With good reason, the focus of this Town Meeting has been heavily on the presidential primary. Don't forget, as you head to the polls, about local affairs too.

If you think it's cool that your vote might actually sorta count in the presidential race, well your vote and your voice really actually sorta counts in the matters of local government too. You want to protest the cemetery commission budget, as some in Isle La Motte do? Well, this is your chance. You want to know what the deal is with all those potholes? You go for it. Care what happens to the waterfront in Burlington? Cast your ballot.

For several years of my employment hear at the Freeps it was my job to coordinate town meeting coverage. One of the great joys of my life is that I don't do that anymore. It was like herding poisonous snakes. Every town does things differently. Some vote by ballot, some by show of hands. Some vote at the open meeting, some by day-long voting, some in a mixture of the two.

It is not easy to wrap all that up in a neat bun to put in the newspaper, but I've had a few years to step back away from worrying about that. Now I think the fact that every town does it differently is pretty cool. Chaotic, but cool. Just have mercy on the poor people whose job it is to wrap the results up neatly in the newspaper.

- Terri Hallenbeck