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You are here: Home / Grange Notes / September meeting Saturday–Fall re-start!

September meeting Saturday–Fall re-start!

September 14, 2022 by Tova

Grange Notes by Tim Swartz, Grange President (with everyone’s help) September 13, 2022

Meeting the Challenge!   The dance community comes through again

As it  has every year since it started, the Montpelier Contra Dance Challenge Fundraiser succeeded in gathering contributions from the dance community, a total of $2,000 to match the “challenge” amount pre-pledged by about 10 other generous dancers.   This means that the Friends of the Capital City Grange Hall have a total of $4,000 more,to help pay for major improvements to the Hall!
Many thanks to all the donors, in amounts large and small, to the Montpelier Contra Dance committee for organizing the events and finding the “challengers”, to the people who made cupcakes, cookies and other goodies for the outdoor “dessert potluck” at the break, and to FCCGH Chair Patty Giavara, who bought ice cream sandwiches and popsicles for the potluck!  All of these items were enjoyed.
We also say a special thank-you to Rob Nichols, who grew beautiful house-plants to sell at Farmhouse Flowers and at the celebration dance.   He raised several hundred dollars for the fundraiser!
We also thank Pete’s Posse, and Nils Fredland, for speaking out to urge dancers to contribute, donating some of their pay for the night’s music and calling to the cause, and for being long-time supporters of the Grange and the Friends.
As you can see, this fundraising success was a real team effort.   The Grange and the Hall are important part of the lives of so many people, and they are clearly appreciated by a large number of people, who were willing to reach into their wallets and give to help out.
For more information on the Friends, the projects they have planned, fundraised for and project-managed along with the Grange, go to the “Support the Hall” tab on the Grange website, and check out any of the pages on that tab.  And–if you weren’t able to donate before, you can still do so there!   The FCCGH is a 501(c)(3) charity non-profit, so you might get a tax deduction too!

Kicking off the fall, with the Grange September meeting this Saturday!

Our September monthly meeting, usually on the first Saturday, is put off until the 3rd Saturday, since Labor Day Weekend is not a great time to get folks to come to meetings.   Now that we are past the unofficial end to summer, we hope that some other folks besides the tiny core group are “tanned, rested and ready” and willing to join in the enterprise of keeping the Grange and the Hall going.   Please join us from 4:30 to 6:00 PM this Saturday, Sept. 17th!
Grange Elections
          This meeting is especially important because we will be electing officers for the next 2 years at this meeting.   A number of us have held down key positions for about 15 years now, and we’d be happy to share responsibilities with some new folks.  There are some offices that are mostly ceremonial, and some that are vital for the “nuts and bolts” of Grange operations–and we’ll be happy to train and assist new occupants of any of them!
One particular important office is becoming vacant:  Secretary.  Charles Martin, who has served our Grange and others for–literally–many decades is relinquishing the office.   Charles was among several veteran Grange members who welcomed in a bunch of energetic “new” Grangers, many from the Montpelier Contra Dance and other Grange Hall groups.    They gently taught us how to be part of the Grange organization–and have been open to making adaptations as we learned together ways to extend the Grange’s work into the 21st century.
With help from the VT State Grange Secretary, we have better defined the essential role of the office of Secretary in our Grange, found out ways that records can be kept electronically instead of on paper, and other ways to simplify the job, while retaining its main importance:  maintaining organizational records.  This includes keeping track of membership, decisions and policy changes at meetings, so we have a record of what’s happened, who has been involved, what projects we have taken on, and how we have spent and saved our money.  Please reply to this email to learn more!
All of the other offices will also be voted on–and we’d like to have you join us!  Please ask any questions!
Other agenda items
       There’s lots more going on–here’s what we already have on our plate for this meeting:
  • Discussing the Berlin Selectboard’s decision to keep charging us the Education property tax this year, and how we can survive that stress.
  • Looking over the Resolutions proposed for the October State Grange session, and deciding who will go there to represent us.  To get a PDF of the Resolutions, click on over to:  https://capitalcitygrange.org/2022-vt-state-grange-resolutions/
  • Going over finances as we head into winter with our still-new wood-pellet furnace–including repaying the loan from the VT State Grange which helped us purchase it.
  • Looking over plans for the platform/wheelchair lift project, and how they will fit in our schedule for the winter.
        So please–if you care about the Hall and the Grange, we need you to show up and help out.  Questions?   Please call me (Tim) at 802-225-8921, or email swartztim15@gmail.com.
While I am encouraging as many people to come in person to the meeting, there will be a Zoom connection available, for anyone who would like to be there but can’t come in person.   We are open to recruiting a new Secretary who might attend some meetings remotely, if necessary!
I am waiting for a Zoom link to be sent to me by the VT State Grange; if I don’t get one by the time this Grange Notes is ready to be sent out, I’ll post it on the Grange Calendar listing:  September Grange Meeting.

