Town Meeting is great in towns that give it the cultural place of honor it deserves…but it can also be “meh” in towns that treat it like just another thing that has to be done. My town unfortunately feels like the latter, and you can tell that the zeal residents used to have for town meeting (and all that it stands for) is waning…which really worries me. One town over, they begin the meeting with a coffee/tea/pastries social hour and wrap it up with a big potluck. The difference in how excited and invested people are is palpable.

I deeply worry that if Town Meeting (as a concept) isn’t given an injection of pride, energy, and excitement, that we may be in danger of losing a quintessential way of life here in Vermont. The fact that not everyone gets the day off is damn near criminal (it should be enforced in both the public and private sector, IMHO). Towns should make it something that everyone - especially newbies and young folks - look forward to coming to.

If a tradition isn’t celebrated & upheld as something essential and something to look forward to, it eventually starts to feel like it’s just peer pressure from dead people. If that happens to Town Meeting in Vermont, our state is in danger of becoming like every other place where folks choose passive convenience over critical thinking and community care.