Grange Notes by Tim Swartz, Grange President (with everyone’s help) July 12, 2024
Our hearts are with the many people who are struggling with the aftermath of the “anniversary storm”
Like many others, this weeks torrential rains brought hard memories from the floods of July 10-11, 2023. This year, the worst of the rain seems to have dodged the Montpelier area, instead hitting nearby communities including Plainfield, Barre, Waterbury and many more. We know that many people have flooded basements–again–and/or are cut off by washed out roads–again. I’m sure that some of the regular readers of the Grange Notes are busy digging out their homes–or helping their friends and neighbors dig out and dry out.
If you have a little extra energy that’s not absorbed in these sorts of jobs, please consider a smaller clean-up job that needs to be done at the Grange Hall. As you’ll see in the photos below, we’ve got some erosion of the driveway at the top (though the rest of the driveway is in fine shape!), and a very filled-up silt trap. The silt trap was built by long-time Hall maintainer, Lewis Neill, when he single-handedly installed a new culvert under the driveway in 2011–when he was “only” about 80 years old. Lewis is now living in a nursing home, but I’m sure he’d like to be helping to dig someone out if he could!
I’m willing to do some of the work, but I’m not as vigorous as Lewis was–and I’m only 73! I’d like to have some help, perhaps this Sunday afternoon (July 14), to dig out the silt trap, fill in the eroded hole, and re-establish some of the water bars that used to direct runoff away from the driveway. I can bring a wheelbarrow and a couple of shovels, and we have one (lightweight) wheelbarrow in the attic of the Grange Hall. Is there anyone out there with a little time and energy to join me? Please send me an email–the usual swartztim15@gmail.com and let me know.
Of course, this sort of repair work should take a back seat to helping your friends and neighbors to recover from the flooding. Take care of them first!
Our next big social event:
Picnic/barbecue/potluck in August!
Last year, we attracted around 80 or 100 people to our potluck–a really popular event. We are getting the word out, to match that again! Check out the photo below to see some of the crowd. It’s a great way to expose people to the Grange as an active and friendly community organization, and to make personal connections.
As we did last year, we’ll provide burgers, hot dogs and bean burgers, a couple of grills on which to cook them, and condiments to put on the dogs ‘n’ burgers. We’re also planning to buy ice cream and cones! We will count on you to bring other tasty dishes and “sides”–chips, salads, cookies, other desserts, bread, cheese–or whatever you would like to share!
We expect to use all our folding tables–so if you have one or two more you can bring, that would be great! We’ll also need some people to help set up tables and folding chairs outside, bring up plates/bowls/cups/etc., and of course for washing dishes afterward.
We’ll also be announcing the beginning of the annual “Challenge Fundraiser”, in which the Grange community of members and friends, especially the Montpelier Contra Dance, raise money for the Friends of the Capital City Grange Hall (FCCGH). The Friends are currently raising money to use to match some “Congressionally Directed Spending” that Senator Bernie Sanders has included in an appropriations request, to help the Grange add some fresh air ventilation to our Grange Hall. This will be a big project–and one which will make the Hall more comfortable and cleaner. Reply to this email to learn more! And be prepared to donate to this fundraiser, which will run through August, and culminate at the Aug. 31st Montpelier Contra Dance as we try to match $2,000 already pledged by “challengers” who want to help the Grange Hall get even better.
You can get a jump-start on the fund-raiser, by clicking on the Donate button at the bottom of the Donate page on the Grange website!
Getting physical with chair choices
As described in the last Grange Notes, we’re considering purchasing new folding chairs for the Grange Hall. The need is based on many years of hearing complaints about the metal folding chairs being cold–especially during winter–and not very comfortable, combined with continued breakage of the cross-bars on the chair frames. I’ve had quite a few of those welded back in place–and have then had to spray primer and paint on the repairs, which never blend in with the original color. Many of us have felt that having more comfortable and nicer-looking chairs would add to our attractiveness as a place for meetings, conferences, memorial services and other events where participants spend time sitting in groups.
At this point, we have samples of 3 types of chairs, as shown in the first photo. Evaluation sheets on clipboards have shown some mixed feelings about each of them. I received a recommendation for another type of chair from Grange Hall users that used the “FlexOne” chairs at a CDSS dance camp, and I have now ordered a sample of one of those, and another chair made by the same company. I hope to have these available for “test-sitting” by the Aug. 3 Barbecue Picnic, and we’ll be looking for opinions to be expressed about all of the chair types! The evaluation sheets ask about specific features–like ease of folding, seat height, seat width, sturdiness, etc. Please fill these sheets out, and the responses will help us to make a decision whether to buy one of these.
Please note that we could also decide not to purchase new chairs–enough for the upstairs Main Hall could cost from about $3,000 to $6,500, so this is a big decision. We will be considering long-term durability, comfort and warranty as we discuss these choices at our Sept. 7 meeting.
A couple of notes: the idea of buying 2 or 3 types of chairs has come up: unfortunately, that will significantly increase costs (much less quantity discount), and will make stacking the chairs in the storage bins much messier, as all types stack differently. Color choices are likely to be quite limited. Also, we know that no one chair will be the best for everybody. This will not be an easy decision!
Tomorrow: Kids Trade & Play
at the Grange Hall!
Every now and then, we remind you about great regular events that our Grange sponsors. Tomorrow is one of those–the monthly kids and family clothing exchange, from 9:30 to 11:30 AM on every 2nd Saturday. We usually get over 100 people in and out of the Lower Level–kids and their parents/grandparents/
This week, we will especially welcome families who lost clothing and other items in the floods earlier this week. Please spread the word that we are here to give things away!
Erin is always happy to have more volunteers to help do setup, sort and inspect donated clothes during the event, and clean up afterward. Email her to arrange to help, or show up tomorrow!
Come to camp and dance with the kids:
Next Thursday, July 18!
In past years, our Grange has sponsored dancing at the VT State Grange’s Fall Festival, held at the VT Grange Center in Brookfield. This year, we’ve been asked to put on a dance for young Grangers from across the state, at the Grange Junior Camp, on the evening of July 18, next week, 7-8:30 PM.
We’ve been able to recruit a caller who loves to call for kids, Erin Smith (see below, left), plus the North Branch Trio to play. The trio is led by Susan Reid, a long-time central Vermont fiddle stalwart (below, center), Kenric Kite, another local fiddle (below, right), plus Grant Ornstein on guitar (no photo available).
It will really help if we can get a few more folks to join us to dance with the kids–who range from 6 to 15 in age, and likely don’t have much experience. If you’ve been to our cold-season family dances–Dance, Sing and Jump Around–you know that dancing with kids is energetic, fun and full of smiles. You don’t need to be an expert, just willing to listen to the caller, and help the kids enjoy moving to the music! It won’t be a “contra dance”, but will involve simple dance figures that are easy to learn. Questions? Please get in touch by replying to this newsletter or emailing Tim Swartz at swartztim15@gmail.com. Or you can just show up at the VT Grange Center, 308 West St., Brookfield VT 05036.
