Grange Notes by Tim Swartz, Grange President (with everyone’s help), June 9, 2019

Updating our walls with panels ‘n’ art

We had a somewhat sparsely attended, but very productive work party on Sunday, June 2nd.   With just 5 of us, we assembled and hung 20 panels!   It was an efficient crew.  A few photos above show the crew in action:  Patty Giavara, Kurt Giavara, Stan Carlson, Merry Shernock & Tim Swartz.  The photos above show some views of the assembly process, from putting in the batts, to cutting fabric, to wrapping it around the panels.   Then there are a couple showing how we hung the panels on the wall with “french cleats”, and Kurt on the “Little Giant” ladder while Stan & I help out.
The “stitched” panorama photo below makes it look as if the wall opposite the stage is curved…but it’s the best I could do to show how we have more than doubled the square feet of acoustically absorbent surface on the walls.  We put together:  14 panels 2′ x 4′, plus 4 panels 17-1/2″ x 41″ (these fit above the windows).  We hung all of these, plus a couple more 2′ x 4′ left over from our previous assembly party.  We’re eager to hear from Hall users if they can hear a difference in the level of reverberation which has been a problem in the past.
Adding these panels also made necessary some re-arrangement of the great variety of art which we have been exhibiting on the walls of the Hall.   Attentive readers will remember that we are showing off the art collected by Berlin Elementary Art Teacher Lynn Spencer from her classes’ work over many years.  Merry and I re-hung all of the art around the new panels–gives us all a new perspective!
We have 10 more panel frames to fill with acoustic-absorbing rock-wool, wrap with fabric and hang–watch for a quick work-day coming soon, date TBD.   Are you sorry you missed the event on June 2?   Let me know when you can come to the next one, and we’ll work out the best time for the most people.  

June 10th:  rocking the Hall clean-up, with earth-moving too.

We will be getting the benefit of a “Senior Community Service Day” on Monday, June 10th.  This is an annual event run by students from the U-32 high school, which includes students from Berlin, our home town.  We are now confirmed to have 3 students help us from 10:00 AM to Noon.
The project I’d like them to help with is some re-grading and reinforcement of the area around the footings of the Grange sign, which have been eroding from driveway and road run-off.    We have a nice pile of rocks left over from our flower-bed construction last year.   I plan to have the students help me move the rocks (with my Toyota Yaris “truck” and my wheelbarrow) to form the foundation of some water diversion around the footing.   We also are ready to have some weed-whacking done around the Hall–Merry and I can loan our electric weed-wacker.  And there is more winter clean-up work available outside, as well as windows to clean and screens to vacuum inside.  No shortage of projects, in other words!
Would you like to join us?  As a mostly-retired person, I will have time to be the overall supervisor…but I’d love to have some other Grange friends join me!  It’s an opportunity to leverage some extra help to make our Hall better looking and cleaner.   Please contact me, Tim Swartz via email or phone:  802-225-8921 if you can help us out!

Summer time is finally here…and we’ll have a cook-out to celebrate, on Aug. 3rd.

We held our final meeting of the spring season on Saturday, June 1st, and had just enough people to make a quorum at first–the weather is finally getting good!   We had a vigorous sing-along after the meeting, with songs ranging from “It’s a Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood” to “It’s a Small World”.   We followed that with another tasty potluck dinner.  
In the week since, we’ve dipped back into cool & cloudy–and emerged into hot & sunny for several days in a row!  We all hope that this means really sunny & warm weather is here to (mostly) stay for a while.
But as we all know, Vermont summers are short.  So we are planning ahead.  We won’t hold a “regular” meeting in July or August–but we’ll get together for an outdoor barbecue and potluck/cookout dinner on the first Saturday of August.   We’ll have a couple of grills, and as usual we can supply all the dishes, silverware, serving spoons, etc.   We  hope you will join us for a sociable evening.  Want to bring some ice cream, popsicles, non-dairy frozen treats?  We have freezer space!
Regular meetings will start up again in September, on the 3rd Saturday, Sept. 15th.  The first Saturday is Labor Day Weekend, so we know people will be busy with other activities.
But let’s not think about the end of summer just yet–enjoy the nice weather while it is here!

