Grange Notes by Tim Swartz, Grange President (with everyone’s help) July 28, 2026

Smoke rises from the Grange…
and it’s a good thing!

Most days, seeing the smoke rising at the Hall would be a cause for concern, but when we have our annual Barbecue-Potluck-Picnic, we’re grilling food to bring people together to enjoy summer, the Grange and tasty dishes.  This Saturday, Aug. 1st, is the date this year; as I write this on 7/28, the forecasts for Saturday being a dry day look good.   Here’s the schedule:

1. 5:00 PM:  We need some volunteers–people to help us bring out tables, chairs (and BTW, we’ll be using our still new padded chairs this year), dishes and plates, silverware and condiments.  Please note:  you’ll see me limping around with a cane, so I’m really looking for more people to fetch, carry and set up, since I can’t really lug stuff around.
2. Steve Boylan (in the apron and hat above) will also be looking for help to load up and start cranking the 2 ice-cream makers he’ll be bringing again–like last year, get your taste buds set for vanilla and blueberry!
3. The Montpelier Senior Jazz Ensemble will be playing and singing jazz standards–they’ve been rehearsing in the Grange Hall for several years!  This year, we’re keeping the entrance porch clear, and they’ll be playing at ground level.
4. 5:30 PM:  we’ll be ready for potluck side dishes to be set out on the tables.  Please bring your favorite side dishes of all kinds, to go along with what the Grange is providing, and which Tim, Kurt and Patty will be cooking:  burgers (beef and vegan) and hot dogs, plus buns & condiments.
5. 6:00 PM we’ll be serving out the burgers (both kinds) and the dogs.
6. 7:00 PM will be time to bring the last of the dishes down to the kitchen for volunteer dishwashers  to clean up, and for last of the folding tables and the chairs brought in, so that the band for the contra dance, Dawn Chorus can do their sound check.  We will appreciate help with this part of the dinner as well!  All of our celebrations and projects work well when we have volunteers–and they’re fun for everyone.

Just Food Hub
Tasty treats you can take home, and support Fair Trade goods and the Grange!

We will also be joined by Sue and John Morris, long-time Grange supporters and contra dancers, who now run an anti-profit “business”, the Just Food Hub, which is dedicated to supporting non-profit community organizations (including the Grange).  They do this by selling products from around the Global South, Palestine and the U.S, which are produced with sustainable farming practices, and are democratic and worker-owned farming cooperatives.
The products they sell range from coffee, chocolate and tea, to nuts and dried fruit, to hand-made baskets.   You can see and order all of their products at the Just Food Hub website–and for everything you buy through that Capital City Grange special page, or that you buy at the Aug. 1 picnic will return 25% of the price to the Grange as a support donation!  Sue and John have been doing this for several years, and keep sending us donations, so we know it works, and we appreciate their efforts!

Grange Hall (and driveway) maintenance–
an ongoing saga, and a plea for help

Like the septic tank pumping I reported on in the last newsletter, there are a good number of systems for the Grange Hall that need maintenance regularly.  While I was at the Hall for the septic work, I realized that I had not been paying enough attention to another “system”–the guided drainage that should direct the run-off off the driveway, instead of eroding its way downward.  We’ve been lucky to not (yet)  have any major rainstorms like the ones that happened on July 10 in 2023 and 2024, but we are suffering from erosion at the bottom of the “alley” that runs along the side of the Hall nearer Rt. 12, as well as the main driveway.  Among the problems: the “waterbars” that are supposed to divert water over the bank, the gully developing around the “hair-pin turn” to the main driveway, water diverted around the drain to the culvert which should take it off the driveway, and the water spilling across the bottom of the driveway, making ruts, because the drainage has silted up.
If I had been paying more attention, perhaps we could have found some volunteers to work on the waterbars, etc., but at this point, we are going to hire a driveway contractor  to correct some of these problems.  We’re not sure just when we’ll fit into his schedule.
See below for a plea for help to avoid having things like this happen again.

