Grange Notes by Tim Swartz, Grange President (with everyone’s help) November 8, 2024

Lewis Neill, a long-time friend to the Grange

Lewis, a very long-time member of the Montpelier Church of Christ, passed away with family members around him, on Thursday, Oct. 31, at the age of 93.
I knew Lewis through the Grange, where he worked to keep the building in good shape for many years–starting long before I joined the Grange in 1998.   I found that this was typical–he was well-known and well-loved by the community for his volunteer work, especially in the form of doing home repairs for people in Montpelier and Central Vermont.   He demonstrated the Christian faith which was central to his life by helping others with construction and repair projects.
At the Grange, Lewis took the initiative to make many improvements.  Among others, his work can be seen in:

• The stairs to the porch at the original entrance.
• LED exit lights that he purchased and installed.
• Rebuilt stairs from the landing to the Lower Level.  This and the preceding 2 were done at least 20 years ago.
• The culvert under the top end of the driveway–digging and installation done solo by Lewis in 2007, when he was “only” 76.
• He loaned ladders and staging for painting the Grange Hall when it was done by volunteers from the contra dance in the late 1990s.

Blood flows at the Grange

We are pleased to report that the Red Cross blood drive we sponsored on Friday, Nov. 1 was quite successful!   This event brought in 30 presenting donors–well over their initial target of 24.
This is the first of a series scheduled to happen at the Grange.  The Red Cross is very happy to have our location available, following disruptions to their previous Montpelier locations due to the floods and subsequent repair work.   The next drive at the Grange will be Friday, Jan. 17, 2025, from 10:30 AM to 3:00 PM.  Sign up now at:  https://www.redcrossblood.org/give.html/find-drive.   Just put “05602” in the Zip Code box, and scroll down to Jan. 17!   They will be taking whole blood and “Power Red” donations.
The credit for suggesting and arranging this series of blood drives goes to our (volunteer) Rental Agent and Treasurer, Merry Shernock–who was one of three donors from the Grange, too!

Grange meeting report–Nov. 2
+ a little history

Our monthly meeting last Saturday was attended by the minimum number of Grange members needed for a quorum–7 members.    A couple of other members tried to attend via Zoom, but were unable to do so, due to after-effects of the website problems I mentioned in the last Grange Notes.  Those have been cleared up, as far as I can tell, after working with Tech Support from WPEngine.com, the website hosting company we hire to host and support the capitalcitygrange.org website.
The meeting discussion reviewed finances and the VT State Grange meeting, both in generally positive terms.  The weak point in the VSG session was the small number of volunteers who stepped forward to help our core Meals Committee.  This matches the difficulty we have found in getting more people actively involved in the Grange as a whole.  At the meeting, we spent a fair amount of time reviewing the ways we’ve tried to attract more involvement.   There is only one time when we got a lot of new folks–here’s a quick history:
In 2004, the older generation of Grange members who had been keeping the Hall and the Grange going told Grange tenants that they were going to have to sell the Hall if they couldn’t get more people who would actively take part.  The Contra Dance committee got up on stage at a few dances to explain the situation, and to appeal for dancers to take part; other Grange Hall-using groups did the same.   We ended up having about 70 new members join the Grange on January 15, 2005.  Next time you’re in the Hall, take a look at the framed set of photos of this big event!    A similar number of State Grange members came to perform the full initiation ritual that day, including all 4 “degrees” of Community Grange–and enjoying a great potluck dinner together (see the photo above).
Before the mass initiation, several of us, including me met with the State Grange Master, Phyllis Mason, and other VSG officers, to talk about why we thought we could keep the Grange going–they didn’t want to have people just join to “save the dance hall”.   I had been a member of the CCG for a few years at that point, so I had some understanding of what the Grange was all about.  We convinced the VSG reps that we truly thought that we could take on the community service mission, building on the mission of the Grange to serve and support local community connections in rural areas.
That meeting set the tone for what we’ve worked on ever since.  We’ve called it “learning what it means to be a Grange in the 21st century”.   We’ve built up a very successful community hall, which is an affordable place for all sorts of community events–from large dances to family celebrations.  If you haven’t checked out our website Calendar recently, take a look.  For our Grange, maintaining and improving our Hall is the major part of our community service.  See below for some regular events we sponsor at the Hall!
Now, many of us who got involved back then are feeling our age, and would be happy to work with some younger folks who want to keep this project going.  Just as the older Grange members mentored us as we learned what a Grange is, we would like to pass on what worked–and what didn’t–in our time as stewards of this organization.   Please get in touch to learn more!   Come to our next meeting, on Dec. 7th–we’ll have a great speaker too (see below)–and another excellent potluck dinner.   Some traditions should not be changed!

