In 1775, five days before the news of the battle at Lexington and Concord reached the Berkshires, the Town of Lenox voted to “procure forty muskets with bayonets and cartouch, box” for the local Minutemen. 200 years later, the town appropriated $328 for three streetlights on Bentrup Court. In matters big and small, the annual meeting is still an example of small town democracy at its finest.
Local History Librarian Amy Lafave recorded a Q&A session with Town Clerk Kerry Sullivan to inform people of the finer points of town meeting procedures, and briefly discussed the ballot for the town election.
The meeting will take place Thursday, May 4 at 7:00 p.m. at Lenox Memorial and Middle High School’s Duffin Theatre. We expect a large turnout, so the doors will open at 6:00 p.m. to give extra time to process the registered voters.
We hope voters will approve the library’s request for Community Preservation funds to preserve the Town of Lenox’s Non-Consumption Agreement, a document signed on July 14, 1774 by 109 Lenox men, including the Town’s leading citizens, making their first official act of rebellion against the British empire by indicating that they would not buy British manufactured goods.
The signers include some of the future musket bearers.
To view the warrant:
https://www.townoflenox.com/sites/g/files/vyhlif3341/f/uploads/atm_2023_warrant_5_4_2023.pdf
To read the Message from the Town Manager to the Voters of Lenox:
https://www.townoflenox.com/sites/g/files/vyhlif3341/f/uploads/2023_atm_ltr_-_town_manager_4.28.23.pdf
To view the proposed zoning amendment for Personal Wireless Services Facilities:
https://www.townoflenox.com/sites/g/files/vyhlif3341/f/uploads/clean_zbl_with_4_11_23_and_4_18_23_amendments_for_web_and_clerk_clean_copy_0.pdf
To review the ballot for the election on May 8:
https://www.townoflenox.com/sites/g/files/vyhlif3341/f/uploads/sample_ballot_local_2023.pdf
To check if you are registered to vote in Massachusetts:
https://www.sec.state.ma.us/voterregistrationsearch/myvoterregstatus.aspx
The Office of the Town Clerk
https://www.townoflenox.com/town-clerk