Raymond Nile has got a good start on summer road maintenance. He’s been digging the road-side ditches where they’ve filled with road sand and debris. The winter roads crew spreads two thousand yards of sand each winter, a good deal of it on hills, and over time this all washes into the ditches. Ditches just at the bottom of the hills are especially prone to clogging up.

Along with the ditching, some of the culverts have been replaced. The older steel culverts last about 20 years. The newer corrugated HDPE plastic culverts will last longer, Ray says, “than you or I will ever know.

It was about May 20 when barn swallows finally returned to my barn. They were late this year, and there was only one pair. It seems there have been fewer over the past couple years. I don’t know if they are having a hard time in their winter quarters or having a hard time here. And then I wonder if their old nests should be taken down so they can start over. There are 16 or 17 years of nests in that barn.

Twice this past Sunday, chimney swallows had to be rescued from my wood stove. Don’t know if they were different birds or one bird making the same stupid mistake twice.

Temple village now has a public use picnic table, provided through Recreation Committee funding. Located in the little park area next to the Post Office, the table is near the stream on town owned property, just at a favorite site for fishing. It’s hoped that this spot will enhance the activities of anglers and their families, and the general public, when visiting our village center.

Following the success of the first Franklin County History Tour held last year, more historical societies and museums are joining in by opening their archives and museums from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, June 6. Temple Historical Society will have both the Archives Room at the Town Hall and the Red Schoolhouse open. Stop by and see us!

Temple Stream Theatre is hosting Bread & Puppet Theatre on Friday, June 5, at 8 p.m. Bread & Puppet’s shows are always colorful, rollicking and heartbreaking. They entertain as well as educate, and they sure do draw a crowd. The show this year is Public Access Center for the Obvious Presents: The Situation. Written and directed by Peter Schumann the puppet play features an anti-extinction angel, the union of brooms, a 100 watt lightbulb, and a ship of fools: all for the purpose of urging the not yet upriser masses into existence.

Preceding the performance, a pizza dinner will be served, starting at 6 p.m., at the Upside Bakery next door to the theater on the Intervale here in Temple. The Upside is equipped with an excellent wood fired bake oven which, together with Michael Romanyshyn’s toppings, turn out some excellent pizza.

Tickets, available at the door, for Bread & Puppet are $15 for general admission and $10 for students and seniors. Donations will be accepted for the dinner.

A Special Town Meeting, attended by 30 or so residents, was held on Tuesday, June 2, to correct an error, replace a selectman, and decide two new questions.

Having determined that it would be unwise to leave a Selectman’s seat vacant for nine months, residents were called on to elect a replacement for Michelle Clark who resigned recently. Jean Mitchell and Belinda Barden were both nominated for the position.

Jean had previously served as Selectman and had chosen not to run for reelection just this past March. Belinda has had a lot of experience working with town governments as an insurance provider. Ultimately, given that Kevin White joined the Selectmen just three months ago, the majority of voters seemed to feel that it would be best to put someone in the position who already had on-the-job experience and Jean won the election.

A matter to correct a mistake in our March warrant was easily disposed of. While the budget included $10,000 for the paving account, only $1,000 had been approved. The remaining $9,000 was approved at this meeting.

An article to authorize the Selectmen to sell town-owned property with a value of $100 or less was easily approved. Now they can dispose of a set of doors that were replaced in the town hall more than a year ago without just throwing them away. Seems funny that it should be more complicated to facilitate reuse than it is to send it to the landfill.

The item that took the most time and brought the most discussion was the shortest one on the Warrant: To see if the Town would like the Planning Board to pursue adopting a fireworks ordinance. The wording sounds more sure and timely than the fact of “pursuing” can actually furnish. The intent is to have the Planning Board study the logistics of such an ordinance to see what might be crafted to present to voters. It is unlikely that any ordinance could be put in place prior to having a Comprehensive Plan for the town, a project the Board is currently working on.

Concerns that were raised first focused on the impact that fireworks have on residents and the quiet nature of our community. The potential cost of enforcing an ordinance was a big concern for some, but it was explained that those costs would be explored. It would be some time before a proposed ordinance could be drafted and then it would have to go to residents for a vote, following a public hearing. The measure passed 14 to 10.

Temple residents, please feel free to call me at 778-3856 with news or announcements, or if you see your neighbors headed out for dinner and theatre in Temple.