It’s time for Family Weekend!

With the advent of cooler weather, we’ll be having 2 family/kid-oriented events happening monthly.  We have one every month, all year round:  Kids Trade & Play.  This clothing swap, run by volunteers, typically brings over 100 adults and kids to our Lower Level in 2 hours from 9:30 to 11:30 AM on Second Saturdays.  We ask for a $5 donation per family if you have it–but no one is ever turned away.
This weekend marks the beginning of the next season of Dance, Sing & Jump Around, the Grange-sponsored event that lets families enjoy, well, dancing, singing and jumping around together!   All the dances, songs and play-party games are taught and led by Liz Benjamin and Stan Carlson, and there are tasty snacks, plus a drawing corner for those who need a break from the group too.  Kids get in free, we ask for a $5 donation for adults if you have it–but (like KT&P) no one is turned away.
These are the sorts of community events that are possible because we have our wonderful Grange Hall!

Dec. 7th: Grange meeting program

We’re looking forward to hearing from Allison Levin, the founder and Executive Director of CHCV.   The program, set up by Grange Lecturer Patty Giavara, will happen from 5:00 to 6:00, following our brief meeting starting at 4:30 on Dec. 7.  More info in the next Grange Notes newsletter!

Grange Notes by Tim Swartz, Grange President (with everyone’s help) November 1, 2024

Grange meeting: 4:30 PM, this Saturday

Our November Grange meeting will feature a more thorough report on the State Grange meeting than the one below.  We’ll be going into more of the story of what it was like for a small corps of volunteers to host this gathering–and to feed them.  We’ll be discussing whether we want to do this again–and if we do, what should be done differently to make it less of a struggle, especially for the kitchen crew.
We’ll also be talking about plans for the upcoming meetings in the colder months, including a December 7th meeting with a Program, and a Holiday Sing-a-Long which is on the Calendar for Dec. 15th.
I will also report on some website management complications that have cropped up–I’m really hoping that they will be cleared up by Saturday.  We’re still looking for a member or Friend of the Grange who would like to be a webmaster for us!   Our online hosting and update service, WPEngine.com is a big help, but we should really have someone who has more than my amateur-level skills keeping an eye on that important aspect of our operation.
Our Grange meeting will be run with our simplified Grange ritual, and will be available via Zoom if you can’t make it in person.   The link is posted on the Grange Calendar posting for the meeting, as usual.

VT State Grange:  taking care of business

About 60 delegates came from all over Vermont–from Bomoseen, Boltonville, Barton, Bridgewater and many more, to meet for two days in our beautiful Grange Hall in Berlin.  Our Grange received many compliments on our Hall–and many more on the food dished out–I’ll include a separate article below about that project!
Since the State Grange meets in session only once a year, a lot of business gets transacted in a couple of days.  Every Grange can send 2 voting delegates, who can discuss and vote in a very clear and democratic way on all aspects of Grange governance.   Voting delegates get name-badges with pink ribbons attached, so it’s clear who can vote.   The issues discussed include reports of all the various committees of the VSG, plus the budget for the next year, and the “Resolutions” submitted by Granges over the past year.   On Saturday, we elected all of the officers for the next 2-year terms–just as our Community Grange did at our September meeting.  Officer elections are done by paper ballot; the rest are by delegates using the “voting sign of the Order”.
We also learned about the state of the Grange in Vermont.   We are down to 834 Community Grange members in the state, in 29 functioning Granges.  This is a number that has been dropping for many years; the only slightly positive news is that the net loss of 15 members is one of the lowest in recent years.   Capital City is one of just 3 Granges that reported an increase in members.   Of course, this is just an increase in the number of members willing to pay our annual $30 in dues, and includes quite a few who do nothing else.
The President of the National Grange, Christine Hamp attended our State Session, along with her husband Dwayne.  Chris Hamp spoke to us, pointedly urging us all to do our best to involve new members positively, especially being forgiven any mistakes in ritual and practices.  She is clearly aware of the need to get more people involved in the work of the Grange, knowing that national Grange numbers have been going down just as our State’s numbers have done.  It is encouraging to me to hear this discussion, since our Grange has consistently focused on what we do, especially with our Hall, not on the forms of Grange ritual.
The State Grange meeting, though, is where I and other delegates get exposed to the original forms of the ritual, since people who enjoy that aspect are the ones who persevere in “climbing the ladder” of the degrees of Grange membership.  If you like sashes, the golden sashes of the National President and the State officers who have attained the 7th Degree are dazzling, as are the pink sashes of the 6th Degree State members.
What we all share is a belief that people working together can create positive changes in the world, and in the value of meeting face-to-face and openly discussing mutual needs.  I hope that some of those reading this edition of “Grange Notes” will join us at our Capital City Grange meeting on Saturday, to have just that sort of meeting!  If we believe in working together, attending a meeting once a month is a way of putting that into practice.