Grange Notes by Tim Swartz, Grange President (with everyone’s help), May 30, 2019

Sing…sing a song…

Many of us enjoy singing, and lots of us (like me) are best heard as part of a crowd.   We will follow our monthly Grange business meeting with a sing-a-long, with the aid of our Grange Musician, Mat Nunnelly, on the piano, and the enthusiastic singers of the Grange.   Every meeting includes at least and Opening and Closing song, and we’re going to add to that with a more wide-ranging opportunity to exercise our vocal chords.   The two songsters in the photo above are taking full advantage of their natural gifts, and we hope you will too!   Our meeting runs from 4:15 to about 5:30, and will be followed by a solid half-hour of singing, and then by our…
Community Potluck, at 6:00 PM.   The potluck dinner is, like the meeting and the sing-a-long, open to everyone, as the name suggests!   We share the variety of foods that show up–everything from breads to soups to salads to meats, to vegetarian dishes, to drinks, to brownies or cupcakes or…whatever you bring!   You need to eat something for dinner, why not make it a social occasion?  

Help us put more acoustic panels together–Sunday June 2nd, 2:00 to 5:00

On our last work-party day in February, a great crew of volunteers helped us stuff acoustic batts into pre-built frames, wrap and staple acoustic fabric around the frames, attach hanging strips, and mount them on the end-wall of the Main Hall.
We’re ready to take the next steps–we will have 28 more panels ready to complete and hang by this weekend, so we’re asking for some more help. 
We’ll provide some staplers, fabric scissors and rolling knives, drills, gloves, etc.   
Panels will be mounted above the windows, and between some of them to see how much improvement we can make, without creating a “dead” sound.  The first 18 panels made a noticeable, but insufficient difference–we were encouraged to keep expanding the area.  This batch will more than double the acoustically absorbent panel area. 
We’re looking for people to bring their interest in improving our Hall, and their willingness to pitch in.  Please contact Tim to let us know you are coming, so we can plan for the number of volunteers.  Let us know if there is something in particular you want to help with–we’ll figure out how to allocate the volunteers to get the jobs done.

Panel materials are ready to go!

Yesterday, May 29th, the acoustic batts (Roxul AFB in the picture) were finally delivered, Kurt and I completed making the panel frames and delivered them, and I brought the acoustic fabric (the wrapped roll in the center) to the Hall as well.   So we’re ready for the work-party!  Hope we’ll see you there!

Lost and Found–now found in a new location

Due to the success of the “Kids Trade & Play” clothing exchange, the original location of the Lost & Found shelf has been severely squeezed.  CDU member Thomas Weiss, who has maintained the L&F system for the Grange and the dance community for years has been working with Grange Rental Agent Merry Shernock to pick a new spot; now the shelf has been re-established in a new place in the kitchen.   If you leave something behind, please check there! Also: seeking a painter to improve the aesthetics! The Grange would like to paint the wooden shelf and the surrounding walls to make this alcove stand out.   It’s a great opportunity to support the dance and the Grange Hall–please contact Merry:  rentals@capitalcitygrange.org if you can help out with a couple of hours.  We’ll provide the paint & brushes & cleaning supplies!

June 10th:  Getting some “Community Service” clean-up help–from U-32 students

A few weeks ago, Front Porch Forum brought a notice that seniors from the U-32 High School–the union district that includes Berlin and other towns around Montpelier–would be offering community service work to local people and non-profit organizations, on Monday, June 10th.  Prompted by Merry, I asked if the Grange could benefit, and then met with 2 student organizers.  Our plans include outdoor clean-up–flower-beds, raking, perhaps improving the water drainage around the sign footings–possibly painting the new Lost & Found area (see above).  Indoor work could include window and screen cleaning. Schedule (to be confirmed) is probably about 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM.
Would you like to join us?  As a mostly-retired person, I will have time to be the overall supervisor…but I’d love to have some other Grange friends join me!  It’s an opportunity to leverage some extra help to make our Hall better looking and cleaner.   Please contact me, Tim Swartz via email or phone:  802-225-8921 if you can help us out!

And don’t forget Kids Trade & Play!  
Coming up again on June 8th!

