Work party on Saturday afternoon–or, Reverb-erb-erb and how to cure it

February 20, 2019 by Tova

Grange Notes by Tim Swartz, Grange President (with everyone’s help), February 19, 2019

Our task: complete and hang 18 acoustic panels

It’s time to quiet things down a bit–so we’re hanging acoustic panels on the south wall of the Main Hall. And we need some help! Over the past couple of weeks, the Friends of the Capital City Grange Hall have purchased lumber, acoustic batts and fabric to make 24 panels–2’x 4′ panels. Kurt Giavara and I have made up the frames, and it’s time to install the batts, wrap them with acoustic fabric and hang them on the wall!

For years, Grange Hall users have had problems hearing each other. Whether it’s in Grange meetings, rehearsals for the Barre-Tones, contra dance callers talking to dancers–there can be so much “reverb” that it is hard to understand what’s being said.
S0–it’s time to do something about it, especially since Grange users have made generous donations to the Friends in the end-of-year fundraising campaign. We’ve decided to start with hanging the 18 panels shown in the drawing above.
We’d like you to join us on Saturday, Feb. 23, starting at noon. We’ll be:

Putting rockwool acoustic batts in the pre-made frames.
Wrapping the frames with acoustically transparent, fire-resistant fabric.
Stapling the fabric on the backs
Attaching “french cleats” to the backs–boards with a 45 degree bevel on the bottom edge.
Hanging the frames on matching french cleats mounted on the wall, with the beveled edge up.

Can you come and help? Can you bring a stapler–manual or electric? We’re not looking for desk-type staplers, but ones made for stapling, for example, construction plastic and insulation. Examples would be the Arrow T50, or Stanley, or other brands like the ones below. If so, we’ll buy staples to match–just let me know the brand!
Please contact Tim Swartz if you can come help us on Saturday.

We need feedback….wait. What?

“Feedback” has different meanings! When we talk about sound quality, it can mean that nasty squeal from a sound system that sometimes assaults our ears. We don’t want that.
What we are looking for is the feedback that means informed responses to the changes we hope to make in our acoustic quality from this panel trial. Do these panels make a difference in:

un-amplified speech? As at small meetings.
amplified speech? As at contra dances with a caller and band
vocal music? As at Barre Tones rehearsals.
amplified speech with no band? As might be the case at a training meeting.

We want to hear–clearly–from you, so let us know what changes you notice. We’d like to hear from a variety of the users; we’ll be getting in touch with various groups, but we want responses from anyone interested in how things sound at the Hall.

Hot new dance joins the Grange lineup on Sunday! Dance, Sing & Jump Around, plus Kids Trade & Play on Saturday make for a family-friendly weekend.

February 9, 2019 by Tova

Grange Notes by Tim Swartz, Grange President (with everyone’s help) February 6, 2019

The Grange sign tells the story

The snow has melted down a bit, but it was still easy to reach the top–without a stepladder–to mount the new sign for Dance, Sing & Jump Around above the one for Kids Trade & Play on Sunday afternoon.

We’ve seen impressive growth in the number of families who come to donate out-grown, but still good kids’ clothing and pick up equally good larger-size clothing, toys and gear at the KT&P on 2nd Saturday mornings–from 9:30 to 11:30 as the sign says.   On January 12th, there were about 100 people of all sizes, on a frigid day! The exchange features clothing for newborns through Junior 10 sizes, plus shoes, books, toys and maternity needs. Or you can just stop by for coffee or tea, and socialize while kids play, and get information about community resources for families. A small donation of $3.00 per family is asked to cover overhead, but no one will be turned away. Make it a family outing, and come visit!

Then on Sunday afternoon, from 3:00PM to 4:30PM, DS&JA makes its Sunday debut at the Grange Hall.   We welcome this series, which has been running for about 3 years in Plainfield, to use our larger venue, with much more parking.   Dances for kids of all ages, including circle & line dances plus singing games will be taught by Liz Benjamin and Stan Carlson.   Music this weekend will be by Katie Trautz & her students! FREE for kids, $5 donation per adult requested–no one will be turned away! If you don’t have a kid lying around the house, borrow one.

