Back in June our Volunteer Fire Department cancelled the annual parade and barbeque that highlight Thetford’s Labor Day weekend. In July we learned that hours at our small post offices would be shortened, apparently an interim measure prior to closing one or more of them. And, at candidate forums before the August primary, we heard citizens express deep anxiety about possible school district consolidation and the potential closing of small schools. In every case, the real issue was about the changing nature of our community. Communities exist because they have things that bring – and sometimes force - people together regardless of occupation or income.
The volunteer fire department, the village school, and the post office are classic examples, uniting not just next-door neighbors, but folks from all over town. Professor or plumber, lawyer or logger, we’re all concerned about safety, about our children’s future, about staying informed. VFD service, barbeques, school events, and the P.O. all provide actual physical crossroads where everyone interacts with everyone else. Just add coffee.
But it’s getting harder. Take the fire department. Volunteers put in the same 150-300 hours of initial training as paid professionals in larger towns, but do it on their own time. Then there’s required ongoing training and maintenance – not to mention actually responding to calls. Add over 200 hours necessary to plan and run the Labor Day parade and barbecue and what’s surprising isn’t that the volunteers cancelled it, but that they kept it going so long.
Nobody’s targeting the fire department; it’s just the victim of social and demographic trends. As agriculture declines and people increasingly work out of town, time for community involvement diminishes, especially for young families with both parents working. Similarly, the postal service isn’t in business to provide community centers and can’t be concerned if closing a post office also kills the store where it’s located. And we all know that some schools are just too small to sustain. Still, in every case, the nature of community as gathering place becomes collateral damage.
This reinforces a national trend of social erosion. People are abandoning physical communities for virtual ones; engaging less with their actual neighbors and more with people with whom they share interests and, increasingly, politics. In the process, diversity, honest debate, and mutual dependence all suffer.
Happily, a new group has stepped up to run our Labor Day parade and barbecue, demonstrating that people are still willing to stretch to maintain the keystones of community.
So the parade and barbecue are safe – for now. Post offices remain open – for now. School boards haven’t consolidated and we still have small schools – for now. And we may continue to cherish these symbols of our small communities – for now.
