Grange Notes Archives - Page 3 of 17

Science, Art and Government walked into a Grange….

May 6, 2017 by Tova

Grange Notes for May 3, 2017 by Tim Swartz

Grange meeting for May: 4:30 on May 6th

We will have our monthly meeting for Capital City Grange, keeping track of finances, plans for improvements in the Grange Hall, plus reports on legislative matters, health concerns, agricultural changes (some positive news at this time of year!), and our usual sing-alongs. We hope you will join us!

At about 5:30, we’ll have this month’s special event:

We are creating a diverse panel of judges,
for you to impress with your buns, however you roll them!

From the world of Science, meteorologist Roger Hill!
You’ve heard him on WDEV, WGDR and many other stations, and you’ve gotten advice on the weather from “Weathering Heights“. So you know he has good taste in weather. Find out how flaky his crust is!

From the world of Legislation, Politics, and making fine distinctions: Anne Donahue!
Anne has represented the “Washington-2” district since 2003; that has included Berlin since 2012. She is the vice-chair of the Health Care committee, and publishes Counterpoint, a Vermont journal about the mental health community. Find out what she thinks is spicy in cinnamon rolls!

From the world of art (and education and baking), the curator of our stunning exhibition of art from Berlin: Lynn Spencer!
Lynn teaches art at Berlin Elementary School, and curated the selection of art now gracing the walls of our Grange Hall, out of the many creations (since 2002) of the kids she has taught. And she is a part-time professional baker, making pies for Ellie’s Farm Market, just down the road on Rt. 12!

What’s it all about? The baking contest–this Saturday, May 6th

If you’ve read this far, and missed our previous publicity, perhaps it isn’t obvious…but this is the annual Baking Contest for the Grange! This year, the challenge for Grangers all over Vermont is to bake CINNAMON ROLLS (OR BUNS)! You can use any recipe or ingredients you think will tickle the tastebuds of the judges, and make them as healthily delicious, or depravedly delightful as you choose.
What do you win? Besides a blue ribbon, the plaudits of our judges, and the appreciation of your peers, the first place winner at our Community Grange will move on to the State contest, with the chance to win a modest Cash Prize, as well as another blue ribbon! You can even go on to the Nationals!
Here’s the not-so-fine print: Bring 3-5 rolls on a paper plate, with no identifying marks on the top. Put your name, and the recipe on a 3 x 5 card or similar on the bottom of the plate. Bring them to the Grange Hall by 5:00–we’ll be doing the judging about 5:30.
If you are not already a Grange member, with all the rest of us cool kids, we’ll pay for your membership so you can compete at the State level.

And remember–any age can enter!

And after the judging, stay for the Community Potluck Dinner, 6 to 7:00 PM!

As always after a meeting and a program, the Grange hosts a potluck dinner where everyone brings their best dishes to share–hope you will join us!

The Grange wants to see your (cinnamon) buns

April 24, 2017 by Tim Swartz

Grange Notes for April 13, 2017 by Tim Swartz

Why will the Grange smell so good on May 6th?
Special Baking Contest edition

Which ones look like your buns?

What’s your secret recipe?

We are having a baking contest, and everyone is invited!

Bring your irresistible treat on Saturday, May 6th, at 5:00 PM, with judging at 5:30!

Every year, all Granges hold a baking contest, and this year it is cinnamon buns or rolls.   ANY recipe is eligible to win!   All you have to do is impress our panel of CELEBRITY JUDGES! We can’t tell you who they all are yet, but we already have commitments from a local legislator, and a well-known meteorologist.
The winner will represent Capital City Grange at the VT State Grange contest–and we’ll pay your dues for 2017 if you aren’t already a member (like so many cool people).   There are cash prizes for the State winners!
And you can use any recipe–any type of flour, any type of sugar, special flavorings–though I think it will be prudent to use cinnamon!The slightly finer print:   Bring your entry of 3 to 5 buns, on a paper plate to the Grange Hall at 5:00 PM, with your name, contact information, and the recipe, taped to the bottom side of the plate. All entries anonymous and fairly judged!

All ages are welcome to enter this contest!

And of course, we’ll have a great Community Potluck at 6:00.

Bring your favorite dish for sharing, and join us eating at the tables in the Main Hall. We’ve been getting more and more people joining us, and this should be an especially good one. It’s a great opportunity to meet and talk to people–and to share recipes!

