Capital City Grange

A large and tasty picnic kicks off our August Challenge

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Grange Notes by Tim Swartz, Grange President (with everyone’s help) August 18, 2023

Lots of great food, and a large and friendly crowd helped us celebrate our Hall!

We had a great turnout at the first Grange barbecue picnic since 2019–estimated as 80 to 100 people.   People came from the Grange membership, from the contra dance community, from various other organizations that use our Hall, and from surrounding Central VT towns.   It helped that 7 Days made us one of their “Top 7”!  As you’ll see in the photos below (taken by Jonathon Blake), we had a huge spread of potluck dishes, as well as the burgers (beef & bean), dogs & buns, plus ice cream which the Grange supplied.  Salads, breads, cheese, vegetables cooked and raw, dips, pickles, casseroles, and many other dishes appeared with the usual magic of potluck dinners–and were enjoyed.  the Just Food Hub supplied tasty samples from their assortment of fairly traded, organic and small-farmer food products–and donated all the profit from their sales to the Grange!
Besides the socializing, we had entertainment from the Senior Center Jazz Ensemble, which played from the ADA porch, providing a great musical background.   Volunteers helped us with set-up and clean-up, making quick work of putting away the tables and chairs, bussing and washing dishes, etc.

 We had a brief interruption…

I stood up to welcome everyone and to thank all the cooks and volunteers and the band, and Patty Giavara announced the beginning of the Challenge Fundraiser which we hold every August.  Co-sponsored by the Friends of the Capital City Grange Hall and the Montpelier Contra Dance Committee, this is an opportunity for everyone who enjoys and uses the Grange Hall, and recognizes us as a resource for Central VT to support the Hall and our work.
This year, we also want to share with people who need help, in the Town of Berlin.   Like many other towns in Vermont, the floods of July 11 (and afterward) have affected many people in the town where our Hall is located.   Many of these haven’t gotten the publicity that some towns have had, yet their needs are great.   We will be splitting the proceeds with some Berlin families whose homes got flooded out.   The balance will support future Grange Hall improvement projects, to make our Hall even more useful and attractive.
A number of generous donors have already pledged $2,500–it’s up to the rest of the Grange/dance/Hall users to match this challenge!
This fundraiser will run through the rest of the month of August, and will culminate at a contra dance on Sept. 2nd, when we’ll decorate the Hall with festive lights, and provide ice cream and potluck desserts at the mid-evening “break” for everyone–with no extra admissions charge!   We want everyone to come and celebrate–and if you can donate, that’s great.  The dance will feature one of our favorite callers, Will Mentor, with Genticorum coming down from Canada to play–a special treat!
All donations large and small are appreciated!
Cash accepted at Montpelier Contra Dance and Grange events in August and September.
Checks can be made out to FCCGH and brought to an event, or mail them to:  PO Box 192, Northfield Falls VT  05664.
Credit Card and PayPal donations accepted at:  www.capitalcitygrange.org/donate.  Scroll down to the big yellow DONATE button.
The Friends of the Capital City Grange Hall (FCCGH) is a 501c3 charity, and donations are tax deductible.

Please send a card and best wishes to
Charles Martin, Secretary Emeritus

Many of you will know the long-time Secretary of Capital City Grange, Charles Martin.  Charles has been having some health challenges for a while, and on Aug. 7 suffered a broken hip.   He had an operation to rebuild the top of his femur a couple of days later, and has been in UVM Medical Center recovering since then.   On Thursday Aug. 17, he was transferred to Woodbridge Rehab and Nursing Center in Berlin, where he’ll continue receiving PT to get him back on his feet.
Whether you know him in person or not, please consider sending a get-well card to Charles, to his home address.  His long-time partner Richard DeCosta will deliver them:
Charles Martin
639 Minister Brook Rd.
Worcester VT  05682
         Charles was Secretary of our Grange from the early 1990s to 2022, when he finally resigned, in his late 80s.  Always cheerful and supportive, Charles was one of the “original Grangers” who welcomed the many neophyte Grange members from the dance and other Grange user communities in 2005.  We’ve valued his friendship and counsel for–literally–decades!

