Capital City Grange

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Flushed With Pride: New Bathrooms Debut

May 27, 2015 by Tova

Ready for use!   Our new bathrooms got a trial run.
bathroom11bathroom1bathroom0bathroom2bathroom5bathroom6

On May 23rd, our almost-complete bathrooms were used for the first time by a crowd attending Annie Dunn-Watson and Moshe Braner’s “Honeymoon Wedding Celebration” event.   Reaction was generally positive, with people impressed by the concept and the design–and the contrast with the old bathrooms!
Our “multi-stall, all genders” bathroom design made sense to everyone with whom I spoke.  Some were aware of the plans we’ve publicized for over a year, while others only realized what we were building when they saw the finished product.  Having the ADA bathrooms upstairs and down, now, provides choices for anyone who is uncomfortable with the multi-stall plan.
One glitch:  we have found we need to modify the stall design before we declare it complete.  Once the toilets were installed last week, it became clear that the in-swinging doors don’t leave enough room for easy entry.  So we have come up with  alternative door plans–stay tuned to see how they work out!
Also, this coming week we will get the real lighting fixtures installed in the stalls, plus individual exhaust vents.   Lights for the stalls and the ADA bathroom are controlled by motion detector switches just inside the doors; the common area lights will all stay on.
We couldn’t have gotten to this point without the help of volunteers–besides the “permanent volunteers” who keep the Grange and the Friends of the Capital City Grange Hall going, see below for the people who answered my calls for painters and cleaners!

Volunteer painters get us to the finish line!

Over the past couple of weeks, some dedicated folks have given up their sunny outdoor afternoons in spring to paint the bathroom walls, the trim and the doors.  Pictures above show various members of the crew at work, including Dana and Marisa painting trim (first coat), Cynthia rolling paint, Marisa second-coating the trim, and John cleaning, while Marisa and Ann apply clear finish to the doors.  Many thanks to all the volunteers!

Time for Spring Cleaning–June 6th

With construction winding down, so no more dust will be produced, we have reached the logical time to do some more cleaning, more than playing catchup with construction work.
So–join us on Saturday, June 6th, from 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM to clean the dance hall, the stage, the windows (much easier than the old windows!), the lights, and more.  Bring some cleaning tools if you can:  window washing squeegees, rags, buckets, rubber gloves, vacuums, window and general cleaning liquids, etc.   We’ll have some supplies too.
We’d love to have someone bring food for cleaners!  Let me know if you can bring some snacks to keep us all going.
After the clean-up, Merry and I will have shower and nap space available in our home in Northfield Falls if people want to stay in the area before the Grange meeting at 4:30.

Grange meeting and baking contest follows the clean-up

We’ll have our usual Grange business meeting starting at 4:30 PM on June 6th, following the clean-up.   We have intriguing possibilities in developing relationships with the Town of Berlin, new liability insurance investigations, and we will celebrate the completion of the bathrooms!
We’ll also have the annual Grange baking contest judging at this meeting.   As usual, the recipe is the same for everyone–and the interest is in the variations that are found when different bakers work from the same starting point.   This year, the recipe is for Pineapple Cookies.
We ask that every entrant bring 5 cookies on a plate, with your name on a label on the bottom.  You can bring more to share after the judging, of course!
So:  here’s the recipe:
3-1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1-1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup shortening
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup crushed pineapple

Sift the flour, baking soda and salt together.   Beat the sugar and shortening in a mixing bowl until creamy.  Add the eggs and vanilla, and beat until blended.   Fold in the pineapple.   Stir in the blended dry ingredients.  Drop by spoonfuls, 2 inches apart on a greased cookie sheet.   Bake at 400 degrees until light brown.   Cool on cookie sheet for 2 minutes, and remove to a wire rack to cool completely.   Yield = 3-4 dozen.
And don’t forget the Grange potluck at 6:30.   Bring something tasty to share–we hope to be well-supplied with cookies!

Filed Under: Grange Notes, The Dancers' News

Community Fundraising That’s Fun For All!

February 20, 2015 by Tova

DanceDineFundraiser

Join us for a good time, for a good cause–bathrooms!

Dancing with friends and family in the afternoon (a great opportunity to share your love of the Grange and community dancing with people who don’t usually come), followed by a delicious Thai Curry dinner (freshly made spring rolls, tofu or chicken plus a mild coconut milk curry sauce and brown rice), followed by more dancing.   What better way to support the next phase of renovations for the Grange Hall:  brand new bathrooms on the lower level!
Needed:  volunteers to help prepare food for the dinner, starting in the early afternoon, and to serve it for the multitudes, and to clean up afterwards.   Our stalwart chefs:   Alison Forrest and Gail England will direct the operations.   Call or email me to volunteer (swartztim15@gmail.com)!
Mark your calendars for the 2nd dance in our finish-off-the-fundraising series, on Friday May 1st with Will Mentor calling, and Perpetual E-Motion playing their exciting brand of dance music!

Another special dance coming this weekend – Saturday March 21:

In addition to the always-popular CDU dances, this “prequel” dance presents Will Mentor calling more complicated dances  from 2:00-5:00 PM for those ready for a challenge.   Here’s one description:
For Experienced Dancers: This means you know how to do a roll away, California twirl, pass through to a wave and the basic moves without being taught. You complete flourishes safely and on time without disturbing the flow of the dance.
There will be a potluck dinner afterward, before the regular CDU dance for all comers at 8:00, with Will and Nor’Easter on stage again.
Don’t forget that  Will is coming back to call on May 1st, for another benefit dance!  Many thanks for his support!