I’ll send out info on our April Open House in a separate edition of the Notes.
We wanted to give you and your friends time to test your recipes before May 6th!

Foolish fun at the Grange on April 1st

April 24, 2017 by Tova

Grange Notes for April 21, 2017 by Tim Swartz

Well, it started off with snow…. because what could be more foolish? Must be April in VT!
And after shoveling that away…

We set up for the Open House, admiring the NEW ARTWORK on the walls

Below is just a taste of the 30+ pieces hung on the walls of the Grange Hall, thanks to Berlin Elementary School Art Teacher Lynn Spencer. Come in and see them all. There are more photos at the CCG website: http://capitalcitygrange.org/art-grange-berlin-elementary-school-art-display/ Notice the variety of media used, and the many styles which Lynn’s students have used.

Grange Open House set up inside our new “art gallery” surroundings.

We had tables set up featuring information from the Grange, the Friends of the Capital City Grange Hall, Green Mountain Transit (which parks their buses in our elevated parking lot when floods threaten their depot on Rt. 12), Home Share Now! (which partners with Onion River Exchange providing community service opportunities), Washington County 4H, and the Barre-Tones.
As we did last year at our First Open House, we had Carl Etnier act as MC, introducing a few “demonstration performances”. Carl did his homework beforehand, so he also talked about the history of the National Grange, from its populist, agricultural roots to the present day, including the history of our own Community Grange.
Below are some pictures of the performers, illustrating the range of groups who use our Hall for rehearsals, practices, instruction and meetings:

Our entertainment ended with a sing-along and a potluck dinner. The former was led by Merry Shernock (who organized the whole event, and hung the art with Lynn). We sang a number of the “new repertoire” which she, Alison Forrest and others have brought to the Grange meetings in the past year. These included “Lift Every Voice and Sing“, “This Land is Your Land“, “I’ll Fly Away” and more. If you like community singing, come to Grange meetings!
The potluck was another good one, featuring all kinds of dishes, and people enjoying every bite.

Don’t forget to work on your recipes for Cinnamon Rolls or Buns!
May 6th is the date for the Grange Baking Contest.

I’ll send out one more reminder before then…remember, any recipe you want! Celebrity Judges!

April Fools Day = Open House at the Grange–no foolin’

April 1, 2017 by Tova

Grange Notes by Tim Swartz, March 29, 2017

We’re showcasing our many activities, and all the groups that call the Grange Hall home

Spread the word!

We are holding our second “Grange Open House” to welcome people from the communities that surround and use the Grange Hall.    We have demonstrations and information tables planned, featuring the teachers, students, dancers, singers, community service groups and more that base their activities at the Hall.
From 4:00 to 6:00 PM, we’ll have a lineup of demonstrations by:
The Barretones–the award-winning women’s barbershop chorus group, which rehearses on Monday evenings
Washington County 4H–will put on a fashion show, featuring clothes sewed and modeled by boys and girls in 4H!
Community singing–one our favorite activities at Grange meetings, but time to sing more songs!   We welcome everyone to bring songs to share.   We have a list of songs that we have added to the Grange repertoire: Lift Every Voice and Sing, This Land is Your Land, Take me out to the Ballgame, Yellow Submarine, I’ll Fly Away, Lean On Me, plus some rounds.   What else do you want to sing? We’re expecting a bunch of enthusiastic singers, so come along and join in.
And we’ll have info tables from many more:
Capital City Grange #469–I’ll be happy to tell more about the Grange–it’s history, our accomplishments, and how you can get involved. I’m putting together some info and pictures to tell the story.   I’ll have info also about theFriends of the CCG Hall!
Green Mountain Transit Agency will have a table–we have hosted their buses when flooding has been a danger for their garage, just down the road.
Weston Mobile Home Co-op will share info. This group of residents of the park down the road has been holding meetings in our Hall on Sunday afternoons. They are working with the Champlain Valley Office of Economic Opportunity to form a cooperative group to buy the mobile home park.
Berlin Elementary School Art will be displayed on the walls of the Grange Hall, part of our partnership with the Town of Berlin.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

If there is a community or Grange group that we have somehow missed, we’ll make room if you get in touch soon! Contact Merry (see above) or Tim Swartz, http://grangenotes@capitalcitygrange.org or 802-225-8921 for more info.