Keep up to date with these events, and many more by checking out the Calendar on the Grange website: www.capitalcitygrange.org (special note:   there’s still more going on this weekend in addition to these fine events, which are directly sp0nsored by the CCG!)

Groundhog Day meeting ends on time!

If like me, you enjoyed the movie with that name, you’ll know why I mention this fact…almost everyone arrived on time and we finished up in time for a great potluck dinner, with a birthday party joining us, no less!

Our meeting included a variety of good news:

We have a new regular tenant, the VT Youth Theater, who have invested in helping us renovate the Grange Closet, to make room for their needs while still providing storage for Grange meeting paraphernalia. The VYT is a non-profit which provides high-quality theater training to kids from 5 to 18. To learn more, check their website: VT Youth Theater Contact Mary List-Wheeler, their director for more info.
We will host another Cooking Workshop, date TBD, building on the success of “Delna’s Farmers’ Market Favorites” last year. 15 people had a great time, and cooked tasty Indian food at that one. At the next one, our talented teacher, Delna, will be teaching participants to make Chicken Biryani, in a “more advanced” class. Keep in touch for details!
Building relationships with arts groups is one way we show how we serve the community by providing this venue. We think it will help the Friends of the Capital City Grange Hall in their next grant application to the VT Arts Council. Thanks to Merry Shernock for working with the VYT, as well as DS&JA!
Acoustic panels are on their way! The FCCGH has ordered materials for at least 18 panels. Kurt Giavara and Tim Swartz will be putting the frames together in the next week or two, and the FCCGH will schedule a work party to fill them with acoustic batting, cover them with fabric, and hang them on the “old entrance” end of the Main Hall. We’ll be looking for feedback on the impact these make, for the many types of activities that call the Grange Hall home. We will be consulting with the various dance, singing and meeting groups to see how we can continue to improve the acoustics of the Hall.
The “Repair Cafe” organizers from the Central VT Solid Waste Management District and the Onion River Exchange time-bank are very interested in holding another event at our Hall. Since we are so booked up, we couldn’t find an open date that worked for them in March, so they will hold one elsewhere, and will look for a future date to hold a Repair Cafe at the Grange Hall.
Our arrangement with the Town of Berlin to be tax-exempt with regard to property taxes has been a continued boon to our finances, as was demonstrated as Treasurer Merry showed us the Grange financial records. She uses QuickBooks Online, and was able to project the data for Grange Meeting attendees to see. We have been able to invest in the Grange Hall, as we did last year–installing an on-demand water heater, pumping out the septic tank, re-grading the driveway and continuing our improvements around the ADA entrance. Instead of needing help from fund-raisers to pay our bills, we are able to keep on top of expenses even while putting money into improvements.
We have hosted about 72 no-charge “rentals” of the Hall for Berlin families, individuals and organizations since getting the tax exemption in March, 2016, right about at the 2-per month figure we projected as our commitment.

Our meeting was followed by the Monthly Community Potluck Dinner, once again full of treats, included the usual variety of tasty treats, from roast leg of lamb, to green salad, lima beans, crown roast, chicken with sauce, brownies, bread, pasta salad–and a birthday party! We were pleased to share food and fun with the guest of honor, Harvest, who is turning 12, and her friends and family. She asked to have her party at the Grange potluck, and then at the contra dance following! The dancers sang Happy Birthday with gusto, and ate up the birthday cakes at the break with equal enthusiasm.
We never know exactly what will show up at our potluck dinners. Put the next one, on March 2nd, on your calendar!

Did you know we are halfway to Spring?–shoveling snow, cleaning the Grange Hall, and meeting on Groundhog day!

