| JANUARY 2, 2025 -- Jan. 3: Barkhamsted Seniors luncheon ($5); Noon; Riverton Grange Hall; Goulash; Bingo following lunch Jan. 3: Birthday Potluck Dinner (6:00 PM) & Program (7:00 PM):
Riverton Grange’s 117th Anniversary
Jan. 10: Barkhamsted Seniors luncheon ($5); 11:30 AM – 1:00 PM; Riverton General Store (members can select either one sandwich, one cup of soup, or one cup of chili and a non-alcoholic drink for $5)
Jan. 17: Barkhamsted Seniors luncheon ($5); Noon; Riverton Grange Hall; Soup & Sandwich; Bingo following lunch
Jan. 24: Barkhamsted Seniors luncheon ($5); Noon; Riverton Grange Hall; Pizza
Jan. 31: Barkhamsted Seniors luncheon ($5); Noon; Riverton Grange Hall; Meatloaf; Member Meeting following lunch
Happy New Year! We are pleased to report that historic Riverton Grange continues to evolve with the times as we begin a new calendar year. On Thanksgiving Day, members partnered with other community groups to cook turkeys and prepare and deliver meals to 45 seniors in our region. This is the third year our Grange has participated in this initiative to help others enjoy Thanksgiving.
From December 6-8, we participated in Christmas in Riverton with our Annual Tree Festival, wreath and crafts sale. We were also the Wine Tasting Walk start and finish location (all co-chaired by Dawn Anstett and Tim Sweeney). We raised over $700 and many pounds of non-perishable food for the Barkhamsted Community Food Bank. Many members volunteered to help! On December 20th, SEVEN new regular members joined Riverton Grange and were obligated following a memorable holiday celebration.
Barkhamsted Forks Senior Club (aka Barkhamsted Seniors) continues to rent our hall and is now hosting a public lunch for just $5 every Friday at Noon. These lunches are open to all and have been an excellent resource for recruiting new members. Twice a month, bingo is offered to all attendees. It is so great to see our hall open and full of people again. Many attendees tell us stories about the “glory days” of Riverton Grange. In addition, AA used our hall for three weeks in December while their usual meeting location was occupied. We continue to look for other partnering opportunities.
We have begun Phase 1 of our Kitchen Renovation Project (planning, design, pricing) and have raised almost $4,000 to provide a new kitchen for our use. Once our plans are finalized and our permits secured, we will begin the fundraising phase of this project.
On January 3rd, we will be celebrating Riverton Grange’s 117th Anniversary. Our first Grange organizational meeting in 1908 was an icy night, yet over 30 hearty souls, including my great-grandfather and great-grandmother, braved the weather to start Riverton Grange. Seeing so many families with multiple generations of members still involved with Riverton Grange is fantastic. So, on January 3rd, we will begin with a potluck dinner at 6:00 PM, with members and guests sitting at one of four tables, depending on their birthday. Each table will have attendees sit at their birthday month table. Each table will have a host who will decorate the table for those three months. For example, I will host the October – December table. Following the meal, we will have our regular meeting (both in-person and virtual), and our program will focus on our anniversary.
At the 158th National Grange convention in Bettendorf, Iowa, President Chris Hamp issued a powerful challenge to Granges across the country: Take action to promote food security. This initiative, called Project Sustenance, encourages local Granges to find simple yet impactful ways to contribute to the fight against hunger in their communities. Riverton Grange decided to participate in this challenge by hosting a non-perishable food box on the front porch of our Grange Hall. This simple yet effective initiative was designed to make it easy for community members to donate non- perishable food items as they passed by. It also allowed for the donations to be accessible to anyone, whether they could attend a meeting. The concept was straightforward: provide an open and visible location where people could give, and in turn, those who needed food could benefit from the generosity of others. The local community has received the project well. It quickly became evident that the most straightforward ideas are sometimes the most effective. The food box filled up soon with donations from Grange members and residents, illustrating that small acts of kindness can ripple into more significant impacts. In addition, the visibility of the food box encouraged conversation about food insecurity and inspired other individuals and organizations in Riverton to think of additional ways to get involved.
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