Grange Notes by Tim Swartz, Grange President (with everyone’s help) June 6, 2025
This Saturday: Celebrating the Grange Hall, and “burning the mortgage”!
Many Hands: It’s time for our annual work party, where we get together and help the Hall look its best! Our biweekly cleaning service keeps up with the basic cleaning, but given the thousands of people that enjoy using our Hall every year, it’s not surprising that dust and smudges build up.
This year, we have posted an online signup form for our June 7 cleaning day teams, using a program called “Signup Genius”. If you’ll click the link, you’ll find time listings like “Mats” (the vinyl mats we use in the Main Hall) from 10 AM to 12 noon, and others including “Windows”, “Stage, Closets and Storage” and more, from 1 PM to 4 PM. You’ll see we have a few people on the list (including me), but there are slots available to meet whatever time you have available to help out. It’s easy to click the “Sign Up” button for your favorite cleaning area, and you’ll be added–and you’ll get an email reminder! You’ll also find a button on the page where you enter your name labelled “Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information”, which I clicked…and so can you.
If you’re not able to commit beforehand, please come by on Saturday and we’ll find something for you to do–but it’s great to have an idea how many folks will be showing up.
Please bring along your favorite cleaning supplies, cleansers, vacuums, etc. We’ll have some on hand, too, but we might not have the one you like!
We’ve found that if we can get a good number of people to join some of us “hardcore” Grange members, we can get a lot done, meet some new friends and enjoy the process of getting our Hall clean. And if we don’t do it, it won’t happen! Please check out our Grange Facebook event page, and if you want more info, please reply to this newsletter email.
This year, we have posted an online signup form for our June 7 cleaning day teams, using a program called “Signup Genius”. If you’ll click the link, you’ll find time listings like “Mats” (the vinyl mats we use in the Main Hall) from 10 AM to 12 noon, and others including “Windows”, “Stage, Closets and Storage” and more, from 1 PM to 4 PM. You’ll see we have a few people on the list (including me), but there are slots available to meet whatever time you have available to help out. It’s easy to click the “Sign Up” button for your favorite cleaning area, and you’ll be added–and you’ll get an email reminder! You’ll also find a button on the page where you enter your name labelled “Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information”, which I clicked…and so can you.
If you’re not able to commit beforehand, please come by on Saturday and we’ll find something for you to do–but it’s great to have an idea how many folks will be showing up.
Please bring along your favorite cleaning supplies, cleansers, vacuums, etc. We’ll have some on hand, too, but we might not have the one you like!
We’ve found that if we can get a good number of people to join some of us “hardcore” Grange members, we can get a lot done, meet some new friends and enjoy the process of getting our Hall clean. And if we don’t do it, it won’t happen! Please check out our Grange Facebook event page, and if you want more info, please reply to this newsletter email.
After the cleanup, a brief Grange meeting
After a brief break to put away our cleaning equipment, we’ll have a brief Grange meeting from 4:30 to 5:00, to look at summer plans and finances, then…
…we’ll rejoice with a Sing-Along!
Many Voices: While we enjoy the cleanliness of the Grange Hall, we’ll follow the lead of our Grange Musician, Matt Nunnelly, who will lead us in a variety of songs–folk songs, pop hits (Yellow Submarine, maybe?), country tunes, and whatever else comes up. What are your favorite songs to sing with other amateur singers? Let us know (email Merry), and we’ll print up the lyrics!
And remember, there are no auditions for these events–we welcome anyone who will sing out, soft or loud!
The singing will happen from 5:00 to 6:00, and then we’ll have…
And remember, there are no auditions for these events–we welcome anyone who will sing out, soft or loud!
The singing will happen from 5:00 to 6:00, and then we’ll have…
Potluck dinner!
Much Feasting: Our monthly Community Potlucks are well-known to many of you newsletter readers, and to many other folks as well. As always, everyone is welcome–if you can bring a dish you made, that’s great–and it is also great if you pick something up at the store on the way over. Merry will be cooking a pork roast which has been in the freezer since we hosted the State Grange Annual Session last October; I expect to make a vegan dish, and I’m sure we will have a wonderful variety of other tasty things. We’ll also be celebrating having made the last payment on a mortgage loan from the VT State Grange, dating from 2008, when this loan made it possible for us to build an ADA accessible entrance plus an accessible bathroom! We’ve paid it all off, and it’s time to celebrate!
We hope you can join us–whether or not you also helped us clean and sing. We have the most fun when a bunch of friendly people show up! The Grange is all about accomplishing things by working together, including singing, playing and feasting!