “new” neighbor, Greg Western discussed with me. The surveyor found that while the physical boundary markers and the deed don’t agree completely, it seems clear that the line cuts across one corner of our parking area–see the drawing below. Luckily, Greg has no interest in parking any cars or equipment there! He has proposed that we agree on and sign a quitclaim deed, which would acknowledge the survey line, and allow the Grange or a successor non-profit organization to use the area for parking. We’ll go over this again at the meeting, and Greg will be there to answer any questions.

And after the meeting and the baking contest–it’s the monthly Community Potluck.

Join your friends bring your neighbors–there is always good food, and if we’re lucky there will be leftover muffins! All are welcome, whether you are a member or not. Bring something to share–a main dish, a side dish,meat, vegetables, a dessert, some chips, some bread, some cheese–we will eat (almost) anything! We start about 6:00, and will need to make space for the soundcheck for the contra dance band which will be playing for the CDU dance at 8:00. Please stay for that as well, if you’d like–there will be an admission fee. On this night, the caller will be Bob Isaacs, and the band will include Ryan McKassan, Eric McDonald & Jeremiah McClane. A great time will be had by all!

Snowbound & blue? Cooking up good flavors at the Grange will get you through!

April 1, 2018 by Tova

Grange Notes for March 16, 2018 by Tim Swartz, President (with everyone’s help)

The Grange Hall was busy on March 3rd….

Alison Forrest led a baking workshop that filled the Grange Hall with great aromas!

We were pleased to put on an event that warmed up the Grange Hall, shared basic and advanced techniques, and produced a bountiful harvest of tasty loaves. With donations from King Arthur Flour and Hunger Mountain Co-op, plus the doughs which Alison prepared in advance, there was lots to work on.
We made cinnamon rolls, sourdough rye bread, whole-wheat bread–and bread sculptures, which you will see in the pictures below. Also fruit bread–not yeasted, but a quickbread–filled with an assortment of fruits and nuts.
Our turnout was lower than we hoped–but the production was impressive! An assortment of breads (on the left at the bottom) were delivered to theGood Samaritan Haven, in Barre, by organizer Merry Shernock, who arranged the contributions from King Arthur and the Co-op, along withMarj Power. Residents of the homeless shelter can be seen enjoying the donations in the right bottom picture.
We had room for more participants, but all those who came said that they would love to have more baking and cooking workshops–and one participant is already talking to Merry about an Indian cooking class! Keep checking the Grange Notes and the Calendar to see when the next event happens.

And Jeremy Hansen answered questions about CVI

A lively group of interested people from Central VT joined the Grange members after our business meeting, to discuss the “Central VT Internet” (a.k.a. CVI) service being organized by Berlin Selectboard member Jeremy Hansen. This is the proposal for a “community owned” provider of high-capacity, fiber-optic data service for all Central Vermont residents. The people who attended included people with internet businesses, people with slow home computer connections, plus media representatives. This issue has clearly touched a nerve!
Jeremy fielded questions about the business model, the technical specs, future governance of the community-owned “utility”, and much more. He described the structure and specs as intended to be very similar to the “EC Fiber” which is building out fiber-optic lines to homes and businesses in towns to the south of us–24 towns total. CVI’s actual corporate structure, bylaws and policies will be determined by a board which will include one member from each of the towns which join CVI, designated by the selectboards. Jeremy was clear that this would not be an instant process–forming the organization, raising funds through municipal revenue bonds, and then building out the fiber lines will all take time. Decisions will be made by the elected board, not by remote corporate interests who control many of the commercial services which currently provide broadband and DSL service to some areas.
Evidently town meeting voters found the plans appealing, as the motion to form CVI was passed in all 12 towns voting on March 6th. We will be asking Jeremy to come back and keep us posted on progress as the organization is formed and grows.

In between, the Grange met and talked about expenses and property lines, and sang!

Our monthly, 1st Saturday business meeting included the usual singing that we all enjoy, plus discussions of the costs of running our building–the winter always includes a lot of plowing and sanding–plus an introduction to the small property line discrepancy which, we expect we will be able to resolve with our neighbor behind the Grange property. Please join us to support the Grange and the Hall which provides space for so many activities–it doesn’t run itself! Our next meeting will be on April 7th…and see below for a special event, open to all!