February 2, 2019 by Tova

Grange Notes by Tim Swartz, Grange President (with everyone’s help), January 31, 2019

Grange sign–before, during and after The snow-plowing by SR Services during the snowstorm on Jan. 19 & 20 was great–but as usual, the snow had to go somewhere! The top picture below this caption show the pile that was in front of our sign next to the driveway, just after I hung up the Grange Meeting sign on Monday 1/21. As you can see, not much was very visible! This included very limited sightlines when looking for northbound traffic coming from the left as you leave the driveway.
So I sent out a survey & invitation to help remove snow. Did you get this survey? Let me know if you did!
Many thanks to Kurt Giavara, who shoveled down the outer edge without waiting for company! And to Carl Etnier–the one person who answered the survey, and came to help me on Friday morning, the 25th. Picture #2 shows the pile after Kurt’s hard work; picture #3 shows Carl on the remaining pile after he and I continued the plane that Kurt established. Pictures #3 and 4 show the fire exit, before and after Carl and I shoveled that out.

Grange Hall–cleaned in the cold and snow on the Martin Luther King “Day of Service”, Monday, Jan. 21st, a total of 13 Grange volunteers pitched in to spiff up the Hall. The pictures below capture some moments, featuring most of the volunteers and the work they did:

From the top: Stan Carlson folds up curtains (to be laundered, by Merry), Stephen Wright replaces a cleaned lamp globe (he didn’t break any of them!), Tossy Garrett cleans light diffusers, with Henry & Calvin supervising, Jody Pettersen cleans the refrigerator, Merry Shernock cleans and organizes the Dance closet, and shows off the blinds in the upstairs bathroom–white once more! At the bottom, Stan, Tim Swartz and Carl Etnier roll up the 2nd-to last of the 6 floor mats which got cleaned. Not shown: Calvin & Henry cleaning the walls of the upstairs bathroom! Sean and his sons Owen & Andy cleaning the mats, and kitchen cabinets! Liz Benjamin cleaning more light diffusers in the kitchen! Merry cleaning the stage and the piano! Carl cleaning the foyers!…and the feast we had for lunch, provided by various volunteers who came, plus mac & cheese dropped off by Elizabeth Templeton. All of this took place the day after the nearly 2 feet of snow, with outside temperatures in the single digits at most. As you can imagine, it was not a good day to open and clean the windows and screens–so we’ll be back when the weather is warmer to get to those. See my previous Grange Notes for “before” photos to truly appreciate the cleaning we did. Thanks to one and all!

Grange meeting on Groundhog Day

We’ll meet again on Saturday, Feb. 2nd. As noted in the subject line for this email, this is halfway between the Winter Solstice, with the shortest day of the year, on about Dec. 21, and the Spring Equinox on about Mar. 21st. I know I’m glad for some morning light sooner after I get up, and some extra daylight in the afternoons. I look forward to seeing Grange members and friends at 4:15 PM on Saturday for our monthly business meeting. Anyone is welcome, no password–consider yourself invited!

Our meeting will feature an on-screen financial report from Treasurer Merry Shernock, who will use the Quickbooks Online service to show us how the last year has gone. She’ll use the projector recently donated to the Grange to put her screen image on the Grange’s projection screen for all to see.
In 2018, we were able to invest some money in the Grange Hall, had increased use of the Hall by many local families and organizations. We also had some increased costs which accompany that increased use. The balance of expenses and income will be discussed, along with how well we are fulfilling our commitment to host events for Berlin residents at no charge, in return for the freedom from property tax we were voted in 2016. We will have to get that renewed in 2021, which is coming closer!

We’ll also hear about the developing relationship we have with the VT Youth Theater, which is renting our Hall for rehearsals on a regular basis. We have been working with them to provide storage space and other modifications, based on a commitment to long-term usage plans. Having this relationship with a theater company should enhance the case the Friends of the Capital City Grange Hall will be making for another grant from the Arts Council.
We will also be talking about the general issue of storage space, and how to balance the needs of existing and future tenants for storage of items needed for their Grange Hall use. Once again, this is the result of pressures from success–increased usage of our Hall for its purpose of community service for family and community organizational events.

