The Friends of Starling Hall is organized to preserve, restore and improve the historical integrity of the renovations of Starling Hall, Fayette’s former Grange building. Our mission is slowly progressing towards this goal. The Hall was used for the community over 90 times during the year. This includes Select Board meetings, Quilting Club, All Age Friendly, Parks and Rec meetings, Pond Association meetings and FOSH events.

We had a very busy Fall this year for the Hall, if you have driven by the Hall you can see that it has a new front porch, new siding, trim and a new roof. The September Potluck raised $1568 for the Town Keep me Warm Fund. In October we partnered with the school and library for the annual Community Trunk or Treat. We moved our location due to the construction on the Hall and set up at the Fire Station, which we found to be a larger and safer location.

In November we had our Annual Craft Fair at the school to highlight local artisans. It seemed that everyone who came had a nice time, and got some shopping done. Thank you to the school for your assistance in making this event happen.

In December FOSH, All Age Friendly group, Parks and Rec, co-sponsored the first Annual Candy Cane Caper. This event was a big success. Through generous donations of time, money, and goods we were able to provide a shopping experience for all the children at the school. Each student was able to select a present for each member of their family. These presents were wrapped and the children took home a bag of wrapped presents for the holidays. I would like to thank everyone who helped make this event a success.

During the quiet months of winter, we have been busy working on ways to install a fire suppression system, an elevator for the second floor to meet ADA requirements and to renovate the bathrooms. We have been looking for Grants that will help with the cost of these items as well as continuing our regular fund raising.

A big thank you goes out to all the people who support our efforts in trying to make Starling Hall the best that it can be.