Making a new plan for maintenance–
a plea for help

This driveway problem highlights the lack of a real structure for monitoring and accomplishing Hall Maintenance tasks–not the major renovations that the Friends of the Capital City Grange take on, but the many weekly, monthly and annual tasks.   Over the years, I’ve done a lot of that myself–and I’m no longer able to keep up as well as I used to.   Regular readers will know that I’ve turned 75 this year, and I’m definitely slowing down.   Over the past couple of years, I’ve also been struggling with what turned out to be a couple of torn tendons in my hip, which have further compromised my ability to go up and down stairs, climb ladders, etc.  I’ve been walking with a cane for a few weeks now, and I’m going in for an operation on those tendons on Aug. 11 which will keep me away from the Hall and unable to do a lot of things for at least a couple of months.
So:  what I’d like to do is convene a group of people who have maintenance/janitorial/mechanical skills, soon, to make and carry out a better maintenance plan.   I have lists of tasks, and have written directions for a lot of them, and I think that they can be split up among a few people who will be able to do a better job than I have been able to do alone.  I’ve been able to do this with some tasks already, but I need to hand off more of the list.   I’ll be reaching out to people I know are excellent volunteers, and/or have relevant skills, to see if we can meet (perhaps virtually or in a hybrid meeting) to come up with a way to do this.   If you’re someone who wants to help keep the Hall running, if you have maintenance skills or want to learn some, please reply to this Grange Notes email and I’ll invite you to the meeting!   Or call me:  802-225-8921.
Tasks will include, for example (not a full list!):

• Monitoring the driveway and parking lot on a regular basis, and identifying problems before they get big.
• Filling sand buckets for winter use.
• Emptying recycling bins and taking to recycling center.
• Monitoring Hall cleaning by our cleaning service, and doing occasional extra cleaning (e.g. the stair railings).
• Monitor and trim trees around the parking lot & driveway.
• Monitoring ongoing filter changing in furnace, air purifiers, ERV, dehumidifier, water filter–we have a lot filters these days!

I’m sure there are other areas I haven’t remembered–which is another reason why we need a diverse group keeping an eye on the whole Grange Hall from more than one perspective.    The Hall is such an important part of our community service, and brings joy to the lives of so many people.   Please get in touch to let me know if you’re interested.  If you’re already helping with maintenance, many thanks, and we will want your input!  I’ll be calling on you to work with me and others to do even better.
Important note:   I’m not planning on leaving any time soon–I’d like to keep working as part of a group, and to pass on the knowledge about the Hall I’ve gained in the last 25 years that I’ve been working on it.

Would you like to win use of a camp/retreat center for a weekend?

The Vermont State Grange is raffling off the opportunity to use the Vermont State Grange Center in Brookfield for a full weekend in 2027!   The $5.00 tickets will benefit the upkeep of the Grange Center.   The rental of the Center for a weekend (Friday through Sunday) is valued at $1,500!
The facilities include:

• Cabin lodging with bunkbeds
• Indoor Recreation Hall
• Commercial Kitchen
• Meeting Rooms
• Outdoor Recreation Areas
• Chapel
• Picnic Tables and Firepit
• Bring your own linens, everything else is included!

The drawing will be held on Oct. 24, 2026, at the Annual Session of the State Grange–at our Grange Hall!   You don’t need to be present to win, just provide your name and phone number, and you’ll be contacted.   To buy tickets, contact me, Tim, for tickets:  swartztim15@gmail.com, or see me around the Grange.
I’m including some pictures of the Grange Center below; you can also check out the Grange Center website.

Grange Notes by Tim Swartz, Grange President (with everyone’s help) July 15, 2026

In addition to death and taxes, certain things are inevitable…

One of them is the need to take care of the Grange’s septic system.   This last weekend, Bill Meckel, our Grange Secretary, was able to recruit some help to excavate the cleanout portal, which is under the driveway.   This requires some people with younger backs and shoulders than I now have, so the help of Jeremiah Breer,  as well as Bill was much appreciated!   In the pictures below. you can see Bill starting the hole, Bill and Jeremiah widening it, the wooden cover that protects the lid, and the hole with protective cones around it.

Monday, I had the tank pumped and inspected–and found out that the wire loops for lifting the lid were rusted through.  On Tuesday, I installed some stainless steel hooks with masonry anchors for future lid-lifting, and got help from Luc Robillard, John Totman and David Ward of the Jazz Ensemble to fill up the hole.
As you can tell, not all the work at the Grange is glamorous–but it all needs to get done.   As I’ve been reminding the members and friends of the Grange and the Hall, I’m not able to do nearly as much work as I used to–and I’m going to be out of commission completely starting in early August, when I have an operation on the partially-torn tendons in my hip.  I really appreciate all the people that already help out–like the ones highlighted in this article–but we’ll need even more to keep this place going.  Reply to this newsletter to let me know how you can help.

Making our Hall even more welcoming 

We’ve just added to the amenities we provide for Grange Hall users by adding free feminine hygiene products to our bathrooms.  This upgrade was stimulated by a request from Isabel Anderson, one of the (many) regular contra dancers.   We now have baskets with free tampons and sanitary pads with wings in both ADA individual bathrooms, and next to the sinks in the Lower Level four-cubicle bathroom.  We want all our patrons to be able to use the Hall in comfort.
Thanks go to Patty & Kurt Giavara, who provided the baskets and hung them up.