Serving up local food

Our Meals Committee for this event decided early on that purchasing from local suppliers would be a priority.   Merry Shernock, Charles Mayhood and Alison Forrest, with some assistance from Richard DeCosta were determined to create a variety of dishes, including options for people who eat vegetarian, avoid gluten or avoid dairy.
Merry, who did a lot of the sourcing of local vendors, gave a brief introduction, which she recreated for our Grange Notes readers:

Walk Our Talk

Welcome! Capital City Grange is so happy to host this Annual Meeting of the Vermont State Grange. We hope that you will be comfortable here and we hope that you will enjoy the food we have planned and prepared for you.

The Grange is historically an agricultural organization and we think we should support our local farmers and food producers. So we have planned our meals, as much as possible around local food. Local food from small farmers and food producers costs more, so we have asked you to pay a little more. We think, however, this is the tax we pay to enjoy the lifestyle we have.

The BEEF we are serving tonight comes from Burelli Farms and the co-owner, Peter Burmeister is a friend who sold the Beef to us at cost. He delivered it here fresh this morning

The PORK comes from Union Brook Farm in Northfield and I picked it up myself. The two girls who own the farm (and anybody under 30 is a girl to me!) are delighted to sell their pork at cost to us for you to enjoy.

The BREAD comes from La Panciata, also located in Northfield. I’ve known the baker since he was a little boy. I know his dad who started the bakery. My daughter worked there when she was in high school and they baked bread for her wedding supper. They gave us such a deal! You know how it is with local food; it tastes better because you know the folks who made it.

Some special whole grain sour dough BREAD was donated by the co-owner of O-Bread, up in Burlington. The baker and co-owner has taught Afro-Caribbean Dance here for about 30 years and she brought some freshly-baked loaves yesterday.

The APPLES were donated by Chapin Orchard up in Chittenden County. (People applaud) You know them. Their apples will be homemade apple crisp tonight

The ICE CREAM that goes on top of the apple crisp was made by LegenDairy over in Williamstown. They also make the best maple creemees, (worth the trip!) and the guy who made it and donated it is coming tonight to serve it to you himself.

The CHEESE, of course, is from Cabot, and is also donated.

The VEGGIES come from two places. One is the Vermont Youth Conservation Corps. The kids at VYCC grow veggies for free for low income folks, and the VYCC donated all the ‘seconds’ to us. They also donated a LOT of kale! Please tell anyone you think might be eligible for free food about this program.

VEGGIES were also donated by Burnt Rock Farm up in Huntington VT. Burnt Rock was severely affected by the summer flooding, but shared their extra potatoes and onions and squash with us this weekend.

And finally the GREEN BEANS were grown, pre-processed, and donated by the President of Capital City Grange, who grew way more than we needed.

It was fun identifying and arranging this local food for you this summer. It would have been a helluva lot easier to get it from COSTCO, but I think Grangers should Walk Their Talk.

