Town Meeting
Apr. 23rd, 2007 09:33 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
42itousTonight we went to the State of the Town Address, held in the Town Hall auditorium. Men and boys in uniforms (Police, Boy Scout, Revolutionary War) were milling around in the lobby. The auditorium is a big room with a red-curtained stage, a shining, polished hardwood floor, and folding chairs arranged in rows. A couple hundred townspeople were in attendance -- from small children to senior citizens -- and they all looked like they'd dressed up for the occasion (so had we; it must've been instinctual). All the big wood-frame windows were wide open and electric fans whirred, distributing cool evening air to the stuffy balcony. It felt like a scene from The Music Man, or Norman Rockwell -- a small town conducting business with a bit of self-conscious fanfare.
The evening's festivities began with a procession led by a bagpiper in full Scottish regalia (he's a member of the fire department). Once he'd taken his place at the head of the hall, four policemen with flags and rifles and three firemen with axes marched smartly down the aisle and stood in a line facing us. They were followed by a dozen or so Boy Scouts. The piper's drone filled the room -- he played "God Bless America," and people sang along. Then the procession marched back out of the hall (the Boy Scouts took their seats in the balcony with their families).
Next, the Chairman of the Board of Selectmen (who, contrary to natural assumptions, is a woman) was introduced. She gave a good speech, heartfelt and straightforward and with a few friendly grammatical errors. And then, in the twenty minutes before the Annual Town Meeting began, volunteers served us refreshments (fruit punch, cookies, fruit, and nuts) in a side gallery off the auditorium.
This is what I mean when I say I feel like we live in a small town. The city where I grew up is big enough that they can't invite the whole population to an event like this. The convivial atmosphere tonight made me want to watch (or even participate in) a Town Meeting. As we walked down the steps of Town Hall, among the mingling townspeople, the potential for meaningful community involvement was an almost tangible thing.
The evening's festivities began with a procession led by a bagpiper in full Scottish regalia (he's a member of the fire department). Once he'd taken his place at the head of the hall, four policemen with flags and rifles and three firemen with axes marched smartly down the aisle and stood in a line facing us. They were followed by a dozen or so Boy Scouts. The piper's drone filled the room -- he played "God Bless America," and people sang along. Then the procession marched back out of the hall (the Boy Scouts took their seats in the balcony with their families).
Next, the Chairman of the Board of Selectmen (who, contrary to natural assumptions, is a woman) was introduced. She gave a good speech, heartfelt and straightforward and with a few friendly grammatical errors. And then, in the twenty minutes before the Annual Town Meeting began, volunteers served us refreshments (fruit punch, cookies, fruit, and nuts) in a side gallery off the auditorium.
This is what I mean when I say I feel like we live in a small town. The city where I grew up is big enough that they can't invite the whole population to an event like this. The convivial atmosphere tonight made me want to watch (or even participate in) a Town Meeting. As we walked down the steps of Town Hall, among the mingling townspeople, the potential for meaningful community involvement was an almost tangible thing.
