Grange Notes by Tim Swartz for November 1, 2015
Parking Lot Gully is Newly filled in, with drainage redesigned
Excavation contractor Matt Dwyer took care of our parking lot drainage problem, which had concentrated all of the run-off in one area, by filling in the eroded area, and then re-grading the south end of the parking area. The drainage is now designed to slow down before “sheeting” over the edge of the parking area, rather than converging in one spot.
Filling in the gully required 3 truckloads of fill, plus a couple of loads of large stones to serve as ballast, to hold the fill in place–see the “after” picture for a view from below.
Matt Dwyer is also the contractor who re-graded our driveway in the fall of last year, along with digging footings for the new sign and the fire exit concrete pad. We’ve been impressed with how well the driveway drains without producing gullies, which encouraged us to have him do the work on the parking lot drainage.
Patty & Kurt Giavara seeded the newly filled area with some grass; we’ll want to do more seeding next spring to help hold it all in place. And we’ll need to monitor the flow of water after the winter to see how snow-plowing has affected the grading.
The truckloads of materials, and the bulldozer work to compact and shape the fill comes at a cost, of course–the Grange spent $2300 for this project. Luckily, the Friends benefit on Labor Day weekend led to a $1500 donation which has helped our cash-flow in the short-term. But in the long-term, we are still struggling with supporting our Hall–see the article on our tax relief petition to the town of Berlin for part of our strategy for survival.
Remember, it’s easy to donate to the Friends of the Capital City Grange, at the Grange website. Here’s a link: https://capitalcitygrange.org/
Filling in the gully required 3 truckloads of fill, plus a couple of loads of large stones to serve as ballast, to hold the fill in place–see the “after” picture for a view from below.
Matt Dwyer is also the contractor who re-graded our driveway in the fall of last year, along with digging footings for the new sign and the fire exit concrete pad. We’ve been impressed with how well the driveway drains without producing gullies, which encouraged us to have him do the work on the parking lot drainage.
Patty & Kurt Giavara seeded the newly filled area with some grass; we’ll want to do more seeding next spring to help hold it all in place. And we’ll need to monitor the flow of water after the winter to see how snow-plowing has affected the grading.
The truckloads of materials, and the bulldozer work to compact and shape the fill comes at a cost, of course–the Grange spent $2300 for this project. Luckily, the Friends benefit on Labor Day weekend led to a $1500 donation which has helped our cash-flow in the short-term. But in the long-term, we are still struggling with supporting our Hall–see the article on our tax relief petition to the town of Berlin for part of our strategy for survival.
Remember, it’s easy to donate to the Friends of the Capital City Grange, at the Grange website. Here’s a link: https://capitalcitygrange.org/
Berlin tax relief petitions handed out
It’s time to take the next step to get our property taxes reduced. At our Grange meeting, on Nov. 7th at 4:30 PM, Merry Shernock, who is leading our effort to have our property taxes removed, handed out petitions and explanatory material to Grange members–but they are available for anyone who can help.
The petitions, the info-sheet, and some “talking points” about the value of the Grange to the Town and the surrounding area are all available on the Grange website:
Petition: https://capitalcitygrange.org/?
info-sheet: https://capitalcitygrange.org/?
Talking points: https://capitalcitygrange.org/?
We need to get at least 130 signatures to get our measure on the ballot for the Berlin Town Meeting, on Mar. 1, 2016–and we have specific plans for ways to get them. Merry has been conferring with contacts in Berlin about the best places to canvass door-to-door. Contact Merry (see info at the top of these Notes). Anyone who knows someone in Berlin (whether or not they are currently using the Grange) can help us–every signature counts!
Of course, once we get on the ballot, the next step will be getting the word out about our Grange Hall, and how valuable it already is to the community–and how much more can be done with more users. We’ll need to get more than 50% of the voters to support our tax relief proposal–in return for use of the Hall by Berlin community organizations and families.This campaign is a major step to helping the Grange survive–we get a lot done, but we still lose money every year. Our biggest single expense–about 1/3 of our budget is the property tax burden: over $7150.00 going to the Town of Berlin every year. We really need help for this effort! Check out the info in the linked documents, and do whatever you can to help us!
The petitions, the info-sheet, and some “talking points” about the value of the Grange to the Town and the surrounding area are all available on the Grange website:
Petition: https://capitalcitygrange.org/?
info-sheet: https://capitalcitygrange.org/?