The popular monthly clothing & toy exchange for kids and families happens on the 2nd Saturday of every month, all year ’round.   Organizer Erin Barry & her crew of volunteers do a great job putting out the tubs of kids’ clothes, shoes, etc. on the cafeteria tables downstairs, and putting it all away afterwards.  Erin usually bakes scones, and Merry makes coffee & tea for everyone.   Merry also makes available information about resources for families, and gives away gun-locks for free.   This month, I’ll be substituting for her, as she will be staffing a Wear Orange table at the Montpelier Farmers’ Market.

Grange Notes by Tim Swartz, Grange President (with everyone’s help), May 16, 2019

• 

• 

A close contest… .

..was decided with a point tally.   Our Celebrity Judges, for our
Grange Baking Contest:  Spice Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting devised a point system involving flavor, appearance, texture.  For the 5 entrants, there were a total of 240 points that could be awarded.  It took careful notes and a calculator to figure out that there was a dead heat for 2nd & 3rd place:   Erin Barry and Delna Boyce tied for that honor…and the first place winner is:  Phyllis Skinner. 
Above, you can see our Celebrity Judges:  Alec Ellsworth (with associate judge Axel), Lynn Spencer, and Jacqeline Rieke.  They are comparing notes and points, prior to breaking out the calculator.   All the cakes were tasty, they said–and we got to sample the remainders at the Community Potluck dinner after the judging.
Contestants were awarded chef’s hats (like the one modeled with great forbearance by Erin’s son Colin in the bottom photo), made by dedicated sewing masters Charles Martin and Richard DeCosta, who used to sell them at the Coffee Corner Restaurant in Montpelier.   All 3 hats featured special fabrics, as did the handmade potholders also, made by Charles and Richard.  They find fascinating food-related patterns, which have long been a big hit as graduation presents for New England Culinary Institute students!
We thank all the contestants for their participation–watch for an announcement of the recipe for the 2020 contest!

Updating our meeting format:  more time for programs and discussion

Devoted readers like you, who have been following the reports of our meetings, will know that for a while we have been talking about how to improve the format of our monthly meetings to encourage involvement of more people.   Recently, we have focused on the cramped time we end up with for the “programs” we offer.  These can range from a presentation by an outside organization or person (like the info session on Central VT Internet), to a participatory event (like sing-alongs), to special Grange events like the baking contest reported on above.  Our current schedule of Grange business meeting from 4:15 to 5:30 leaves only 1/2 hour for the program, before we have to start the Community Potluck dinners which follow at 6:00.
Following our April meeting, Merry Shernock (Treasurer & Rental Agent, who has also set up most of the programs for the past few years) put together a proposal, which we discussed an adopted unanimously.  Here’s the plan:

• In odd-numbered months, starting in September, we’ll have a full Grange meeting, using our current version of the Grange Ritual.  As we have been doing, we’ll discuss developments in Agriculture, Legislative, Health and other areas that are of interest, the plans of the Friends of the CCG Hall, and other suggestions “for the Good of the Order”.  Of course we will continue to incorporate the group singing which is a real attraction for many of us!
  • The next odd-numbered month is July, when we’ll have a barbecue meeting/potluck dinner–outside we hope! (As I write this on May 14th, the snow which fell last night has just melted…)
• In even-numbered months, we’ll have an “Executive meeting” from 4:30 to 5:00.   Without the sashes and formal set-up we use for full meetings, we’ll discuss the business of running the Grange–reviewing Treasurer’s reports, Hall maintenance and improvements needs, etc.  We will still incorporate some group singing, which helps us feel connected!
  • From 5:00 to 6:00, we’ll have much more time for programs of various sorts, with more participation.  Questions and discussion by members and the public are usually the most interesting and involving part of these programs.
• We will not plan to have a meeting in August, but the Executive Committee can meet if needed to make decisions, as always.
• We are seeking a “Program Coordinator”, who will be in charge of setting up those programs.   Merry and Liz Benjamin have started to discuss a “job description” for this volunteer position.  Keep reading these Notes for more information!

