Grange Notes by Tim Swartz, Grange President (with everyone’s help) April 11, 2025
Saturday:
Who will channel the best Bob Dylan?
A few weeks ago I mentioned that this event is upcoming–and now it is almost here! The “Great Green Mountain Bob Dylan Wannabe Contest” will start at 6:00 PM on Saturday at the Grange–and we’ve agreed to sponsor it!
This event will be a benefit for the People’s Health and Wellness Clinic, a vital way that uninsured people can get free health care. Located in Barre for over 30 years, it currently is housed at 51 Church St., by the east end of City Hall Park. People who cannot afford to pay for care can get free, essential health care for from doctors and dentists. You can learn much more about the health care providers who donate their services, help to staff the clinic and more at https://www.phwcvt.org/. You can always donate there to support their services….or you can have some fun along with your donation by coming to the contest tomorrow evening!
The “celebrity judges” include Carl Etnier, Grange member, WGDR radio host and Board Chair for Hunger Mountain Co-op, Daniel Hecht, local author of 8 novels (and former classical guitarist), and Peg Tassey, Burlington-based musician! There are 12 contestants lined up–a wide variety of “Bobs” should be expected.
The Executive Committee of the Grange decided that this cause is a worthy one for us to donate the Hall’s use, so that this fundraiser can be more productive. We hope you will join us for this cultural extravaganza!
Also coming up:
“Family weekend” at the Grange Hall!
Saturday morning will feature our year ’round, very popular Kids Trade & Play clothing exchange–come by from 9:30 to 11:30 AM, and take all the clothes, books, toys and games you need from our inspected and sorted stock of donated items. We ask for a donation of $5 per family, but no one is ever turned away.
On Sunday afternoon, the fun continues for kids and their grownups with Dance, Sing & Jump Around, from 3:00 to 4:30 PM. Excellent live music from local fiddle teacher Joanne Garton and her students, and fun dances, songs and games taught by Liz Benjamin, Stan Carlson and Alice Smolinsky. We even provide snacks! FREE for kids, we ask for a $5 donation for adults–but no one is turned away.
Games Night at the Grange!
Mark your calendars for next Thursday evening, April 17, at the Grange! Bill Meckel has revived an event first held quite a few years ago (see the photo below)–a chance to roll the dice (D6 or D20), move the meeples across the board, build some words, or put someone in check–your choice! Drop in any time, from 6:00 to 11:00 PM.
Bill and friends will provide some games, but feel free to bring your favorite, or the one your parents have hidden in a closet that you haven’t played in years. And: there will be snacks! Check out the Facebook Event too.
Note–the Games Night will be held in the Lower Level, better for those who (like me) can’t sit on the floor for a long stretch anymore. Lots of tables and chairs! And it’s FREE and open to everyone–please bring your friends too.
Mea Culpa!
Before telling you about the excellent program which followed our April Grange meeting, I want to apologize for switching the Zoom links for the meeting and the program in the last Grange Notes newsletter I sent out. I know that this led to a few people missing out.
For future meetings and programs, I will be posting the link(s) only on the Grange website Calendar for those events. You can always find the listings at: www.capitalcitygrange.org/
“Flora and Fauna on the Appalachian Trail”
Our free program for April featured Grange supporter and long-time contra dancer Phyllis Rubenstein, who gave a talk and slideshow about the many plants and animals she saw on her 2023 hike of the “AT”, which stretches from Amicalola Falls State Park in Georgia to Mt. Katahdin in Maine.
I’m showing one of her photos below, of “Fringed Phacelia”–not something you will see in Vermont! Phyllis saw and photographed quite a few species of plants we see here, and some that can’t tolerate our cold winters…at least not yet. Among the ones she saw, starting in mid April in the mountains in Georgia were not only the 3 varieties of trillium that we see, but a few more as well, plus bloodroot, spring beauties, slippers, cutleaf toothwort and many more. When she hiked across the summits of mountains in New England, she also saw alpine flowers like mountain cranberry, 3 leaf cinquefoil and Labrador tea. I’m certainly not listing everything she showed us!
Animals featured in her slides, and in her talk as well. She was warned to keep her food hung up over a tree branch, 100′ from her campsite, and avoided any problems! She was also warned about the wild hogs which are a risk at some points on the trail. She did see some of them–from a distance–and was happy when they moved off. More benign animals she encountered include hares, eastern box turtles, zebra swallowtail butterflies (and others), spruce grouse, salamanders and wild ponies! One pest insect she saw was a spotted lantern fly, in Pennsylvania–we don’t yet have them in Vermont.
Interspersed with the plants and animals, we also heard a few stories about her hike, and the others whom she met on the trail–but this program was mostly about the plants and animals. We appreciated Phyllis sharing her pictures and her memories with us!