Hello and Happy May – here in lightly frosted Gallatin. I have a few items to catch up on.

1. Food Pantry- Thank you for continued recent contributions- more came in just today. We are now relatively fully restocked for a third time so we will let you know if we need more in the coming weeks. Deliveries went out today and please tell us if anyone is in need the further we go along in this crisis. Again, no judgments, no questions, door is open in separate room with no one there, and you take what you need (we have boxes and bags).  Or – we can drop off – call the Town Clerk – I am here most days for pickups/deliveries and the Pantry is officially open  Mon-Wed-Fri  9am-12pm.  We are checking in with fellow providers in the area and collectively making sure everyone in this area is covered- but as the Governor says each day “We don’t know what we don’t know,” so tell us if you know someone in need who may be otherwise reluctant  to come forward.

2. Gallatin is still “Covid-clear.”  I checked with the County and they tally by street address, so our lack of post offices and zip codes is not leading to an incorrect number. Lack of sufficient testing ability well might be. We post daily updates and weekly Gallatin number here on the website.

3. Town Board will meet “al fresco” at the end of May- looking at a Saturday parking lot mtg where we can be outside (snow permitting) and folks can pull up chair or open a car window to hear. We will annunciate.  I will send a separate notice when we firm the date and time next week.  Lisa will attach the proposed agenda to the website this weekend. If you cannot make a meeting- the Agenda is pretty detailed and you can send your questions or comments to the Town Clerk email and we will read them aloud at the meeting.  I know alot of places are doing Zoom meetings. I use Zoom 6-8 hours a day and it  works very well; but system depends on you to decide who to invite and then you need their email/text. To my thinking, a meeting is not truly public, if I or the Town Board is deciding who to invite as we cannot reach the whole town; so I think the parking lot works better and weather should be nicer…

4. Census- We were in the top three in response rate the County not long ago. We are now barely hanging in the top ten. We have already lost Eight Gallatin residents this year (in month five) as more of our wizened elders are coming back or staying home as hospital and nursing home are not good alternatives right now.  We typically have 3-4 registered deaths in a year.  Our census is very important as we need to know who is here and how many folks we can count as primary residents. It means a lot for State and County tax contributions and financial aide.  We will be counting pennies in the next few years,  so I encourage (or cajole/beg) you to take the few minutes to complete the form online.  Thank you in advance.