They Saw What Their Town Was Missing…Each Other

A small Vermont town had "pretty much nothing to hold us together." A few neighbors saw the need for community…and built it, one shared meal at a time.

"Our town has no school, no church, no Quik Stop, pretty much nothing to hold us together."

That's John McClaughry. He has moderated Town Meeting in Kirby, Vermont since 1967.

Plenty of towns could say the same. Here's the difference.

A few neighbors looked around and named it. In resident Tracy Sherbrook's words, "there was a real need for more community events that brought people together."

So they did something about it.

The story

Kirby is a small town in Vermont's Northeast Kingdom. It has 575 residents, according to the 2020 census, spread across about 24 square miles. There's no village center. Folks live far apart.

The spark came this summer. Sherbrook helped organize a townwide party for the nation's 250th anniversary in July. More people came than had signed up.

"We had an RSVP of about 78 people; 180 people came," Sherbrook said. "So we realized there was a real need for more community events that brought people together."

That's the part that matters. Not the headcount. The recognition.

So Sherbrook and a few neighbors listened. They started a series they call Potluck Plus. Each event is a shared meal…plus an activity.

One, on Oct. 15 at the Kirby Town Hall, paired meatballs and casseroles with a local candidates' forum. Dozens came.

Resident Melanie Finn described what it's like to live there:

"This is such a spread-out community— you can see people on the road, you give them the two-finger wave off the steering wheel, but I think it's really nice for people to come together, particularly for something like this."

Resident Thomas De Carlo:

"We're in a very politicized time where people, you know, they put on their party face. And this kind of relaxes people and makes it more of a community event. And that's the whole point of what we should be doing: talking, and sharing views, and seeing how the other people think."

Resident Nelia Rath brought her daughter.

"Sharing, breaking bread together, you know, it's biblical," she said. "People have done that since the beginning of time."

The next Potluck Plus, a potluck and a land use presentation, is scheduled for Nov. 12.

Why it matters

Nobody in Kirby launched a movement. Nobody wrote a manifesto.

A few neighbors noticed what their town was missing. Not a store. Not a building. Each other. And instead of calling one good day a nice day and moving on…they kept setting the table.

Thing is, plenty of us live in some version of Kirby. We wave from the truck. We don't always stop.

A potluck doesn't fix that. It starts it.

Food first. Then the hard stuff. You'd be surprised how much easier it is to hear someone out after you've eaten their casserole.

Questions for a neighbor

When was the last time you sat down and ate with a neighbor you only know from the wave?
What is your town missing…and who could you invite to fix it?

Kirby didn't wait for someone else to bring people together. One neighbor did. Then a few more. Be that neighbor. #TalkToYourNeighbors

Source: Finn McDonough & Juliette Dutton, "In Kirby, a potluck and debate night brings neighbors together," VTDigger / UVM Community News Service, Nov. 2, 2026. Celebration details: Vermont 250th listing.