Residents stand for the Pledge of Allegiance at the start of the annual Town Meeting in Elmore, Vt., Tuesday, March 5, 2024. Town Meeting is a tradition that, in Vermont, dates back more than 250 years, to before the founding of the republic. But it is under threat. Many people feel they no longer have the time or ability to attend such meetings. Last year, residents of neighboring Morristown voted to switch to a secret ballot system, ending their town meeting tradition. (AP Photo/David Goldman)
Steam rises from the sugarhouse of Brent Hosking as he boils a batch of sap to make maple syrup Monday, March 4, 2024, in Elmore, Vt. He's tapped 400 maple trees, a small operation compared to some of his neighbors, and still uses buckets to carry the sap from some of them to the boiler. He and his wife sell some of the syrup they make from home and use the rest. Not only on their French toast and pancakes, but also in spaghetti sauce, stews, baking, on top of popcorn and in their morning coffee. (AP Photo/David Goldman)
Jon Gailmor stands in his home Sunday, March 3, 2024, in Elmore, Vt., holding a photo of his late wife, Cathy Murphy, speaking at an Elmore Town Meeting in the 1980s against nuclear weapons while standing next to him. At town meetings, people sometimes go beyond voting on local issues and decide to take a stand on national issues of the day. "You feel important," Gailmor says. "You feel like you are being listened to." (AP Photo/David Goldman)
Brent Hosking watches the fire burning in his sugarhouse while boiling a batch of sap to make maple syrup Sunday, March 3, 2024, in Elmore, Vt. Hosking says he's a Democrat but supports Vermont's moderate Republican Governor Phil Scott. Like many of his fellow citizens in town, he doesn't like the turn that national politics has taken. "You feel helpless, because all you do is one vote," Hosking says. "It seems like it gets lost. And I think a lot of people in the nation feel the same way." (AP Photo/David Goldman)
Teacher Diane Nicholls leads her class of first through third graders at the Elmore School, the last one-room schoolhouse in the state, Wednesday, March 6, 2024, in Elmore, Vt., as the town hall is reflected in the window at left. In Elmore, population 886, its residents are used to holding tight to traditions. They've fought to keep open their post office, their store and their school. Last fall, Elmore residents voted 2-1 in favor of keeping their town meetings. (AP Photo/David Goldman)
Nancy Davis, left, and Shorty Towne, right, talk with fellow residents during a pot luck luncheon following the annual Town Meeting, Tuesday, March 5, 2024, in Elmore, Vt. After nearly four hours, Town Meeting adjoins and residents of all political background sit down for lunch at the United Methodist church across the street. (AP Photo/David Goldman)
Brent Hosking checks the fire burning in his sugarhouse while boiling a batch of sap to make maple syrup Sunday, March 3, 2024, in Elmore, Vt. Hosking helped start the fire department in 1983 after locals tired of paying neighboring towns to extinguish fires. Being involved has helped foster a sense of community, Hosking says. Town Meeting helps foster that sense of community, he says. It's a time to get to know your neighbor, he says, which is important in a small town.(AP Photo/David Goldman)
Julie Bomengen speaks during the annual Town Meeting to advocate for an extra $500 in the town's budget for the Lamoille Community Food Share, Tuesday, March 5, 2024 in Elmore, Vt. An impassioned speech by Bomengen secured the extra $500 raising Elmore's annual contribution to $750. (AP Photo/David Goldman)
Samples of maple syrup sit in a window of the Elmore Sugarhouse as a worker passes by, Tuesday, March 5, 2024, in Elmore, Vt. Elmore calls itself the beauty spot of Vermont. The town borders a lake, which in early March is dotted with people ice fishing. Beyond, a mountain rises. At night, steam floats up from sugarhouses, where maple sap is being boiled down into syrup. (AP Photo/David Goldman)
Robin Pough raises a window blind as she arrives to open the Elmore Store at dawn, Monday, March 4, 2024, in Elmore, Vt. The heartbeat of the town is the store. "I've always said it's a live, living, breathing creature. I don't own it; she owns me," says Kathy Miller, 63, who bought the store with her husband, Warren, in 1983. People would come in not only to buy milk and pick up the mail but to use the fax machine, find a plumber or just to swap gossip. (AP Photo/David Goldman)
Kathy Miller looks at her wedding ring while sitting for a portrait at her home Monday, March 4, 2024, in Elmore, Vt. Miller owned the Elmore Store, what she considers the heartbeat of the town, for nearly four decades but sold it after her husband, Warren, died a few years ago. (AP Photo/David Goldman)
Residents head into the town hall for the annual Town Meeting in Elmore, Vt., Tuesday, March 5, 2024. Democracy takes many forms, and some are more direct than others. In Elmore, the tradition of Town Meeting is very direct and the business of running a town and participating in its administration was thrown open to everyone for the yearly meeting today. The nuts and bolts of town business and decision-making get done, and in the process something unfolds that doesn't happen everywhere in the republic these days — in-person politics that are civil, friendly and followed by lunch. (AP Photo/David Goldman)
