Grange Notes by Tim Swartz, Grange President (with everyone’s help) September 16, 2026
Grange meeting (and potluck) on Sept. 19
We’ll hold our first Grange meeting since June on this coming Saturday, and we hope you will come and take part. Those who have become Grange members can vote on decisions in the meeting, but we welcome anyone to come and discuss how the Capital City Grange is doing, and what’s next.
This Grange meeting will be a bit different, because we’ll be setting up in the LOWER LEVEL. This is to accommodate the Montpelier Contra Dance starting setup earlier, because there is a “Waltz Session” starting at 7:00. Since we have a projection screen we can use downstairs, it should be easy to set up. Here are some of the items on the agenda:
- Reviewing the summer’s activities: In addition to the Treasurer’s report about the last couple of months, we’ll review the decision by the Executive Committee to have the driveway rebuilt–that was not planned in advance, as it really should have been. We also had to have an expensive repair done on the wheelchair lift during this time. Together with the reduced number of rentals (typical in summer), our cash-flow has not been good. We’ll talk about all those factors.
- Elections: It’s time for our biennial elections of Grange officers–and we’d like some new faces to help us run this important Central Vermont institution. I’m finishing up my 20th year as President; several other people have also been officers for a loooong time–and would love to help train new folks who want to take on more responsibility for keeping the Grange thriving.
- VSG Annual Session–Oct. 23 & 24: Grange members from across the state come to the Annual Session to conduct the business of the statewide organization. For the past few years, we’ve provided the venue–and the meals for this event. You can help us, by volunteering to help out with food prep, food serving, dishwashing and cleanup! We’ll be talking at our meeting about specific times we can really use help–but get in touch if you’re interested and can’t make it to the meeting. We’ll be happy to sign you up if you can help us–it’s a chance to meet more of the friendly Grangers from all over Vermont, too! Just reply to this email newsletter to learn more about volunteering.
- Keeping up the building: We are still seeking new folks to join a “Hall Committee” to plan and carry out both routine maintenance and repair projects to keep our wonderful Grange Hall in top shape. We’ll be talking about this at our meeting–but we also are happy to get help from folks who don’t want to come to Grange meetings. Email me, Tim (swartztim15@gmail.com) to learn more. As you’ve been hearing me say, I need some help, and I’m happy to pass on what I know!
Come to our meeting, and you’ll learn more about all of these issues–and we’ll sing a few songs, too! If you can’t make it in person, here’s a “Google Meet” link to allow you to take part virtually:
https://meet.google.com/pqp-
A successful Challenge Fundraiser!
Saturday, Sept. 5 brought a final celebration and successful conclusion to the Challenge Fundraiser put on by the Montpelier Contra Dance for the Friends of the Capital City Grange Hall. In the photo to the left, Simmone Valcour, from the MCD raises the spaceship on the toteboard to show that we reached the goal! Members of the contra-dance community kept up the streak of generous donations that have supported the FCCGH and the Grange for many years. Patty Giavara (holding the mic on stage) is the Chair of the Friends, as many of you know, and she’s happy too!
Below, you can see dancers enjoying the “dessert potluck” that was put out at the dance break by Noah Miller and others, and some of the beautiful houseplants provided by Rob Nichols in return for donations to the Friends. As usual, this was a group effort.
Specifically, the campaign raised a bit over $5,100, including $2,500 pledged before the drive by a group of generous supporters, and over $2,600 during during the campaign that started on August 1! The funds will keep the FCCGH’s account growing, with the goal of matching a grant we’ll be applying for to add fresh-air ventilation to the Lower Level–as we did in 2025 for the Main Hall. The Grange and the Friends are continuing to improve the Hall’s systems to make it a more healthy and comfortable space for all the users.
Thanks to dancer and photographer Jonathan Blake for the photos, and for the many others over the years. And huge thanks to the generous donors who support the Grange, the Hall and the Friends every year!
Eating well at the potluck!
Following our Grange meeting, at 6:00 we’ll turn our attention to the Community Potluck dinner we traditionally have after the meeting. Please invite your friends and neighbors to join us for some socializing as well as tasty dishes.
If you have a favorite main course, side dish, salad or dessert you want to share, we’d love to try it. Or if you are running late and have to grab something from a store on your way over, we’ll enjoy that too. We have some cards that allow people with particular allergens to identify dishes that they can eat, because we want everyone to enjoy the dishes that work for them.
We’ll also look forward to having a few folks volunteer to wash the dishes, since we have the Grange’s china & melamine dishes to eat from, with real knives, forks and spoons, too! We hope you’ll come, eat and chat.











































