CAST YOUR VOTES!

The first Tuesday of each March, every town and city in New England (and some other states) has it's annual Town Meeting. The first town meeting in Vermont was held in 1762, in Bennington, 15 years before Vermont actually became a state. This year, it was my turn to attend my first town meeting in my home town of Peru, and I loved it. Slightly daunted by the fact that I had to get up in front of the gathered townsfolk and introduce myself (as the newest member of our 400 strong population!), I soothed my nerves with the strong coffee and insanely sugary doughnuts on offer.

"Town Meeting" by Norman Rockwell, as a study for his "Freedom of Speech" painting, produced 1943 as part of his "Four Freedoms" project.

I won't go into the minutiae of what goes on, but lets just say everyone who attends gets very vocally involved over town budget, social and amenity issues. It all follows a very strict form of "Yay" or "Nay" verbal voting, seconding motions etc. For a detailed and fascinating explanation of the history and the process of these historical meetings, visit the Secretary of State for Vermont's website, here.

I am all fired up to serve my Town!

I am thrilled to say that I was successful in being given the chance to take on the joint organisation and execution of our monthly Mountain Community Dinners programme, which feeds the elderly and less fortunate in our community, each month. In addition I was voted on to our town School Board and can't wait to get stuck in to the challenge.

So no cute products, pink picks or design thoughts for this entry. Just a little slice of the Apothecary Fox real life to share with you all.