BUCKFIELD — Thirty-seven fourth-grade students from the Hartford-Sumner Elementary School got an inside look Monday at local government during a visit to the Buckfield Town Office.

The students are in classes of teachers Jackie Stevens and Pamela White.

The students were full of questions and excitement as Town Manager Glen Holmes and Town Clerk Cyndy Dunn kept their attention with information on town government and history.

The children learned about some of the town’s history dating back to the 1700s. Dunn showed them the record of the earliest births in Buckfield. She then looked up the birth record of several of the children whose parents resided in Buckfield at their birth. In one case she pulled up the record of the child’s mother’s birth but told her she would have to go to Sumner to get records on her grandparents’ births. The children’s eyes opened wide when Dunn told them that the record of their births, “Will be kept here forever and ever.”

Holmes got a positive response from all of the children when he asked if they had ever heard their parents complain about taxes. He then talked about why taxes were needed and how over half of them went to support the schools. He then showed the children how to look up their properties on the tax rolls and find them on tax maps. Dunn pulled the tax files showing pictures of their homes.

The children appeared impressed by the polling booths and had to try them out. They paid attention when Holmes told them how important it was to vote once they come of age and all assured him they planned to vote.

As they tried out the selectmen’s chairs, Holmes suggested they ask their parents to bring them to a selectmen’s meeting so they can see their government in action.

The children bubbled with questions on everything from the old hitching post that once graced the village street to the need for building permits. As they discussed laws and ordinances, one of the students asked, “What is the most important law?” Holmes only hesitated a moment before telling the child that he believed it was, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”