Tova, Author at Capital City Grange

Oct. 6th: meeting, greeting & eating

October 6, 2018 by Tova

Grange Notes by Tim Swartz, Grange President (with everyone’s help) for October 3, 2018

Window cleaning on Oct. 6th postponed–Hall is too busy

In case you heard me announce it at the Sept. 29th contra dance–we had originally hoped to do a Hall cleaning party before the Oct. 6th Grange meeting, but we’ll have to re-schedule that–there is a “Intensive Youth Musical Theater Workshop” happening, from 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM. We’ll send out a new schedule as soon as possible.

October Grange meeting starting at 4:15 PM on Saturday

We’re starting 15 minutes earlier than usual, so we can deal with a good-sized agenda:

Elections of officers: every 2 years, we must hold Grange elections. We’d love to have some more candidates, some of us old war-horses are getting pretty creaky! We’ll happily train you!
Discussion of resolutions: the State Grange meeting on Oct. 18 & 19 will consider proposed resolutions from Community Granges like ours. They range from calling for more regulation of neo-nicitinoid pesticides, to changing the day of town meetings, state and national elections to Saturday, to supporting the Equal Rights Amendment, to eliminating Daylight Savings Time–and many more. You can see more info, and download all the Resolutions at the CCG website: 2018 vt state grange proposed resolutions Let us know what you think! I’ll have a number of printed copies for the meeting.
Continued discussion of how to better define the “mission” of our Grange–besides maintaining and improving the Hall, how can we best involve more people in the Grange and do more community service? After this meeting, we provide a chance to meet the local candidates; we’ve been sponsoring cooking classes, which have been very popular–are there other new things we could do? We’d welcome your suggestions!

After the meeting comes the greeting and the eating

The other reason that we want to start a bit early is that we want to have time to Meet the State Rep Candidates.
At the Nov. 6th election, voters in the Washington-1 district (Berlin and Northfield) will be asked to choose 2 of the 6 candidates. We’ve invited all of them to come by about 5:45, so anyone can come to meet them. They will be staying for the Community Potluck dinner, so you can meet them, then sit down and interrogate them over home-made food.The 6 candidates on the ballot:

Gordon Bock–Independent
Anne Donahue–Republican (unable to come because of a family reunion in PA)
Kenneth Goslant–Republican
Jeremy Hansen–Progressive/Democrat
Denise MacMartin–Democrat
Rebecca Trower–Independent

Community Potluck Dinner

Now that we are back to 1st Saturday meetings for the fall, winter and spring, you can put on your calendar the regular schedule of 1st Saturday potlucks, starting about 6:00. This month’s dinner will have special guests, as noted above, but like all of them, it will also feature tasty dishes brought in by our Grange members and friends. We usually have everything from chips to casseroles, salads to sweet treats. It’s a delicious way to socialize, and to get to know your neighbors–and your State Rep candidates this time!

Completing the landscaping

A dedicated crew went back to work on the flower beds by the “new” entrance–the one added to the building in 2008, which we put in to allow access to everyone.   Take a look at the photos below, to see a few pictures of the process, from moving stones to the finished product. There are more in the Photo Gallery at the CCG website: https://capitalcitygrange.org/category/gallery/
This group of volunteers is pretty much the same as the one which put in the first set of flower-beds in 2017–with a new Community Service Volunteer.   The bottom right picture shows the crew with the extremely helpful Kubota, which helped us place the rocks. From left to right: Gerold & Carol, Ryk, Tim & Merry enjoy the late afternoon sun and a job well done. Elizabeth had to leave before the photo, but was also a stalwart worker.
We also want to thank Ann Pearce & Carol Noyes for donating plants, and also Berlin neighbor Gale who brought over some daylilies, and offered good suggestions on the old entrance flower beds.
We’d like to recruit some more help to keep the flowers weeded and watered next year–we have an outside faucet now which will make the watering much easier!   And there is much more that could be done to improve the old flower beds by the original “dancers'” entrance, add plantings to other areas, etc. Please contact Merry Shernock (rentals@capitalcitygrange.org) or Tim Swartz (swartztim15@gmail.com) if you’re interested. You can do this on your own schedule, and help to improve our Grange Hall’s appearance!

