Grange Notes by Tim Swartz, Grange President (with everyone’s help) January 6, 2023

Saturday:  Grange and FCCGH joint meeting–public invited!

Now that we have the lift project underway, we are thinking ahead to the next project.   As everyone who looks at the exterior of the Grange Hall can see, the paint is in very sad shape.   80 years of painting, scraping, adding layers of paint, some over inadequately cleaned surfaces, with different paint chemistry have led to a lot of peeling.   Like all buildings this old, the inner layers are lead paint, which must be scraped off by a qualified, licensed contractor and properly disposed of.  Because of all these factors, re-painting is not cheap!   And, if we want to get this done this year, we need to get on contractors’ lists soon.
To help us figure this out, Patty Giavara (Chair of the Friends of the Capital City Grange Hall) and I have decided to hold a joint meeting of the Grange and the FCCGH tomorrow, Jan. 7, 4:30 to 6:00 PM to begin a broader discussion of these questions.  Patty has put together a presentation about the “rough order of magnitude” estimates we’ve gotten, funding possibilities, and the decision factors we need to consider.
This meeting will invite input on our next steps to give the Grange Hall a “facelift”, in addition to “Project UpLift”, described above.   Please join us in person or via Zoom.   The Zoom link is available on the Calendar listing for the meeting–click HERE to go to that listing.
Patty has compiled some basic info on the choices we’re considering, which she and I will be sending out to Grange members, and board members of the FCCGH on Friday.   If you plan to come to the meeting, or just want to learn more, please reply to this email and we’ll email the info packet to you as well.   We really hope you will come and take part in the discussion–either in person or via Zoom.

After the meeting:  it’s potluck time!

From 6:00 to about 7:00, we’ll have our monthly Community Potluck Dinner, where we socialize over tasty dishes contributed by Grange members and other good cooks.   Generally we chew over the ideas we’ve discussed in the meeting, as well.    We hope you will join us for the dinner, whether you make it to the meeting or not!  Please bring whatever you want or can scrounge up that can be shared–beverages, cheese ‘n’ crackers, desserts, main dishes, soups, side dishes, salads…we all need to eat, so why not share food in good company?

Starting to give the Hall a lift

As we’ve planned, the construction of the “hoistway” for the wheelchair/platform lift has started this week.  Our main contractor, Stan Carlson has laid out the footprint, removed the closet for the Church of Christ from the stage, and is getting ready to cut holes in the stage and the main floor  (and yes, he’ll be blocking off the holes when he’s done working, to make it safe for evening and weekend Hall users).  In the photo above, he’s completing the framing of the hoistway in the lower level, which will also support the upper floor around the hole he’ll be cutting in it.
We can’t yet predict just when the lift will be delivered and put in place by the installers; the first step is to get the hoistway walls framed, and to get them inspected by the Fire Marshal before sheetrocking.   We’ll also be getting our electrical contractor, ARJ Electric, back to rough-in the wiring.   After the sheetrocking is done, the installers from Accessibility Systems will deliver the support track, the mechanical/electrical parts, the platform and doors.   Then they will lower them into the hoistway, and bolt them into place.  After that, there will be more sheetrock installed around the doors.  We’ll  have painting to be done on all the sheetrock and trim–we’ll be happy to have some volunteer help to do the painting!
In addition to the lift, Stan will be taking out the wall between the main Hall and the foyer, and rebuilding it as a fire-rated wall, with door closers, panic-bar hardware–and also a closet for storing the tables we now have stacked in the foyer.    The Fire Marshal has told us we will not be allowed to store anything in the foyer–no tables, brooms, snow shovels, trash or recycling containers, or traffic cones.   The new storage closet for the tables will open into the main Hall.  We’re still figuring out what to do with other items we’ve been used to storing there.
The good news is that the foyer will be much “cleaner” looking.   I will post drawings soon showing what the plan view will look like.  More details to come!

Dance, Sing and Jump Around–this Sunday!

