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| Clipart ETC is copyright © 2010 by the University of South Florida. |
Town meeting day is a New England tradition that started 238 years ago and it continues to thrive to this day. During these times men 21 years of age or older would gather on a weekly and sometimes monthly basis to discuss town issues and business. At this time, they didn't have elected officials as we do now, but as time passed, the towns people elected certain people to take leadership roles. These men would address issues raised by the townspeople and were called Selectmen.These elected officials would take concerns raised by residents and bring them to the table to discuss as a whole. These meetings soon became an annual tradition, called town meeting day. In the late 1700's town meetings decided such things as whether or not to let pigs run free, whether smallpox vaccinations should be allowed within towns, or what goods or labor would be used as payments for taxes. Today town meeting day ballots have come a long way with articles relating to education, roads, construction of buildings. Town meeting has always been a day to socialize with friends and family within your community and also introduce yourself to new families. This strengthens your community, making town decisions in the future that much easier--or at least based on common knowledge.
This website is a class project developed at Lyndon State College by students in the Electronic Journalism Arts Department.
They are enrolled in a class called "Introduction to Multi-media Storytelling." Each student has chosen one town on which to report, starting with town meeting and continuing throughout the semester.
Here you will find links to their sites documenting life in several towns during town meeting season.
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| Published by Vermont Secretary of State's Office |
Keep your eye on this page--more towns are being added every day.