In a couple more weeks, it’s barbecue time
at the Grange Hall

Our midsummer outdoor BBQ/Potluck/Picnic will be coming up on Saturday, Aug. 1st!  The pictures below are a couple of the ones taken by Jonathan Blake at last summer’s event, and show some of the cooking and eating that went on.   Kurt Giavara cooked beef burgers, I cooked hot dogs, and Patty Giavara cooked vegan burgers.   And thanks to Steve Boylan, who brought two ice cream makers, and the many people who helped to crank, we had blueberry & vanilla ice cream among the desserts!
Of course, we also get lots of great potluck side dishes from all the folks who come.   The Grange provides the burgers, hot dogs, buns & basic condiments, plus the ice cream ingredients, and all the delicious side dishes get brought by the eaters, so we all get lots of variety.  We hope you’ll join us too!
Other features of the picnic will be music during setup and the beginning of the meal by the Senior Jazz Ensemble, which rehearses at the Hall every Tuesday morning, and Just Food Hub, the non-profit “business” that donates to non-profit community groups, including the Grange.   They’ll have fair-trade, Equal Exchange items from chocolate to coffee to olive oil for sale, with a percentage of each sale donated to the Grange.
If August 1 Grange Picnic isn’t already on your calendar, put it on!  If you can come about 5:00 to help set up chairs, tables, dishes and silverware, that will be great.   Otherwise, start bringing in potluck items at 5:30, we’ll have burgers, dogs, etc. ready to eat by 6:00!

When you come for the picnic, be sure to stop and smell the flowers!

It’s the height of summer now, and the flowers planted by Amy Handy and other volunteers are in bloom all around the Hall’s garden beds.  With contributions from Chris Labrusciano and others, there are more kinds of flowers than ever before.  The photos show how they look now, there will be more changes by the picnic, I’m sure.  If you’d like to help with weeding, mulching, finding new flowers and more, please email Amy!

And finally…new tenants for our Hall’s porch!

The robins have finally decided where to put their new nest, and last week I found the first egg on Thursday, with number two showing up on Saturday.  That seems to be the total for this batch, we’ll see when the eggs hatch, and then how long it takes them to take to the air.

Grange Notes by Tim Swartz, Grange President (with everyone’s help) June 26, 2026

June 6 at the Grange–Tasty & Tuneful

We had a great combination of skillful cooks and enthusiastic singers at our Grange Chili Cookoff and Sing-Along on June 6th.   In the picture to the left, you can see all the judges and most of the cooks.  From left to right:

• Jody Pettersen:  2nd prize in the “carnivore” division
• David McGaw:  1st prize in the “carnivore” division
• Albert Sabatini (back):  Judge and chef for the Montpelier Community Meals program
• Amy Handy (front):  3rd prize in the “vegetarian” division
• Calvin Cutler:  Judge, and WCAX Montpelier correspondent–he produced a brief story about the Grange, here’s a link to it:   WCAX Chili contest
• Lisa Burr:  Judge, and co-owner of “Feed Every Need“, a non-profit making prepared meals for those who can’t cook
• Bill Meckel:  3rd prize in the “carnivore” division
• Patty Giavara:  4th prize (shared with Charles Mayhood, not shown) in the “carnivore” division
• Tim Swartz:  1st prize in the “vegetarian” division
• Steve Boylan:  2nd prize in the “vegetarian” division

• Bragg Farm Maple Syrup (donated by Bragg Farm)
• Hand-carved mahogany cooking spoon (donated by the maker, Alexandra Forbes)
• Plainfield Co-op $20 gift certificate (donated by the Co-op)
• 2–Hunger Mountain Co-op $20 gift certificates (donated by the Co-op)
• Lydia Bastinich cookbook (donated by Anonymous)
• Marble Cheese board (from Capital Kitchen
• Capital Kitchen $20 gift certificate

Grange Notes by Tim Swartz, Grange President (with everyone’s help) June 4, 2026

It’s finally time for one of the
tastiest Grange meetings of the year!