Kathy Miller, touches a light on her garage in Elmore, Vt., Monday, March 4, 2024, in remembrance of her late husband, Warren, above a sign he put up before passing away. In 2020, Warren died. He loved collecting things — advertising signs, beer-tap handles, snowboards. At home, Miller looks through some of his collections and talks about selling stuff. Her sense of loss is profound. Her best friend, the man she worked alongside every day, is gone. (AP Photo/David Goldman)
Jon Gailmor performs his song about the town meeting tradition to a group of senior citizens at a music class he teaches at the library Monday, March 4, 2024, in Morristown, Vt. Gailmor first moved to Elmore in 1980 and says he found the town meeting tradition nothing short of miraculous. It wasn't some politician spouting off but real people taking part. He was so inspired that he even wrote a song about it. (AP Photo/David Goldman)
Kathy Miller, left, embraces resident, Anna Slack, after seeing each other for the first time in months at the Elmore Store, Monday, March 4, 2024, in Elmore, Vt. Slack used to work at the store when she was younger and when Miller was the owner. (AP Photo/David Goldman)
Kathy Miller holds a painting of the Elmore Store while sifting through mementos at her home Monday, March 4, 2024, in Elmore, Vt. Miller kept running the store for another 18 months before she was bought out by a community trust, set up to ensure the store remains open. These days, the store is run by Jason Clark. Miller helps out when she's not serving meals at a food kitchen. And she still collects her bills from P.O. Box 1. (AP Photo/David Goldman)
Emmett Adams, 11, looks down into the hole while ice fishing on a frozen Lake Elmore, Sunday, March 3, 2024, in Elmore, Vt. Elmore calls itself the beauty spot of Vermont. The town borders a lake, which in early March is dotted with people ice fishing. Beyond, a mountain rises. At night, steam floats up from sugarhouses, where maple sap is being boiled down into syrup. (AP Photo/David Goldman)
Town Moderator Jon Gailmor sits for a portrait at the town hall, Thursday, March 7, 2024, in Elmore, Vt. Gailmor, 75, is a singer-songwriter who brings an element of performance to his role as moderator at the annual Town Meeting. He describes himself as an independent voter who has supported both Republicans and Democrats over the years. (AP Photo/David Goldman)
Clerk Robin Pough sells stamps to a resident at the Elmore Store which also serves as the post office for the town, population of 886, Monday, March 4, 2024, in Elmore, Vt. (AP Photo/David Goldman)
Clerk Robin Pough marks a parcel while sorting the mail at the Elmore Store which also serves as the post office for the town, Monday, March 4, 2024, in Elmore, Vt. In Elmore, population 886, its residents are used to holding tight to traditions. They've fought to keep open their post office, their store and their school, the last one-room schoolhouse in the state. Last fall, Elmore residents voted 2-1 in favor of keeping their town meetings. (AP Photo/David Goldman)
Kathy Miller removes snow plow markers from her driveway Monday, March 4, 2024, in Elmore, Vt. Miller describes herself as a Republican who hasn't drunk the Kool-Aid. She notes both Vermont and Elmore have shifted more Democratic over the years. But at Town Meeting, she says, political differences don't mean a thing."There's no animosity," she says. "People can talk about things. You shake hands with your neighbor when you leave." (AP Photo/David Goldman)
Classroom aid Ericka Bellavance, third from left, leads students in the Pledge of Allegiance outside the Elmore School, the last one-room schoolhouse in the state, Wednesday, March 6, 2024, in Elmore, Vt. In Elmore, population 886, its residents are used to holding tight to traditions. They've fought to keep open their post office, their store and their school. Last fall, Elmore residents voted 2-1 in favor of keeping their town meetings. (AP Photo/David Goldman)
Volunteer Kathy Miller, center, serves breakfast to Travis Godfrey, right, and Donna Sherlaw at the United Community Church in Morristown, Vt., Wednesday, March 6, 2024. Miller once testified before Congress about the impact of credit card fees. Back then, she believed that little people could have a voice in national politics. But these days, she says, Washington has gotten away from the basics. Too big, she says. Too messed up. Tilted off its axis. (AP Photo/David Goldman)
Congregants join hands at the conclusion of a service at Elmore United Methodist Church, Sunday, March 3, 2024, in Elmore, Vt. In pockets of New England, democracy is done a bit differently. People can still participate directly and in person. One day each year, townsfolk gather at their annual Town Meeting to hash out local issues. They talk, listen, debate, vote. And in places like Elmore, once it's all over, they sit down together for a potluck lunch.. (AP Photo/David Goldman)
Deija Burbank, center, pulls her six-month-old daughter, Freya, in a sled while ice fishing with her sons, Emmett, 11, left, and Dylan, 12, on a frozen Lake Elmore, Sunday, March 3, 2024, in Elmore, Vt. (AP Photo/David Goldman)
Town Clerk Sandra Lacasse, places a sign outside the town office as polls opens Tuesday, March 5, 2024, for Super Tuesday and when the town holds its annual Town Meeting in Elmore, Vt. Across the United States, people are disgusted with politics. Many feel powerless and alienated from their representatives at every level. The tone long ago became nasty, and many feel forced to pick a side and view those on the other side as adversaries. But in pockets of New England, democracy is done a bit differently. One day each year, townsfolk gather to hash out local issues. They talk, listen, debate, vote. And in places like Elmore, once it's all over, they sit down together for a potluck lunch. (AP Photo/David Goldman)