Lasagnas in the oven, cookie dough prepped for the sheets, the great town-fam-damily is ready to gather and there’s nothing quite like the thrill of a good ol’ Town Meeting! Where else can you get free coffee, doughnuts, a seemingly endless supply of hugs and pats on the back, while also complaining about potholes! (And mind you not just any old potholes, we’re talking the “can’t get there from here” kind of crevasses that develop in our roadways when the sap runs). We have been deprived of physically gathering for 2 years and you best believe the potluckers have their sights set on one heck of a chow-down today!
Town meetings are a centuries-old tradition in New England, where residents gather to discuss and vote on local issues. And before you yawn and roll your eyes, please remember what happens when you get a few rabble rousing neighbors together in a Town Meeting. In 1773 our ancestors gathered for a town meeting to protest the British government's taxation policies and it lead to a bunch of scrappy Yankees dumping tea into the Boston Harbor!
And do not forget that our brave little state was born from a Town Meeting. The Westminster Town Meeting of 1777 was the first town meeting in Vermont where our ancestors showed-up there and declared Vermont an independent state, separate from that upside down state to the east and the big bully to our west.
And in 1804 the Middlebury Town Meeting lifted the debate over whether or not Vermont should abolish slavery. The town ultimately voted to abolish slavery, making it one of the first states in the country to do so! GO VERMONT! GO TEAM!!
OK and then there is the not so cool Town Meetings such as the one in 1852 Dorset where Senator Stephen A. Douglas, who was running for President at the time used this as an opportunity to posture in his campaign for President. He gave a passionate defense of the Compromise of 1850, which allowed for the expansion of slavery in some areas of the country. BOO we are not proud of that ancestor, but what a great reminder to show-up and balance out the short-term profit only thinking. Just picture if some articulate soul had stood up and refuted this shallow thinking blow-hard.
And to our young people — thank goodness you are stepping-up to the plate! Please remember you have the Putney Town Meeting to thank for the vote to allow 18-year-olds to vote in local elections. This was a groundbreaking decision, and it eventually led to the passage of the 26th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which lowered the voting age to 18 for all elections!!! AGAIN GO TEAM VERMONT!!! Go scrappy Yankees who show-up and strengthen and defend our democratic rights. I could go on and here with so much Vermont pride as I uncover cool Town Meetings that shaped history (Please add more examples in the comments and I will add a few more notable Town Meetings at the bottom for all the history buffs like me — wink wink to the Curious Yankee, an excellent blog for the Holmesian detectives looking for a great way to uncover under appreciated New England stories).
Vermont is unique in that it holds an annual town meeting day in March, where voters gather in towns across the state to discuss local issues and vote on town officials. This tradition dates back to the state's founding in 1777 and is still observed today. They're a chance for us to come together as a community, make decisions that will affect not just us, but future generations — how many chances does one get to sample apple pie and be a badass ancestor just by showing-up! It's a chance to air our grievances, share our ideas, and listen to each other. It's like therapy, but without the expensive co-pay.
And let's face it, sometimes town meetings can be a little dull. I mean, how many times can we debate the merits of a new stop sign or argue about the school budget? When we know our neighbors and our town, we're better equipped to handle whatever comes our way. Whether it's a blizzard, a power outage, or a really really bad mud season, we're stronger when we work together. And please note to the newbie Flatlanders — AAA won’t get you out when you’re up past your fenders in the mud, but Peter with his John Deere knows these roads better than anyone and if you show-up, he might just give you his number, just ‘cause that’s what neighbors do when they show-up for each other.
Because at the end of the day, that's what town meetings are all about: connection. And demonstrating the power of the people, coming together time and time again to strengthen and create vibrant and thriving towns. We understand that the power of democracy lies not in the hands of a few, but in the voices of many.
And speaking of voices Singing Bridge: we really need a song for this great day!
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OK here’s a start of a list of notable Town Meetings — please add more in the Comment section and I will include them in this list.
The Guilford Town Meeting of 1780 - This meeting, held in the small town of Guilford, Vermont, was the first town meeting to allow non-landowners to vote. This was a significant moment in the history of democracy in the United States, as it showed that voting rights were not restricted to the wealthy elite.
The Tunbridge World's Fair Meeting of 1874 - This meeting, held in Tunbridge, Vermont, was the site of a major dispute over the rights of farmers to sell their goods directly to consumers. The farmers eventually won the right to sell their products, and the meeting became a symbol of Vermont's commitment to small-scale agriculture.
The Town Meeting on Same-Sex Marriage in 2000 - In 2000, the town of Putney, Vermont, became the first town in the United States to officially recognize same-sex unions. This decision was made during a town meeting, where residents voted to allow same-sex couples to receive the same legal rights as heterosexual couples. Go Putney! Someone needs to figure out what they put in their coffee and doughnut recipe — their 1960s Town Meeting lead to the 26th Amendment and in 2000 they lead the charge for Same Sex Marriage — talk about courage and the power of showing-up!
Zoom The meetings in the future, for the benefit of those who may be disabled and unable to attend, or out of the area, but still interested in participating. Probably too small for any community access, cable channels, but zoom works just as well.
My thanks for the winks! I love the notion of food at Town Meeting - there's nothing of the sort in staid old Massachusetts and I can recall a few fractious sessions in which the omission was probably a good thing. Still, Town Meeting is the spot where you get to see who actually runs things and who actually cares about what is happening.