Grange Notes by Tim Swartz for December 2, 2015
Remember: singing at the Grange this Saturday, and then a potluck dinner!
We’ll have our usual Grange business meeting on Dec. 5th–discussing progress on the petition campaign to get tax exemption from Berlin, and much more–and then we’ll have a sing-along, starting at 5:30! Liz Benjamin, an experienced song-leaders will bring rounds, carols, and other songs–but we’d love to have you bring your own songs to share–Christmas? Hanukkah? Kwanzaa? Pagan solstice songs? Kids’ songs with nonsense choruses? Sure!
And bring your instruments to play along! Guitar? Banjo? Accordion?
We’ll go until 6:30, when we begin another Grange potluck–hope you will join us for all of the above.
And bring your instruments to play along! Guitar? Banjo? Accordion?
We’ll go until 6:30, when we begin another Grange potluck–hope you will join us for all of the above.
Montpelier Contra Exchange” dance series will debut on Dec. 12th
A group of dancers from the thriving, Grange-located dance community have decided that we need even more dancing in the area. This new volunteer group is organizing a new series of dances to happen on 2nd Saturdays. These will feature contra-dancing, with a lot of familiar musicians and callers–along with other dance styles.
The first dance on Dec. 12th, for example, will be “Contra and Blues”, with music by “the Figments”, and calling by Adina Gordon, for the contra section. And there will also be a blues dance workshop, led by Alison Nihart and Adam Franco.
Future dance combinations will include contras + waltz, Scandinavian, English, swing, advanced contra and more. Check out their website: https://www.contraexchange.org/ for more information–and come on three Saturdays of dancing in a row, on Dec. 5th and 19th with the usual great CDU dances, and in between on the 12th with the new series.
The first dance on Dec. 12th, for example, will be “Contra and Blues”, with music by “the Figments”, and calling by Adina Gordon, for the contra section. And there will also be a blues dance workshop, led by Alison Nihart and Adam Franco.
Future dance combinations will include contras + waltz, Scandinavian, English, swing, advanced contra and more. Check out their website: https://www.contraexchange.org/ for more information–and come on three Saturdays of dancing in a row, on Dec. 5th and 19th with the usual great CDU dances, and in between on the 12th with the new series.
A sound system for the Grange?
The new dance group described above made a quick job of meeting their fundraising goal of $1,000 on Kickstarter. Now, they have a couple more weeks–and they are seeking additional funding with their second goal–buying a sound system to use in the Grange Hall. The concept is to mount main speakers permanently, with a sound-board, monitors, cables and other components. If you want to support this, please visit the Contra Exchange’s Kickstarter page, https://www.kickstarter.com/
There remain some questions–will we have exactly the right parts? Who will set this up for events at the Grange? Who will take care that all the parts are stored correctly, and accessible? Please keep in touch if you want to help us figure all of this out–it could be a nice improvement for our Hall, and it could be a tricky thing to manage–but it seems it will be part of our future.
There remain some questions–will we have exactly the right parts? Who will set this up for events at the Grange? Who will take care that all the parts are stored correctly, and accessible? Please keep in touch if you want to help us figure all of this out–it could be a nice improvement for our Hall, and it could be a tricky thing to manage–but it seems it will be part of our future.
Wholeshare–continuing to grow at the Grange
I’m pleased to report that the Wholeshare buying club, which delivers to our Grange Hall every 2 weeks has continued to add members and sales. Above is a partial picture of the groceries and household supplies which were distributed in a recent order. There are about 100 members, and the order pictured totaled about $1500.
Wholeshare has been delivering produce and meats from Black River Produce, and household supplies from Honest Green and Honest Green Pantry to our Hall since the spring, and orders have continued to grow as more people discover the benefits and multiple choices available. Group members can buy whole cases–or join “splits” to get part of a case, or crate, or box, depending on how the products are sold. Members order online, and payment is made online so finances are simple. Products rang from eggs, to ground pork, to lacinato kale, to peppers, to crackers, to non-toxic household cleaners, to toilet paper and paper towels–and much more. The total number of products is over 30,000, in fact.
To join the group, just go to: https://www.wholeshare.com/
Deliveries are made to the Grange Hall kitchen, to be picked up on the nights of CDU contra dances–the next pick up is this Saturday, Dec. 5th
This project was organized by Rob Fish, the consultant for the Vermont Digital Economy who helped us get our new website organized, our Hall Wi-Fi, and me to start using MailChimp for these newsletters. He’s available to answer questions, and sends out occasional emails to group members about available “splits”, deadline reminders and more.
Merry and I are among the members who have enjoyed getting these products–including VT Coffee Company beans for $9 per pound, cheddar cheese for $1.05 per pound, and much more. If more of you join, even more splits will be available for us to share–that’s my vested interest!
For the Grange, Wholeshare sends us a check for 5% of the total orders, so there is an obvious benefit for those who support the Grange and its Hall!
Wholeshare has been delivering produce and meats from Black River Produce, and household supplies from Honest Green and Honest Green Pantry to our Hall since the spring, and orders have continued to grow as more people discover the benefits and multiple choices available. Group members can buy whole cases–or join “splits” to get part of a case, or crate, or box, depending on how the products are sold. Members order online, and payment is made online so finances are simple. Products rang from eggs, to ground pork, to lacinato kale, to peppers, to crackers, to non-toxic household cleaners, to toilet paper and paper towels–and much more. The total number of products is over 30,000, in fact.
To join the group, just go to: https://www.wholeshare.com/
Deliveries are made to the Grange Hall kitchen, to be picked up on the nights of CDU contra dances–the next pick up is this Saturday, Dec. 5th
This project was organized by Rob Fish, the consultant for the Vermont Digital Economy who helped us get our new website organized, our Hall Wi-Fi, and me to start using MailChimp for these newsletters. He’s available to answer questions, and sends out occasional emails to group members about available “splits”, deadline reminders and more.
Merry and I are among the members who have enjoyed getting these products–including VT Coffee Company beans for $9 per pound, cheddar cheese for $1.05 per pound, and much more. If more of you join, even more splits will be available for us to share–that’s my vested interest!
For the Grange, Wholeshare sends us a check for 5% of the total orders, so there is an obvious benefit for those who support the Grange and its Hall!
