Thinking about it today, Susan
knew the only reason anyone talked
to her on that little shop tour was
because she was with Fred and
Marty. Of course now she couldn’t
go in to the shops without hearing
people’s opinions. Eleven years of
living in a small town and serving
on the select board will do that for
a person.
And now Fred was winding up
his final days as a selectman. He’d
served the town in that role for 30
years. And though she didn’t know
it, one of the reasons he felt good
about stepping away was because
Susan Jacobi had learned how to
take people’s ideas into consideration
and had a frequent recurrence
to fundamental principles.
“We need wifi!” Mason Fournier
exclaimed. “It’s the 21st century,
hello?!”
“Well,” Susan said, drawing the
word out a bit. (A little hill, compared
to the mountain Fred could
make out of that word.) “Not everyone
agrees.”
“But they don’t know what they’re
missing! People would want to
live here if we had wifi,’ he said,
clearly exasperated. “I was elected
to the select board to bring new
ideas to the town. I didn’t spend
the last four years in Burlington for
nothing. I want to make the town
better.”
Mason was from a family that had
been in the town for generations.
Dairy farmers. He and his brother,
Connor, went to college. Connor
moved away and Mason came back
home to modernize the dairy farm
and the town. He’d done a fine job
with the dairy.
“Why do you thi
opposed?” Susan
“Because they do
and they want th
1975,” he said, w
have been a foot
“Mason,” Susan b
ris taught me thr
joined the select
Mason paid atten
tion of the man w
guy for just abou
town. “Oh yeah?
“One is to listen.
people are oppos
cause they hate c
this town are thi
Fred says. Ask th
Listen to their op
Although he wan
couldn’t argue w
“When I wanted
open on Sunday
Stone took me ar
shops so we coul
shop owners actu
can do that now
ask people,” she
“Okay. What are
things?” he asked
“Number two is,
edly,” she said, h
of the state’s Con
Mason had to ad
it. His time in co
cused on alterna
herd managemen
ing. He consider
phlet in his hand