Know your Neighbors

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When Susan Clark was doing research for her book on New England’s annual town meetings, she visited a little town called Newark, Vermont, population 470. These townsfolk, Clark says, are more involved in their town meetings than any other town in New England. So Clark asked the town clerk, “How do people here stay so informed? Is there a newspaper?”

The clerk guffawed. In a town of 470?

Is there a post office? A bulletin board where everyone posts things? No, the clerk responded, just a little post office in the village store.

So where do people gather to talk about what’s going on? Clark tried desperately.

“Oh!” The clerk answered, understanding at last. “At the dumpster!”

It was a Saturday morning tradition to hash over the week’s events at the town dumpster.

Every rural community has its idiosyncrasies, its traditions, its culture that residents can only learn by jumping in and getting to know their neighbors. There are lots of ways to do that: share your bumper crop of apples or attend the local art festival. But the best way to really get to know your neighbors, says Clark – who teaches a course on community development – is to roll up your shirtsleeves and get busy in the work of the community, making the load lighter for everyone around you.
“If you actually work on a project with your neighbors, you’ll be much more integrated than if you try to do it through frivolous connections or social connections,” she says.

That sentiment was heartily echoed by Steve Piper, mayor of Marquette, Kansas, who recently made headlines by offering free building lots to try to build up his town.

“In a small community you really rely on volunteers,” he says. “We simply ask people, if you’re going to move to Marquette, we expect you to be part of the community, not just live here. People get here and say they’re almost busier here than in the big city because there are fewer people to do the things that need to be done. We have several museums in town, we have an active Parent Teachers Association, we need volunteers for concession stands at school games or for reading programs. When people see how hard we work to keep a small town going, this impresses people. They like the idea of being part of that.”

Tom and Pam Harris already understood that principle when they moved into the little community of Arroyo Hondo, New Mexico. Predominantly Hispanic, Arroyo Hondo is in a section of northern New Mexico where most families go back generations. Acceptance can be difficult for outsiders. So when a neighbor’s husband died, Pam offered to manage things at the house so family and friends could attend the Catholic services. For three days, Pam says, she collected the covered dishes people brought, served food for family gatherings, cleaned the kitchen and mopped the floor. When relatives and friends of the family showed up, they asked “Who is this woman?” But Pam was then readily welcomed into their hearts.

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