Talking points: https://capitalcitygrange.org/?
We need to get at least 130 signatures to get our measure on the ballot for the Berlin Town Meeting, on Mar. 1, 2016–and we have specific plans for ways to get them. Merry has been conferring with contacts in Berlin about the best places to canvass door-to-door. Contact Merry (see info at the top of these Notes). Anyone who knows someone in Berlin (whether or not they are currently using the Grange) can help us–every signature counts!
Of course, once we get on the ballot, the next step will be getting the word out about our Grange Hall, and how valuable it already is to the community–and how much more can be done with more users. We’ll need to get more than 50% of the voters to support our tax relief proposal–in return for use of the Hall by Berlin community organizations and families.This campaign is a major step to helping the Grange survive–we get a lot done, but we still lose money every year. Our biggest single expense–about 1/3 of our budget is the property tax burden: over $7150.00 going to the Town of Berlin every year. We really need help for this effort! Check out the info in the linked documents, and do whatever you can to help us!
An AED for the Grange Hall?
Our Grange Meeting program on Nov. 7th featured a presentation on the purpose and use of an “Automatic External Defibrillator”, more conveniently known as an AED. Jim Baraw, long-time head of the ambulance volunteers in Northfield, and Emergency Management Coordinator for that town was our guide. He showed us how it works, how it can save the life of a heart attack victim, and how easy it would be to use–if there is one around when an attack happens. We heard stories of heart attacks happening on the dance floor at other halls, and at the Champlain Valley Folk Festival in past years. And Jim’s opinion is that public event spaces like ours are likely to be required to have them in the relatively near future.
This is an area in which I have some knowledge, as one of about 10 people at my work-place who got trained on the AED there–I can vouch for the simplicity of operation, including clear prompts and effective monitoring of the patient by the machine. While I hope to never have to use it, I know I would rather be able to help do something in an emergency situation.
So should we invest in this life-saving technology, plus some training? The cost for one will be around $1200 to $1500, plus the training cost, so they are not cheap–but not having one at the right time could make it impossible to help someone at the critical moment. I have already had one generous pledge of $500 to help us–are there others out there who want to support this plan? Let me know.
This is an area in which I have some knowledge, as one of about 10 people at my work-place who got trained on the AED there–I can vouch for the simplicity of operation, including clear prompts and effective monitoring of the patient by the machine. While I hope to never have to use it, I know I would rather be able to help do something in an emergency situation.
So should we invest in this life-saving technology, plus some training? The cost for one will be around $1200 to $1500, plus the training cost, so they are not cheap–but not having one at the right time could make it impossible to help someone at the critical moment. I have already had one generous pledge of $500 to help us–are there others out there who want to support this plan? Let me know.
What a difference a year makes…
Last year, we went into the heating season with a certain amount of trepidation–we had to have the burner in the furnace replaced, and we took a technological leap forward by having a programmable thermostat installed, which can be reached via the WiFi in our Hall. Our new (at the time) Grange member Bill Chidsey recommended and installed both of them, based on 40 years of experience with heating/ventilating systems.
Well, I’m pleased to report that his recommendations and new technology paid off–we have data now from a full year with the new system, and we’ve saved about 24% in gallons of heating oil, compared to the average of the last 5 years–even with the cold winter we had last year. We paid 43% less for our oil than the previous winter. It’s great to start the year with a credit in our oil account!
Given this success with the upstairs thermostat, we have gotten Bill to install another one downstairs (since there is a somewhat split heating duct system), so we can separately adjust to meet the needs of Hall users. Every week, Bill consults the website Calendar, and sets up the thermostats to raise the temperature for users–and to drop it back down at the end of the needed time. This second part is vital! There are no more times when I or someone else finds the Grange still heated the day after an event, with the oil doing no good except attempting to heat up the outdoors…
It is important that Merry be notified by renters which floor of the building they plan to use, so the heating system can be appropriately set.
A related note, as heating season starts: as many people have observed, the old entrance doors are far from air-tight, and they are certainly something we plan to replace–with insulated, weatherstripped doors with insulated glass windows, like the new/ramped entrance doors. This is not a cheap endeavor, unfortunately, but it is certainly high on the list.