Our meting will also include the reports on agricultural issues (it’s Farm Show right now!), VT Legislative issues, Health Concerns, and the Grange Hall report. The latter will include upcoming construction of at least 18 acoustic panels, to try out reductions in the “reverb” that can make listening to speakers and each other difficult, as well as causing problems for the dance callers at contra dances. The generous donations the Friends have raised in their 2018 year-end campaign will finance these improvements, as well as building up the grant-matching capital for our hoped-for basement improvements.

Our meeting will be followed by the Monthly Community Potluck Dinner, which last month attracted over 30 people. Join us about 6:00 for this enjoyable and tasty chance to socialize as we share food. Bring something you’ve cooked fresh, or something you’ve reheated from the freezer (we have a microwave, stoves and ovens in the kitchen to help), or a pizza or bread or a gallon of cider you have picked up on your way to the meeting or the potluck–we look forward to seeing you!

Mid-January update: Holiday boxes thanks, Grange cleanup, acoustics test project…and the Grange will be the new home of Dance,Sing & Jump Around!

January 22, 2019 by Tova

Grange Notes by Tim Swartz, Grange President (with everyone’s help), January 17, 2019

Grange Hall cleanup coming next Monday!

Please join us for a clean-up party on Monday, Jan. 21st!   Those of you who have been reading the Grange Notes will have seen the pictures of various parts of the Hall that show lots of dirt build-up, thanks to the busy people and active groups that use our Hall!
So we are planning a Clean-Up Day! Coming on the Martin Luther King “Day of Service”, Monday, Jan. 21st! This is your chance to join other Grange Hall users and friends to spiff up the Hall. Bring some cleaning supplies, if you can, but we are mostly interested in getting you–and your friends!–to bring energy and enthusiasm to make it a productive day for all of us, leaving the Hall shining and smelling good.

We plan on working from 10:00 AM to 3:00 PM, with time off for lunch from about Noon to 1:00 PM. Come for the morning shift, the afternoon shift, or the whole shebang! If you can’t come and clean, but want to provide some lunch, that would be great also.

About the Martin Luther King Day of Service: in honor of MLK and his life of work for a better America, people across the country make this holiday a day ON, not just a day OFF, by volunteering in their communities.   We are organizing this clean-up to make the Grange Hall even more welcoming and attractive. The Grange, an all-volunteer organization, owns and maintains this Hall to serve local community organizations, families and non-profit groups. We hope you’ll pitch in with us to make it even nicer.   Past clean-up parties have been companionable and fun–as well as productive!
More info?   Call Tim at: 802-225-8921.

First Grange meeting of the new year features reports & new activities at the Grange Hall

Our first meeting of 2019, on Jan. 5th, brought us up to speed on a variety of issues, both within the Grange and in the wider world.
We were able to begin right on time at 4:15, the slightly earlier opening time we’ve resolved to use. Our goal is to have time for the many items we cover in our monthly business meeting, allowing us to close the meeting by 5:30 to begin the program–which at this meeting was Rights and Democracy VT. See the report on Kate Logan‘s talk below. Thanks to every one who arrived on time and ready to go!

After our usual opening ceremonies, we started with an Agriculture report. Merry passed on a suggestion from the VT State Grange newsletter, the Green Mountain Granger that Granges (and individuals) look for opportunities to purchase VT milk, for personal use and also for Food Banks, Food Shelves, etc. A good suggestion was made by Grange members–that people who want to donate milk should check that the recipient organization has the facilities to handle fresh milk. A better option may be to buy vouchers to allow the Food Bank or Food Shelf to purchase milk when they can distribute it.
The motivation for increasing milk purchases is the plight of dairy farmers–the market price for the milk they sell is well below the cost of production. With prices adjusted for inflation, this is as low as the price has been since 1930! Please keep this in mind as the winter goes on–the needy families who depend on food aid, and the farmers who produce food all continue to need our help. Note also that the ongoing shutdown of the federal government has held up payment of the subsidies which are supposed to help farmers withstand the effects of the trade war on agricultural exports.

