A Good Time to Be a Vocal Local

No matter which way you slice it, we are all visitors on this planet- whether we live here or there-stay in one place or move to new locations. Wherever we settle, we all would like to have a sense of belonging-we’d like to be welcomed and feel at home.

Some of us have been blessed by growing up in beautiful places that attract tourists and newcomers, day trippers and summer people. Maybe it was just by luck that my paternal grandparents found their way to our little fishing village from Lithuania; my grandfather having squatter’s rights to a small fishing shack that would now be swallowed by the new condos. Living here is something I am honestly grateful for every day. For all intents and purposes, I believe I would be considered a ‘local’. Certainly not as local as those who can trace their roots back to the Native Americans, the very first European settlers or the whaleboat captains who called this home. 

The inherent benefit of being a ‘local’ is a quiet sense of connection-that this corner of the world is part of you, and you are part of it. No matter who arrives, who comes and goes, who settles and digs their heels in… you know, and are part of the history, the herstory, the evolution of this tiny part of the world. They have their own history, equally important, equally significant and they have chosen to continue to write it here. Perhaps they have a pioneer spirit, a desire to experience and take more in. While others of us were born with a hefty measure of gravity that holds us in place.

While the world at large has experienced an incredible amount of change; growing populations, expansion, building, crowding, unrest-we too have felt that in our once small and humble village. Large houses are being built nearly to property lines, eight-foot fences and deer grates are preventing wildlife passage-a clear disruption of the natural beauty and bucolic setting that drew folks here in the first place. We have witnessed wealth and privilege rise to the top- yachts filling the harbor, mansions infiltrating the potato fields and Maseratis dotting Main Street. We struggle for parking places, tables at restaurants, spots on the beach. We plan our day so we are safely home in time to beat the rush - at the beach, the supermarket, the bank, the post office. The quiet winter hush has turned into a new brassy bustle. There is a sense now that the balance has been tipped-the local voice quieted- the power of the vote shifted. Many local families have moved away as the cost of living has risen and affordable housing has disappeared.

Occasionally I’m invited to sit on local committees. I am convinced I am there because some of the newcomers want to hear our voices. Many are caring and well intentioned. Some have stood for and have created positive change.

But before all is lost, before our village becomes unrecognizable, I call on all of us to become vocal locals. Not combative, or angry, but also not silent and defeatist. Whoever you are, wherever you live-you too have a voice and a chance to implement change. Run for office, join committees, call the mayor and the trustees, write letters to the editor, become involved with the evolution of your hometown. No issue is too large or too small. 

I have read on Facebook comments in which local people feel as if it is too late-but quite honestly it is never too late. We are all responsible for continuing to write the ‘history’, the ‘herstory’, the ‘our story’ of this most beautiful place on earth, our hometown. Simply said, I believe this is an excellent time to be a vocal local!