Granville Then & Now – January 13, 2022

Christmas lights are being taken down

By Erik Pekar, Town Historian

The first full week of 2022 was a cold one. A couple of night lows dropped into the single digits. A light snowstorm came through on Friday morning, dropping about two inches on the Granville area, ending the out-of-season appearance of the area. The snow was of the light “fluffy” type that is rather easy to plow. Sunday brought a drizzle of freezing rain that left a slippery sheet “coating” of ice on surfaces that morning. Temperatures rose into the high 30s by the afternoon, allowing the coating of ice to melt away.

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With Christmas having passed and a new year begun, the Christmas holiday decorations that dotted the landscape are now starting to be taken down. The village DPW removed the Christmas wreaths and garland that was hung over the main highways into Granville. The nightly light show in Veterans Memorial Park will be turned off next week. The decorative building outline lights on Main Street, and on other business buildings around the village, will be turned off this month, unless a building owner decides to keep their building’s outline lights on for longer.

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The Granville Community Foundation announced last week that its fundraising goal of $1 million in 2021 had been met. The foundation’s formation was announced in January of 2021. At that time, it was announced that Mike and Paula Freed would donate $250,000 and match half of donations up to $500,000. If the $500,000 goal was reached, they would double their donation, which would result in a full $1 million in funding for the foundation. By late December the goal was less than $65,000 away, and the Freeds decided they would give their full $250k match anyway. The remainder has since been raised, and the foundation now has $1 million in its name.

Groups desiring to apply for a grant will have to include in their submission an overview of their organization, current financial budget and supporting documents, and their reason for applying for a grant, using at most 12 pages. While the GCF’s advisory board will recommend potential grants to the Glens Falls Foundation, the final approval will be with the Glens Falls Foundation’s board of directors. Applications for grants to organizations will be accepted until Feb. 1. Applicants whose submission entries are accepted will be notified within 10 days of the Glens Falls Foundation’s decision. The foundation is limited in any year to using 10% of the previous year’s end balance; with $1 million, this upper limit would be $100,000.

The GCF, according to the website, will “evaluate local needs and opportunities and will look to fund projects that address broad areas of community development, education, art and culture, environment, health or social needs.”

Mike Freed noted in a press release last January that he was “…hopeful that the GCF will provide a vehicle for those of us who have a special connection to Granville, but no longer live there, to help in some way. We may not be able to donate our time or talent, but we can at least donate money.” He also expressed the importance that the money raised for the fund must augment the money already being raised for Granville organizations, and not be raised in place of their funding.

Donations to the Granville Community Foundation Fund can be made online at the Glens Falls Foundation website, or by writing a check, making it payable to this fund, and mailing it to the Glens Falls Foundation. The next fundraising goal of the foundation is to raise $5 million by 2030.

Thank you to all who have donated to the Granville Community Foundation Fund. This new fund will benefit Granville now and in the years ahead. Hopefully, those who consider Granville their hometown will donate to help Granville’s fund reach the next goal of $5 million by 2030.