In the meantime, we want to keep the heat from going out those un-sealed door openings, while still making sure that the water-fountains don’t freeze. To do this, we want to keep the all the doors to the stairs and foyer closed–except the ADA bathroom door next to the water fountains. This includes the door at the bottom of the front basement stairs, and the doors to the Hall upstairs. I’ll have signs up to that effect soon! Please help us by observing these guidelines, when you close up the Hall after your events!
Well, I’m pleased to report that his recommendations and new technology paid off–we have data now from a full year with the new system, and we’ve saved about 24% in gallons of heating oil, compared to the average of the last 5 years–even with the cold winter we had last year. We paid 43% less for our oil than the previous winter. It’s great to start the year with a credit in our oil account!
Given this success with the upstairs thermostat, we have gotten Bill to install another one downstairs (since there is a somewhat split heating duct system), so we can separately adjust to meet the needs of Hall users. Every week, Bill consults the website Calendar, and sets up the thermostats to raise the temperature for users–and to drop it back down at the end of the needed time. This second part is vital! There are no more times when I or someone else finds the Grange still heated the day after an event, with the oil doing no good except attempting to heat up the outdoors…
It is important that Merry be notified by renters which floor of the building they plan to use, so the heating system can be appropriately set.
A related note, as heating season starts: as many people have observed, the old entrance doors are far from air-tight, and they are certainly something we plan to replace–with insulated, weatherstripped doors with insulated glass windows, like the new/ramped entrance doors. This is not a cheap endeavor, unfortunately, but it is certainly high on the list.
In the meantime, we want to keep the heat from going out those un-sealed door openings, while still making sure that the water-fountains don’t freeze. To do this, we want to keep the all the doors to the stairs and foyer closed–except the ADA bathroom door next to the water fountains. This includes the door at the bottom of the front basement stairs, and the doors to the Hall upstairs. I’ll have signs up to that effect soon! Please help us by observing these guidelines, when you close up the Hall after your events!
Another success story–Friends help Grange with more floor covers!
We’ve had 3 floor cover rolls for about 2 years now. The 3 red covers were purchased for the Grange to allow use of the upstairs Hall for events with refreshments (and people with wet/muddy shoes and boots) by the FCCGH. These have worked well, to cover about 1/2 of the floor area, and we have worked out storage under the stairs on a purpose-built cart I was able to design and build.
Now, the Friends have agreed to purchase 3 more, so that the entire floor can be covered. They will be tan, so different areas can be color-coded (for chairs and for coffee,for example). The picture below shows one set-up of the 3 red covers, I’ll try to get one of the whole floor covered once we have them.
Please note that using the covers is simple–but care should be paid to dust-mop the floor before rolling them out, and mopping the covers before rolling them back up, so grit is kept off our wonderful floor! Directions are attached to the cart which holds the rolled up covers, so they are easy to find.
Now, the Friends have agreed to purchase 3 more, so that the entire floor can be covered. They will be tan, so different areas can be color-coded (for chairs and for coffee,for example). The picture below shows one set-up of the 3 red covers, I’ll try to get one of the whole floor covered once we have them.
Please note that using the covers is simple–but care should be paid to dust-mop the floor before rolling them out, and mopping the covers before rolling them back up, so grit is kept off our wonderful floor! Directions are attached to the cart which holds the rolled up covers, so they are easy to find.
December Grange meeting will feature singing!
Our meeting next month (on December 5th) will have a special “program”–not our usual educational mission, but instead more of one of the things everyone enjoys at our Grange meetings–singing. We know that all the “regulars” at our Grange meetings like the singing we do as part of the meeting, and that many people who have come to our meetings once always comment on how much fun the singing is. We’ve had a couple of sing-alongs in the past, and it’s time for another one!
So this time, starting at 5:30, we’ll sing a few rounds, a few Christmas carols, and whatever else people want to sing. We’ll sit down at 6:30 for a potluck dinner, and everyone is welcome to that, as always!
We’d be happy to have some more musicians join us–play the Grange piano, bring a guitar to play along, or whatever you want. Invite your friends!
So this time, starting at 5:30, we’ll sing a few rounds, a few Christmas carols, and whatever else people want to sing. We’ll sit down at 6:30 for a potluck dinner, and everyone is welcome to that, as always!
We’d be happy to have some more musicians join us–play the Grange piano, bring a guitar to play along, or whatever you want. Invite your friends!