Model of the grange hall

Dedicated Grange member (and Chaplain of our Grange) Alison Forrest is busy finishing putting together a model of our Grange Hall, which will be the centerpiece of our exhibit at the Champlain Valley Fair, from Aug. 25 to Sept. 3.  We’ll be part of the VT State Grange exhibit at the fair, the theme is “Granges Working in the Local Community” this year.   For our Grange, that has meant keeping our beautiful Grange Hall open, welcoming, accessible and affordable for all sorts of Central Vermont organizations, families, rehearsals, performances and–yes–potluck dinners.
As a good illustration of our focus on the Hall, Alison offered to make the model, based on scaled drawings I have done of the Hall over many years.  We’ll pair that with a slide show about the many improvements we’ve made over the years, and a tri-fold display about the ways our Hall gets used.
Special request:  if someone would like to make a small piano to go on the Stage in the model, Alison would love it!   I can furnish measurements–it only needs to be about 2″ long!
We’ll be setting up our Grange’s exhibit on Friday, Aug. 25, and members of our Grange (including me, Merry, Alison and Patty will be staffing the VSG exhibit on Tuesday, Aug. 29th.   If anyone wants to join us, that would be great!   It’s also a chance to see what other Granges in Vermont are showing off–and it’s fun to be at the Fair during what they modestly call the Best 10 Days of Summer.
Of course, you’re welcome to stop by the Grange exhibit–in Ware Hall–anytime during the Fair.   We know that there’s a lot going on there:  horses, rabbits, cattle, sheep, midway rides, cooking demonstrations (in the same building as the Grange exhibit!), crafts gallery, racing pigs, a model railroad…and I’m just scratching the surface.   Check it all out at:  ChamplainValleyFair.org.   We hope to see you there!

Familiar grange doors

You’ve seen the familiar doors in the Grange Hall for many years, between the Main Hall and the Original Entrance Foyer.  They were replaced by new, fire-rated doors as part of our Lift and Foyer project last winter.  Many thanks to Albert Sabatini, who found a taker for them, and also the replaced bathroom door.   The recipient says they fit perfectly in his shed, and we appreciate the space opened up by getting them out of the Lower Level.
We still have a few items it would be great to find a good home for:  an accordion-style door and track, and some office cubicle dividers.   Please contact me if you think you can help us re-home them!

Grange barbecue tomorrow! Good food & good company

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Grange Notes by Tim Swartz, Grange President (with everyone’s help) August 4, 2023

The weather looks promising, and we’re eager to celebrate our beautiful Hall with a picnic

It’s been a busy few years since our last Grange Picnic–it was back in 2019.   In the interim, we’ve survived a pandemic, but we’ve been busy too, improving the Grange Hall.   We’ll have a slide-show with pictures of all we’ve done, but main event will be sharing food.
We’ll have a couple of grills going–one gas, one charcoal, and we’ll provide the protein:   beef hamburgers, hot dogs, black bean burgers plus buns & condiments.   Plus ice cream and cones!   We encourage everyone to bring a side dish to share, too–any thing from chips to salads to cookies, or anything in between.   We’ll be setting up folding-leg tables by the ADA ramp access, and bringing out folding chairs–but feel free to bring your own as well!
We want this to be a chance to socialize and meet other Grange community members–we’ve invited the many renting organizations, as well as Grange members, Berlin Selectboard and Town administrators, State reps & senators–and you!
Here’s the current schedule for tomorrow’s get-together:
5:00:  Set-up:  volunteers will be setting up at least one gas grille and a charcoal grille, setting up tables, putting out plates/glasses/silverware.   Want to help out?   Please send an email to me!
5:30:  Cooking begins, so that we’ll be ready for:
6:00:  Time to eat:  We’ll have the main meal ready to eat–which means we will have cooks producing items from the grilles, and y’all will have brought salads, dips, chips, breads, soups, dals and any other side-dishes to share.
7:00:  Time to start cleaning up:  we will be bringing dishes downstairs to start washing up, putting away cooking supplies, etc.   We have a couple of volunteers signed up already, want to join them?   Please send an email to me!

Photos below are from the 2019 picnic!