Community Potluck dinner follows the meeting!

As always, a Grange meeting in our Hall is always followed by a potluck dinner at 6:00 PM, where we welcome anyone who shows up, and share whatever we’ve all brought. Dishes vary widely, ranging from chips ‘n’ dip to casseroles to roasted meats to South Asian dals to potato salad, to breads, to brownies and pies, cookies, rolls, cider, or whatever else shows up! If you’re coming to the contra dance that starts at 8:00, you might find other familiar faces!
We hold the potlucks in the lower level, with windows open and the Room Air Filter Boxes running to keep the air circulating and filtered–we know that masks won’t be worn while eating–though we support anyone who wants to wear one at the Grange Hall. Hope you will join us!
Gardening at the Grange:  another way to help!
Besides becoming an officer, there are lots of other ways to improve our Hall and be part of the Grange.   As you have come to the Grange Hall this summer for our many events, you may have noticed significant improvements in the flower bed to the right of the “Old Entrance”.   Grange and FCCGH member Amy Handy has been working on sprucing up and enriching the plantings there, which have not had much attention for a while.   Compare to the “before” picture below to see some of the results!
Amy says she would be happy to have others join her in working on this bed–or other areas which could use some TLC.   You can contact her at:  1geranium1@gmail.com to talk about how you want to help!  The Grange is happy to purchase some supplies when we have hard-working folks like Amy involved!
P.S.  Amy says that she already has plans for more improvements in the spring!
P.P.S.   Amy is also responsible for planting zinnias in the large pots by the ADA entrance porch for the last few years–a very nice touch!

Our Talented Grange Community

Are you interested in history, and learning about what has actually gone on in Central Vermont in years past?    We are happy to recommend a talk by local genealogist, historian and author Maudean Neill.   Maudean is also a member of the Montpelier Church of Christ, which has met every Sunday at the Grange Hall for decades.  Maudean wrote the book whose cover is pictured below after finding a photo of Klansmen gathering in Montpelier in 1927.  She will be speaking about her research, her book and the history she uncovered at the Montpelier Senior Activities Center, at 58 Barre St., on Wednesday , Sept. 28, at 1:30 PM, sponsored by the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute.

And from the same hard-working family, thanks are due again to Lewis Neill!

A week or so ago, Merry Shernock (Treasurer and Rental Agent) came to the Grange Hall, and found Lewis Neill, who is Maudean’s husband, using a pickax to make a water-bar and trench across the driveway on the Rt. 12 side of the Grange Hall.   This will help reduce the water that flows onto the top of the driveway.   Lewis is, I’m pretty sure, 91 years old.
Lewis has been doing maintenance work inside and outside the Grange Hall for decades.   In 2007, he single-handedly dug out the rusted out culvert under the top end of the driveway and replaced it with a new one, plus a silt-catcher.   Of course, he was only about 76 then.
Kudos to Lewis for his dedication.   And if we needed any other illustration of how much we need younger folks to pitch in, I couldn’t make up a better example!   As a mere 71-year-old, I know I don’t match up with him in this area. 

Filed Under: Grange Notes

Contact Us

Tim Swartz, President, CCG#469
802-225-8921 (cell)
grangepresident@capitalcitygrange.org

 

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