The History of Town Meeting Day in Vermont

Town meeting day is a tradition that started over 200 years ago and continues to thrive in Vermont. While many things about town meeting day date back to the late 1700's, many things have changed.

Town meeting day began before Vermont was even Vermont. Vermont was established in the year 1777, yet fifteen years earlier the very first town meeting was held in Bennington in 1762. At this time, colonists crossed seas to settle in the new world, which later became the United States of America. They came in search of independence and freedom, and all shared a few common goals: to create and maintain communities, and have a say in how they were governed.

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 were once weekly and monthly but 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, and even whether or not to approve an annual July 4th fireworks display. In 1918, women were finally permitted to vote on town meeting day, four years before they were finally allowed to vote in state and national elections.

Town meeting day has never been all business, though. From the late 1700's, it has 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. In Vermont, this consensus-building process is always very apparent. Close-knit communities come out in clusters every March 3 to voice their opinions, support and vote for town officials and of course, sometimes just say "hi." And as of 2009, town meeting day is a Holiday. Working Vermonters are now allowed to take an unpaid leave from work to attend town meeting day. However, to take advantage of this day, the employee must give their employer at least 7 days prior notice. The law also gives students who are 18 years or older the right to miss school in order to attend town meeting day.

Here at Lyndon State College, of course, our News7 team works puts in extra hours, fanning out over our coverage area, and bringing back the results of democracy in action.

In 2008 Vermont Public Radio offered this audio-visual slide show. http://www.vpr.net/vpr_files/slideshows/town_meeting_tradition/index.html