Grange mission discussion, Rocky II and another community Hall

September 21, 2018 by Tova

Grange Notes for September 21, 2018 by Tim Swartz, Grange President (with everyone’s help)

Rocky II–corrected day = Sunday

In the last Grange Notes, I incorrectly said that the flower bed project would be on Saturday–please come on Sunday, Sept. 23rd from 1:00 to 5:00 to help us move rocks, shovel soil & plant perennials on the remaining sides of the entrance porch.
In the to picture below, see the first new planting bed, full of late-summer greenery & flowers. We could use some help weeding this bed as well!
Below that, see the other corner–doesn’t it look naked? A few more rocks and a little time will make it look good!

Dancing at the Grange Center Fall Festival–one more picture

Debby Ploof of the State Grange, who organized the Fall Festival sent me a better photo, showing the range of Grangers who enjoyed the dancing. I couldn’t resist!

Grange Meetings for the Fall began on Sept. 15th. “Mission” is on our minds.

We had a chance to do a “summer catch-up”, reviewing all the work that has been done on the plumbing, the septic tank pumping, and the driveway re-work.   We gave the expenditures a formal approval to supplement the email discussion. We also decided on a formal limit to the amount that can be spent between Grange meetings, with authorization from the President, the Vice President, or the Executive Committee: $250.
We also had a good discussion of ways to make our meetings more interesting–which quickly morphed into a discussion of how to attract more people to get involved in the Grange. This in turn moved us to begin a discussion of the mission of our Grange. Besides maintaining a community Hall, how can we broaden our community service? What sort of projects would the people already familiar with the Hall like to get involved in–and what other types of people could we seek to serve with new projects?
This is only the beginning of a longer discussion, I’m sure. We would welcome input from those who read these Grange notes–send an email to: swartztim15@gmail.com and we’ll add them to the list. Even better, please join us at our next meeting: Oct. 6th, at 4:30 PM.
Our October meeting will also include our every-two-years elections for Grange Officers–which brings up the point that a lot of us who are officers are, for some reason, getting older every year!   We’d love to have some new, energetic faces join us, as active members and as the officers who work to chart the course for our organization.   Much support is available–as long as we last, at least!
Also on the agenda:   discussion of the Resolutions to be voted on at the VT State Grange annual session, Oct. 19 & 20. These will cover all sorts of areas–agricultural, state government, environmental & Grange-related. I’ll send out PDF copies, or a link to them on the VT State Grange website as soon as I get them from the State.
And starting about 5:45, we’ll also have a chance to meet the local state rep candidates–see below:

Coming in October: Meet & greet VT State Rep candidates

Following our October 6th meeting, starting about 5:45, please join us to welcome many of the candidates for the Washington-1 district, which includes Berlin and Northfield. We have gotten confirmation from the following:

Gordon Bock–independent
Jeremy Hansen–Progressive/Democrat
Denise MacMartin–Democrat
Rebecca Trower–independent

Current incumbent Rep. Anne Donahue will be unable to attend–at a family reunion.
Kenneth Goslant has not yet replied–we’ll keep you posted!
For information on all candidates who will be on the ballot on Nov. 6th, including financial disclosure forms, check the Vermont Government website: https://www.sec.state.vt.us/elections/candidates.aspx
These candidates will join us for our Community Potluck, starting at 6:00, so you’ll have a chance to speak with them in a relaxed fashion–and see what they like to eat, also!

Our talented tenants!

The Barretones have been making beautiful barbershop music in Central VT since 1969. Beginning a few years ago, they have rented our Hall on Monday evenings for rehearsals. Check them out at their annual concert, this coming weekend.