2023 Challenge Fundraiser
for the Grange Hall and Berlin Flood Relief

Every year, about ten “Challengers” from the Montpelier Contra Dance, and the Friends of the Capital City Grange Hall pledge generous donations.  This year, the pledges add up to $2,500, and they challenge the Contra Dance and Grange community to match this amount.   Total fundraiser goal is $5,000.  This year, 50% of funds raised will go to assist Berlin families who were severely impacted by the July storm.
All donations large and small are appreciated!
Cash accepted at Montpelier Contra Dance and CCG events in August and September.
Checks can be made out to FCCGH and brought to an event, or mail them to:  PO Box 192, Northfield Falls VT  05664.
Credit Card and PayPal donations accepted at:  www.capitalcitygrange.org/donate.  Scroll down to the big yellow DONATE button.
The Friends of the Capital City Grange Hall (FCCGH) is a 501c3 charity, and donations are tax deductible.
Join us for the main fundraiser event at the Montpelier Contra Dance on September 2, with Will Mentor calling, and Genticorum playing!  Potluck refreshments at the break!

Champlain Valley Fair:  Grange exhibit!

For the last several years, a few of us have put together an exhibit about our Community Grange, for display in the the VT State Grange exhibit area at the CVF in Essex–which they modestly call the Best 10 Days of Summer.  This year, Alison Forrest has rashly volunteered to put together a scale model of our Grange Hall.   It’s based on scale drawings that I have done over the years, and it’s designed to show off the Hall that is the centerpiece of our community service mission.
We also send a few volunteers to staff the State Grange exhibit–and it’s a wonderful opportunity to learn more about the Grange community in Vermont!   There will be exhibits from 6 or 8 other Community Granges, and more about the State Grange organization.  If you’d like to join us, we are “on duty” for 2 shifts on Tuesday, Aug. 29th:  10:00 AM to 3:00 PM, and 3:00 PM to 8:00 PM.   And you’ll get a voucher for free parking and free admission to the Fair!
And there is so much going on at the Fair:  horses, rabbits, cattle, sheep, midway rides, cooking demonstrations (in the same building as the Grange exhibit!), crafts gallery, racing pigs, a model railroad…and I’m just scratching the surface.   Check it all out at:  ChamplainValleyFair.org.   Please email me for more details about signing up as a volunteer–the time is limited!

On July 29th, we saw a sign in the sky…we must be doing something right!

Save the date: Aug. 5 for the Grange barbecue!

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Grange Notes by Tim Swartz, Grange President (with everyone’s help) July 24, 2023

As everyone knows, Montpelier, Barre and many other towns in Vermont were battered and flooded by the torrential rains from July 10 to 16.

Because of location, we were spared from the devastation.   Even our driveway and parking lot, recently re-graded, escaped virtually unscathed, draining well without creating ravines.
We have offered our excellent well-water to people who live where boil-water notices were put into effect.   The outdoor faucet makes access easy.
A few of us are also making contacts to see if we can raise money for Berlin residents who have suffered losses, and have gotten less publicity than the cities and towns who have been in the news.   We were pleased to hear from Weston’s Mobile Home Park (just south of the Grange) that the changes made there after Tropical Storm Irene had greatly reduced damage.  In particular, the homes were raised up when they were re-installed, so that the homes were not flooded, though water flowed underneath.   We will be sending out information soon about our fund-raising campaign.

Our walls are full of cellulose, and our Grange Hall has never looked better!
Time to celebrate with a picnic!

We had a successful couple of work-days on June 26 & 27th, with just enough people to get the job done–and done well!  See my report and pictures below.
The main message of this edition of Grange Notes is to get you salivating, and marking your calendars for a tasty event:  our nearly-annual Grange barbecue cook-out on the first Saturday in August!   We plan to provide a couple of grills, hamburgers, veggie-burgers and hot dogs of various kinds.   We invite everyone to join us, and to bring side-dishes of all kinds!    The Grange has always attracted people who like to eat, and this has always been a popular event.  Like so many things, this has been interrupted by the pandemic, and we’re glad to get it back on the schedule this year!
We plan to set up grilles and tables on the North gable end of the Grange Hall, which keeps away the afternoon sun (we are hoping for less rain than we’ve all seen recently, of course!).  And this year we can enjoy looking at the fresh paint on that North end, as well as the rest of the Grange Hall.   This whole event will be a chance to celebrate the renewal of our Hall over the past few years.   As we get closer, I’ll list all the projects that have happened since the last outdoor cook-out–in 2019!  For now, I’ll just include a couple of photos from “B.C.”  of happy people eating below.
Bring your friends:  We’re always happy to have new folks visit the Grange Hall, and get a better sense of what a great facility it is.   A barbecue is a great attraction!