In other news from our meeting…

We had our usual lively discussions of current events–for example the ongoing debate in the Legislature about school districts who have not agreed to the merger plans drawn up as part of Act 46.  This is an issue with repercussions that affect local school districts in a variety of ways, and illustrates the complexity of making broad-scale policy changes.   These discussions, where people bring their individual stories and reactions to public issues, and we listen and discuss respectfully, trying to balance small-scale and larger-scale results are valuable forums for me (and I think all of us at the meeting) to learn about controversial policies in a way that is different than listening to or watching news reports.
We also had our monthly report about Health Concerns, presented by Phyllis Skinner, RN, who has other accomplishments besides her baking prowess!  She reported on research that studied the impact of use of dietary supplements–like fish oil capsules and multi-vitamins–that many of us take.  So far, studies comparing death rate show no effects from these supplements. 
In more serious health news, a medication-resistant fungus called Candida auris shown up in some patients in U.S. hospitals.  It has been a world-wide concern for some time, but now is considered a threat to patients with compromised immune systems, those who have had broad-spectrum antibiotic and antifungal medications, and those with venous catheters and other tubes going into their bodies.  More information is available from the CDC website. 
Phyllis does make sure to include some good news–this month literally a sweetener:  if your brown sugar has hardened during storage (as hers had), you can revive it by putting it in the microwave, with a damp paper towel over it, in a covered container–and briefly heating it–try 15 seconds at a time.  Take it from the baking contest winner!
Our meeting also included discussion of ways to get the news out to our regular tenants–if you are part of one of the partner organizations who rent space from us, I’d love to know how I’m doing–email me with comments positive or negative!   And spread the word to others in the group that  they can easily sign up on the Grange website. 

Updated schedule for the next acoustic panel work party

We had hoped to be able to put together the next set of acoustic panels this Saturday, but due to an out-of-town funeral, and the following weekend being Memorial day, we now have scheduled it for Sunday, June 2nd, from 2:00-5:00 PM.
After the Friends of the Capital City Grange (FCCGH) put up the first batch of acoustic panels on the wall opposite the stage, some improvement was audible–but not enough.
So–encouraged by the excellent turnout of helpers at our panel-assembly-and-panel-hanging work party, the Friends are planning another round.
This time, we’ll be building panels that will about double the wall area covered.   We will build panels to cover parts of the East and West walls, after consulting with an engineer with acoustic experience who is part of the dance community.
We’ve ordered the acoustic batts, and the fire-resistant, acoustically transparent fabric to wrap the panels and frames.  The materials will be paid for out of the generous donations which Grange supporters gave to the FCCGH in the 2018 end-of-year appeal, like the first batch of panels.   Materials will be prepped by Kurt Giavara and Tim Swartz, and we’ll have another assembly party once we have materials ordered–we hope on Saturday, May 18th.   We’ll contact those who came last time, but if you want to be involved, please send an email to:  Tim Swartz to let us know.  We’ll keep track of how many people can efficiently help.
Keep your eyes–and ears–open for the next developments!

Grange Notes by Tim Swartz, Grange President (with everyone’s help), April 29, 2019

Celebrity Judges join us for the annual Grange Baking Contest

Every year, the Grange has a nation-wide contest to test the skills of Grange members.  Our Grange has broadened the contest to include anyone who wants to enter–we will give a free membership to any non-Grange member that takes the first place!  
So–at 5:30 PM, following the Grange business meeting, we welcome anyone to bring their favorite version of this year’s Grange Baking Contest:  Spice Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting.  Perhaps you have a family recipe that always wows your friends?  Always disappears when you bring it to share at potluck dinners?   The pictures below may give you some inspiration if you need it–I found a remarkable number of types of spice cakes when I did a quick Google-search.
For the judging, we need 6 pieces to go on a plate (we have lots of those!), and the recipe on a 3×5 card.  Put your name on the other side, and we’ll tape it to the bottom of the plate, to keep the contestants anonymous…..then the judges begin their incredibly scientific process of choosing the best 3 cakes.    This year, our panel of local “celebrity judges” includes: Lynn Spencer Art teacher, at the Berlin Elementary School, and curator of the exhibit of kids’ art which has beautified the walls of our Hall for the last few years. Alec Ellsworth Director for Parks and Trees, for the city of Montpelier, and also a well-known local fiddler.   Alec plays Cajun and country songs and tunes with “Chaque Fois”, along with Katie Trautz Jacquelyn Rieke a.k.a. “Nutty Steph”, proprietor of the Middlesex business of that name, which makes and sells granolas, chocolates and CBD products.

We will award “interesting” prizes to the 3 top finishers, and the first-place winner can go on to further contests at the “Pomona” and “State” levels of the Grange, for even more prizes and glory!