And of course, we’ll have a great Community Potluck at6:00.

Biking readiness, even in winter & April 1st = Open House at the Grange!

March 29, 2017 by Tova

Grange Notes by Tim Swartz, March 14, 2017

When it’s winter–some folks are still riding bikes–and the rest of us are ready to start
As I’m writing this, of course, the biggest storm of the winter is falling….but you have to have faith!

We invited Noah Tautfest, owner of Bicycle Express in Northfield, to give us some basic tips about getting our bikes ready for riding in spring–but we found that he spent part of the day riding in the snow at Burke Mountain! So the bike he brought to demonstrate the basics was this “fat bike”, with 4″ tires–but the basics still apply.
Noah showed us the important maintenance steps he does himself–and recommends for all bikers:

Cleaning: wiping the chain after riding, to get rid of grit that wears out the chain
Lubricating: working chain lube into the links, one section at a time. Using your fingers, rolling the links helps the lubrication work its way in
Checking the whole bike: looking at cables, brakes and gear linkages, to make sure everything is in good shape–before you are going 30 mph down a hill!
Checking your helmet: be aware that helmets start breaking down after 3 years. Foam that is supposed to cushion your head when it hits the ground can just collapse, just when you need it most! Replacing your helmet regularly is the best insurance you can have.
Tire pressure check: Noah reminded us that rubber can let air out, so checking and re-filling is a regular necessity. Low pressure tires like the 10-15 psi ones on his fat bike lose air more slowly–narrow, high-pressure tires like the 90-100 psi ones on a road bike lose it more quickly, but all of them have to be checked–especially if they have spent the winter hanging in the garage. Get yourself a good tire pressure gauge, and use it regularly.

Besides the pre-ride and post-ride check advice, Noah answered lots of questions from the many people who joined us for this program. They ranged from discussion of the many different types of bikes that people ride–off-road mountain and fat bikes, with and without shock-absorbing suspensions, bikes with single front chainwheels and those with front derailleurs and rear ones, road bikes, hybrid bikes and more.
Interest was also expressed in having Noah come back later in the year, perhaps allowing people to bring their bikes to be checked–are you interested? Let us know! We could do it when the weather is warmer, so we can have room outside and don’t have to worry about the floor.

March Grange Meeting: What’s Going on These Days?

New storage for Kids Trade & Play

At the Grange meeting, we got a report from Erin Barry on the ongoing success of KT&P, the popular family clothing & toy swap, plus community gathering of families which she hosts. Since starting this series in March of 2016, it has kept growing. Erin and a small cadre of volunteers sort the piles of donations, and on the second Saturday of each month, lay them out in size and age categories on the cafeteria tables downstairs at the Grange Hall. Dozens of families come to drop off even more out-grown (but clean and in good repair) children’s clothes, and to find lightly-used replacements to fit their growing brood. Kids play with toys downstairs, or run around in the open Hall upstairs. And there is often a jam session of old-timey music upstairs as well. Merry provides information about community resources for parents and kids, too. But the main benefit may be the opportunities for making friends and social contacts among families with kids–finding others with the same age kids, developmental challenges, struggles and joys. Erin charges $3.00 per family to meet costs, a pretty good deal! Tell your friends, neighbors and co-workers about this!
The Grange is supporting this community service by donating the space, and now by purchasing the “new” used shelves in the photo above, for storage of KT&P’s many plastic bins of clothes. Merry also found a painter through the Grange’s membership in Onion River Exchange, and used O.R.E. Hours donated by Liz Benjamin to get the walls in their storage corner painted. Erin’s husband Sean and I picked up the shelves and delivered them to the Hall, and I put them together. Erin is already thinking she could use more! As usual, it’s a group effort with a community payoff.

Farmers in Berlin–meeting at the Grange

Also at our Grange meeting, under the “Agriculture report”, Josh Fitzhugh told us about the second “potluck social” dinner of Berlin farmers, which he has organized. On Friday, March 3rd, members of farm families from 6 farms (out of about 15 in Berlin) met to share food and talk about the state of farming in the town. Josh feels it is a good opportunity for networking and building relationships among the scattered agricultural enterprises in the town where our Hall is located. They are talking about possibilities including a co-op store for farmers and craft-workers. You can get in touch with them: josh@fitzhugh.com He plans to have more of these get-togethers.