         Here’s the current schedule for that evening:
5:00:  Set-up and cooking begin:  volunteers will be setting up at least one gas grille and a charcoal grille, setting up tables, putting out plates/glasses/silverware.   Want to help out?   Please send an email to me!
6:00:  Time to eat:  We’ll have the main meal ready to eat–which means we will have cooks producing items from the grilles, and you-all will have brought salads, dips, chips, breads, soups, dals and any other side-dishes to share.
7:00:  Time to start cleaning up:  we will be bringing dishes downstairs to start washing up, putting away cooking supplies, etc.   We have a couple of volunteers signed up already, want to join them?   Please send an email to me!

It was cellulose time!

It’s been a while since this adventure with insulating the walls of the Grange’s Main Hall happened on June 26 & 27, but we’ll get the benefits for years.   Thanks to Bill Hulstrunk (seen below in the green shirt, blowing cellulose into the wall) bringing his blower and his considerable expertise, and just enough volunteers, we got it done.
Those volunteers included Marisa Keller, seen drilling 3″ holes into the walls just above the benches.   Since she works for Capstone doing just this sort of work, she and Bill shared the work of pushing the hose from the blower all the way up to the top of the wall, and all the way down to the bottom, to dense-pack the cellulose.  Kurt Giavara fed the packages of cellulose (some of which I picked up in my red EV) into the hopper to be chopped up and blown through the hose.   Various people did things like removing art and to unscrew the acoustic panels over the windows, and Noah Harrison arrived in the afternoon to screw them back into place after the insulation was in.  I made wood trim strips, painted the same color as the walls to cover the 3″ holes.  When you come for the August 5th BBQ Potluck, you can admire the trim–and the rest of the work we’ve done on the Hall.
         On the next day, we unloaded the BarreTones and the Dance storage closets, drilled holes and insulated the exterior walls of those.   Patty Giavara arrived to help that whole day, including pounding in 3″ wood plugs in those areas, unloading and re-loading the closets with me.  Betty Copeland was our late-day cleanup helper, when we really needed some fresh energy!   Cleaning up all the gray, woolly cellulose was a significant part of the work.
In the hot weather that has been so much a part of the weather, the cellulose has noticeably helped to slow down the rate at which the Grange Hall warms up; we are confident that it will do equally well in saving us heating fuel in the winter.   As people like you who read the Grange Notes already know, Bill Hulstrunk helped us insulate the attic in 2006 and the North gable end in 2017, and we insulated the basement in 2020, so getting the walls done completes our “envelope”!  We really appreciate Bill’s knowledge, and his willingness to volunteer a lot of time to get this work done over many years!

Another volunteer opportunity:  Fall Festival at the State Grange Center

On the 2nd Saturday in September, the annual Fall Festival will be put on at the Grange Center in Brookfield.   The day will be filled with contests of various sorts–everything from judging of produce, crafts and other items, to intense competition throwing cast iron frying pans and rolling pins.   The State Grange is still seeking volunteer judges for many categories–get in touch if you’d like to help out!
The festivities will continue in the evening with a dinner, and then dancing!   I have recruited Susan Reid to organize musicians (she’s the Assistant Director of the VT Fiddle Orchestra, among other things), and Liz Benjamin has agreed to call some basic dances.  We could use some contra dancers to encourage the State Grange folks who will be at the Festival to join in the dancing.   Interested in helping out on Sept. 9th?   Send me an email!

Winter will come back!

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Grange Notes by Tim Swartz, Grange President (with everyone’s help) June 19, 2023

Time to fill up the walls with cellulose!

We’re looking for about 4 volunteers per day, to help to blow cellulose into the long walls of the Grange Hall, filling up the stud cavities. We’re planning on doing this on June 26/27/28–Monday/Tuesday/Wednesday.  We will be drilling holes from the inside of the walls, and covering the holes with trim strips.   We need people to help drill holes, to load bags of cellulose into the hopper of the blower, and to clean up the inevitable fibers that escape during the process.  It may take only 2 days…which would be great!  Get in touch with me at:  swartztim15@gmail.com to talk specific schedule, and answer any questions you may have.
Some time has already been pledged by Patty & Kurt Giavara, me and Marisa Keller, plus Bill Hulstrunk, our expert leader.  We’d love to have you join us for one of these work-days!

