Grange Notes by Tim Swartz, Grange President (with everyone’s help) May 11, 2021
As COVID cases go down, and guidelines relax, our Hall is starting to get busier!
Along with the rest of Vermont, the Grange is happy to see the number of reported cases decline, and the number of vaccinated Vermonters grow. The “Vermont Forward” guidelines which Gov. Scott and the VT Health Dept. have put forward allow us to schedule larger events at the Grange Hall. At our May 1st “hybrid” meeting we went over the rental rules that we have developed for potential renters, and got support from the members in the Hall and in the accompanying Zoom windows we had projected on the screen.
As of May 1st, we are allowed to have up to 1 unvaccinated person per 100 sq. ft., plus any number of vaccinated people. For the Hall, that works out to 25 unvaccinated folks. If there are unvaccinated people at the event, or if the status of everyone is not known, then masks and 6′ “social distancing” must be the rule for everyone. If only vaccinated people are present, these rules are not necessary–so our vaccinated crew of Grange members in the Hall enjoyed seeing each other face-to-face and in person at our May 1st meeting, for the first time in over a year!
In addition, we are requiring anyone who rents to keep a list of attendees in case of any need for contact tracing. The Dept. of Health is also recommending against “self-serve food or drink options, such as buffets and salad bars”. We are continuing to forbid potluck meals at this point, based on this advice.
By the time June 1st comes, the guidelines will loosen further, and we will adjust our rules for renters accordingly. Stay tuned!
As of May 1st, we are allowed to have up to 1 unvaccinated person per 100 sq. ft., plus any number of vaccinated people. For the Hall, that works out to 25 unvaccinated folks. If there are unvaccinated people at the event, or if the status of everyone is not known, then masks and 6′ “social distancing” must be the rule for everyone. If only vaccinated people are present, these rules are not necessary–so our vaccinated crew of Grange members in the Hall enjoyed seeing each other face-to-face and in person at our May 1st meeting, for the first time in over a year!
In addition, we are requiring anyone who rents to keep a list of attendees in case of any need for contact tracing. The Dept. of Health is also recommending against “self-serve food or drink options, such as buffets and salad bars”. We are continuing to forbid potluck meals at this point, based on this advice.
By the time June 1st comes, the guidelines will loosen further, and we will adjust our rules for renters accordingly. Stay tuned!
It’s Tournament Time at the end of May:
With these rules in place, we are welcoming a new event to our Hall: the Vermont State Scholastic Chess Championship tournament will take place on May 29th and 30th–Memorial Day weekend.
Grange volunteer Rental Agent Merry Shernock has worked closely and cooperatively with Mike Stridsberg, the tournament director, to make sure that this event can take place safely. For example:
Grange volunteer Rental Agent Merry Shernock has worked closely and cooperatively with Mike Stridsberg, the tournament director, to make sure that this event can take place safely. For example:
- Age groups (from first graders to high-schoolers) will compete at different times, and will be split between the Main Hall and the lower level, to keep numbers under the VT limits.
- Masks are required for all participants.
- All participants will be required to sign in and provide contact information, in the event that contact tracing is required.
- All participants must bring their own food & beverages.
- Both levels of the Hall will be continuously ventilated with fans and open windows; participants are asked to prepare for outdoor temperatures at the times of the sessions.
- Hand sanitizer use will be required before and after games.
- No group photos this year….
We appreciate Mike’s helpful attitude in working out these details and communicating them with the participants–you can find out more at the VT Chess website: 2021 State Championships. If this goes well, perhaps it will become an annual event at the Grange Hall!
Merry is also getting more and more inquiries about renting the Hall, so we expect to see a gradual rebound of our rentals as time goes on.
Also at our May meeting–the Hall:
I gave a presentation on proposed/upcoming building improvements, in air-quality, energy efficiency and security areas:Blower Door test: Bill Hulstrunk, a long-time Grange Hall volunteer who works in the cellulose insulation industry brought his blower door (see the photo to the left). He confirmed that our building is much tighter than when he last tested the Hall in 2006, before he led a crew of volunteers in blowing 12 inches of cellulose into the attic, plus filling the walls and floors which surround it. Our 2020 basement insulation and air-sealing are making a difference!
He also found that our exhaust fans over the stage are not moving very much air–they are 1953 vintage (see other photo to left). This led to considering…
A new exhaust fan: I have spoken with and gotten a quote from “Naturally Cool Vermont”, which sells QuietCool “whole-house” fans, for an efficient, even quieter 3-speed fan, with insulated, self-opening ceiling doors. I have also started speaking with Efficiency Vermont to get their advice–and to investigate any possible rebates.
Fresh air integration into our heating system: I had the opportunity to speak with the volunteer HVAC specialist at the Tapestry Center in Minneapolis, a large building for folk-dancing/folk-arts there. This engineer was very helpful in discussing our situation; he recommended adding a duct to allow outdoor air to be pulled into the cold-air return on the furnace, as a way to dilute and replace inside “used” air and reduce potential virus aerosol loads. Bill Hulstrunk is working with me on this. The inlet duct would have an adjustable damper to reduce the percentage of cold air in wintertime, and allow more in the summer.
Improved filtration: The Tapestry Center HVAC guy also recommended that we install MERV-13 air filters in our furnace’s cold-air return, and I have done that. These are the recommended filtration level for removing particles of the size of COVID aerosols, as inside air is pulled into the building and recirculated. I have also installed a manometer to keep track of the pressure drop across these filters, to keep track of when they need to be changed to maintain air-flow. With these installed, we can consider running the furnace blower to help clean the air, even when heat is not needed.New doors for the Old Entrance: in 2006, the new entrance on the Northeast corner was installed, and we saw how much more attractive and energy-efficient the new double-doors there are, compared to the ones at the old entrance on the South side. A generous anonymous donor has said that they would be willing to donate the cost of new doors for the original entrance, which Kurt Giavara and I would be willing to install. Kurt and I have been investigating options for doors and hardware; we are have been getting pricing for fiberglass doors like the ones on the new entrance, which will have glass windows, high-quality panic bars and automatic closers–and new locks. I have confirmed that the doors we are getting quoted are fine with the Fire Marshal, by the way.
