There’s No Place Like Home in the 05055

In my 51 years, I’ve discovered a few truths out there. One is that if your modus operandi is to complain about the way of the world, you’re not going to get many party invitations. A second is that a lot of party invitations these days aren’t reflective of your popularity, but rather your ability to discern between a real Paperless Post and a fake Paperless Post. A third is that if you spend a lot of your time focused on the positive, you’ll collect a lot of smiles on the way. Readers of this publication know which way these pages lean, so I’ll try to follow along.

When you’re lucky enough to live in the 05055, there are countless ways the community will welcome and thank you for being part of the action. Oftentimes, I describe these realities as “you won’t find this in a real estate ad, but it’s true.” Take a walk around the village and count how many people you encounter that you know. Notice the number of smiles you give and receive. Take note of how many houses you pass where you can say, “I know who lives there.” (For some of us, we may even say, “And I can tell you who used to live there.” My children positively love hearing about how Chief Bradley used to hang deer in his barn at the corner of Hazen and Main.) With time, you accept this as a banal reality in our haven; don’t let yourself become blasé. Embrace it as a marvel of our town.

When you move here from away, you likely have no idea that within a short period of time, you’ll have a network of college professors, shop keepers, landscapers, letter carriers, librarians, published authors, bartenders, town employees, rec council members, youth sports coaches, and a guy named Demo in your orbit, all of whom know your first and last name and the names of your family members. You won’t try; it will just happen. #WelcomeToNorwich.

When your life takes a more serious turn, our little Vermont town will be there to help you out. No one plans to curbside the local physician, plumber, attorney, or teacher, but we all end up doing it. There’s something about the opinion of a Norwich resident at a loved one’s bedside that carries just a little more weight, that comforts just a little bit more.

If you’ve ever needed to gather eight to 1,000 people for an event, you know it can be a stressful undertaking. Here, again, Norwich answers the bell. Use the Norwich Public Library’s meeting room for small gatherings. The Inn can host your party any time. I’ve been to celebrations of life in the white church, on the shiny floor of Tracy Hall, and outside at Huntley Meadows. Each Thanksgiving, our family gathers with hundreds (thousands?) of local and non-local folks for the Turkey Trot. How do you put that in an ad for a three bedroom, two bath on Turnpike Road?

I think one common thread is that, as a general rule, Norwichians are loath to get too competitive with each other. Sure, there are some very nice homes and plenty of cash in those there hills, but if one chooses to give off too many airs, one risks finding oneself alone with one’s thoughts while the rest of us hang out at the Norwich Fair on free bracelet night, working our way through a fried dough or a snow cone.

That’s not to say we don’t know our way around a good conflict. From the ListServ to the Listers’ Office, consternation, accusation, and obfuscation can rear their heads. But Father Time and Mother Nature have a way of putting adversaries on neutral turf.

Maybe we bump into each other deep in the hardware section of the general store. Perhaps we find ourselves cheek-by-jowl in line at the famers market’s yellow tent. When we’re there, all the intangibles of the 05055 conspire to remind us that we live in a genuine community, and that community is more than just an idea. It’s our home.