Here’s some history about insulating our Hall:
We’ve already got a lot of cellulose insulating our Grange Hall.   Insulating the Grange started in earnest in 2006, when we added 12 inches of cellulose to the attic.  That was a big improvement on the inch or two of vermiculite that was the original endowment!
We were able to do this, because we got a huge amount of help from a Grange community member and contra dancer, Bill Hulstrunk.   Bill has spent his whole career in the business of improving the insulation of homes and buildings, specializing in cellulose.   He was able to provide a cellulose blower and lots of hoses, and get us a great deal on 180 bags of cellulose, plus hole-saws, wood plugs, housewrap and other supplies.  We assembled about 10 volunteers for this project, and got the whole project done in one Saturday…plus a couple of hours the next day to finish up.  Besides the attic, we also filled up the stud cavities in the South gable end, from the attic.
Bill also came back several years ago to dense-pack the stud cavities in the North gable end.   We wanted to reduce the moisture that could be coming through the walls and “helping” the paint to peel.  It took a much smaller number of bags for that project!
Besides the cellulose in the attic and walls, of course, in 2020 we also had most of the concrete walls in the basement insulated with 2-1/2″ foam panels, and had all the joists ends foamed to seal them up.
Now that we’ve had all the walls of the Hall painted, we want to do everything we can to encourage the paint to stay on!   We also want to make it as easy as possible to heat the Hall, especially on the coldest days.  The pellet furnace we had installed in 2022 is smaller in capacity than the old oil-burner.   We knew it would be running constantly on the coldest days–and it was.   And it still had some problems keeping up with the demand.   We are confident that insulating about 1200 sq. ft of stud walls will improve comfort levels, and also save us money on pellets.
So–can you help us out?  We have a couple of people who are willing to pitch in–Kurt and Patty Giavara, and I will also help out–but I’m less capable than I was in 2006.  We need a couple more people who can help us on these weekday workdays–please get in touch–and ask any questions!

Help us get our ashes hauled!

For a few years, I’ve been watching the ash trees which are around the parking lot, as the Emerald Ash Borer has spread and affected ash trees all around central Vermont.  This invasive insect pest, as many of you know, lays its eggs in the bark of ash trees; their larvae bore into the trees, destroying nutrient flows in the wood under the bark, and eventually kill the entire tree.
As you can perhaps see in the photos below, we are not immune.  The ash tree to the right of the pine in the left photo is completely dead now–no leaves coming out.   The ash tree in the right photo still has a few leaves growing on it–but is clearly on its last legs.  I’d really like to find someone local who’s looking for firewood, and has a chainsaw, and experience taking down good-sized trees like these.  Ash is good firewood, and I’d like to keep the wood local to avoid spreading EAB to areas not already infested.  Are there any takers?

One more “Help Wanted”: Webmaster needed

One of the tasks I have ended up with at the Grange is trying to figure out how to keep our website updated.   Our “WordPress” website is a vital part of our operation, particularly the Calendar.
The Calendar is one of many “plugins” that make features of the website work.  All of them need to be updated periodically, and I’ve been able to figure out how to do this sometimes–but recently I’ve had problems with the Calendar updates in particular.  A major update that required “migration of the data” resulted in mixed up Calendar listings that took me several hours to resolve.   Last week, a supposedly simple update failed to work; I spent 10-12 hours struggling with it, and finally had to submit a “Support Ticket”.  I’m still waiting for the update to be able to be installed.  And there are several more plugins that seem to need updates.
I’d really like to pass on this sort of maintenance to someone with more knowledge and expertise!   If there’s someone out there among the very talented people who are involved with the Capital City Grange, who would be interested in helping out, I’d really appreciate it.   I’ll be happy to pass on what I’ve figured out (which includes a Staging Site and a way to back up the website).   I’m sure there are also many opportunities to improve the website, and its SEO (Search Engine Optimization) for example–but I don’t have the time, knowledge or inclination to learn this whole new field.  Please get in touch to learn more!  –Tim Swartz/swartztim15@gmail.com

Why do we need all this help?

Perhaps you’re wondering…how come Tim is asking for volunteers?    The answer is simple:  Keeping our Grange and its Hall going is a lot of work!   The core group of Grange members who come regularly to meetings is small–typically less than 10.   Many of us are getting on in years–at 72, I’m far from the oldest of the group.   We’re really proud of our Hall and the great number of activities that take place there–but keeping up with maintenance increases with more use of the Hall.   We really want to keep our rents affordable for families, non-profit organizations and cultural/charitable groups, so we want to do as much with volunteer help as we can, before we hire professionals.   Also, we know it’s fun to be part of an organization that brings real benefits to Central Vermont, and we’d like to share the joy!
Grange Notes:  In case you’re interested, these email newsletters go to a little over 300 recipients.  We know that between 140 and 160 people open them, thanks to Mailchimp’s tracking software.   We know a lot of you are interested in what goes on–hope you can change some of that interest into action!
–Tim Swartz, President (with everyone’s help)

Grange clean-up: a hard-working crew!