The “2nd Sunday” comes early this month, so Sunday, Jan. 8th will be the next event in the Grange-sponsored series of “family dances” which Liz Benjamin, Merry Shernock and their band of volunteers started several years ago.   We had a great turnout for the December event, and hope for equally good numbers this time.
What is it? From 3:00 to 4:30 PM on Sunday, Liz, plus Stan Carlson (yes, the same one building the lift hoistway) will teach and lead combination of simple dances, play-party games and songs.  We’ll have a “big band” to provide live music, because we’re combining Joanne Garton’s fiddle students with musicians from the Northeast Fiddler’s Jam.   It will be exciting!
These dances are particularly designed for kids in about the 3- to 8-year old range, but everyone is invited!   There will be some snacks (healthy and  tasty) available, plus paper to draw and color on for kids that want to take a break from dancing.  We ask for a $5.00 donation for everyone except the kids, who get in free!   No one is ever turned away.   We usually have a combination of parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles and friends who come along with kids.  And you get the chance to be silly with kids, something most of us don’t get enough opportunity to do!
Find a kid you can bring along (with permission of their parents/guardians!) and join us on Sunday afternoon.  For more information, check out the DS&JA website!

Just Food Hub announces: new vendors for January!

What could sound more enticing than the Cross Atlantic Chocolate Collective?
If you’ve been reading about the Just Food Hub, in the Grange Notes or elsewhere, you already know that this non-profit group sells delicious items, and donates the amount that could be profit to non-profit groups–including the Grange.
But besides being such a virtuous place to buy from, check out the chocolate!   Just go to the special JFH Grange fundraising page, click on “Shop Chocolate”, and you will find many choices–including the products which are new this January, from chocolate farmers who not only grow the cacao, but take part in all stages of the production of the bars and drinking chocolates sold on the site.
Did you know that commercial chocolate only uses beans from 3 of the hundreds of varieties of cacao bean?
Did you know that every purchase from the JFH page linked above gives a donation to the Grange?  Now you do!

It’s 2023, and donations to the Friends are still coming in!

We continue to be grateful to the many supporters who have contributed to the Fall Appeal of the Friends of the Capital City Grange Hall–at least 66 thus far.  These generous folks have donated to help the Friends make major improvements to the Grange, including the  just-started lift project and the upcoming exterior painting project described in this newsletter.   We can’t say thanks too many times.
If you can help the FCCGH to help the Grange Hall, we’ll use the money wisely!  To see the Fall Appeal letter sent out by the Friends, click here.   It also describes “Project Uplift” to install a wheelchair/platform lift in the Hall–its beginnings are pictured above.  We appreciate any gift, of whatever size fits your budget!   And donations to the FCCGH, which is a 501(c)(3) charitable non-profit, are tax deductible to the full extent allowed by law; you’ll receive a thank-you and a record for your contribution.  You can see descriptions of previous FCCGH projects, and donate via Paypal on the Donate page of the Grange website.
Thanks to everyone who is helping us out–last year, this year and on into the future.

Grange Notes by Tim Swartz, Grange President (with everyone’s help) December 8, 2022

As the signs say…we’re back to presenting two big events for families

Sorry for the slightly blurry picture, but evening comes early these days.    We’ve been impressed at how Erin Barry has kept Kids Trade & Play going and growing through the pandemic years, and we’re excited to also be able to host Dance Sing and Jump Around once again!

KT&P, the clothing exchange for kids and families, has been happening on 2nd Saturdays of virtually every month for almost 7 years!  Erin and her crew of volunteers put out an amazing spread of clothes for kids from infant sizes to Junior 12, plus some maternity clothes and some games and toys, from 9:30 to 11:30.   We are getting around 100 kids, parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles picking up clothes and other items, and more donations keep coming in, for the volunteers to inspect, sort by size, and put out!
This weekend, Dec. 10, Erin has a special treat planned:

This month we are hoping to provide families with new or like new toys, games, and items that they can regift and share the joy of light and love. We will have a table hosted by a local elf with new items to give away. If you have more we could add to this table, please bring the items by on Friday, 3-5pm (Or make special arrangements for earlier…), or Saturday during the event 9:30-11:30.