Our report on Grange Home Ec was brief–the baking contest this year will be your own recipe for “Spice Cake with Cream Cheese Topping”. So there will be room for individual variations for taste, nutrition, avoidance of allergens, etc. May is often when we have the judging, so start experimenting!

Grange Vice President Phyllis Skinnerdid a Health Concerns report went through recent research about dietary and lifestyle choices and their impact on health. For example, on the negative side, too much grilled meat (like 15 times per month) is associated with high blood pressure. 93% of bottled water sampled contain micro-plastic fragments. And–following sports tends to make you miserable, according to the research!
On the positive side, eating more organic foods does reduce the risk of cancer, holding hands can help reduce pain (proven with brain-wave research), turmeric helps reduce depression (as well as joint pain), and full-fat dairy products have actually been shown to reduce heart attack and stroke.

Moving on to the Hall report, we had a good presentation from Patty Giavara, Chair of the Friends of the Capital City Grange Hall, or FCCGH. She reported that the year-end fundraising campaign, via letters to past donors, has raised over $4,900 to help with Hall improvement projects! If you want to contribute, please to to the Support the Hall page, and click the Donate button to make a contribution via Paypal or your credit card.
Patty reported on an interim project the FCCGH is planning, before we re-submit our grant proposal for the downstairs improvements. Because of the generosity of our donors, we want to use some of the money we have raised to make a visible (and audible) impact on an ongoing problem–too much echo or “reverb” in the Grange Hall. This makes it difficult to understand spoken words in meetings or from speakers, as well as dance callers at contra & other dances.
The Friends are planning to buy materials to make 18 acoustic panels, which will be hung on the South wall, opposite the stage, as a test for reduced reverb and acoustic improvements. We’ll announce a work-party to do the assembly and installation when we have the plans finalized. This initial test will be followed by meeting with a variety of Grange-using groups, to see if these have had the positive impact we hope for, and to seek feedback (not the audible kind) on next steps. Additional panels can be made to increase the covered area, and panels can be put on other walls if that seems indicated. Please contact Patty: pattycope@comcast.net if you want to help out with planning, constructing, hanging or evaluating this acoustic panel trial. See below for a drawing showing the planned location of our trial panels!

Note that the panels are shown as dark only for this drawing! Actual color will be light.

The Grange meeting also was asked if the Grange could sponsor a dance series for small children, Dance, Sing & Jump Around, which has been organized by Grange members Liz Benjamin and Merry Shernock for the last few years. The rent for their previous location at the Plainfield Opera House has gone up. That venue also has poor parking located across Rt. 2 in the middle of Plainfield. They asked if they could move to the Grange, a more central location, with great parking as well–and a great place to dance, by actual test. The DS&JA events are held once a month from November through April, on the 2nd Sunday afternoons of those months, from 3:00 to 4:30. The Grange voted unanimously to sponsor this series, which brings together children from about 3 to 8 years old, who bring along parents, grandparents and friends. It’s an all-volunteer operation, with Liz Benjamin and Stan Carlson doing the calling, and a variety of local volunteer musicians, which have included Fran & John Mallery, Joanne Garton & students, Aaron Marcus and others. For more information, or to make a tax-deductible donation to the dance, visit the Dance Sing & Jump Around website! Spread the word about the Feb. 10th dance, from 3 to 4:30 PM, which will be the first at the Grange Hall.

