Hello Neighbors! We'll miss everyone at Town Meeting Day this year, so we wanted to share some headlines from our annual report.
A big goal for us this past year was to find grants to fund continued renovations of the building to improve its usability for more months of the year. We’re pleased to report that we were successfully awarded the following:
$10,835 in October for a Cultural Facilities matching grant from the Vermont Arts Council to help fund electrical improvements and installation of two energy-efficient heat pumps to heat and cool the first-floor event space.
$250 in November for a Robert Sincerbeaux Fund matching grant from Preservation Trust of Vermont to help fund a professional assessment to inform how to best restore the building’s original windows.
$3,000 in December for a Spark Grant from the Vermont Communities Foundation to fund installation of a modern stage lighting system, part of which includes lights to be donated by the Hyde Park Opera House and Lamoille County Players.
As a community gathering space, COVID-19 challenged our plans for hosting events in the spacious hall, but it also inspired us to get creative. Fostering a sense of community connection was more important than ever, so we held events on the lawn like our July 4th Antique Flag Display, had drop-in exhibits like our Blue Ribbon Harvest Contest, created our first-ever Road Rally scavenger hunt, and (thanks to recently installed wi-fi) made the town’s annual Wreath Lighting Ceremony a live-streamed event that people could view from home. We also found ways to bridge one end of Hyde Park to the other, holding joint community beatification events with the Village of Hyde Park for Green Up Day in May and to pass out flower bulbs for planting in the fall. We’re grateful for all the partnerships we’ve forged with other community groups and local businesses to make these things possible. We’re also grateful for our committee members who put in a lot of “sweat equity” this year doing repair projects to insulate the building’s basement, refinish a beautiful old door, dig up tree stumps, mow the lawn, relocate a donated piano and commercial stove for the hall, and so much more!
If you’d like to learn more or get involved, contact us at gihonvalleyhall@gmail.com, follow us on Facebook or Instagram, or call Al Spitzer at (802) 730-3374.
With gratitude ~ Allen Spitzer (Chair), Andy Race (Vice Chair), Liz Courtney (Secretary), H. Dale Porter (Treasurer), Monica Heath, Laura Race, and Lindsay Reese.