Also nearby…Open House at the (now) Stickney Barn in East Granville–Sept. 30th

The picture below is one of many which will be on display at the “Dickerman Barn”, which used to be a hall with regular dances. The Stickney family, which now owns the property, is having an Open House, and will be showing their large trove of photos, diaries, letters and memorabilia from the decades when the Barn was a happening place. The Barn will be open from 3:00 to 7:00. Bring a potluck dish, and share with other Central VT folks. And there will be a community contra dance from 5-7:00! Check out the event on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/752503061760047/

Rocky II coming to the Grange Hall, Sept. 15th Grange meeting, and Dancing at the Grange Center

September 19, 2018 by Tova

Grange Notes for September 13, 2018 by Tim Swartz, Grange President (with everyone’s help)

Rocky II

Do you remember how the Main Entrance on the northeast corner of the Grange Hall looked, before the landscaping project? Take a look at Before and After photos below:

Now it’s time to complete the work, by making planting beds on the other side of the entrance stairs. We have the rocks, and the landscape fabric, and we’re getting some soil delivered, now all we need is you! On Saturday, Sept. 23rd, starting at 1:00 PM!
As they did last year, Gerold & Carol Noyes are helping out–Carol is doing planting design, donating and purchasing perennials, and Gerold will bring his Kubota tractor to move rocks. We need a couple of volunteers to help fine-tune the rocks, help with shoveling soil and (we hope) planting by the end of the afternoon! We also have a new exterior faucet to help us water plants more easily.
Please contact Merry: merrykaysings@gmail.com to volunteer. There’s weeding and other work that can be done in the flower beds around the Old Entrance as well, if we get a few extra volunteers, so don’t hold back! Now that it’s not so hot, it should be a fun afternoon.

Dancing at the Fall Festival

We had plenty of fun last year, bringing some community/contra/waltz dancing to the people who came to the VT State Grange’s annual Fall Festival. So we got invited back!
Dana Dwinell-Yardley, who has been calling around Vermont for family dances and dance series events, was happy to commit early on.
VT music legend Pete Sutherland introduced me to two young musicians who play in the Young Traditions VT touring group, with whom he works. Alexander Allison, fidder and Sebastiaan West, piano & keyboard player played, along with Robin Russell on the accordion, and Carl Ellis on harmonicas.
Grange members of all ages joined in the dancing, and had a great time. In the photo below, you can’t see the 7-year old who was among the enthusiasts, unfortunately!

**Grange Meetings start up this Saturday September 15th**

We begin our fall Grange meetings on this coming Saturday, at 4:30 PM. We’re meeting on the 3rd Saturday, since Labor Day weekend was so busy–including the Challenge Fundraiser dance that raised almost $4,000 for the Friends.
We’ll get chance to go over the work that was done on the Hall over the summer, the denial of the FCCGH grant application, and plans to do smaller scale projects instead to keep the momentum going. We’ll be talking about how and whether we can streamline the meetings to make them more productive and inviting, and ways to involve more of the Grange users in the Grange and the running of the Hall. With all of that, we won’t have a formal “program”, but we will end up with…

Grange Potluck–6:00 PM

We’ll be starting up our series of monthly potluck dinners following the Grange meeting on Sept. 15th. We know there is lots of garden produce out there, eager to come to the dinner and show off the gardening and cooking skills of the Grange community.

Woo-Hoo! Dancing, snacks, fundraising for the Hall–a successful evening for all

September 4, 2018 by Tova

Grange Notes for September 4, 2018 by Tim Swartz, Grange President (with everyone’s help)

This turned out to be a long set of Notes!

Besides all the good news in this one, don’t forget our September Grange meeting coming up on Sept. 15th! Enjoy the new tankless hot water heater being hooked up today, and the re-graded driveway, too!

Lots of organizations advertise “Fun-raisers”. We deliver.

Welcome to our festive Hall!

Upstairs, before the dance, caller Nils Fredland worked with a chorus from “Revels North”, the Hanover-based organization for which he is Artistic Director. We made the Hall more festive with strings of lights!

Downstairs, Rob Nichols’ lovely houseplants are laid out waiting for new homes. The “stitched” photo makes the table a bit “bent”, but the plants were the main event, and not many were left at the end of the evening. As usual, the plants-for-donations were a beautiful part of the fundraiser!

Dancing with the Strutters & Nils

(Left) The dance was preceded by a good crowd of newcomers getting an intro to contra-dancing from caller Nils Fredland. (Right) Then the Clayfoot Strutters started the dance off with their fusion contra music, and the Hall filled up quickly with happy dancers.
This edition of the Strutters featured fiddler, songwriter, and producer Pete Sutherland, Jeremiah McLane on accordion and keyboards, drummer and guitarist Lee Blackwell, bassist Harry Aceto, banjo and flute player Mark Roberts, plus sound-guy and fiddler Oliver Scanlon. I’m pretty sure that Oliver wasn’t even born when the Strutters started playing 29 years ago!