Legislative report–universal primary care plan?

Our usual reporter, Marj Power, told us the high point of the VT Legislative session, relating to this Grange’s long interest in health care: the proposal for a “Universal Primary Care” system for Vermonters–no one excluded, everyone covered. Primary care, of course, is the “first line” of medical care–the doctors/nurse practitioners/pediatricians/mental health counselors who are the people you meet when you need a check-up or basic medical care. H.238/S.53 are the bill numbers in the House and Senate respectively; you can learn about its status, and read the text here: http://legislature.vermont.gov/bill/status/2018/H.238 Marj also recommended a guide to ways to actively participate in government: https://www.indivisibleguide.com/ if you want to support or oppose legislation and other government actions. At the VT Legislature link above, you can find out how your representative voted when the bill recently passed the House.

Grange quilt contest coming up–wanna join in?

Our Grange Home Ec liason–also our Grange Secretary–Charles Martin–let us know about the VT State Grange contest for quilters. In our Grange, anyone can enter–we will donate a Grange membership for the winner! The contest is to make a queen-size quilt–it must be quilted, not tied, but otherwise anything goes. For the VT State contest, there are prizes–$100 for 3rd place, $200 for 2nd place and $300 for 1st place. The first place quilt will be taken to the Big E in Springfield, the huge Eastern States Exposition, and will be raffled off–to benefit the Vermont Veterans’ Home in Bennington. The other quilts will be returned to their makers.

Health Concerns: sleeping better by camping, and a new fast-food hazard

Our usual reporter on health matters, Phyllis Skinner RN told us about a study which took people with sleeping problems out camping–with good results. The theory is that taking people away from their screens–on phones, tablets, laptops, monitors and TVs–removes a source of the type of light that makes changes in our melatonin cycle, which is part of regulating our sleep rhythms. Resetting our light exposure to natural rhythms re-sets our sleep cycles. The lesson? reduce your exposure to screens well before your time to go to sleep.
Phyllis also reported on research that identifies grease-resistant coatings in fast-food meals as containing PFAs, a potential carcinogen. Cut down on fast food burgers, chicken, etc.–or unwrap them as soon as possible and get rid of the wrappings from the store.

High altitude parking!

We have an ongoing offer to the Green Mountain Transit Authority (GMTA) which allows them to store their fleet of buses in our parking lot, when there is a possibility of ice jams and overflowing rivers. Their depot, about a quarter-mile south on Rt. 12 is right next to the Dog River, so it can be vulnerable if the waters rise.
The weekend of Feb. 25/26 was forecast for high winds and possible heavy rains, so they decided they would rather be safe than sorry, and let me know that they would be moving the buses to our parking area up on the hill. With no rentals scheduled on Saturday evening, this worked out well. They left room for parking for the Church of Christ service on Sunday morning, as requested.
In the event, no flooding happened, but we are happy to provide this “peace of mind” for this important community transportation agency.

April = Grange Month, and April 1st = Open House at the CCG

Every year, the National Grange declares that April is the month to celebrate and publicize the whole Grange. We held our first Open House last spring, and we are holding another one on the first Saturday in April, instead of our usual Grange meeting. Like last year, we are inviting our renters to do demonstrations, staff information tables, or otherwise present their activities and interests. We are inviting local community organizations–the 4H group from Washington County, the Green Mountain Transit Authority, and more–to provide spokespeople and literature as well. Carl Etnier, who has been coming to dance at the Grange Hall for years will serve as MC again, you can also find Carl commuting by bike from Plainfield to Montpelier, and DJing on WGDR.
The Open House will run from 4:00 to 6:00 PM, followed by our usual Community Potluck dinner. Bring one of your favorite dishes to share–we’ll set up tables on the floor-protecting mats in the Hall so all can attend. Come and break bread with your friends, neighbors and people you never met before!

Once again a reminder: DUE$ are DUE for 2017. One important way to support the Grange is with official membership, which costs $30again this year. Having an active, paid-up membership keeps us in good standing with the State and National Granges, as well as providing financial strength to our own Community Grange. Send checks to:
$ecretary Charles Martin
639 Mini$ter Brook Rd.
Worce$ter, VT 05682
Remember, everyone is welcome at all our Grange meetings, but only members can vote!