Our meeting on November 4th was busy as usual, featuring an introduction toinvasive species by Errol Briggs, but also the vote to accept a new member, the beginning of a campaign to provide food for families in need, and a decision to support the Friends of the Capital City Grange Hall in their project planning.
We were pleased to welcome new member Gretchen Elias, who as Executive Director of Good Beginnings has rented our Hall for meetings.   We are not reluctant to vote in people who want to join us in the work of the Grange, so come in and check it out!
Grange member and Chaplain Alison Forrest has decorated a couple of donation boxes where anyone can donate food, with the goal of filling 6 boxes for 6 families who need some help in enjoying the holiday season.  Washington County Head-Start‘s director will distribute them to 6 families she knows are in need.   We are looking to provide food that families can use to make a holiday celebration–there are a number of programs that collect toys for kids, but sometimes not having good food can take the joy out of having toys.   Grange donors have already donated 6 turkeys (most of them stored in the Grange freezer, not in the food boxes).  You can chip in by bringing in tasty, non-perishable foods for holiday meals, or bring a cash donation to the next Grange meeting, or give it to me or another Grange member if you can’t get to the meeting.  We’ll use cash donations to fill out the boxes, and we’ll let you know how it went.
See the separate article from the Friends for more about the project the FCCGH has chosen–and that the Grange voted to support.   The combination of the active Grange members who come to meetings, the various communities whose activities take place at the Grange, and the Friends’ organization and skills have made big improvements in our Grange Hall and our ability to serve the community–and we hope you will chip in to support the next big improvements!
Our meeting was followed by an informative program about “Invasive Species” by environmental consultant Errol Briggs, whom we also know as a very active member of the State Grange.   Brother Errol explained differences between non-native and invasive species, talked about the efforts to control the latter, and answered many questions by those in attendance.  Many of the pictures he showed were taken by him, in Vermont locations familiar to many of us.   We’ll need to get him back to discuss what we can all do to support native plants and animals, and reduce the impact of imported species on them.

What is the Next Big Project?

The Friends are now fundraising for the Mess Hall to Dining Hall project.  The improvements will make the Grange’s ground floor less damp, warmer, and more attractive.  Key objectives are to:

• Install perimeter drainage to prevent water seeping through the foundation onto the floor during big storms.
• Insulate the cold concrete walls and create a paintable, cleanable wall surface that won’t mildew.
• Improve heating and air circulation systems.
• Replace the existing tables with movable, smaller-size tables, for flexibility, better cleaning, and more choices in layout.
• Paint the floor (and the walls and maybe the ceiling) for a better appearance.

Our early estimates are that Mess Hall to Dining Hall will cost approximately $50,000. As in the past, we plan to apply for grants to pay for a portion of the project. This is where we need your help. Grant makers require that we raise matching funds.  For example, the Vermont Arts Council — that has supported two of our previous projects — requires a 50% match. For every $1 they give, we must match it.

The Friends have raised $10,000 to dedicate to the Mess Hall to Dining Hallproject. Our goal is to raise a total of $25,000 as community-raised match funding to then leverage funds from grant makers.  Please consider making a tax-deductible contribution in support of Grange Hall improvements.

Thank you! Together we can do this!

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There will be a push on the Grange’s Facebook page to especially encourage giving to the Friends on “Giving Tuesday”, which  is Nov. 28th, the Tuesday following the Thanksgiving holiday–don’t miss it!  Check out https://www.facebook.com/ccghall/ for more info.

Our meeting and the Invasive Species program will be followed as usual with a tasty potluck dinner.  Bring your favorite dish, made from the local harvest if you can.  The gardens and Farmers’ Markets have given us a great bounty of vegetables and other goodies in the growing season which is finally coming to a close.   We’ll have the usual combination of great food and great socializing, please join us!

Thanks to Bill Hulstrunk, who also organized our insulation of the attic of the Grange Hall in 2007, we now have a north-end wall filled with dense-pack insulation!   With the help of Patty & Kurt Giavara, plus me and Merry, Bill helped us make short work of removing the thin batts of fiberglass we could reach from under the stage, and blowing in cellulose with Bill’s blower.   In the photos below, you can see Bill under the stage, and filling other bays from the outside while talking with Patty.   Kurt is filling the hopper of the blower in the other picture.
As you can see, the north end is suffering terrible paint peeling–we think that stopping the airflow in the wall will really help.   The Friends is also planning to have that end strapped and re-sided, with a drainage plane behind, to keep moisture from being trapped.
Besides stopping air-flow, the dense-pack insulation gives us about R=14 in these 2 x 4 walls–a big improvement!
(For those curious about the spelling of the French above, note that the bilingual labeling of the cellulose bales taught me the French for “blowing cellulose!)

Many of us now in the Capital City Grange have been “Patrons of Husbandry” for over a decade now–but we pale in comparison to Les!    He joined the Grange just about three quarters of a century ago–we heard how his mother made sure all her kids joined at age 14.  Why?   because Grange members could get Blue Cross health insurance for 50 cents a week!

Les has gotten lots more out of Grange membership since then, and has given back as well.   He kept the CCG going since he and Phyllis moved to Northfield in 1991, partly by becoming Master, and partly by offering affiliate memberships to the North Branch Grange members, and partly by letting the Grange’s renters know that the Grange needed their help.   As most of you know, this is how the current membership drawn from the dance community and other Grange users came about.   Les (along with Phyllis and the other experienced members) led us in learning what it meant to be Grangers, not just people who came to the Grange to pursue our own favorite activities.   He certainly showed me how to run more enjoyable meetings by being relaxed, friendly and welcoming–just how I found the Grange when I joined.   It was a pleasure to present the official certificate from the National Grange to Les on September 16th.
We also enjoyed a great potluck dinner, with cake and and brownies!