Perhaps you think you’ve heard too much about this…or maybe you can’t wait to show off your “best chili in the world recipe”.   For all of us, the waiting ends on Saturday afternoon.    If you’ve got a pot of chili to be judged, bring it in between 4:15 and 4:30 PM, to the Lower Level kitchen, to be given a code number and kept warm for the judges.  Bring it in your own crockpot, or we’ll put it in one of the six we have in the kitchen.
For every entry, we ask you to attach a copy of the recipe, for the judges to see, and a hidden label with your name, for the judges to not see.   Your entry will be judged in either the “with meat” or “meatless/vegetarian” category, on 4 critera:

• Flavor 40%
• Appearance 20%
• Texture 20%
• Ease of preparation 20%

• Albert Sabatini, Grange member, and Monday Chef for the Montpelier “Community Table” meal program.
• Lisa Burr, co-owner of “Feed Every Need”, a non-profit that makes prepared meals for those who can’t cook their own food.
• Calvin Cutler, political reporter for WCAX

About 4:45: Sing Along with
Matt Nunnelly, and say goodbye.

On June 6th, we’ll bid a reluctant farewell to Matt and  his family, who are moving back to Alabama.   We’ve really appreciated his talents as a song-leader, and as a piano accompanist for many Grange Sing-Alongs, as well as for Grange meeting processionals and the closing and opening songs.   We’ll miss him, his family, his good humor and his excellent song-leading, which has let all of us enjoy singing so many times.
For this last Matt appearance, we hope that lots of folks will join us in singing folk songs, pop songs, rock songs, anthems or whatever we all agree on.   We have the many songs in the Grange song-book, as well as additional lyrics in binders printed up by Cecile Sherburn–including a couple of  new songs sent in by Patty Giavara:   If I Had a Hammer, and Down by the Riverside.

U-32 “Community Service Day”
Hard-working students help us clean up!

We enjoyed having some help for a Grange Hall Clean-Up day last Friday, as we hosted 7 hard-working students (plus a “chaperone” teacher) for a few hours of deep-cleaning.
The picture above shows part of the mat-cleaning crew that removed a lot of dirt from the mats that protect our dance floor, plus the stage crew, and one of the students starting on window-cleaning as well.   In addition to what you see here, we got the Dance Closet emptied, cleaned and re-stocked, bathroom cleaning, kitchen cleaning, and flower-bed work as well!   All of this in the brief time allotted by U-32, which dropped off the students about 10:30, and picked them up at 1:00.  The pickup was earlier than the 1:30 time we expected–and the kids were visibly reluctant to leave with not everything done.   We think we showed them how much fun volunteer work can be, when done for a good cause with a friendly atmosphere.  3 or 4 of the kids are also contra-dancers that already knew about our Grange Hall!
We also had vital help from other Grange members and Hall users.  In addition to me, Merry Shernock worked hard on the bathrooms and closet cleaning with the students, Liz Benjamin did a lot of window-cleaning, and Amy Handy and Susan McKenney supervised flower-bed work, along with contra dancer Autumn Mallari.   Chaperone Barrett Jones from U-32 was a hard-working member of the mat-cleaning team–and stayed on after the students had to leave to finish up the last couple of mats.
We also fed everyone lunch, thanks especially to Charles Mayhood, who bought and prepared sandwich-makings, a vegan curried chickpea option, plus fruit and other treats.  New Grange member Sue Stukey brought some chocolate-chip cookies (gluten-free, no less), which were of course much appreciated!
All in all, we did a lot of cleaning–though as always there’s more to be done if someone wants to do something nice for the Grange and the Hall we love.    Besides cleaning, there are some painting projects and various other work that can be done–just reply to this email.  We also  hope U-32 will make this sort of Community Service day an annual event!

Grange Notes by Tim Swartz, Grange President (with everyone’s help) May 25, 2026

Next Friday:
Help us get the most out of U-32 students doing community service!

• Cleaning the floor mats:  mopping off the accumulated dirt, since our June 2025 clean-up day.
• Cleaning the sign: our Grange sign by Rt. 12 gets dirty from snow-plow spray.   A bit of soap and water will make a big difference.
• Cleaning window sills and frames–both floors
• Vacuuming the Main Hall window screens
• Cleaning the stage–dust accumulates!

Whether your best recipe is meat-less or meat-full,
The chili challenge is coming up fast!

I hope you’ve been practicing your recipes–I have–for June 6th’s contest.  Remember:  there will not be a prize for the HOTTEST chili!   Our “celebrity judges” will be rating the entrants on taste, ease of preparation and appearance, not on heat.   We will have 2 sets of prizes–for chili with meat, and without it.
Please bring your tasty dishes in about 4:15 PM on Saturday, June 6, along with the recipe you used (or made up as you went along!).   Please label it in a hidden spot with your name.  You can bring it in a crockpot–or we will have a few into which you can pour yours, so that all can be served hot to the judges.  We’ll have the chilis and the judging downstairs, while we have a Sing-Along upstairs, so there won’t be any spying on the judges!
For more information, call Marty Roberts at 802-223-5506, or email isabella1813@yahoo.com.
We hope to share some of the chili options at our potluck dinner afterward–and we’ll be urging people to bring other dishes too, since not everyone wants to only eat chili for dinner!