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Grange Notes by Tim Swartz, Grange President (with everyone’s help) June 8, 2023

Starting off with a head-start–and a clear view!

When the volunteer crew arrived on Saturday, they found two tasks already completed:  clean windows and a clean refrigerator!
Patty Covey, a member of the Montpelier Church of Christ has worked on the window-cleaning (including screens!) over the last couple of weeks, so there was lots of light coming in, the sills were all vacuumed, and one of the big jobs all done!  Many thanks!
And Erin Barry had cleaned out the refrigerator in the kitchen beforehand also, since she had a scheduling conflict with the day we chose.  She’ll be back at the Hall to set up and run the Kids Trade & Play event in a few days–see below!

Many thanks to our large crew of volunteer cleaners! 

I can praise the work they did without feeling I’m blowing my own horn–because they did it all!   I had to stay home recovering from a (non-COVID) fever which hit me on Friday morning; I was sorry to miss the work-party.   I got over 30 photos sent to me by Patty Giavara, Alison Forrest and Ann Pearce, and you’ll see many of them in the report below.   I recovered well from my illness, and now I get to share the pictures of everyone else working.
Garden beds work crew:

We’ll start with Amy Handy & Ann Pearce, who took on the flower beds by the Original Entrance and the ADA Entrance.  Below, you can see that they took out a lot of grass and other weeds from the bed to the right of the Original Entrance, removed part of the huge hosta (and transplanted it to the other beds), and added more plants to that bed.  Around the ADA entrance porch, the existing plantings (many by Ann and Carol Noyes) have all been weeded and trimmed.  Notice the pink Columbines blooming!   Amy, who lives in Montpelier, would love to have a regular helper or two to keep these flower gardens weeded, watered and looking good–email her at:   1geranium1@gmail.com.
This is also a good place to acknowledge the gift of 4 small lilac “trees”, which were donated by Lewis and Maudean Neill.   They’re planted in the far eastern corner of the parking lot, where they’ll get plenty of light.   And they’ll need watering too!

 

The Fan Club

Next, some pictures of how the window fans were taken from very dusty to clean.   These get used to blow air into the Hall during contra dances and other events.   As you’ll see, they get pretty dirty!  In the pictures, you can see Patty Giavara, Carl Etnier and Matt Nunnelly taking them apart, cleaning them and putting them back together.  The people photos are bracketed by before (yuk) and after (nice & clean) pictures.

Bathroom and kitchen cleaning!

Various people pitched in to get the bathrooms clean–even behind the toilets–plus the mirrors, the sinks, kitchen stoves, etc.   You can see  Merry Shernock attacking dirt behind a toilet,  Alison Forrest with vlosartiC, and Carl Etnier, Stan Carlson and Bill Meckel taking on the kitchen.  Bill also cleaned both ovens!
Bill and Stan also cleaned the ceiling fans, and all the light globes upstairs!

More work in the Hall–catching up with the dust

After the globes and fan were cleaned, Jody Pettersen vacuumed up the dust from the mats, and then tackled the chair carts and the mat cart!   I’m pretty sure no one has done that since the carts were built in 2008 and 2014 respectively.  She also vacuumed the stage floor and the floor under the stage, and vacuumed the Dance Closet too!
Not shown are Dan Jones and Alison cleaning the insides of the Lower Level windows, Alison cleaning the trim and walls in the Original Entrance foyer.   Merry took the curtains from the Main Hall windows home to wash, too!

More outdoor work!

Stan Carlson cut down a dead ash tree by the driveway, Kurt Giavara re-attached some sills on basement windows–and Patty Giavara removed the ugly splatter left by a snowplow on our beautiful Grange sign!