So many muffins, so many tasty choices!

A quick search found recipes for apple spice, gluten-free, with oats, whole wheat, with nuts, with crumbles, and many more! Choose your favorite!

Baking contest time–at the April 7th Grange Meeting

Our next meeting will bring a chance to join in the baking fun–for those that want to get their hands floury–and for those who just like to eat tasty snacks. This year’s VT Grange Baking contest features APPLE MUFFINS.
Like last year’s Cinnamon Rolls, you can use ANY RECIPE that will impress our panel of CELEBRITY JUDGES! This year, the panel will feature:
Lynn Spencer, Berlin Elementary art teacher & curator of the display of kids’ art on our walls.
Anne Donahue, VT State Rep for Berlin & Northfield.
Jeremy Hansen, Berlin Selectboard member, and organizer of Central VT Internet.
These brave volunteers will have to choose among all the entrants, with a variety of recipes, and come up with 1st, 2nd and 3rd place winners! Watch them struggle…and enjoy making your own taste tests at the Community Potluck Dinner which will follow at 6:00! All are welcome to join the contest (you do not have to be a Grange member) and to enjoy the food brought to share with us all.

Baking for all, community internet and the Grange, all on March 3rd

March 10, 2018 by Tova

Grange Notes by Tim Swartz, Grange President (with everyone’s help) for March 1, 2018

We’ll have tasty aromas and fresh-baked ideas to chew on–a public baking working workshop, and a presentation on community-owned internet.

Alison Forrest knows a thing or two about baking!

Above is a special bread in the shape of the Grange’s “sheaf of wheat” emblem, which she baked in 2005, when 70 people joined the Grange.

All are welcome at the baking workshop she will lead on Saturday, from 12 noon to 4:00 PM. She will show how to bake a variety of types of breads, including yeasted and sourdough breads, plus quickbreads, including ones with fruit!
We are pleased to have the support of King Arthur Flour, and the Hunger Mountain Food Co-op for donations to allow us to purchase baking supplies for everyone to use.
Besides the baked goods which participants will share and take home, we’ll be baking for the Good Samaritan Haven, a shelter for homeless people located in Barre, whom we have also invited to take part in the workshop. These will be donations which will be in good taste!
The workshop is open to anyone 12 or older; admission is by donation, so don’t hesitate to join us.

Lines on a piece of paper…update on the limits of our domain.

At our Grange business meeting, starting at 4:30, I’ll introduce a small legal matter we will need to clear up. I have met with the new owner of the property behind the Grange Hall, who is eager to work with us to resolve a property line confusion which showed up in the property survey done when he bought the property.
Greg Western gave me a copy of the survey, which found some poorly described dimensions on the deed, and some property line markers that added to the confusion. The upshot is that the most likely property line runs across the “upper corner” of the parking area. Greg has no desire to take over our parking lot, I’m happy to report!
What he would like to do is to agree to the property line, along with his agreeing to allow the Grange or any successor non-profit organization to use the parking area.
We will need to take an official vote at the April 7th meeting, but this will be the introduction.

Central VT Internet–on the ballot on Town Meeting Day

At 5:30, Jeremy Hansen, of Central Vermont Internet (CVI) will present the proposal for a community owned, fiber-optic to the home internet service provider, which will be voted on by at least a dozen towns on Town Meeting Day, March 6th.

Founded by Berlin Selectboard member Jeremy Hansen, Central Vermont Internet is seeking approval from communities to form a “Communications Union District” to provide residents with high-speed, net-neutral Internet service through a non-profit, community owned provider.

The CVI approach builds on the experience of EC-Fiber, which is already providing fiber-optic service to communities south of Central VT.

Continue the conversation at the Community Potluck, about 6:00 PM!

You’ll have plenty to chew on, as your neighbors and all the interesting people who came for the Grange meeting and CVI program share delicious main dishes, soups, desserts, salads, and other goodies! Bring something to share if you can.