Friends of the Capital City Grange Hall receive $25,265 grant from the VT Arts Council! 

CheckReceipt

The picture above, taken by Peter Arthur Weyrauch for the Arts Council, shows Alex Aldrich of the Council on the left, just after handing over a symbolic (but impressively large) faux check to Patty Giavara and Carol Noyes (Chair and Treasurer of the FCCGH respectively), while I keep watch on the right.

This event is really a pledge–we only get the actual cash once we match the needed amount with cash and in-kind donations, and complete the project successfully.   We’ve still got a ways to go, but we appreciate the help we are getting.    This grant (administered by the VT Arts Council in conjunction with the VT Historical Society and the VT Division for Historic Preservation) is a huge help for  small, volunteer non-profits like the Grange and the Friends.   The VT State Grange has agreed to give us a no-interest construction loan, since we need to pay the bills for the project until the Arts Council accepts our final report.
And finally, we thank all the Grange community members who donate and volunteer to keep us going, and to fund and complete special projects like this, which benefit us all!

Filed Under: Grange Notes, The Dancers' News

Updated Grange Website

November 23, 2014 by Tova

Coming soon: an updated Grange Website!
I’ve mentioned before that Patty Giavara and others have been working on an update for the www.capitalcitygrange.org website. It looks like we are just about ready to “go live”! We hope that it will be before Thanksgiving–check it out when you get a chance, and let us know what you think!
The new site will be easier to edit and update with new articles, including information on rentals and meetings, projects and photos. The Calendar will also be easier to add information to, to publicize events at our Hall. Long-time volunteer Tova Cohen will continue to update the Contra Dance Umbrella events on the “new” version of the website, and expects to be able to put in more information about bands, callers and dances.
We’ve tried to design the updated website to appeal to potential renters, as part of our strategy to increase rental of the Hall to a wider variety of tenants. If you can help us reach out to corporations, legislators, government agencies and others who schedule meetings, trainings and workshops, or to other schools which rehearse and put on plays, or to wedding planners–get in touch! Make suggestions about how we can better use this flexible new website to publicize our (improving) facilities!
Many thanks to Rob Fish of the VT Digital Economy Project, sponsored by the VT Council for Rural Development, who has worked with us to develop this new website–and to get Wi-Fi for the Hall, plus starting me using MailChimp to compose these newsletters!

Filed Under: Grange Notes, The Dancers' News

New Rental Manager and Phone Number

November 23, 2014 by Tova

New volunteer Rental Manager and rental phone number for the Grange
We are making a transfer from Jody Pettersen, who has very ably managed all the rentals of the Hall for about the last 8 years. Jody has done a great job, and she’s ready to pass the torch. We’re very lucky that Merry Shernock has volunteered to step into her very large shoes!
As part of this change-over, and along with putting up the new sign, we’re changing the contact info for the rentals. Merry is setting up the Grange’s existing phone number–802-229-9425–to be connected to “GoogleVoice” answering/forwarding service. This will forward every voicemail left to Merry’s phone, plus sending an email to her alerting her to the message. This way, she can monitor the contacts from anywhere.
Merry is looking for collaborators on rental policy and contacts–we all need help and input. If you want to help the Grange with an important part of our survival, please contact Merry–soon, you can leave a message on the Grange phone number to reach her!

Filed Under: Grange Notes, The Dancers' News

Grange Sign from the ground up!

November 23, 2014 by Tova

Pouring sign footer
The photo at the top of this email shows the concrete going into the forms for the new Grange sign. Kurt Giavara (right) supervised setting the “big-foot” type forms the week before; I arranged to get some stainless steel bars to anchor in the concrete along with more commercial post-bases. On Friday the 14th, we had the forms filled with concrete, and placed the stainless bars and dummy “posts” in the concrete, at the correct spacing to match the posts and cherry cross-piece donated by TimberHomes LLC. Dave Cain is preparing the lettering on the cherry piece so that we can erect the parts soon.
Looking for carpentry volunteers to help us put up the posts, and to build and install the small roof for the sign. If there is someone who could bring an 8′ or 10′ stepladder, that would be an extra help! Please contact me if you can help us! As usual I can be reached at 225-8921, or the email address for these Grange Notes.
After the whole sign is up, we’ll have electrician Alana Norway pull wires through the conduits placed during the summer by another crew of volunteers. She’ll also install the fluorescent lights which will illuminate the sign. We’ve decided to put the lights on a timer so they will be on from about dusk to midnight, so our sign will be visible.
Our intent is to increase our recognition, so people will know where our Hall is, and that it is available for rental. The sign will give the website, and the phone number for rentals–see below for a transition in our rental agent. As regular readers will know, we badly need to get more tenants to balance our budget. And providing a Hall for public use is the major community service which our Grange provides.

Filed Under: Grange Notes, Hall Projects, The Dancers' News

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Contact Us

Tim Swartz, President, CCG#469
802-225-8921 (cell)
grangepresident@capitalcitygrange.org

 

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