We will have a Grange meeting before the contest; at our last meeting, we came up with a pretty solid proposal to make our Grange meetings more attractive to those outside the “hard core”, by changing the Grange meeting schedule.  Our idea is to have brief “business meetings” on alternate months, followed by a longer “program”, which will feature a speaker.    Having a longer time available will allow for the vigorous discussion and question/answer period that have been part of our most successful programs.   We may also have a participatory activity like the sing-alongs which people have enjoyed, or the “Life Hacks” sharing of great techniques to make daily life easier.  
Stay tuned for the upcoming schedule–including a summer barbecue dinner, and more.
Of course, after the meeting and the cake-judging, we expect you will want to stay for the Community PotluckDinner, starting at 6:00 PM.  Bring your favorite dish to eat along with spice-cake leftovers! 

The article below came out a few days after the April 13th edition of this monthly event.   Reporter Stephen Mills  interviewed organizer Erin Barry and other volunteers and families–see below!

Times-Argus reports on “Kids Trade ‘N’ Play”

Trade & Play a big hit with families

• By Stephen Mills Staff Writer
• Apr 16, 2019

BERLIN — “Bring in your old, go out with the new,” is one of the mantras of the monthly Kids Trade and Play community program to swap, recycle and reuse often-costly children’s clothing, shoes and toys.

Held on the second Saturday of the month at the Capital City Grange, just across the Montpelier city line at 6612 Route 12, the program has become a big hit with area parents to outfit growing kids in new sizes and provide a vibrant community social gathering for families and friends.

Erin Barry said she based Kids Trade and Play on a similar program that began eight years ago in Santa Cruz, California.“Then I moved here four and a half years ago and I said I needed to start it here,” Barry said as she manned the entrance and accepted the $3 entry fee to cover expenses.

Once inside, everything is free for the taking, and scores of mostly women swarmed over dozens of tote bins with different sizes of clothing. There were also shoes and toys and a range of a mother’s needs, such as breast pumps and maternity wear, as well as women’s clothing available.

Barry said she first approached the Grange with the idea, and praised its officials for the support she received.

“They gave me some storage space in the back which was key so I don’t have to carry the stuff home every month,” Barry said.

Barry said she put the word out she wanted donations of children’s and maternal items.

I also started a Facebook page and I posted on Front Porch Forum,” Barry said. “So, I collected a bunch of things and asked some friends to help me out.”

Barry said she bought the tote bins, which are labeled with the different sizes from infant up to junior 10-12.

“The buckets are always being refilled, so people can look through things again and again,” Barry said.

“We started in March of 2015 and it’s been growing every month since and there are still people coming who have never been before,” Barry said. “Now we have somewhere between 80 to 100 adults coming and around 50 children who come every month.”

Barry also provides scones and coffee and tea she makes at home. “I really want it to be a social event so people do stay the whole two hours,” she said.

A big hit for the kids — and their parents who are rummaging for finds — is a play area with books and toys that kids can take home.

A back table has small equipment with car seats, play mats, and boppies or slings that parents can use to breastfeed or carry their child.

“It’s great recycling for the earth,” Barry said. “There are so many materials that a baby seems to need and what do you do with it when you don’t need it anymore in your house? So, it’s a resource for our community to share and recycle.”

Agency of Agriculture official Alex Depillis, of Montpelier, was visiting with his son, Gabriel Nathaniel, aged 2, who was trying out all the toys in the children’s play section.

It’s play for him, coffee and scones for me, and clothes, both give and get,” DePillis said. “So, it’s all a great mix, and I can see some of my friends and we can sit and talk.”

Judy Buchanan, of East Montpelier, was visiting with her daughter, Elena, aged 3, who was ensconced in a tent fort in the children’s play area.

“I like that it’s a place that you can get rid of things,” Buchanan said. “So, you bring things and you can get things and you’re not buying new stuff; it’s all used stuff being recycled.

“The kids are really only in the stuff for a very short time, so to spend a lot of money to get a lot of new clothing is expensive,” Buchanan added.

Buchanan also liked the social interactions between adults and between children.

“It’s fun,” Buchanan said. “Elena saw a friend from her pre-school in East Montpelier which was fun for her. It’s a nice time to get with the community and interact with others.”