Let them eat cake! and dance….supporting the co-op ownership, and looking ahead to baking and much more

February 20, 2018 by Tova

Grange Notes for February 15 by Tim Swartz, Grange President (with everyone’s help)

Our neighbors celebrate!

Capital City Grange was happy to provide space and a cake to help the resident’s co-op which purchased the Weston’s Mobile Home Park to celebrate their achievement. A group of the residents, including Leandro “Rusty” Perojo (with the gavel–he’s the first president of the co-op board) gathered to share cake, punch and clementines on Sunday afternoon, Feb. 4th. Also included are Annik Paul, of the Cooperative Development Institute, who facilitated the planning sessions held at the Grange Hall. Congratulations were expressed by Annik, by Rep. Anne Donahue and Berlin Selectboard member Jeremy Hansen, plus me as the Grange representative. After the refreshments and brief speeches, those who wished to stayed to dance with David Kaynor and members of the VT Fiddle Orchestra afterward, joined by some of the dance community from the CDU contra-dance. Thanks to all who made this a welcoming event!

February Grange meeting: presenting finances, intro to SURJ

Our meeting on the first Saturday of February featured the usual lively discussion stimulated by the reports of our Agricultural, Legislative, Home Economics and Health Concerns chairs–one of the purposes of the Grange for its whole 150 year history has been to get people together to share news, concerns and information. Our Community Grange exemplifies this tradition, pursuing topics of interest that we feel are important.

Agriculture: we talked about the status of immigrant farm workers, which is much on our minds given the current national discussion of DACA recipients and immigration policy.
Legislative: Our Grange has been learning about health insurance reform possibilities for years–at this point, we learned about the proposal for universal primary care–and the prospects for push-back from the existing health care insurance lobbyists.
Home Economics: every year, the Grange has a baking contest–this year it is “apple muffins”–any recipe you choose! The judging for our Grange will be at our April 7th meeting–and we will have another high-powered panel of judges, watch for details! The cinnamon buns last year were tasty and varied in style.
Health Concerns: Phyllis Skinner, an RN for many years, keeps us mindful of maintaining our bodies and minds–this month, by giving us a “scorecard” to evaluate our likelihood of heart problems, based on our age, cholesterol and body-mass index.
Hall notes: I reported on replacement of broken window glass in the kitchen, caused by ice falling from the roof; Merry arranged with our electrician Alana Norway to get the motion detector light by the ADA ramp working.
Finances: Together with Treasurer Merry Shernock, I presented financial records from our last 3 fiscal years, to help us understand how our finances have been affected by the property tax exemption given to us in 2015 by Berlin, and how we may want to plan for future building maintenance and improvement plans. Our immediate decision will be how much the Grange wants to contribute to the FCCGH basement renovation project.

Our program at 5:30 was presented by 3 organizing members of Central VT Standing Up for Racial Justice, or SURJ. This local branch of the national organization seeks ways to support improvements in the status and treatment of people of color, in our hugely majority-white Vermont environment. We heard about their program of “Living Room Conversations”, which bring together white people to discuss their own attitudes in groups with friends who want to examine the built-in biases which affect us all, and to explore ways to become more conscious of their effect on community relations. They also urged support for stronger standards for the “Fair and Impartial Policing Policy”, or FIPP, now being debated, and for Senate Bill S.281, which proposes a Racial Justice Reform board, going beyond the Racial Justice Oversight board which was approved last year. You can learn more on their Facebook page, and connect with their programs: CVtSURJ
These programs are another facet of the Grange’s ongoing mission, to present important issues to the Grange and the community. Join us at our next meeting–see below for next month’s topic, CVI.

Tasty and informative–come the Grange on March 3rd for bread-baking and Internet improvements!

Baking workshop on March 3rd!

Alison Forrest, whose breads and cakes have been enjoyed at many Grange events, will lead a baking workshop from 1:00 to 4:00 in the afternoon. Bakers and baker-wannabes (ages 12+) are invited to learn about yeasted, quick and sour dough baking, and make loaves for themselves and for the Good Samaritan Haven homeless shelter in Barre. Alison will focus her friendly and gentle teaching on the needs of each individual baker. Admission by donation. Supported by King Arthur Flour.

