On December 4, 1867 in a small Washington, D.C. building that housed the office of William Saunders, Superintendent of Propagating Gardens in the Department of Agriculture, the Order of Patrons of Husbandry, more commonly known as the Grange, was born. Here, sitting around a plain wooden table, a group of seven earnest men, planned what was destined to become a vital force in preserving and expanding American democracy. They were all men of vision--they had faith in God, in their fellow man and the future. The Seven Founders of the Order of the Patrons of Husbandry were:

In recent history, the biggest change for the Capital City Grange came in 2005. During the fall of 2004, the generation of Grange members that had kept the organization and its hall going for so many years was reaching the end of its resources. Les Skinner, the Grange Master for many years, was tired of being the one responsible for arranging hall rentals, checking on tenants, dealing with plumbing problems, and getting middle-of-the-night calls, such as when police found the door unlocked while doing a regular check of the premises.

*Floor work scheduled for October!
*Dances re-located to Old Labor Hall in Barre
*Now is the time for all Grange friends to come to the aid of the floor
*Grange “Challenge” fundraiser underway, to run until Sept. 29th
*Friends—with a help-wanted list

Welcome to August! It's been a busy summer, and I've been distracted as the company for which I work has moved from Northfield to Randolph, after being flooded in the Hurricane Irene rains that poured down the Dog River. Now that our move is complete, I have a bit more time and energy to devote to Grange work.

Grange Notes: for the June 4th meeting

Grange survives the deluge!
May 7th meeting focuses on Resolutions:
1. Undocumented farmworkers' rights
2. Bottle bill expansion
Water heater & fridge replacement?
Lighting project progress
Floor Committee meets, more to come!
Another busy month at the Grange in June

May 21st meeting, 6:30 PM to focus on the Hall floor: I'm looking for more help to plan the big project of replacing the hardwood floor which is such a central part of our Hall. Rob Nichols has gathered several bids from floor companies, mostly for pre-finished floors, a great help for comparisons!

Grange Notes
April 10, 2011

April 2nd meeting: Sierra Club on Town Forests
April means Spring Cleaning at the Grange Hall
May meeting: resolution time
May 21st meeting: Hall floor replacement
April dance events, and beyond

May 7th meeting program: resolution time! Previous meetings during the fall and winter season have discussed possible resolutions that our Grange could sponsor for the VT State Grange meetings in October to consider. We are planning to devote the “program” time for our May meeting to coming up with resolution wording, hope interested folks will join us!

Grange Notes
March 25, 2011

April 2nd meeting features: forests and cookies

In addition to our usual stimulating discussions of the future of the Grange, the activities of our busy members and reports on legislative and agricultural issues of interest, our April meeting of the Capital City Grange will feature a speaker from the VT chapter of the Sierra Club, starting at 5:30 PM:

Town Forests - Should Your Town Have One?

*Next Grange meeting features resolution discussions, lighting discussions and more
*Dues reminder
*Program at 5:30: VT budget choices and impacts
*Traditional potluck continues to bring joy and good tastes
*Traditional dancing is alive and well in 2011

* Benefit dance for Pete's Greens and local farmers
* VT Migrant Farm Workers Solidarity Project
* Baking contest at the April 2nd meeting
* Quilt drawing! And a new quilt in time for Valentine's Day
* Water/Sewer line on Rt. 12?
* Health care rallies scheduled
* March 5th program: budget choices
* Dance Flurry rooms available
* Next “Homegrown” dance coming up on Feb. 26th