Hannah Hansard, of Montpelier, was visiting with her son, Atticus, 3, who was fascinated with a kid’s size ride-on race car that he could take home but eventually settled on a small karaoke mic and pre-recorded music toy.

“When Atticus was born three years ago, he was much larger than expected and he grew very quickly, and I had no clothes for him,” Hansard said. “Erin had just started Trade and Play, and I came and I clothed my child for the first few months of his life.

“I volunteered for a while, and I enjoyed all the people who come out — I’ve tried to build my tribe here,” Hansard added. “I love coming out here to get not only his current size but the next size up, which makes me feel more secure about the future.”

To learn more about Kids Trade and Play, email Erin Barry at birthsinnerlight@yahoo.com.

stephen.mills@timesargus.com

Next (quiet) steps for improving the acoustics

After the Friends of the Capital City Grange (FCCGH) put up the first batch of acoustic panels on the wall opposite the stage, some improvement was audible–but not enough.
So–encouraged by the excellent turnout of helpers at our panel-assembly-and-panel-hanging work party, the Friends are planning another round.
This time, we’ll be building panels that will about doublele the wall area covered.   We will build panels to cover parts of the East and West walls, after consulting with an engineer with acoustic experience who is part of the dance community.
The materials will be paid for out of the generous donations which Grange supporters gave to the FCCGH in the 2018 end-of-year appeal, like the first batch of panels.   Materials will be prepped by Kurt Giavara and Tim Swartz, and we’ll have another assembly party once we have materials ordered–we hope on Saturday, May 18th.   We’ll contact those who came last time, but if you want to be involved, please send an email to:  Tim Swartz to let us know.  We’ll keep track of how many people can efficiently help and confirm the date and time soon!
Keep your eyes–and ears–open for the next developments!

Grange Notes by Tim Swartz, Grange President (with everyone’s help), April 1, 2019

Grange meetings–not just for April Fools?

At our next meeting on April 6th, we’ll be having a couple of guests from a Massachusetts Grange, located in Westport, in the southeast corner of the state.   Barbara and Ed are visiting family in the Champlain Islands, and will stop off to see our Grange, attend our meeting, and hear how we are keeping our Grange active and successful.  They will also hear how we are continuing to struggle to do just that!  
Our main topic at the meeting will be a continuation of our March discussions of how to get more folks involved, including ideas for possibly restructuring our meetings.  We’d enjoy hearing the ideas of anyone who wants to talk to us–about why you do come to meetings, or why you don’t.  Or why you do like organizing projects at the Grange, and how you can help us find more people to do that.    We’d love to talk to you at the meeting…and of course have you stay for the Community Potluck afterward.

In case you wondered what a Grange Meeting looks like…

Here are a few pictures from a meeting earlier this year, showing a few of us wearing our sashes, talking about Grange business, getting ready to play for one of the songs is always an enjoyable part of the meeting.

Potluck for dozens of hungry people

Join us for potluck dinner this Saturday at 6:00, following the Grange meeting.   We get a good crowd, and lots of tasty dishes that range from meat to vegetarian to….dessertarian!   The more people we have, the more choices we have.  We know you are going to eat something for dinner on Saturday, so why not join us?   Donations have included chicken casseroles, roasted root vegetables, breads, cole slaw,  chips, pizza, spreads, cookies, crown roast, green salads, pies, sodas, cider, milk, brownies, baked beans, macaroni, dal, fruit–we never know.  
Surprise us with your favorite dish to share–we can guarantee a number of empty stomachs that will welcome it!  We invite everyone to join us–whether you come to the Grange meeting or not, and whether you plan to stay for the contra dance that happens later in the evening or not, we will be happy to share our food and our socializing.

