by Moira Jacobs, President, Bennett Valley Grange #16

On Sunday, June 2nd Bennett Valley neighbors came together once again to enjoy the time-honored tradition of our Bennett Valley Grange’s Barbecue and Picnic fundraiser which benefits the historic building’s preservation fund.  As we gathered under the shade of the majestic oaks we enjoyed great food, festive music, precious time with friends and family, fun with silent auction prizes, and the world-famous Cherry Pit Spitting Contest.

This year we enjoyed welcoming the Bennett Valley Community Association (BVCA) as a partner and much appreciated sponsor of our special guests from “All About A Farm,” which included two charismatic goats, adorably friendly ducks, hens, and bunny rabbits. All About A Farm handler Mari helped children of all ages learn about our furry and feathery friends with her knowledge of farm animals. Robert Thompson (adult division champion) and Landon Swinger (children’s division champion) won the Cherry Pit Spitting contest with impressive distances of 25’ 5” and 10’ respectively, each receiving a beautiful engraved medal for their skill and athleticism.

Thanks to our very generous sponsors, donors and terrific volunteers, our Grange raised just over $3,300 to go towards a number of long delayed building maintenance and improvements to keep our Hall safe and sound. This year, after thorough research and advice from building preservation experts, we are forging ahead with multiple long-awaited upgrades to preserve and protect our Hall. These include a comprehensive electrical upgrade, roof repairs, brush and tree trimming, painting touch ups and various building repairs, requiring over $26,000 in expenditures.

Fortunately, thanks to a $10,000 grant received from PG&E’s Better Together program, we’re able to apply this funding towards the electrical upgrade costs. In a future article we’ll provide more details about all these projects and plans to preserve our Hall long term. We are looking for community members with architectural background and/or interest in historic building preservation to join our Building Preservation Advisory Council. Please contact me if you’d like to learn more and get involved in any way.

While our Grange’s concrete foundation was poured in 1873 and remains solid, the other timeless foundation of our Grange depends on continuous community support and involvement. The Bennett Valley Grange has a long and rich history of grass roots community action and advocacy for the unique rural interests of our valley and our community’s overall wellbeing. Most recently this has taken shape in town halls bringing attention to the PG&E infrastructure improvements needed, presentations about the health and maintenance of our shared aquifer and wells, emergency preparedness and wildfire risk mitigation discussions, grazing coop meetings, candidate forums and more. Looking forward we welcome all ideas from the community for additional programs to serve our collective interests. This all requires support from our community, dedicated members and volunteers.

There are three ways to help support our Grange: 1) Become a voting member and enjoy the many benefits of membership; 2) Become a volunteer - whether you can dedicate a couple hours helping at one event or many hours throughout the year, we welcome all levels of volunteer involvement, whatever your schedule allows; 3) Become a Friend of the Grange with financial support, or FROG 🐸.

No matter your ability to contribute time or resources, your Grange welcomes you. Please consider being part of this exciting effort to rebuild the foundation of our beloved community treasure. By becoming a member, a volunteer or a FROG you can play an important role, be involved in your community and get to know your neighbors. Please contact Moira Jacobs at moiraajacobs@comcast.net or 415-367-5957 for more information, visit bvgrange.org, or stop by as a guest at any monthly meeting every third Wednesday at 6:00pm.