The pictures below show:  Local Veggies from VYCC, one of the 6 centerpieces set up by Alison, using her hand-woven fabrics (and some of the veggies), Merry serving up beef, Alison serving roasted vegetables, and Erin serving chickpea curry and rice.   The last picture shows State Grange members enjoying lunch on Saturday.  BTW, they are eating off placemats donated by the Wayside Restaurant!
NOTE:  at the request of the National Grange President, Merry sent a copy of WALK THE TALK to her, so we hope to see it featured in National Grange’s online newsletter!

Grange Notes by Tim Swartz, Grange President (with everyone’s help) October 28, 2024

If the vampires don’t drain you on Halloween, the Red Cross wants your blood!

We’re sponsoring a series of Red Cross blood drive, as a community service, and this is the first one!
Please sign up on the RedCrossBlood.org website, if possible, or come by from 10:30 AM to 3:00 PM on Friday, Nov. 1.  They will be taking regular whole-blood donations, or “Power Red” donations of red blood cells only.   At this time, there are still quite a few times open, please sign up now!
As a regular donor myself (13 gallons and counting) I can vouch for the friendly, considerate people on the blood drive crews, and the almost painless nature of the procedure.
As I’m sure you’ve heard, there is a constant need for blood at hospitals locally, around the state and the nation.   This is a great way to really make a difference!

VT State Grange Annual State Session

Here’s a glimpse of a moment from the proceedings of the State Grange in the process of voting for officers.  I’ll write up a longer Grange Notes story about the meeting soon, but I can tell you that the many members from around the state really enjoyed meeting at our Grange Hall, and also enjoyed the food cooked by our small and hard-working crew of volunteers.
We’ll also be talking about the VSG State Session at our November Grange meeting, Saturday Nov. 2.   Please join us to discuss the successes, trials and tribulations of hosting this event, and to learn who was elected to offices, new initiatives, and how they could impact our Community Grange.

Grange Notes by Tim Swartz, Grange President (with everyone’s help) October 20, 2024

Starting next Friday!

I’ll be putting up this sign soon, to make the delegates coming from around the state feel welcome.   Many are already familiar with our Hall, since we hosted State Session in October of 2020 as well.  In that year, it was an abbreviated version, as COVID was all too present.   At the time that meeting was held, we were just before the “Delta” variant; we maintained “social distance” (remember that?), wore masks and ventilated as best we could–and no one got sick.
This year, thanks to very widespread  vaccination and the attenuation of the virus, we are not too worried about contagion.   We’ll still be keeping the Hall ventilated, but we expect more VSG delegates–and we’ll be providing lunches and dinners for everyone who pre-orders them this time.  See below how you can help us tickle their tastebuds–and help us clean up afterwards.
Any Grange member can attend the meeting, but we get 2 Voting Delegates.   This year, those are me and Erin Barry, with Patty Giavara as the Alternate, who can vote if Erin or I is not available.  We have a small crop of Resolutions that we will be voting on, plus officers to elect to the State Grange officer corps.  I’ve sent the Resolutions to all up-to-date Grange members, and have received advice from a number of them on Resolutions ranging from naming sleeping cabins at the VT State Grange Center to mandating insurance coverage for IVF treatments in Vermont.
We’ve also been doing some cleaning up of our Hall over the past couple of weeks.   Special thanks go out to Joe Blakely, shown below cleaning the windows in the Main Hall, and to Jody Pettersen, Patty Giavara and Liz Benjamin, who all joined me in the effort to make our Grange Hall clean and welcoming for our guests next week–as well as for our many renters and Hall users, of course!

October 5th Grange program:
we learn about managing our money–and making more!

• Micro-Business classes teach:  Record-keeping, What you need to know before starting a business, Intro to writing a business plan, Cash-flow projections and forecasts, Marketing 101 and Social media marketing.
• Money Conversations classes teach:  Frauds, scams and record-keeping, Spending plan and budgeting, How to save, Credit scores and more, Borrowing wisely and How to steer your way to a great auto purchase.
• These 6 week class cycles repeat throughout the year, and are open to everyone, with no income limits.  Space is limited, and you must register!
•  A “micro-business” is one with 5 or less people.
• There are a huge number of resources to help save money; one example is a GMP income-sensitive program that can reduce monthly bills by 25% for those who qualify.
• If credit card and other borrowing has got you behind the 8-ball, loans can be consolidated–but it is much better to do it with a non-profit organization like Greenpath Financial Wellness.