Delighted dancers decimate donated desserts

The “usual” break was tastily unusual, as generous supporters brought in a wide variety of treats–from chicken or turkey wraps to peach cake, to cookies, to popcorn, candies, Juliet tomatoes, apple slices, blueberry cake…and too many other dishes to remember and list. Ben & Jerry’s donated large boxes of Strawberry and Vanilla ice-cream, which is being enthusiastically dished out in the top photo.

More dancing to burn off the calories–and more donations took us over the top!

All through the dance, Nils and also Patty Giavara, Chair of the Friends of the Capital City Grange Hall reminded everyone that this special dance evening was designed to raise money for the FCCGH to use to finance more much-needed improvements to the Hall. This summer, the Friends did not get the Arts Council grant award for which we applied, but we have many ideas about projects to keep the momentum going. Watch the Grange Notes for news on the next investments the Friends plan to make.

We started off with $1,500 pledged…and ended up with over $3,900!

The tote-board showed “only” $3,750 when the dance ended, but when Friends chair Patty Giavara counted up all the dessert donations and a couple more checks in the Donations can, it grew to even more!
The generosity of all of the donors is always touching, and makes us even more committed to the improvements we plan for the Grange Hall.

And you can still donateIf you couldn’t make it to the dance, your donation will be welcomed! Even when we get a grant such as the ones from the Arts Council and Recreation Grant program, we still need to match those amounts with other funds. Donate directly online to the Friends, on the Grange website: https://capitalcitygrange.org/donate/. The Friends will provide a receipt for your contribution, which can be tax-deductible, if your tax requirements allow it. All contributions go directly to the all-volunteer FCCGH, which uses them only for projects and operational costs.

Dance some more: Fall Festival next weekend at the Grange Center

Even though the upcoming week is supposed to be more like summer, we are getting closer to fall. One of the consistent signs of the changing season is the VT State Grange Fall Festival coming up, in Brookfield. Capital City Grange has been asked to provide a bit of contra-dancing as evening entertainment next Saturday evening
Dana Dwinell-Yardley has volunteered to call for this community dance; she has been calling for a variety of dances around Vermont, inlcuding the Queen City Contras in Burlington & Shelburne. With the help of Pete Sutherland, we will have a band including Young Tradition Vermont musicians Alexander Allison and Sebastian West playing fiddle and piano. We will also have Robin Russell joining the band. Robin has played accordion for this event before, as well as calling it a few years ago!
Dancing will start at 7:00 on Sept. 8th, and it would be great to have some other dancers join us. The Grange Center, at 308 West St., Brookfield 05060.
See the official poster below for information about the many other events for Friday and Saturday. All events are free, except the dinner on Saturday evening. Hope we’ll see you there! Call Tim Swartz for more info: 802-225-8921, or email: swartztim15@gmail.com

Fundraiser coming up on Saturday–plus, in the hot days of summer….how does the Grange keep going?

September 4, 2018 by Tova

Grange Notes for August 29, 2018 by Tim Swartz, Grange President (with everyone’s help)

It’s almost here…the FCCGH annual fundraiser winds up at the dance this Saturday, Sept. 1!

Every year since 2012, the Friends of the Capital City Grange have asked for contributions to help invest in Grange Hall improvements–more than the Grange can afford on its own.
FCCGH chair Patty Giavara has lined up a group of 10 extra-motivated contra-dancers to contribute a “Challenge” for the rest of the Grange community to match. Once again, they have given $1,500, for the dance community (and everyone else!) to match.As in previous years, the fundraiser wraps up at the first dance in September, with an extra-festive version of the CDU dance. With a tote-board to chart the incoming contributions, special lights and a potluck “dessert bar” at the break, plus beautiful house plants in return for donations, it’s a special night–but no special admission price! We want everyone to come and enjoy the evening–and to give what they can to keep improving the Hall.That dance will feature always-popular caller Nils Fredland and the great Clayfoot Strutters.
Nils has called many times at the Grange Hall, always helping people to dance together with care and respect, and (most important) have a good time.
The Clayfoot Strutters call themselves a “New England-based Contradance Jam Band”. They have been playing together for decades, specializing in fusing traditional American immigrant music, progressive pop and modal jazz harmonies with hot dance-floor grooves from the Latin, Swing, Afropop and Zydeco/Cajun worlds. Featured are core members fiddler, songwriter, and producer Pete Sutherland, Jeremiah McLane on accordion and keyboards, and drummer, vocalist and guitarist Lee Blackwell. Special guests often include: Peter Davis, who plays clarinet, sax, piano, and guitar, bassist Harry Aceto, and banjo and flute player Mark Roberts.
Nils and the Strutters are a special combination that will make us happy to give some bucks to keep the Grange Hall getting better! See farther down for info on plans!

