Grange Notes by Tim Swartz, Grange President (with everyone’s help) May 25, 2026
Next Friday:
Help us get the most out of U-32 students doing community service!
- Cleaning the floor mats: mopping off the accumulated dirt, since our June 2025 clean-up day.
- Cleaning the sign: our Grange sign by Rt. 12 gets dirty from snow-plow spray. A bit of soap and water will make a big difference.
- Cleaning window sills and frames–both floors
- Vacuuming the Main Hall window screens
- Cleaning the stage–dust accumulates!
Whether your best recipe is meat-less or meat-full,
The chili challenge is coming up fast!
I hope you’ve been practicing your recipes–I have–for June 6th’s contest. Remember: there will not be a prize for the HOTTEST chili! Our “celebrity judges” will be rating the entrants on taste, ease of preparation and appearance, not on heat. We will have 2 sets of prizes–for chili with meat, and without it.
Please bring your tasty dishes in about 4:15 PM on Saturday, June 6, along with the recipe you used (or made up as you went along!). Please label it in a hidden spot with your name. You can bring it in a crockpot–or we will have a few into which you can pour yours, so that all can be served hot to the judges. We’ll have the chilis and the judging downstairs, while we have a Sing-Along upstairs, so there won’t be any spying on the judges!
For more information, call Marty Roberts at 802-223-5506, or email isabella1813@yahoo.com.
We hope to share some of the chili options at our potluck dinner afterward–and we’ll be urging people to bring other dishes too, since not everyone wants to only eat chili for dinner!
Before the potluck–Sing Along with
Matt Nunnelly!
On June 6th, from about 4:45 to 5:45, we hope you’ll join us for an eclectic and vigorous sing-along! We have the Grange song-book, plus lyrics for other favorites that we have printed up, and we’ll consider new ones too! If you would like new lyrics printed up for the multitudes, please email Tim Swartz (just click the link), and I’ll do my best to get them printed up to be added to our loose-leaf collection. We’ll have Matt as our song-leader, from the piano bench.
Among the many things we enjoy at Grange meetings, the opportunity to sing together is high on the list. The Grange is the only organization I know which has a Musician on the list of officers, and an opening and closing song as part of the agenda for every meeting. We’ve been lucky enough to have Matt Nunnelly as our Musician for about 10 years, since 2016. We enjoyed having him leading songs at the meetings, and also at Holiday Sing-Alongs in December (as in the picture above–that’s Matt at the piano, and a friend playing along), as well as at the June meeting which is usually our last formal meeting for the summer.
Matt and his family are moving back to Alabama this summer, so please join us to enjoy singing along with him for the last time–we’ll miss his cheerful singing and artful accompaniment.
Who is breaking the Grange’s wooden chairs?
I’m sorry to report that I have found 2 wooden chairs which have been broken. These are wooden chairs that have been on the stage for years. In two separate instances, someone has broken these (by accident I hope) and has left them to be discovered. The one on the left has a leg cracked so badly that someone sitting in the chair could easily have caused it to collapse. The one on the right has the bottom bracing broken off–perhaps by someone standing on the bracing?
If anything at the Grange breaks while you are using it, please speak up and let me know, so it can be repaired or at least removed so that it doesn’t cause more problems. Walking away from the problem just leaves danger for someone else. We understand that accidents happen–but it’s really discouraging to find them by surprise.
Marching around the Grange meeting,
and getting the 1st Degree
On the first Saturday of May, our meeting was largely taken up by practicing the basics of performing the First Degree of Grange membership, planned for the following day. The practice paid off; the next day, May 3rd brought us 4 guests from Caledonia #9 Grange in East Hardwick to join us in presenting the Degree. They augmented our roster of officers, as well as providing a new member to be part of the group that was led from officer to officer during the ceremony. Caledonia Grange Master Rob MacLeod served as Vice President, and Caledonia Secretary Ranny Bledsoe served as Gatekeeper. We also had the pleasure of welcoming back long-time Capital City Grange member Bill Thayer to take the part of Lecturer.
These degrees are designed to pass on the values of the Grange, with rituals and symbols to help new Grange members understand the goals of the organization. An example is the blindfolds worn by some of the new members, which got removed as part of the ritual, when the candidates have been “enlightened” by some of the important lessons about the purposes and practices of the Grange. The ritual also introduces the first symbol of the Grange Salutation, which affirms the Grange’s dedication to Faith, Hope, Charity and Fidelity. As one of our visitors from Caledonia Grange said, this was a rare opportunity to talk openly about the values by which we strive to live.
After the Degree performance, we enjoyed a very tasty potluck dinner–another “ritual” of the Grange which nourishes us in other ways.
If anyone wants to learn more about the Grange and the Degree rituals, please reply to this newsletter. There may well be opportunities to see other Vermont Granges perform this and the later Degree ceremonies.
Many thanks to Betty Copeland for taking pictures during the ceremony, and to former Vermont State Grange Master Errol Briggs, who loaned us the bouquet of 50 native grasses, and attended the ceremony.
May 9: Benefit Contra Dance report
I’m pleased to report that the afternoon contra dance on May 9, which was put on by Indivisible Calais, was a success for the people who enjoyed the dance, and also as a fundraiser for VPIRG. About $1,700 was raised by the donations of the folks who came; VPIRG volunteers were there to hand out literature and stickers, and to sell T-shirts and sweatshirts with their logo. They also talked with those interested in VPIRG’s work defending voting rights, protecting the environment and advocating for consumers. The potluck after the dance was also enjoyed by everyone who came. Thanks to everyone who helped with setup and cleanup, too!