Can you give us a lift?
Help needed!   Friday afternoon, 3-5 PM
Moving shelves

The picture to the left shows the storage shelves for Kids Trade & Play being re-assembled after our last big project, the basement renovation in early 2020.   We’re starting to prep for our next improvement:  a lift for wheelchairs!  After the bins of clothes are removed from the storage shelves, and set out on the cafeteria tables for Saturday’s KT&P clothing exchange, we need help to dis-assemble the shelves, and move them out of the way, to make room for the bottom of the “hoistway” for the lift.   Stan Carlson will start building the special shaft right after New Year’s day!
If you can help on Friday afternoon, please contact me, Tim:  swartztim15@gmail.com, or 802-225-8921.  We’ll also be looking for help to re-set the shelves after construction is done, perhaps in February, stay tuned!

Brief Grange meeting report:

We had our brief Grange meeting last Saturday, Dec. 3rd, where we went over finances, discussed progress on the petition drive (see below), and talked about the planned installation of the wheelchair/platform lift starting in January–as mentioned above.
The Grange meeting was followed by a spirited program on VT union organizing, presented by VT Labor Council head Liz Medina.   At least 15 Vermont union members joined us.  Liz talked briefly about the legacy of union history, and then told us more about current trends and Vermont initiatives to help workers organize.  I haven’t had time to write up my notes yet, but will include them in a future Grange Notes.  Carl Etnier recorded most of the presentation by Liz and the subsequent discussion, and the recording will be posted on the Grange website Calendar event listing for the Dec. 3rd Program soon as well.
We were also pleased that quite a few of the union members (including Liz) stayed for the potluck dinner after the program, and many also took part in the (separate admission) Montpelier Contra Dance afterward, and were observed having a great time!

Still seeking Berlin signatures

We are getting close to getting enough signatures from Berlin voters to get our request for a 5 year extension of our property tax exemption onto the ballot for Berlin’s March Town Meeting.  I and other Grange members (we particularly want to thank Patty Giavara and Fran Mallery) have been going door-to-door in a variety of parts of the wide-spread Town of Berlin to get people to sign the petition.   Almost everyone I have spoken with has been happy to sign.   It has also been a good opportunity to spread the word that we offer free use of the Hall by Berlin residents (for times not already committed to other renters, of course).   We are happy to increase the visibility of our Grange and its Hall, and to increase its use by the local community.
There’s still time to help us by getting more signatures, and speaking with more Berlin folks about what goes on at the Grange.  We’d like to get them before the weather gets really frigid.   You can see the petition wording  on the Grange website at this link:  Grange Petition for 2023.  You can download a copy by clicking on the link, and print your own.   If that doesn’t work, get in touch and I’ll be happy to print some for you, and to get them to you:  swartztim15@gmail.com, or 802-225-8921.   Contact me also to arrange pickup after you get however many signatures you can!  Even a few from a number of people will add up, don’t feel you have to get all 20 lines on the form filled up!

End of the year donations:  don’t forget the Grange!

Many of us send out charitable donations to organizations we support as the end of the calendar year grows close.   Please remember that you can really help the Grange by donating to the Friends of the Capital City Grange Hall, as we make the final push in our end-of-year campaign for contributions.
Most of you already know about the “Friends”, which works closely with the Grange to plan, fund-raise for and project-manage improvements to the Grange Hall.   A list of the big projects the FCCGH has already done is posted on the Donate page on the Grange website! There, you will also see a convenient “Donate” button to give a donation using Paypal.
If you can help the FCCGH to help the Grange Hall, we’ll use the money wisely!  To see the Fall Appeal letter sent out by the Friends, click here.   It also describes our project to install a wheelchair/platform lift in the Hall, as I mentioned above.  We appreciate any gift, of whatever size fits your budget!   And donations to the FCCGH, which is a 501(c)(3) charitable non-profit, are tax deductible to the full extent allowed by law; you’ll receive a thank-you and a record for your contribution.