After we closed our business meeting, we got to visit with Kate Logan, director of Programming & Policy Development for Rights and Democracy of VT, our speaker for the program. She gave us a brief history of this relatively new organization, which was founded in 2016. RaDVT brought together people from the Workers’ Center of VT, plus people from the environmental justice and labor movements. The goal was to set up an organization that can provide political pressure by helping to elect candidates for local and state offices who support the progressive agenda of RaDVT. They want to develop more candidates from the grassroots, by providing workshops, training and organizing help to encourage committed people to run for various offices. They also have created a “People’s Lobby” to promote the positions and values of RaDVT in the legislature–and are providing workshops to give people the skills to effectively lobby their own representatives and senators. Their goal is to have 10-20,000 members in VT, and about double that in their partner organization in NH, with 200,000 people getting news updates through RaD. As partners with national organizations Center for Popular Democracy, People’s Action and Our Revolution, they aim to build a national network of grassroots political activism, planning for success through electing committed candidates, and supporting them politically and financially.

After Kate made her presentation, she joined about 30 or 35 people who came for the potluck dinner–one of our best turnouts yet. Hope we’ll see you at the next Grange meeting and/or the potluck dinner, on Feb. 2nd! See the food line in the picture below.

Holiday box appreciation!

We got a nice note from our contact at Head Start (part of Capstone Community Action of Washington County), about the impact of the 6 holiday boxes which the Grange donated just before Xmas. They went to 6 families with kids, selected by Head Start. Here’s what they said:
Hi Merry,
I just wanted to let you and the others who helped put the food boxes together, how much the families appreciated them!
We have asked the families for feedback/ suggestions and got nothing but positive comments such as, “awesome’, “wouldn’t have changed a thing”, “loved it!”, and “kids loved getting a pie.” The flowers were a nice touch!

Thanks again for all your hard work!

How did these boxes happen? Merry Shernock used financial contributions from Kids Trade ‘n’ Play, a family that used the Grange Hall for a holiday meal, plus individual contributions to purchase frozen turkeys, roasting pans, pie crusts and fillings for chocolate pie (see the thank-you not for special appreciation for the pie), among many other celebratory items. She also sorted out all the ingredients for the boxes, and solicited deals from grocery stores–including the donated flower centerpieces. Some food was brought in by Grange members and other Hall users. Erin Barry brought in chocolate donated by Nutty Steph. Alison Forrest made the decorated boxes.
I’m sure we will repeat this project for the next holiday season–we’d love to have more donations and more help assembling the boxes. We could do boxes for more families, with more help–we’ll put you on the list if you contact us!
Below is a picture of the assembled food for a family–including a box of non-refrigerated items, and a roasting pan filled with refrigerated foodstuffs.

Happy New Year! Time to re-start our engines at the Grange–join us for our next meeting on Saturday, Jan 5!

January 5, 2019 by Tova

Grange Notes by Tim Swartz, Grange President (with everyone’s help), January 2, 2019

First Grange meeting of the new year: Saturday, January 5th, 4:15 PM

We’ll have our monthly meeting this coming Saturday, and welcome anyone to come and join us. The meeting will feature the usual sing-alongs that we always enjoy–sneaky of the Grange founders to include them in the prescribed rituals for opening and closing meetings!
We’ll also have updated reports on finances from our Treasurer, Merry Shernock, and on the upcoming Legislative session, from our Legislative liaison, Marj Power. The Hall report will give an update on the fundraising by the Friends, and the plans to experiment with acoustic panels to reduce the reverberation that sometimes makes it hard to understand speakers in meetings, or callers at contra-dances. We’ll be talking about membership–look for a special message asking you to join (or re-join) the Grange for 2019 in your e-mailbox soon!
After the business (and fun) meeting, we’ll have a program by a VT organization, “Rights and Democracy” which seeks to raise up VT’s working families and democratic rights, working to promote and actively use the tools of democracy. From their website, I can see that they have projects to support paid family & medical leave for workers, universal health care, clean water, equitable work against climate change–a range of issues joined by the importance of equal opportunity and equity in all of them. You can learn more at their website: Rights and Democracy VT
Come about 5:30 to hear Kate Logan, one of their Program Directors tell about the “People’s Lobby” that RaDVT has established at the State House, about the prospects for legislation they’re focused on, and to answer questions about their campaigns and how to get involved.