New locks for both sets of doors: This seems like the right opportunity to upgrade our locks, so we are looking at programmable, key-pad locks for both doors. This will significantly simplify the nuisance and work which Rental Agent Merry does to get keys to tenants and retrieve them after a one-time event. The locks we are looking at can have up to 500 different programmed codes to open the doors. These can be changed after a renter’s event is over without needing to retrieve a key.
Help wanted: More Grange projects, and a June meeting sing-along!
In the last Grange Notes, I mentioned our ideas for the “Two Shot Cafe”, to invite people with completed vaccinations to join us for coffee and baked goods. Liz Benjamin has been looking into ways to get this going–if you’d like to help out, please contact her at: lizbenjamin64@gmail.com. She has also volunteered to coordinate work on another community-service project, a “Little Free Library” at the Grange Hall. She is trying to find someone through the Onion River Exchange to build the outdoor cabinet, but if you can help with that, or monitoring the LFL after it’s set up, please get in touch with her.
Our next meeting will be on Saturday, June 5th. For the most recent Grange Program in April, we had a very small audience–6 of us–despite a very interesting program. For the next even-numbered month, in June, we decided in conjunction with Grange Lecturer Carl Etnier that we will put together an outdoor sing-along to take advantage of the better weather and try to get some more folks to join us. If health guidelines have loosened up enough by then, we’ll have a potluck dinner too!
We just need one important ingredient: a song-leader! While our usual Grange Musician, Matt Nunnelly would love to have this role, he already had committed to an out-of-town trip, so we’re looking for someone else. Are you an experienced guitar or piano player who’d like to stand on the porch and get people singing? We should be able to get a mike & amp to help out. Send an email to me–you can reply to this Grange Notes email, or write me at: 802-225-8921. We have a good number of enthusiastic singers who will join in!
Our next meeting will be on Saturday, June 5th. For the most recent Grange Program in April, we had a very small audience–6 of us–despite a very interesting program. For the next even-numbered month, in June, we decided in conjunction with Grange Lecturer Carl Etnier that we will put together an outdoor sing-along to take advantage of the better weather and try to get some more folks to join us. If health guidelines have loosened up enough by then, we’ll have a potluck dinner too!
We just need one important ingredient: a song-leader! While our usual Grange Musician, Matt Nunnelly would love to have this role, he already had committed to an out-of-town trip, so we’re looking for someone else. Are you an experienced guitar or piano player who’d like to stand on the porch and get people singing? We should be able to get a mike & amp to help out. Send an email to me–you can reply to this Grange Notes email, or write me at: 802-225-8921. We have a good number of enthusiastic singers who will join in!
May 22: It’s time to trim some trees…
…though we’ll be a lot safer than the guy above.Thanks to a generous offer from tree-cutting and pruning professional Matt Perry, we’ll be cleaning up the edges of the parking area and driveway of the Grange Hall. Matt is a long-time contra dancer, and for a couple of years was an officer of the Grange, too!
A couple of weeks ago, Matt and I met at the Hall and walked around the parking lot, checking the trees that surround it. Matt identified at least a dozen trees that need to be taken down. All are smaller than the one cut down by the chainsaw guy in the picture below, who is wearing all the appropriate protective gear. Many of them are leaning waaaay in to the available light in the parking lot, and will fall down if left to their own devices.
Matt, who has trimmed, pruned and cut down trees for decades professionally will bring his saws and safety gear, and will cut trees into manageable sizes to move out of the parking area, and prune some overhanging branches, too.
We will need some help!
Matt and I will be there about 9:00 AM to get started.
We will need helpers to drag the cut-up trunks into the woods and out of the way–my 70 year old body is not up for doing a lot of this! If anyone wants to bring their own saw (and safety gear) and cut up stove-length pieces to take away, that should be fine. If we have extra folks, there is more outdoor clean-up to do: weeding the flower beds, maybe planting some new flowers? But our main focus will be completing the tree work & clean-up.
Please contact me (Tim) by replying to this email, or call me: 802-225-8921 with any questions, and to let me know you can help out. You might get your picture in the next Grange Notes!
P.S. we are still hoping to put together a clean-up day for the Hall, in June or July, as well. A couple of volunteers have already put up their (metaphorical) hands by contacting me, which is a great start! Who else wants to help us remove the accumulated dust, clean windows, etc.?
Please contact me (Tim) by replying to this email, or call me: 802-225-8921 with any questions, and to let me know you can help out. You might get your picture in the next Grange Notes!
P.S. we are still hoping to put together a clean-up day for the Hall, in June or July, as well. A couple of volunteers have already put up their (metaphorical) hands by contacting me, which is a great start! Who else wants to help us remove the accumulated dust, clean windows, etc.?
Wotta Deal! Volvo wheels, wheel covers and a “donut spare” available for a donation!
During the snowy winter months, someone left these items in our parking lot. I moved them onto the ADA entrance porch–and it’s past time to get rid of them. We will be happy to give these to anyone who can use them, in return for a donation to the Friends of the Capital City Grange Hall. Just CLICK HERE to make a donation, and let me know, and pick them up! All are in good shape, ready to mount your summer or winter tires and drive off into the sunset…