Grange Notes by Tim Swartz, Grange President (with everyone’s help) December 1, 2022

Pete Sutherland – 1951 to 2022

Our friend Pete passed away yesterday, Nov. 30.   I found this picture among many others, with tributes and music shared by some of his many friends, on Pete’s Facebook page.  Pete touched so many lives in Vermont (and elsewhere).   Among the many groups and people he helped, the Grange is one.   He and various of his bands played at many dances, including fundraising events.  He brought joy at every event.   I won’t attempt to list all the ways he will be missed.    Seek out the memories, the songs and tunes and students he mentored, and you will find so much that he left us.

Grange meeting & Grange Program Saturday, and a Community Potluck as well!

The year of 2022 has flown by as usual, and we’re getting ready for our December meeting on Saturday, Dec. 3rd.  Please join us (in person or via Zoom) for a brief meeting from 4:30 to 5:00 PM, followed by a presentation on the state of organized labor in Vermont from 5:00 to 6:00.  You can find links for remote attendance on the Grange website Calendar for both:  www.capitalcitygrange.org/events (it is 2 separate links, FYI).
On even-numbered months, we have a shortened and informal Grange meeting, getting reports on where we stand financially as we head into real winter, with its increased costs for heating fuel, plowing and sanding, and the spate of holiday rentals.  We’ll also hear how many signatures have been collected, as we work to get on the Berlin Town Meeting ballot for next March, to get our property tax exemption renewed–for 5 years, we hope.
For our program, we’ll hear from Liz Medina of the VT Labor Council about what organized labor is up to in Vermont.   She has invited labor union members and organizers to join the discussion, and we hope they will!   The give-and-take of discussions is usually the most interesting part of the Programs our Grange Lecturer, Carl Etnier puts on.  Liz has also invited union folks to join us for the Community Potluck that will take place from 6:00 to 7:00, and to also come to the Montpelier Contra Dance that starts with a Newcomer’s/Refresher instruction session at 7:40.   I’m reproducing her impressive poster below:

 Liz will be bringing a couple of union banners to the Hall, plus some literature and perhaps buttons–so if you want to learn more about labor organizing in Vermont, or how to join a union, this is the place to come!   Her description of the presentation is:

Petition drive continues

A few stalwart Grange members have gone to visit friends and neighborhoods around the town of Berlin to collect signatures from Berlin voters.  We’d like to get the 150 or so signatures we’d like to have before the weather gets any colder, in plenty of time before the Jan. 12th deadline.    If you can get even a few, the Grange will really appreciate the help.
The petition wording is above; a PDF copy of the petition, complete with 20 signature lines is also available on the Grange website at this link:  Grange Petition for 2023.  You can download a copy by clicking on the link, and print your own.   If that doesn’t work, get in touch and I’ll be happy to print some for you:  swartztim15@gmail.com, or 802-225-8921.

FCCGH End-of-Year Appeal is underway!

Every year, the Friends of the Capital City Grange Hall ask for an end-of-year donation from folks who have contributed before, to support the improvement projects which the FCCGH undertakes to make our beloved Grange Hall more accessible, comfortable, attractive and cheaper/easier to run.   These projects also reduce our carbon footprint too!
If you can help the FCCGH to help the Grange Hall, we’ll use the money wisely!  To see the Fall Appeal letter, click here.  To see a list of all the major projects the FCCGH has helped to plan, fundraise for and project manage to improve the Grange Hall, see the Donate page on the Grange website! There, you will also see a convenient “Donate” button to give a donation using Paypal.
At this Thanksgiving time of year, we are especially grateful for all the support which the Grange receives, from members, Hall users, friends and granting agencies.  We are always humbled by the generosity of the donors who make it possible for us to keep this place running–and continually improve it!