And then stay for the Community Potluck Dinner, at about 6:00, where you can share both good food and good conversation with everyone who has come for the meeting, the program, or for the contra dance that starts a bit later! Kate Logan will be there, hope you will too!

P.S. we want to start right at 4:15, to make sure we have time for our program and plenty of time to eat!

Did you hear what I heard? If you were at the Grange Hall on Dec. 23rd, you certainly did!

We had lots of singers, a busy craft table, lyrics projected, lots of tasty snacks, piano & guitar accompanists…and an on-stage dancer!

Our 2nd annual Holiday Carol Sing was at least 6 times bigger than last year–many thanks to the 30 or 40 or 50 people who came–it was hard to keep track!
We owe thanks to a lot of folks for making this possible:

“Marathon Man” Matt Nunnelly was glued to the piano bench for the whole 2 hours, leading us in a wide variety of tunes.
Intrepid Internet lyric-hunter Charles Mayhood had a large number of lyrics loaded on a laptop, and was able to search out others when audience members requested them!
Charles also provided decorations and lights, which increased the holiday feeling. He also made the poster for the event.
Ben Ducadeli donated a projector for Charles to use–and told us the Grange can keep it. We’ll use it for sing-alongs at Grange meetings as well as future Holiday events!
Ben and Charles set up the Grange with floor mats, tables for food, and the projector & screen before anyone else arrived
Many participants brought treats to share–Swedish Kringla, gingerbread, brownies, chocolates, muffins and deviled eggs–by no means a complete list.
The crafts table was a big hit with kids, making simple, attractive holiday ornaments kids could display with pride. Thanks to Wendy, who set it up and kept all involved!
Merry Shernock did a lot of publicity, sending out notices to everyone, putting up posters and encouraging everyone to come.

All in all, it was a great pleasure to have so many people pitch in, and even more come to enjoy singing together.

New Year, New Hall Clean-up!

Now that I’ve taken pictures of some of the less-attractive parts of the Grange Hall, I’m looking forward to getting new shots of these same areas, cleaned up!
How many of these places can you identify? Scroll down to the bottom of this part of the message to see where these are.
So, as I announced in the last Grange Notes, before Christmas, we are planning a Clean-Up Day! Coming on the Martin Luther King “Day of Service”, Monday, Jan. 21st! Your chance to join other Grange Hall users and friends to spiff up the Hall! Bring your favorite cleaning supplies–things like:

Glass cleaner, squeegees, rags
Vacuum cleaner(s)
Buckets
All-purpose cleaners
Dust mops
Wet mops
Rubber/nitrile gloves
Snacks and beverages
Your favorite cleaning music!

We’ll supply some of all of these supplies and tools, but help us out by bringing your favorites! We are mostly interested in getting you–and your friends!–to bring energy and enthusiasm to make it a productive day for all of us, leaving the Hall shining and smelling good.

We plan on working from 10:00 AM to 3:00 PM, with time off for lunch from about Noon to 1:00 PM. Come for the morning shift, the afternoon shift, or the whole shebang! If you can’t come and clean, but want to provide some lunch, that would be great also.

About the Martin Luther King Day of Service: in honor of MLK and his life of work for a better America, people across the country make this holiday a day ON, not just a day OFF, by volunteering in their communities. We are organizing this clean-up to make the Grange Hall even more welcoming and attractive. The Grange, an all-volunteer organization, owns and maintains this Hall to serve local community organizations, families and non-profit groups. We hope you’ll pitch in with us to make it even nicer. More info? Call Tim at: 802-225-8921.
Where are those dirty places? From top left to bottom right:

Fuzzy light fixture in the Main Hall.
Sand and grit that have fallen from through the floor above onto the light-diffusers in the lower level.
Dusty screen and dirty window in the Main Hall.
“Something” spilled in the freezer.
Window blinds with accumulated dust

And it’s hard to take a picture which shows the dirt on the windows themselves, but it’s easy to see with human eyes! We can make a real difference…and have a good time doing it. Hope you can come!