Naming this monthly column from Charlotte Grange STRONGER TOGETHER was intentional. Not only is “stronger together” a core tenet of Grange as a community organization, the principle of cooperation and mutual support implied in the phrase is the core driving force of the living world.

Our strength is growing. Members meet monthly on the third Tuesday evening, with a business meeting or pot luck supper in alternating months. Grange-curious residents of Charlotte and neighboring towns are welcome!

Whether you are a “seasoned” (pun intended!) gardener with many years of experience and an ample area where you grow lots of vegetables, or a food gardener on a modest scale, you recognize the appeal of growing something you can eat.

This spring, we are putting the desire to celebrate Charlotte front-and-center with our online auction. Our biennial fundraiser is unique because it has a 100% local focus: all items are donated by Charlotte-owned businesses and Charlotte residents.

In Charlotte we have two community projects regularly benefiting from Master Gardener volunteers: the Butterfly Garden at Quinlan Covered Bridge on Lewis Creek and Charlotte Library’s Educational Gardens

Slow Food is a global movement working to prevent the disappearance of local foods and food traditions, and to promote more interest in the food we eat, where it comes from and how our food choices affect the world around us.

You may not be aware of the innovative and transformative agricultural work happening in Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom. But if you understand the importance of supporting local agriculture and food systems, you’ll want to cheer on the Center for an Agricultural Economy.

This summer a swarm of honeybees set up housekeeping in the space between the screened porch ceiling and flooring of the deck above.

No doubt that a critical thread of being stronger together in Vermont and nationwide is our relationship with our local and national food systems. In Vermont, the labor of more than 1,000 migrant workers from Latin America is key to sustaining our state’s dairy industry.

As about thirty excited kids and adults find their seats in the Charlotte Grange Hall on a beautiful June evening, the group’s President lowers the gavel to begin our important meeting.

There is a lot at stake for all of us because of the Farm Bill’s tremendous influence on farming livelihoods, how food is grown and what kinds of food are available. Should we not insist that the goals (and results) for the investment of so much taxpayer’s money clearly be healthy food, healthy farms and food-secure communities?

If something like a music concert is good, it’s worth paying for, right? And those who go to the concert should be the ones who pay, right? Well, maybe. Underwriting free community events which bring pleasure and strengthen community ties through people having fun together is a gift from the heart. Businesses and individuals who step up to sponsor such events make it possible for more families to participate, regardless of how tight their budgets are.

The Little Free Library, outside the Charlotte Grange Hall, is accessible 24 hour hours a day, seven days a week. Reading books is far and above the best—and surest—way for children to gain the multitude of discrete skills linked to reading. So encourage the children in your care to go to the Grange Hall and take a look, --and bring home a book to read for the fun of it.

Charlotte Grange members are planning a variety of programs and events this spring and summer. We hope you’ll join us!

After many months of being closed to public events due to not only COVID precautions but also some needed building repairs, Charlotte Grange anticipates resuming regular programs and gatherings in our historic Hall starting this summer!

Spring is around the corner, and the Charlotte Grange and Charlotte Food Shelf are gearing up for another season of partnership in the Charlotte Hand-Me-Downs clothing drive.

In two recent issues of The Charlotte News, Maj Eisinger and I wrote articles about the problem of food insecurity (on behalf of Charlotte Food Shelf and Charlotte Grange respectively), because it is a heartbreaking problem in our community, which goes mostly unnoticed. Why is that?

The need for hunger relief is great, and in response an additional community-supported food program has emerged called Little Free Pantries. Little Free Pantry is literally a small food pantry…. A publicly-accessible, modest-sized cabinet created and stocked by community members with mostly non-perishable food, and open self-serve all day every day for whoever wants to add or take things.

Northeast Organic Farming Association of Vermont (NOFA-VT) and Charlotte Grange are like two sides is the same valuable coin. The mission and vision of both are closely aligned and we share core values. Our programs reinforce and build on each other, with NOFA-VT uniquely able to also offer technical services and specific advice related to organic agriculture.

Here is what the seasons of the year look like through the eyes of Grange. The simple lessons drawn from natural and agricultural cycles are intended to be accessible and useful to everyone’s life.

November 11 is a federal holiday with powerful significance. It recognizes and honors those who have served in the US military during times of armed conflict and war. Veterans Day focusses on those who served in combat zones and survived to come home.

“Braver Angels” has ignited a flare of hope in the country. Might its programs for helping citizens on opposite sides of the political spectrum talk with each other bridge the divide that separates us Americans one from the other?

Summer is the time when many of us stash away part of the abundant local harvest for eating later. We freeze, can, dehydrate and store. If you think of these practices as quaint hobbies, you might want to reconsider the value of “putting food by.”

This is the title of the 2021 book by local food advocate and restauranteur, Alice Waters. Whether you have an ample food budget, a modest one, or are squeaking by with difficulty, it’s worth reflecting with her on what cultural values are embedded in the food options generally presented to the American public.

The grassy area in the center of Charlotte Village, bordered by shade trees, Town Hall, Quinlan School and Charlotte Library is an attractive and welcoming public space.

For years, Charlotte Grange has placed flags on veterans’ graves in Charlotte cemeteries. This year, Charlotte Grange will hold a public Memorial Day Remembrance Ceremony on Town Green.

When East Charlotte’s Lyceum Schoolhouse served local children, the “Three Rs” of reading, writing and ‘rithmatic were core teachings. Today the building is home to Charlotte Grange and the core teachings include the “Eight Rs” for responsible use of natural resources. They are respect, refuse, reduce, reciprocate, reuse, repurpose, repair, and recycle.

Charlotte is fortunate to have a strong set of small and medium-sized farms still producing food (and forage, fiber, and value-added products)….meaning we have the opportunity to buy local products and support small-scale farming practices and businesses.

If those 150-year-old walls could talk, what stories they could tell! Imagine life in Charlotte back in 1870, with lots of small farms and clusters of activity developing into village centers in both west and east Charlotte.

Welcome to our new monthly column.  We hope you will enjoy learning more about the Charlotte Grange and how it is building on its proud 100+ year history in town and revitalizing its role in our community.