Effingham Town Column: Public hearing on budget set for Feb. 3

Municipal news: The budget committee has done most of its work and will be hosting its public hearing on the budget Feb. 3 at 7 p.m. This is your opportunity to get up to speed on the proposed costs of running our town. Attendance at this meeting will mean you have had your best chance to come to town meeting in March prepared and knowledgeable. It is also your chance to speak toward any changes you would suggest prior to the budget being 'Officially' presented. It should again be stated that the B.C. did a good and thoughtful job reviewing all the proposed revenues. With at least two new members the discussions the board had over issues was of even more importance. As stated in the past it has been a pleasure to watch this board do its work. Whether you agree or not with the amounts agreed upon for the various budget lines you can rest assured that each line was looked at closely and that many of the lines received close scrutiny prior to voting. There is no "rubber stamping" in this budget.

The social scene: Last week's evening with Arthur Surrette, sponsor by the historical society was both enjoyable and well attended. Over the years there has been some thought into figuring out what constitutes a crowd in Effingham. The term crowd is actually a bit amorphous, being in some locations figured in the thousands and in other locations being any group consisting of more than six people or less. Effingham seems comfortable closer to the six figure than the thousands one. Maybe the term crowd is in the eyes of the beholder. It can be factually stated that a digital count of attendees At Mr. S's evening would require the use of the digits of both hands and most of your second foot. There was an empty chair or two but the room seemed crowded to your reporter. So here's the headline, "Surrette wows crowd at Historical Society."