Rob Nichols’ specially grown houseplants!

Rob raises beautiful houseplants, in pots and ready for your house, with care instructions. More than just spider and jade plants, as you can see!
Rob is willing to part with these, for a donation to the Challenge Fundraiser–come early for the best selection.

And we’ll have a dessert potluck!

As in previous years, Dana Dwinell-Yardley is soliciting the cooks and bakers of the Grange and dance community to make home-made treats–sweet, savory, nutritious and not-so-nutritious…bring them in before the dance, and/or contact Dana: danadwya@gmail.com to coordinate plans. In the past, we’ve enjoyed popcorn, cakes, gluten-free dessert bars, spicy nuts, truffles, cookies–and ice cream!
We’ll be offering all of these treats at the break in the dance, and asking for donations–whatever you think is fair.

No change in admission!

Your admission to the dance won’t change–as always, that goes to the band, the caller, the sound person and rent to the Grange. We are asking for contributions, based on what you can afford. Bring cash to the dance, or write a check. Or–to avoid all that paper, donate directly online to the Friends, on the Grange website: https://capitalcitygrange.org/donate/. The Friends will provide receipts for your tax-deductible contributions.

More dance events coming up

Last year, the VT State Grange enjoyed the community contra-dance we put on at the VT State Grange Fall Festival, in Brookfield so much, they asked us to do it again.
On Saturday, Sept. 8th, starting at 7:00, Dana Dwinell-Yardley will call dances, and students of Pete Sutherland, led by Alexander Allison will play, we hope with some other musicians joining in. We’d love to have some dancers from the CDU dances join us to make it more fun for the less experienced dancers. Spread the word! Free for all! If you want to come for the dinner before, featuring Stuffed Roast Pork, you’ll need to let me know before Sept. 4th.On Sunday, Sept. 9th, there will be a meeting of Vermont dance organizers at the Grange Hall, starting with a potluck “brunch” at 1:00 PM, continuing with discussion of problems and solutions experienced by dance organizers from around the state, and finishing up with a “DIY dance”–the many musicians and callers who double as organizers are urged to bring their instruments and dance cards.
For more info, contact me: Tim Swartz via email, or phone at: 802-225-8921.

What are all these pictures about?

All of them reflect the work that goes on even while we take a hiatus on Grange meetings during the summer. Please join us in thanking the hard-working volunteers and the paid contractors who keep the Hall, the driveway, the furniture, and everything else going. Grange meetings will re-start for the fall on Saturday, Sept. 15th.

Left: Mowed weeds keep us looking trim–thanks to Lewis Neill of the Church of Christ.

Right: driveway maintenance by wheelbarrow and shovel–thanks to Lewis Neill again, for keeping it passable!

Repaired chairs, welded by John Lambert of Stony Brook Service at no charge!

Then the plumber came in…

We decided it was time to upgrade

The 27-year-old water heater (top left) is getting replaced by an “on-demand” water heater (top right, middle right and left), which will save us significantly on water heating costs. It is being plumbed in so that we can pump vinegar through it to remove any hard-water scale that may build up.
And we now have a frost-proof outside faucet (bottom), so we can water plants, clean paint brushes, spray screens, etc. without lugging water from the inside.
Last to be installed will be a couple of sprinkler heads mounted above the furnace, as suggested by the Fire Marshal.
We thank our plumber, Josh Mulholland, who also worked with his father Tom to put in the new bathroom plumbing in 2015.

