The work of the day was completed and its intensity was dissipating as two men and a woman conversed animatedly, walking on the path that leads uphill out of the field in front of Bromfield toward the school’s upper parking lot. When I caught up to them, I could hear that they were hashing over the recently adjourned Town Meeting. Heidi Siegrist said she attends Town Meeting regularly because she appreciates the “privilege to vote.” Jared Wollaston added, “It’s the New England way to govern.” And John Lee said it was a way to stay current.
Tucked under their arms were copies of the Harvard Press, which they praised for its unbiased summaries of the issues before Town Meeting. All three agreed that Moderator Bill Barton had moved the meeting along smoothly while allowing attendees enough time to express their views.
A few minutes earlier, I had met Barton as he gathered up his materials, looking forward to watching the Red Sox. He said the meeting went faster and smoother than he had anticipated and that the audience stayed focused. He noted that there were no personal attacks, and everyone left as the friends and neighbors they are.
Before running into Barton, I had passed Judy Wong as she was shutting down the video camera that she had been operating since noon. She thought the Town Meeting was educational, although she’d had anxiety the night before about finding a parking space. As it turned out, she’d found a spot right in front of the field, along the wall on Mass. Ave.
Minutes earlier, at 3:07 p.m., Wong had been behind the camera when an intense gust of wind shook the tent’s canopy, and at 3:10 p.m. motions to adjourn were made, concluding the October 2021 Town Meeting.
It had been a warm but comfortable day, 73 degrees and intermittently windy. Early on, members of the Lions Club had gone around the smaller tents for couples and the unmasked, securing guy lines and pounding extra stakes into the ground. Throughout the day, the sounds of the wind in the trees and the rustling of leaves competed with, while not overpowering, the voices coming through the microphones.
During the meeting, Kit Holland of East Bare Hill Road brought out her Prismacolor markers and worked on a birthday card, which she then photographed and sent. She explained that she had studied the articles in the newspaper ahead of time so she could follow the arguments while multitasking.
As usual, dogs were in attendance. Aliz, an exceptionally well-behaved copper-colored dog with curly fur, came with Brian and Daniela Tortora, who also brought their months-old baby, Hobson, to their first Harvard Town Meeting. Dogs Elsie and Alice played around as Amy and Nina Sklar settled onto a blanket spread out on the lawn behind the main tent.
Hillary Maglothin of Old Littleton Road said she attends Town Meeting when it fits into her schedule. She said she sees changes that seem to “push Harvard into becoming an Acton or Concord.” She’s concerned about “transient parents” who move to Harvard for the schools and then leave when their children graduate.
Anton Chernoff has been checking residents into Town Meeting since he retired a few years ago. He attributes to apathy the fact that only 300 to 400 voters out of over 4,000 usually attend Town Meeting. He thinks those who do attend have strong opinions.
Early in the day, I had run into Patrick and Marijke Vallaeys of South Shaker Road drinking coffee on the General Store patio before Marijke went off to Town Meeting and Patrick went off to do something else. Both said that patience and tolerance are required to sit through Town Meeting. At least the outdoor venue offered the relief of being able to get up and walk around, but listening to explanations of minute details, and divergent or misunderstood views, can be frustrating, and even irritating, at times, they noted.
Patrick wondered if holding separate open meetings about each article prior to Town Meeting, allowing people the chance to discuss and have their questions answered, would streamline the process.
Throughout the proceedings, I began to realize just how radical being asked to vote is, how human it is to formulate an opinion, and how personal it is to respond.
So when Billy Salter declared to everyone under the tent that he had come to Town Meeting with his vote on Article 19 decided but changed his mind after listening to Bonnie Huedorfer’s opinion, the democratic process became wonderful.