Do these look like your hands?
Do those look like cookies you can bake?

   If the answer to either question is yes, you can really help us out as we host the State Grange.   Cookies:  So far, we still need more folks to make batches of cookies–or quickbreads, if that’s your specialty!   We know the State Grange members have sweet-tooths (sweet-teeth?), and we want to finish off the meals with some home-baked treats.  We’re perfectly happy to have you freeze your goodies if you want to make them ahead!  We’ll just need them to be dropped off on Thursday evening or Friday morning.
Please sign up so we know we have enough, using this free online form:  Perfect Potluck.  There’s contact info there to get in touch with Merry if you have questions.
And we know that after those meals, there will be dishes to wash!  We have volunteer cooks signed up to work all day, and it’s not fair to ask them to wash up too, so please sign up, by contacting Alison Forrest.  We’ve got a couple of folks already, and need a few more.  We’ve bought extra drainers so that many of the dishes can be left to air-dry–we’re doing our best to make this manageable.

Grange Notes by Tim Swartz, Grange President (with everyone’s help) September 27, 2024

Saturday, Oct. 5:  Rosie Gray from Capstone

We have a speaker on an important issue for our October public program at the Grange Hall.   Rosie Gray works for Capstone Community Action, our local anti-poverty non-profit.   She teaches people how to navigate financial challenges and achieve long-term success through workshops and counseling.  She’s also a “micro-business” counselor, helping people start and run the smallest businesses.  She’ll describe her work, and answer questions.   This program will run from 5:00 to 6:00 PM, following a brief Grange meeting that starts at 4:30 PM.
And of course, the program will be followed by another delicious Community Potluck Dinner!   Bring whatever you want to share–perhaps a main dish from the bountiful harvest of local produce, or a bag of chips and dip picked up from the store on your way over.   Or desserts, or beverages–you’ll find appreciative eaters!

Elections:  integrating new officers, and improving governance

Every other year, all Granges elect new officers.  At our Sept. 7 meeting, I’m pleased to report that we have some new people taking on specific responsibilities by becoming officers in our Grange.  This has also allowed some folks to shift to new seats.  I know that not everyone wants to read through a list of all the officers, so I’m reporting the lineup in a separate “article” below in this newsletter.
One of the major improvements we made this year is to elect 3 members to the Executive Committee.  This group, which also includes the President and Treasurer, is empowered to make interim decisions for the Grange, when decisions need to be taken between Grange meetings.  The EC must report its decisions to the next Grange meeting and have them approved.  Members of the EC can also hold other offices.  Our new EC members are:  Charles Mayhood, Patty Giavara and Bill Meckel.   While we try to make all decisions through official motions at regular Grange meetings, it’s important to have a way to consider emergency or short-term needs which–inevitably–need to be handled fast–things like building system repairs and purchases are good examples.

State Grange meeting Oct. 25 & 26:
Dishwashing volunteers needed!

We’re hosting the VT State Grange annual session this year–and feeding the delegates!   Our intrepid Meals Committee (Charles Mayhood, Alison Forrest, Merry Shernock and Richard DeCosta) has planned a menu of virtually all locally-sourced ingredients for 2 lunches and 2 dinners for this all-day Friday and Saturday event, expecting at least 60 guests!   They have plans for cooking and serving the food, but we badly need volunteer dishwashers.  This is actually a fun community activity–as you can see in the photo above.  We’ll be using the Grange’s collection of vintage china and melamine dinnerware, plus silverware and glasses–no disposables!   And this means that we need to wash the dishes after all 4 meals.   Please consider being part of the “clean team”–email me to get on the list!  You will also get the chance to meet some of the friendly folks from the State Grange whom we’re hosting.  We’ve already got a couple of folks signed up, no one will be working alone!

State Grange meeting Oct. 25 & 26:
And we need cookies and quickbreads!

We also need bakers to help us out by providing treats for desserts, including:

• Brownies and other bars (all variations welcome!)
• Cookies (ditto!)
• Quickbreads (banana, pumpkin, zucchini, apple…all tasty choices!)

