Grange Notes by Tim Swartz, Grange President (with everyone’s help) March 21, 2026

Have you ever wished there would be a Bob Dylan concert in Central Vermont?

A busy March 7 Meeting

As expected, we had lots to talk about at our last meeting.   We were pleased to have a few new faces join us, including new members Nancy Snow, a member of the Crones–the women’s chorus that rehearses at the Grange on Friday mornings, and her husband Paul.  We look forward to including them in our performance of the First Degree on May 3rd!
Here are the highlights of our discussions and decisions.

• The meeting decided to delegate the decision about which chair to order to replace the folding chairs stored in the Main Hall to the Executive Committee, based on input from the Chair committee.   I can now tell you that the EC met on Sunday, Mar. 15 and accepted the Chair committee’s recommendation to purchase 100 of the “NPS” folding chair.  That one has a 10 year warranty, and is affordable enough that we can cover most of the purchase cost for 100 using the very generous donation provided by North Branch Grange in honor of Charles Martin.  The full Grange will make the final decision at the April 4th meeting.  One more note:  assuming we do purchase 100 chairs, they will fill all 3 of the storage bins under the stage; the Church of Christ has agreed to relinquish their metal chairs and the storage bin they have been using.  They appreciate the advantages of padded chairs too!  We expect that having better chairs will also help us attract more rentals for daytime meetings, including State of Vermont legislative and agency groups.
• Marty Roberts and Cecile Sherburn have volunteered to take the lead on organizing and publicizing our Chili contest.   The Grange cooking contests are an annual event; following the guidelines for the VT State Grange cooking contest, we’ll be judging in 2 categories–with meat, and meatless.  The only limitations are that the entry can’t be from a can, or from a mix–we’re looking for “homemade” chilis.  Marty & Cecile will be recruiting some “celebrity judges”.  Start making “practice chili”–I already have!
• I reported on my visit to the Berlin Town Meeting on Saturday, Feb. 28, where I renewed old acquaintances and spread the word about the Grange.  The display I made for that meeting is currently set up in the Lower Level, if you’d like to see it.
• We heard from Patty Giavara, who as Grange Lecturer is responsible for setting up the “Community Programs” we feature at our Grange meetings in the even-numbered months.  Patty has arranged for Lisa Masé  to present a program on “The Culinary Pharmacy:  Food as Medicine”, which is the title of her new book.   Lisa is a Vermont-based holistic nutritionist, who blends modern nutrition science with ancestral traditions such as Ayurveda, Traditional Chinese Medicine and the Mediterranean way of eating.  Her talk will encourage participants to personalize their eating, understand the energetic qualities of foods, and build a kitchen stocked with ingredients that nourish and support wellbeing.   Her talk will begin at 5:00 PM on April 4th, after a half-hour Grange meeting.  It will be followed, of course, by our usual tasty Community Potluck starting at 6:00.  We hope you will join us for all of these events!  There are Zoom links for both the meeting and program on the Grange’s website Calendar listings for April 4. 

Kids Trade & Play:  10 years, and lots
of clothes given away!

A week after our March Grange meeting, one of our great community partnerships celebrated 10 years of helping families!   Kids Trade & Play was started originally by Erin Barry at a Grange Hall in Santa Cruz, CA.  When she moved to Vermont, in 2014, she came to our Grange and asked if she could replicate what worked on the other side of the country.  We’re really glad we said yes!  On March 14, an anniversary edition of the clothing exchange brought in a record 101 adults and 50 kids!
When she came to the Grange, Erin asked for some storage room in the back end of the Lower Level of the Grange Hall; Merry Shernock located some industrial shelving, Erin’s husband brought them to the Hall on top of his car, and we set them up.  Erin recruited a team of volunteers, advertised on Facebook and Front Porch Forum, and started getting families to come and donate clothes, games and books that the kids had outgrown, and to take ones that fit their needs.  She bought a bunch of bins to store the items in, and with her volunteer team has been running Kids Trade & Play ever since.   Once every month, on the 2nd Saturday, from 9:30 to 11:30 AM, the crew puts out all the size-labeled bins–over 50 of them–full of clean and inspected items, sorted by size.  We ask for a $5 donation per family, but let in everyone, even if they can’t pay, and encourage them to “take all that you can use”.
During the event, families bring in bags and boxes of good-quality clothes, plus books, games and toys, as they pass on the things their kids have outgrown.  Vol

unteers inspect all the items that are brought in, to make sure that they are in very good shape (clean, with no rips, stains or smells), and sort them into the bins.  A play area is set up with toys, games and books

for kids to use, while their family members can socialize and “shop” from the bins.  Erin usually provides some baked goods for volunteers and “shoppers”–in addition to keeping kids’ stuff out of the landfill and helping families, one of the goals is to help parents and kids make connections.
If you’d like to volunteer, or for more information, please email Erin!

Do you love the Grange Hall but…
… you’re not so interested 

in meetings?