Grange Notes by Tim Swartz, October 17, 2016
Thanks! for socking it to the Grange! 136 pairs worth!
This picture was taken at the VT State Grange annual meeting, held last weekend at the Capitol Plaza. Capital City Grange and the people who rent our Hall donated 75 pairs. Phyllis Skinner asked Cabot Hosiery (makers of Darn Tough), who donated 61 pairs. All of these are included in the 752 pairs donated by Granges around the state.
All of these socks will be brought to the 150th annual National Grange meeting, held in November in Washington DC. We’ll try to get a picture of the big tree which will feature the donations from around the country. ALL of the socks will be donated to homeless shelters in DC.
Thanks to everyone who donated!
Grange meeting: moving forward with community service
October 1st brought our stalwart crew of active Grange members back to the Hall, to make some decisions (see below for plans for the driveway and the parking lot) and start planning for the future.
Merry Shernock reported on her first meeting with Onion River Exchange (https://www.orexchange.org/), to start implementing our new membership. Her goal was to get the specifics on how Grange members can perform services for elders involved in Home Share Now (https://www.homesharenow.org/, a partner organization which matches people seeking a place to live, with people seeking house-mates, for mutual support and companionship. The organization provides lots of assistance and support for all parties. Since that meeting, she has met with the Home Share office staff to learn more. The basic idea is that by using volunteer time to provide rides/companionship/shopping help/other services, Grange members working through O.R.E. and HomeShare can earn “hours” of credit for the Grange. In turn, the Grange could get help with all types of services available from O.R.E. members–everything from landscaping to baking to painting help.
One note about working with HomeShare Now–all volunteers would have to go through a background check, part of their normal vetting procedure for people getting involved.
Merry has also arranged with Washington County 4H to provide free rental for their Oct. 23rd “Achievement Celebration”, starting at 2:00. AND they are looking for 2 or 3 lucky JUDGES for their Cupcake competition. To volunteer for this onerous duty, contact 4H leader Allison Smith: allison.smith.2@uvm.edu
We are going to add a “Community Service” report to our regular meeting schedule, to keep up with initiatives like this–and of course our ongoing sponsorship of Kids Trade & Play on 2nd Saturday mornings!
Grange Musician Matt Nunnelly led us in a singalong, list of songs he planned along with Merry, who provided words for the ones not in the Grange songbook. They included This Land is Your Land, I’ll Fly Away, and Yellow Submarine, among others! We ended with a few rounds, assisted by conducting help from veteran singer (as well as dance caller) Bill Olson, including a new one about pizza…which was an excellent prelude to our usual delicious post-meeting potluck dinner–don’t miss the next one on November 5th!
Merry Shernock reported on her first meeting with Onion River Exchange (https://www.orexchange.org/), to start implementing our new membership. Her goal was to get the specifics on how Grange members can perform services for elders involved in Home Share Now (https://www.homesharenow.org/, a partner organization which matches people seeking a place to live, with people seeking house-mates, for mutual support and companionship. The organization provides lots of assistance and support for all parties. Since that meeting, she has met with the Home Share office staff to learn more. The basic idea is that by using volunteer time to provide rides/companionship/shopping help/other services, Grange members working through O.R.E. and HomeShare can earn “hours” of credit for the Grange. In turn, the Grange could get help with all types of services available from O.R.E. members–everything from landscaping to baking to painting help.
One note about working with HomeShare Now–all volunteers would have to go through a background check, part of their normal vetting procedure for people getting involved.
Merry has also arranged with Washington County 4H to provide free rental for their Oct. 23rd “Achievement Celebration”, starting at 2:00. AND they are looking for 2 or 3 lucky JUDGES for their Cupcake competition. To volunteer for this onerous duty, contact 4H leader Allison Smith: allison.smith.2@uvm.edu
We are going to add a “Community Service” report to our regular meeting schedule, to keep up with initiatives like this–and of course our ongoing sponsorship of Kids Trade & Play on 2nd Saturday mornings!
Grange Musician Matt Nunnelly led us in a singalong, list of songs he planned along with Merry, who provided words for the ones not in the Grange songbook. They included This Land is Your Land, I’ll Fly Away, and Yellow Submarine, among others! We ended with a few rounds, assisted by conducting help from veteran singer (as well as dance caller) Bill Olson, including a new one about pizza…which was an excellent prelude to our usual delicious post-meeting potluck dinner–don’t miss the next one on November 5th!
It’s baaaaaaaaaaack
The Halloween Contra Dance Costume Contest
Do you remember those horrifying and/or laughable visions from last year? Join us for the CDU dance on Saturday, Oct. 29th, tune up your costume, and compete for the sweet prizes. Presented by Merry and Tim, just for fun!
The Halloween Contra Dance Costume Contest
Do you remember those horrifying and/or laughable visions from last year? Join us for the CDU dance on Saturday, Oct. 29th, tune up your costume, and compete for the sweet prizes. Presented by Merry and Tim, just for fun!
Who likes the driveway?
No one who has driven up it recently…but we have a plan! At our October meeting, the Grange voted to invest in re-working of the driveway by the same contractor who fixed the “gully” which threatened to eat our parking lot last year. Matt Dwyer will re-grade the driveway to direct run-off to the side, to avoid the gullies which always want to form. He will also re-grade the parking lot, deliver 15 cubic yards of crushed granite, and will use his compactor to solidify the re-grading to reduce the damage from future downpours.
This is the sort of thing that is easier to fund, now that we have been given a tax exemption by the town of Berlin. We’re on Matt’s schedule for November!
This is the sort of thing that is easier to fund, now that we have been given a tax exemption by the town of Berlin. We’re on Matt’s schedule for November!