Today I attended my first Town Meeting as a full time Vermonter. It was the 227th annual Town Meeting held here. 227th! We gathered in the antique Town Hall, nestled in on metal folding chairs. The Moderator had the annual report in hand, the five selectpeople gathered on the tiny stage. Before the meeting began, attention was called to this quilt (above), hanging behind the selectpeople. It is being raffled to raise money to restore our beautiful meetinghouse, just down the road from us.
(the meeting house, photo taken summer 2014)
Then two very articulate young ladies came forward, holding a poster promoting a spaghetti supper being held in a few weeks to raise funds for their sixth grade class trip to Boston. I think Batman and I may have to go eat some pasta!
The Moderator read a lovely quote by Susan Clark, an expert on traditional New England Town Meetings, reminding folks of best behavior. He also reviewed Robert's Rules of Order, the Pledge of Allegiance was recited and we jumped into the business at hand.
The "warrant" for the meeting included electing town officers, approving the purchase of a new truck, approval of the budget, consideration of the purchase and installation of solar panels on town property, the collection of property taxes and consideration of an ordinance to regulate barking dogs.
I rode over to Town Hall with friends and we left when the meeting ended. For those who stayed, a pot luck lunch followed, and school district business was to be taken up next. (I think I'll make a day of it in 2016!)
While politicians do their thing in far away Washington, DC, neighbors gathered all over the state of Vermont today to practice democracy and self governance. The state motto, "Freedom and Unity" seemed very fitting today.
(While we await yet another snowstorm, I whipped up this Limerick Soda Bread from Sift Magazine.)
A year ago we were on the verge of accepting an offer on our house in CT, and today we are feeling more enmeshed in this new life of ours here in rural Vermont... Life is such a wonder!
I like the sound of that quiet way of life, of the townspeople gathering to discuss their portion of the world. We've found something a little similar to that here, an almost village-like community that is just a hop,skip, and a jump to the city:)
ReplyDeleteIt sounds delish.....the town
ReplyDeleteand the soda bread too, of course