Good morning!

We made it to the end of the week, and I hope you’ve had a good one. Don’t forget to hit up these events this weekend:

• Interfaith Holocaust Memorial Service 7PM tonight at Temple Shalom Emeth (RSVP) or at on the BCAT Facebook page
• Friends of the Library Book Sale now through Sunday
• Community Garage Sale Saturday
• Pine Glen Carnival Saturday
• Walk for Hunger Sunday - We are now 75% to our $5k goal! Join up and help us go above and beyond for our residents served by People Helping People!

New Children’s Book Coming Out Soon!

Before I start today, I wanted to share with you a quick plug for something really exciting. You might know I’m an author of books and things. You probably also know I’m a mom. What you might not know is that I have combined these qualities in a novel way by helping my daughter (who is 8) write a book. We’ve been working on it for a year or so, and (far ahead of the publication of my own first novel) it’s almost ready for launch! The book features a unicorn named Scarlet and her friends, who do something kind after seeing a community member in need, and it was inspired by all the fundraising and philanthropic work we see happening in Burlington.

We’ll be having a launch party soon, and the book will be on sale in the coming weeks. We’re super excited, and would love for you to come with us on this journey. If you have one or more children in your life, you can click here to learn more and to get a free bookmark set, and be added to the list so you can learn about our launch party and where/when you can get the book. Hope to see you over there!

Town Meeting Warrant

I decided it would be nice if I shared with you what I’m learning as I work through the Warrant for Town Meeting. I’ve only done one Annual (May/Budget) Town Meeting so far, and I was a deer in the headlights back then. Still kinda am, to be honest, but I am learning more as time goes on and I wanted to share what I’m learning with you. I only made it through the first 7 articles so far, and I’ll house the actual summaries in a different file, but I’d love to share an overview before digging in a little this weekend.

What is the Warrant?

The Warrant is the document that guides the meeting. Every action discussed at Town Meeting is an article in the warrant, which this time around is 43 pages long and has just the text of the articles. The Warrant is divided into sections: General; Financial; General Bylaw; Zoning Bylaw.

This organization is helpful in understanding the things Town Meeting is responsible for. As the legislative branch of the town, we are basically in charge of anything involving laws. And then we are also in charge of voting on each department’s budget.

What is the Warrant Backup?

The backup has background information on why each article is being presented. The Warrant can be VERY confusing to read without looking at the backup at the same time, which is why I read them both in parallel. I look at each article one by one, and then I look in the backup for the corresponding background. It’s really helpful to see the rationale for each request.

Since it has all the background, the backup is considerably longer - this time around, it’s 163 pages, and there is some additional backup that came in after the printing deadline and is available as separate documents. (Click Additional Backup here.)

I’ll leave it there for now, but I’ll be back this weekend for a discussion of the first chunk of the Warrant.

Friday Funny

Alright, you deserve a giggle. But first, an anecdote.

I went to school at Boston University. As a neuroscience major and math minor (how did I get into writing, again?!?!), I took a lot of specialized classes.

Lesser-known to arts majors, Cummington Street is a hub for science and engineering. Lots of the science labs are over there, and I was taking at least one or two of those each week for the 3 years I was at BU. Most of my lectures and discussion sessions were held there too.

Cummington Street was (and I presume still is) lined with trees. I’m not the kind of person who notices trees much. But these trees demand your attention. For a week or two out of the year, Cummington Street smells like walking into my neighbor’s fish market when I was growing up - except, as a 20-year-old college student, I couldn’t go begging my mom for a Dr. Pepper to sniff so I could mask the rancid odor.

And that’s being generous.

I always had something to say about these trees, and I still do. I have since discovered the name of the tree that creates this offensive odor. I can’t not mention it when I notice them around. Some people are as bothered as I am by it. Some don’t even notice it. (How is that possible?!) And when the landscaper wanted to put one in my yard last year, you can imagine where I told him to go.

So, without further ado, here is your Friday funny. No offense to any Bradford Pears out there.

Have the best weekend,

Nicci