Central VT Internet–on the ballot on Town Meeting Day

The CVI approach builds on the experience of EC-Fiber, which is already providing fiber-optic service to communities south of Central VT.

Continue the conversation at the Community Potluck, about 6:00 PM!

A sharp way to support the Grange Center

One of the resources which the VT State provides for Grange organizations, and for rental to others, is the VT Grange Center in Brookfield. The facility is used for Grange family camps, workshops and festivals. Members and friends of Capital City Grange have taught contra-dancing there! There is lots more information on the State Grange website: http://www.vtstategrange.org/rentals.html
The State Grange volunteer committee which runs the camp is fundraising through Rada Mfg. Co., selling their 100% USA Made knives and kitchen products to raise money for the Grange Center. Out of the price for every purchase you make, the Grange Center earns 40%. Their knives and other kitchen tools have a long reputation for quality.

Please click on this link: http://bit.ly/2iRoPhx to start shopping.

SURJ at the Grange meeting, dance all weekend and eat cake

February 5, 2018 by Tova

Grange Notes by Tim Swartz, President (with everyone’s help) for February 2, 2018

Grange meeting: Saturday Feb. 3rd, 4:30 PM: financial choices, projections for the future, and a presentation from Central VT SURJ

We’ve been working on more planning ahead for our Grange than we’ve done before–because it feels as if we have a strong future! The generosity of the people of Berlin, in exempting us from property tax until 2021 has let us achieve a positive cash-flow, so rather than try to scrape by, we can try to predict our needs. I’ll be presenting our expenses over the past several years, and some projected expenses that will come up over the next 1 year, 5 year and 10 year periods. We also have a request from the FCCGH for a significant contribution to the lower level renovation project. Help us evaluate how to balance our current needs, preventive maintenance and rainy day fund needs.
At about 5:30, we’ll get a presentation from Madeline Sharrow from Central VT SURJ. This local branch of a national movement is working with white people, who form, of course, the very large majority in our state, to help us all learn how we can support positive changes to the racist legacy of the past, to work toward a more equal future.

Community Potluck after our meeting, as usual!

At about 6:00, we’ll have a chance to chew over the meeting, and also the assortment of delicious dishes brought to share. Bring your favorite appetizer, main dish, snack, sauce, beverage, bread, spread or dessert treat–and watch it disappear. It’s a chance to chat with people you may already know, or may have always wanted to get to know, or didn’t know even lived around here! Please join us–like all Grange events, it’s open to all, and free!

Dance Saturday night and Sunday afternoon with David Kaynor!

Saturday: Well-known caller, dance organizer and community dance leader David Kaynor will call for the CDU dance from 8:00 to 11:00 on Saturday evening, after the Grange meeting and potluck, with friends George Wilson, Bill Olson and David Guertin providing great dancing music. We expect the usual crowd of dancers of all types! Sliding scale admission!
Sunday: David comes back to call a special community celebration dance! The Grange is hosting a special event to congratulate the residents of Weston’s Mobile Home Park, just south of the Grange Hall on Rt. 12, who have just formed a co-op and purchased the park! Assisted by Annik Paul and the Cooperative Development Institute, the park now belongs to the people who live there. They have come a long way since Tropical Storm Irene flooded the park in 2011–new mobile homes, plus some “tiny houses” now fill the 83-space park. On January 3rd, they became the 12th (out of 241 parks in VT) to be purchased by their residents, and run as a co-op. Read more in this Times-Argus article: https://www.timesargus.com/articles/mobile-home-park-now-a-co-op/
We’ll have a cake with coffee, tea and refreshments starting at 1:30 PM, with the dancing beginning at 2:00 and going until 3:30. Music will be provided by members of the VT Fiddle Orchestra, which David Kaynor directs. All dances will be taught, and it’s a great opportunity to try out community social dancing. Bring your kids, your friends of all ages and help us celebrate this community milestone! And you can get home before dark! We are asking for a $5.00 donation from everyone except the Weston’s residents, to give some gas money to David and the VFO.

Watch the Grange Notes for more events:

Baking workshop!
Non-profit, community-based, fast internet!
Baking contest!
Project updates!

All coming up soon at your Community Grange!