Before the potluck–Sing Along with
Matt Nunnelly!

On June 6th, from about 4:45 to 5:45,  we hope you’ll join us for an eclectic and vigorous sing-along!   We have the Grange song-book, plus lyrics for other favorites that we have printed up, and we’ll consider new ones too!   If you would like new lyrics printed up for the multitudes, please email Tim Swartz (just click the link), and I’ll do my best to get them printed up to be added to our loose-leaf collection.  We’ll have Matt as our song-leader, from the piano bench.
Among the many things we enjoy at Grange meetings, the opportunity to sing together is  high on the list.  The Grange is the only organization I know which has a Musician on the list of officers, and an opening and closing song as part of the agenda for every meeting.   We’ve been lucky enough to have Matt Nunnelly as our Musician for about 10 years, since 2016.  We enjoyed having him leading songs at the meetings, and also at Holiday Sing-Alongs in December (as in the picture above–that’s Matt at the piano, and a friend playing along), as well as at the June meeting which is usually our last formal meeting for the summer.
Matt and his family are moving back to Alabama this summer, so please join us to enjoy singing along with him for the last time–we’ll miss his cheerful singing and artful accompaniment.

Who is breaking the Grange’s wooden chairs?

I’m sorry to report that I have found 2 wooden chairs which have been broken.   These are wooden chairs that have been on the stage for years.   In two separate instances, someone has broken these (by accident I hope) and has left them to be discovered.    The one on the left has a leg cracked so badly that someone sitting in the chair could easily have caused it to collapse.  The one on the right has the bottom bracing broken off–perhaps by someone standing on the bracing?
If anything at the Grange breaks while you are using it, please speak up and let me know, so it can be repaired or at least removed so that it doesn’t cause more problems.   Walking away from the problem just leaves danger for someone else.   We understand that accidents happen–but it’s really discouraging to find them by surprise.

Marching around the Grange meeting,
and getting the 1st Degree

On the first Saturday of May, our meeting was largely taken up by practicing the basics of performing the First Degree of Grange membership, planned for the following day.   The practice paid off; the next day, May 3rd brought us 4 guests from Caledonia #9 Grange in East Hardwick to join us in presenting the Degree.  They augmented our roster of officers, as well as providing a new member to be part of the group that was led from officer to officer during the ceremony.  Caledonia Grange Master Rob MacLeod served as Vice President, and Caledonia Secretary Ranny Bledsoe served as Gatekeeper.  We also had the pleasure of welcoming back long-time Capital City Grange member Bill Thayer to take the part of Lecturer.
These degrees are designed to pass on the values of the Grange, with rituals and symbols to help new Grange members understand the goals of the organization.  An example is the blindfolds worn by some of the new members, which got removed as part of the ritual, when the candidates have been “enlightened” by some of the important lessons about the purposes and practices of the Grange.   The ritual also introduces the first symbol of the Grange Salutation, which affirms the Grange’s dedication to Faith, Hope, Charity and Fidelity.  As one of our visitors from Caledonia Grange said, this was a rare opportunity to talk openly about the values by which we strive to live.
After the Degree performance, we enjoyed a very tasty potluck dinner–another “ritual” of the Grange which nourishes us in other ways.
If anyone wants to learn more about the Grange and the Degree rituals, please reply to this newsletter.   There may well be opportunities to see other Vermont Granges perform this and the later Degree ceremonies.
Many thanks to Betty Copeland for taking pictures during the ceremony, and to former Vermont State Grange Master Errol Briggs, who loaned us the bouquet of 50 native grasses, and attended the ceremony.

May 9:  Benefit Contra Dance report

I’m pleased to report that the afternoon contra dance on May 9, which was put on by Indivisible Calais, was a success for the people who enjoyed the dance, and also as a fundraiser for VPIRG.  About $1,700 was raised by the donations of the folks who came; VPIRG volunteers were there to hand out literature and stickers, and to sell T-shirts and sweatshirts with their logo.  They also talked with those interested in VPIRG’s work defending voting rights, protecting the environment and advocating for consumers.  The potluck after the dance was also enjoyed by everyone who came.  Thanks to everyone who helped with setup and cleanup, too!