The driveway was getting pretty bad…

…despite Lewis Neill’s stalwart work diverting the water to drainage. Storms were cutting gullies that made the driveway feel a bit too much like “off-roading”.
Luckily, our favorite excavator,Matt Dwire of MD Enterprises was able to come in this week, and fix things up again. Matt has plugged a gully and regraded the parking lot and driveway for the Grange in the past. This time, he re-graded the whole drive, then topped the freshly worked area, and the “pit” that had developed near the top, with a couple of truck-loads of gravel including granite chips. Packed down, it is designed to shed water to the side.
The Grange is able to afford these improvements thanks to our partnership with the Town of Berlin, which is relieving us of property taxes, in exchange for free rentals for residents of Berlin. Our Hall has been used for birthdays, retirement parties, showers, training sessions for the co-op trailer park nearby, and much more! Spread the word about this community resource!

And the robins on the old entrance porch raised 2 broods of chicks through all the work and people coming by–they too are dedicated to their job!

So, why are the Friends raising money, again?

The “Friends of the Capital City Grange Hall” was formed in 2012, to provide a planning and project management auxiliary to the Grange, plus a fundraising operation with a 501(c)3, tax-deductible status. In 2008, a committee composed of many of the same people carried out our first major renovation project.
In total, the Friends and the previous committee have raised over $104,000 in grants and donations, and have spent over $75,000 on the Grange Hall, making significant improvements:

2008: New entrance on NE corner + new ADA bathroom–main floor
2012: Replaced the dance floor with new, VT maple flooring
2013: Replaced wood windows with new, insulating ones
2014: Rebuilt fire exit from basement level to meet fire code.
2015: Completely rebuilt tiny basement bathrooms to create an ADA bathroom, plus a 4-stall, 4-sink “any gender” bathroom

The FCCGH has helped the Grange with over $75,000 of renovations, with the help of grants–so we probably shouldn’t be surprised that we can’t get one awarded every time. This year, the Friends’ winning streak has been broken, as our grant application to the VT Arts Council was turned down.

We can’t win them all…

As regular readers will remember, we had hoped to do a major project this winter, insulating the basement level, installing drainage for foundation leaks, adding a de-humidifier and providing new wall surfaces, new ceiling tiles and a carpet-tile floor. We will be meeting with the Arts Council soon to see what we can do better on our next grant application.

See below for our interim project plans, as we regroup to plan for re-apply for a grant for the basement project next year.

Moving forward, even without the grant

The Friends have been able to raise, through generous donations, a good bit of money that we expected to use as the required matching funds for the grant. We want to keep the momentum going, so we are now planning to start some trial acoustic improvements in the main Grange Hall.
For quite a few years, we’ve heard complaints about the “live” acoustics of our Grange Hall. People setting up sound systems, people having a hard time hearing at Grange meetings, people straining to hear the caller at contra and square dances, and even some sound engineers have told us it can be a hard place to provide clear sound!
We’ve gotten advice from various places about ways to reduce and absorb the “reverb”. These can range from purchased panels to new wall and ceiling coverings. We are now looking at making some “test panels” ourselves from acoustically absorbent materials, to see how they work. These will be attached to the ceiling and upper walls, and we’ll be soliciting feedback about how much improvement they provide, before we design a full-scale plan to really change the acoustics.
We’ll be looking for input from all the groups that use the Hall regularly, and also recruiting volunteers to help make the panels, cover them with appropriate fabric, etc. Stay tuned for details of meetings we will start after the Labor Day weekend fundraiser. If you’re interested in helping with these trials, please email Patty Giavara, or email me: Tim Swartz or phone me: 802-225-8921.
The Friends will keep you posted on plans for the grant applications and building improvements.Keep reading the Grange Notes for more updates.

And keep in touch with the Grange–through the Notes, the Facebook page & the website.

We’ll have more improvements–like more flowerbeds around the ADA entrance porch, the acoustic panels mentioned above, and more–and we’d love to have you involved.
Grange Meetings resume for the fall on Sept. 15th. Meeting at 4:30, Community Potluck dinner at 6:00! Put it on your calendar.
More flowerbeds will be built from rocks, filled with soil and planted with perennials, on Sunday, Sept. 23rd. Email Merry Shernock to volunteer or find out more!