More food news:  Just Food Hub gift baskets
At the Grange on Saturday!

Sue Morris of the Just Food Hub non-profit fundraising organization will be at the Grange for the meeting, program, potluck and dance on Saturday, Dec. 3rd. She will have a selection of the many gift baskets which they sell to benefit non-profit groups, including Capital City Grange!   Whether  you buy directly from Sue on Saturday, or order from the special link on the Just Food Hub website, a substantial percentage of the cost will be donated to our Grange.  Sue and her partners do not take any profit from this venture, preferring to support causes they care about.   You can see more gift-basket examples on their website:  https://justfoodhub.us/baskets/.  And they will custom-make special ones for you to give to…yourself!  family members!  your dental hygienist!  the mail carrier!   Anyone who would like Fair-Trade, small-producer treats and food products will be glad to get one.  And the Grange will be glad too!

Indian Food in Vermont Co-ops–from the kitchen of the Grange’s Indian Cooking Workshops teacher!

Those of you who were fortunate enough to attend one of the Indian Cooking classes at the Grange, in 2018 and 2019, may recognize Delna Khambatta in the picture above.  Delna was inspired by taking part in a bread-baking workshop put on by Grange member Alison Forrest.   She offered to put on a couple of Indian cooking classes for us, and they were very popular!
Since then, Delna has been continuing to cook, of course, and her most recent accomplishment is producing frozen Indian dinners, with her personal blend of spices and ingredient choices.   They are now available in 3 different Vermont co-ops:  Middlebury Food Co-op, Hunger Mountain Co-op in Montpelier and City Market in Burlington.  All her meals are plant-based/vegan and gluten-free.   Look for “Delna’s Kitchen” items, and check out her Delna’s Kitchen website.  It’s exciting to see someone whom we saw cooking delicious food with workshop participants reaching out to a wider audience!

Grange Notes by Tim Swartz, Grange President (with everyone’s help) November 21, 2022

Grange meeting discusses petition drive

As I described in the last Grange Notes, sent out just before our Nov. 5th meeting, we did get the abatement of property taxes, that the Selectboard had decided we should pay for the current year.   Because of COVID, the last couple of in-person March Town Meetings have been canceled, so we’ve only been able to ask for 1 year extensions for the 2021 and 2022 tax years.
So:  We have strong hopes that the Berlin Town Meeting on March 7, 2023 will be in person, so that the Selectboard will allow us to ask for a 5 year full tax exemption.   To get that to happen, we now need to gather at least 106 signatures from Berlin voters, to get us on the ballot for the meeting scheduled for March 7, 2023.   We need to get them in to the Town Clerk’s office by January 12th, but since we’d rather be out walking around the neighborhoods before it gets too cold, we want to get started NOW.
Some good news already:  I have conferred with the Berlin Town Administrator, the Town Clerk and the Town Treasurer, to make sure that the wording is crystal clear, that we need a full exemption from property taxes.  The text in the picture below shows exactly what the wording will be:

As you can see, we are spelling out that we are asking for exemption from both parts of the property tax bill, the “Town” and “School” taxes.
A PDF copy of the petition, complete with 20 signature lines is also available on the Grange website at this link:  Grange Petition for 2023.  You can download a copy by clicking on the link, so you can print your own.   If that doesn’t work, get in touch and I’ll be happy to print some for you:  swartztim15@gmail.com, or 802-225-8921.
I can also tell you where other canvassers have already gone to knock on doors, so we can be efficient, and not bother people twice!   This is also a chance to remind Berlin folks that we do offer free use of the Grange Hall for Berlin residents and non-profit organizations (as long as it is not already rented for the time slot)!  I have Grange brochures, and Grange Rental brochures you can take along, if you’d like.
We need your help!  Please pitch in for this important project!  If you’re reading these Grange Notes, we know you are interested and supportive–this is a great chance to be a part of keeping the Grange financially healthy.
Update as of Nov. 21:   a few dedicated members, including Patty Giavara, Fran Mallery and yours truly have made a good start on getting signatures–you can join us!