Another tasty Indian Cooking workshop draws a capacity crowd

Chicken Biryani, Dhansakh Dal and Kachumber The pictures above show some the dishes that made our mouths water on Sunday, March 24th.  Grange member Delna Boyce taught 15 of us how she cooks her tasty combination of recipes, and explained the ingredients for all of these dishes:  Chicken Biryani, Dhansakh Dal and Kachumber.
The top picture shows just a sampling of the whole spices she uses–Star Anise, Cinnamon sticks, a few kinds of Cardamom seeds, and a couple of others I didn’t write down!  She also brought pre-mixed masalas–spice blends she brought back from India on a recent trip.   The combination of the spices with onion gravy, green chilies, garlic, yogurt, tomato, plus saffron, cumin, coriander, some lime juice, basmati rice–it all added up to very tasty main dish of Chicken Biryani.  It was served with sliced hard-boiled eggs decorating the top.
Besides this, she made a dal, or legume dish.  This was made from Toor Dal (pigeon peas), Moong Dal, chopped up Hubbard squash, zucchini and eggplant, tomatoes, onions, garlic, ginger, coriander, cumin and Dhansakh masala powder.  Some turmeric and lime juice added another set of spicy tastes to the plates.  You can see it in the large black pot in the top right photo.
The third dish was a Kachumber salad–sliced onions, cucumbers, tomatoes, radishes and mango, with coriander leaves, seasoned with salt and more lime juice.  
Delna explained some of the steps as she did them, and then urged us to ask questions while the Biryani finished cooking.  She explained the wide variety of spices, telling us which ones we might be able to get at the Indian food store on Williston Road, and which she had to bring back from India.  She also told us what we can substitute, and how she combines ingredients from more standard recipes to get the more complex flavors she likes.  Delna is not a doctrinaire “my way or the highway” teacher!
Despite our original plan to aim for 12 class members, we ended up with 15–which shows how popular these sorts of classes are.   We ask for a $20 donation to cover the costs of ingredients, heating the Hall etc., which is pretty cheap for a great bill of fare like this, including a dinner at the end, and some leftover dal for most if not all of us!
We can do more workshops like this–if we get the right combination of willing volunteer teachers and help organizing.

Check it out–Saturday, April 13, 9:30-11:00 AM!

Kids Trade ‘n’ Play–seeking more good clothes for kids! Erin Barry, who started this monthly clothing & toy exchange, is asking for some donations–read her message below!

Dear Community-

Kids Trade and Play is hoping to bump up our collection of clothing for children sizes newborn to Junior 10. 

 ‘Tis the season for shopping and what better way for parents to get this task done while drinking coffee, eating scones, socializing and only spending $3 per family–and taking home all the clothes you want?!

We, the volunteers of the program, are putting a mid-month call out there for donations.

We are accepting clean clothes and shoes in great condition. Also coats will be taken at this time too.

We can arrange to have you drop your donations off at one of our homes, get it picked up by one of our team, or meet in town somewhere if you can’t make it. You can respond via email:  birthsinnerlight@yahoo.com

Thank you for Reducing, Reusing and Recycling! We can do this together.
With Gratitude, The Kids Trade and Play Team (2nd Saturday of every month at the Capital City Grange, 9:30am–11:00am)
Erin Barry
KIDS TRADE & PLAY Coordinator
(831) 337-8632
Montpelier, VT
MOTHER * ARTIST * HEALER”
Be the change you wish to see in the world” -Gand

Dance, Sing & Jump Around
Sunday, April 14, 3:00 to 4:30PM Fun for all–bring or borrow a child, or come by yourself, and enjoy traditional family dances, play party games, songs, all with live music!  Calling by Liz Benjamin and Stan Carlson!
Free for kids, suggested donation of $5 for adults, but no one will be turned away.

Welcoming kids of all ages and jumping abilities.

Challenge yourself:  can you have this much fun? 

The sound of one hand clapping… That might sum up the response to the first batch of acoustic panels, which were assembled and hung on the south wall of the Main Hall, opposite the stage.
While some of us feel we can detect a reduction in the “reverb” of the Hall, it hasn’t been enough to make a significant difference, judging by the feedback from some users (the Barre-Tones women’s singing group, and sound-guys from the contra dance).   More sound absorbency seems to be needed. 
So–encouraged by the excellent turnout of helpers at our panel-assembly-and-panel-hanging work party, the Friends of the Capital City Grange (FCCGH) is planning another round.
This time, we’ll be building panels that will about triple the wall area covered.   There will be narrow panels over all the windows in the Hall, and 4′ square panels between the windows.   The materials will be paid for out of the generous donations which Grange supporters gave to the FCCGH in the 2018 end-of-year appeal, like the first batch of panels.   Materials will be prepped by Kurt Giavara and Tim Swartz, and we’ll announce another assembly party once we have materials ordered–sometime in April.   Keep your eyes–and ears–open for the next developments!