Thanks to our friends at Montpelier Alive!

In the last edition of “Grange Notes”, I reported on the need to get the commercial dehumidifier serviced–the one keeps our Lower Level dry and mildew-free.   I’m pleased to report the Northern Basements, from whom we purchased the machine in 2020 has arranged to get it rebuilt by the manufacturer under the 5 year warranty.   And we have a “loaner” dehumidifier running to keep moisture controlled, thanks to Montpelier Alive, Alec Ellsworth and the Montpelier Parks & Trees department!   They have coordinated Montpelier’s response to the flooding that has hit the city in the past couple of years, and are kind enough to help us while our unit is being serviced.   We appreciate it!

Election details–who’s where on our “org chart”

• President:  I’m taking this on for one more 2 year term, which will end in 2026.  By that time, I will have been in office 20 years.  I don’t think it’s good for the organization or for me to be in this position forever, so I am actively looking for others who want to share the duties.   I don’t plan to leave the Grange, and I look forward to helping my successor.
• Vice President: Richard DeCosta takes over this office, which has an important part in our meeting ritual, and also serves as backup for the President.   Richard has been a member of this Grange since about 1990!  He has been “Assistant Steward” for many years, and is ready to do something else.
• Secretary:  Bill Meckel stepped forward to take this important job on.   Over the past couple of years, Charles Mayhood has improved the organization and processes for which this office is responsible.  He’s created  a Word template for meeting minutes makes it easier to prepare these records, which are part of the legal records we must maintain to be a legitimate corporation in Vermont, as well as complying with Grange requirements.
• Treasurer:  Merry Shernock has been in this office since 2016, and has brought in the use of Quickbooks for our bookkeeping.  Between keeping up with rental transactions, paying all the vendors we have, and managing the day-to-day finances, there is plenty to do.  Recently, Patty Giavara has been helping with looking at broader trends in our finances.
• Steward:  Carl Etnier now has this job, which has one regular duty at our meetings, during the closing.  Traditionally, this job is associated with keeping the Hall organized, setting up the “stations” for the meetings, etc.  FYI, this is a role I would be happy to fill after I pass on the Presidency!
• Assistant Steward:  Bill Meckel is taking on this job, as well as the office of Secretary.  The “AS” helps with ritual opening and closing at our meetings.
• Lady Assistant Steward:  Jody Pettersen has agreed to fill this chair, which works with the Assistant Steward in the meeting ritual.
• Chaplain:  Alison Forrest continues in this job; she has made the regular prayers in our ritual more inclusive and–we think–more in touch with the values we hold.
• Lecturer:  Patty Giavara has agreed to take this over from Carl, who has substantial duties as the Chair of the Hunger Mountain Co-op Board taking up a lot of his time these days.  The October 5 program with Rosie Gray marks her debut!  She welcomes suggestions from anyone.
• Gatekeeper:  Liz Benjamin is taking on this sash and seat; in our Grange, the Gatekeeper welcomes people who come to our meetings, since we (long ago) stopped asking attendees for the annual password–everyone is welcome.
• The three Graces are ceremonial roles in the Grange, reserved for women to fill from the founding of the Order of the Patrons of Husbandry, the official name of the Grange organization. Here are the three now in office:
• Ceres:  Cecile Sherburn is stepping in to this role, which includes leading the “Draping the Charter” ceremony with which the Grange honors members who pass away.   Gail England filled this role for many years, but is no longer active.  Ceres, the goddess of the Harvest, is related to the end of the growing season.
• Flora:  Amy Handy, who has been doing a wonderful job improving our flower beds is continuing in this job, which relates to the spirit of the flowers of the garden.
• Pomona:  Marty Roberts has taken this on, so we have a full set of the Graces.   This office has roles in other Grange rituals, as the spirit of fruits.  As you can see, the metaphors of the farm and garden are very important in the Grange.
• Musician:  Matt Nunnelly has done a wonderful job as the piano player and song leader who brings us together in song a few times during each meeting, and plays marches for the rituals we perform.  We look forward to his continuing!  It’s great to be part of an organization that recognizes the importance of music and singing together at every meeting.