More Grange meeting news:  getting a lift, and getting “historic”!

• Our Hall, which was built largely by members of the Grange and the International Order of Odd Fellows in 1952, cost about $17,000 at the time, based on the fragmentary records she located in the attic.
• The Hall started out with a tax exemption from Berlin, in return for allowing Town Meetings to be held in the Hall.  We’re not sure when this agreement lapsed.
• The Hall’s design and construction look very consistent with “Grange Hall Suggestions”, a booklet published in 1928 by the National Grange.    Take a look at the picture on the cover (reproduced below), and see if it looks familiar…though maybe not the bricks.

Grange resolutions:  results from the October Annual Session

One topic we didn’t get to in our November meeting was the resolutions which various Vermont Granges proposed, and which were discussed and voted on at the State Session.  I’ve compiled notes about what happened to each of them, and the info is available HERE on our website.
Those that looked at the proposed resolutions will probably remember that there were 2 resolutions about Proposal 5.  That Proposal was to put protections for women’s reproductive autonomy into the VT State Constitution.  One Grange resolution expressed support, the other urged a vote against.   The VT State Master ruled both of these as “out of order”, because he judged that these would involve the Grange in religious/political disagreements that could be divisive for the Grange.   As a non-partisan, non-denominational organization, he decided it was better not to take the risk–as he said, we all have the opportunity to vote on this question in the Nov. 8th election–and as we know, Proposal 5 passed with a large margin.

Grange news–on Vermont Public!

In late September, Patty Giavara and I were contacted by a UVM Ph.D. student, Krizzia Soto-Villanueva, who asked if she could interview us about how the Montpelier Contra Dance community has been helping to support the Grange.   Krizzia had come to do contra dancing, was there for the “Challenge Fundraiser” culmination on Sept. 3rd, and was curious.   She is part of the student-powered Community News Service, as well as studying food systems at UVM, and thought “there’s a good story”!   We agreed, of course, and she came to the Oct. 1 Grange meeting, program and potluck and spoke with Grange members.  At the dance that evening, she interviewed a number of contra dancers, then interviewed Patty and me the following day via Zoom.
Finally, the story played during Morning Edition on Vermont Public (what some of us still think of as VPR) on Nov. 14th, and a few days later the audio+photo+written story got posted on the Vermont Public website.  You can check it out by clicking HERE.  We think she did a pretty good job bringing out the mutuality of the dance and Grange communities, including our shared commitment to making the Hall and the dance accessible to all types of people.  Part of that is the lift we are planning to install (story above); part of that is the welcoming attitude of the contra dance to all kinds of dancers, of all ages, genders, backgrounds and abilities.   All of that is about people getting together to do fun things!    We’re glad to have our story out there, and appreciate Krizzia making that happen–and the people who spoke with her of course.   By the way, if you search “Capital City Grange” on the Vermont Public website, you’ll find a few other stories which are about or mention our Grange–and other VT Granges!

December 3rd Program: The state of Vermont unions

Our Grange Lecturer, Carl Etnier has arranged for the Executive Director of the VT Labor Council, Liz Medina, to present a program on the current organizing work of the AFL-CIO affiliated Council.   This includes the VT PRO Act, and the Worker Circle organizing project.  She is inviting union members to join us for the discussion, to stay for the Community Potluck, and to come to the Montpelier Contra Dance afterward (they will be paying admission for that, of course).
The Grange has always been a voice for the working class–which was mostly farmers when the Grange was founded in 1867.   The Grange helped farmers join together to counter the power of the large businesses (especially the railroads that controlled access to markets for agricultural products).  Labor unions can be considered a similar counterbalance to the power of large organizations.   Come and join us to learn more, from 5:00 to 6:00 PM on Saturday, Dec. 3rd!