By Henry Tirrell

It has been a busy summer. Construction, events, elections, town meetings and more have all been happening while we try to enjoy the local summer offerings and the time away on vacations. Throughout all of this, I continue to be moved by the small and large actions that people in our community do to help each other. From putting out fires, showing up with food, serving on committees, to just checking in on each other—it all makes a difference, especially when times are tough. Many thanks to all of you for the continued support you provide to this community.

We have another town meeting on the horizon. On Wednesday, Sept. 2, we hope to hold a special town meeting to vote on a few items. I hope you can join and consider the issues that will be presented. The call of the meeting will be posted on the town website.

An update on the construction projects shows the Route 44 wall project hopefully being mostly complete by the end of the year, with the hope of the road being opened up before 2027. The firehouse is starting to take shape and will hopefully be ready to house the vehicles by the end of January. The Mountain Road bridge should be done this fall. Around that same time, the two bridges in South Norfolk that got washed out years back in flooding will go out to bid for selection of a construction company. The Old Goshen Road bridge is in planning to be replaced next year and the Smith Road bridge the year after.

As with every summer, a sign of its end drawing near will be the closing of Tobey Pond in the coming weeks. With school starting up again, the lifeguard staff will be unavailable. The tentative schedule has the beach being open on weekends through Labor Day. Thank you to the guards and everyone who helps make the beach available for use during the summer possible, including Great Mountain Forest.

Hope you all enjoy these final days of August and what is hopefully a fantastic September!