Summer’s first Grange concert dedicated to Dave Perrin

The first Grange on the Green concert this summer was dedicated to a lifelong member of the Grange organization, Dave Perrin.

Dave was a seventh generation Vermonter, born and raised in Berlin on the family farm with deep roots both in Vermont and in the Grange. He joined his local Grange as a youth, as a Junior Granger, and transferred that membership to Charlotte Grange #398 when he and his wife, Lynn, moved to Charlotte to raise their family.

An avid student of history, Dave was always the Grange member who volunteered to replace all the flags on the graves of the veterans at Barber Cemetery where he would take the time to note down the dates and names of those buried there. He did the research on many of the deceased, discovering what war they served in, their rank in the military and other interesting pieces of information. At Grange meetings, many times Dave shared some aspect of Grange or Vermont history with the members.

As a Grange member, Dave could always be counted on to do what needed to be done. He was treasurer for years and would be prepared at each meeting with a detailed report on what had been spent, why and the current status of the bank accounts.

For many years after he joined, he would scrape down and paint one side of the building, at least as high as he could reach on the ladder.

Twice a year, both spring and fall, he would be the first to arrive and the last to leave the Rummage Sale — first, setting up all the tables, benches and racks needed to display the donated clothing and household items, and at the end, helping to pack up all that was left and taking it wherever it needed to go.

An avid gardener, Dave always brought extra veggies to meetings to give to those members who either didn’t have a garden or were no longer able to garden.

Dave Perrin was not a chatterbox. When he talked, he spoke with measure and thought, and people listened. When we started to get serious about saving the building and wanted to do some “deep cleaning,” Dave told us to order a 30-yard dumpster, which he not only helped to fill, he paid the entire bill. That was only one of several other large financial donations Dave made to the Charlotte Grange over the years — all of which went towards maintaining and saving the building.

A true Vermonter, if you asked Dave how he was doing, he had the standard answer I used to hear many times growing up right here in our fair state: ”I’m fair to middlin’.”

I feel quite certain that if Dave were here now, he would be pleased at how his Charlotte Grange has grown in the past few years and all that we are doing now.