The good news:  a good turn-out of experienced volunteers
The not-so-good news:  only a couple of new faces

We really appreciate the hard-working people who show up regularly at our “project days”–and their combined experience helps the work go really smoothly!    We were glad to get a couple of new folks joining the crew; by all reports they were fun to work with and really pitched in–shout out to Bill and Dan.   And as usual, almost all the cleanup-day work crew came from the contra dance community–a really supportive part of the Grange “family”, as well as being our single largest group of Hall users.  Kudos to them!
We do really wish we could see a few more people from the other groups who regularly rent the Grange Hall.   All of the many hours of volunteer work that keep this place running make it possible for our rental rates to be low, compared other venues.  And projects like this clean-up make it more pleasant and attractive for everyone who uses the Hall.  Those of us who put in a lot of time do it because we think the Hall is a valuable resource.  We’re all happy to see it busy–but it won’t keep going forever unless new people step up to take part in work days like this.  We also need more folks to help with regular maintenance tasks, the website, and many other parts of our operation.    None of us long-time volunteers are getting any younger, either!
I will continue to publicize volunteer opportunities, and hope to meet some new, eager people who want to pitch in.   It’s a lot of fun to be part of the “backstage crew”–when we have enough help.  You can always reach me to find out more about the work that needs doing, at:   swartztim15@gmail.com.

After the clean-up:  singing and eating!

Grange members and our Grange Hall friends always like both of these activities.   There was room for more folks at both the Sing-Along (led from the piano by Grange Musician Matt Nunnelly) and the Community Potluck that followed.  I’m sorry I wasn’t able to be part of these activities–there was clearly lots of food at the potluck!   The photos below show the leftovers, some of which were packaged up by Alison Forrest.   I heard that the Rhubarb Crumble made by Grange Secretary Charles Mayhood was especially wonderful!

 

Our next potluck: August 5th
Mark your calendars

We won’t have a regular meeting or potluck on the next “First Saturday”, since it will be July 1st, part of the holiday weekend.  So we’re planning an outdoor Barbecue/Potluck for the beginning of August.    We’ll have a gas grill and a charcoal grill, and hope we’ll see you there with something tasty to cook there, or already made.   More details to come!

Coming back this Saturday, June 10!

After skipping the 2nd Saturday in May to allow the volunteers a little break, our Grange’s monthly kids clothing exchange is back at its usual time this Saturday.   Organizer Erin Barry and her hard-working crew will set up the 50 or 60 bins of sorted, clean, un-ripped and un-stained clothing for kids from newborn to Junior 12 size. as well as women’s clothes!   We’ll be accepting donations of equally nice clothing, which your kids have outgrown and are ready to pass on. Erin’s especially looking for summer clothes this time, for obvious reasons.  We usually get around 100 adults and kids in the 2-hour-long event and we hope you’ll come and take advantage.  We ask for a $3 donation per family–but no one is ever turned away.  Take as much as you can use!  Keep up with all the news from Erin and her crew on their Facebook Page.

Finishing touches:  new concrete!

We’re pleased to be getting to the last bits of the wheelchair lift and foyer project, with the replacement of the concrete slab at the bottom of the entrance ramp.   The original slab had dropped a few inches at the back edge, where it joined the building’s foundation, and no longer met ADA guidelines for an accessible entrance, so replacing it was included in the scope of work for our project.
Within the next week, we expect to get the Fire Marshal (who also checks compliance with ADA requirements) to inspect and certify that we’ve followed the plans and codes in our project.

Just Food Hub:  your chance to get delicious products from the Congo Coffee Project

It’s been a while since I highlighted Just Food Hub, the very local anti-profit organization that sells fair-trade food items, and donates to local community service groups–including the Grange!   Order from them using this special link to their website, and a portion of the proceeds will be donated to us!   You can also find much more information about them.
Also, for every bag of Organic Congo Coffee purchased, Equal Exchange donates $1 to the Panzi Foundation to support survivors of sexual violence in the war-torn Democratic Republic of the Congo–raising over $100,000 so far!  Donations fund infrastructure development at the Panzi Bulenga Clinic in South Kivu, and also vocational training where women learn skills that help foster financial independence and stability.   Congolese farmer cooperatives grow these beans in eastern Congo, where the combination of rich volcanic soil and high altitudes allow the coffee cherries to mature slowly, leading to incredible sweetness.
The Grange is honored to be the beneficiary of donations from Just Food Hub, which distributes fairly-traded Equal Exchange products from small farmers like these.

 

Contact Us

Tim Swartz, President, CCG#469
802-225-8921 (cell)
grangepresident@capitalcitygrange.org

 

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