Dear Editor,
I’m Rika Henderson, and I’m running for a two-year seat on the Weathersfield Selectboard.
I moved to Weathersfield nine years ago. I love this community, and I quickly got involved, serving on the boards of the Proctor Library, the Historical Society, and the Weathersfield Land Preservation Association. I help organize various fundraising events in town, work at the polls during elections, and prepare the free lunch at Town Meeting. I also host a section of the VAST snowmobile trail, leave my property unposted for hunters and hikers, and raise vegetables at the Upper Valley Trust’s Food Shelf Garden.
I’m running for selectboard because I want Weathersfield to remain a strong and viable community for the next generations of young families, with affordable housing, good schools, energy- and food-resilience, and strong participatory government. In these times of change, we need informed, forward-thinking leadership to create responsible long-term solutions that protect our natural environment and preserve our heritage.
To do that, an effective selectboard needs to represent a variety of voices and points of view, and be receptive and responsive to – and respectful of – the community it represents. It needs to collaborate with town employees and the many generous volunteers who make the town run, and draw on the wealth of experience, knowledge, and expertise here, and our long history of community participation.
Why vote for me? I want to bring out the best of Weathersfield, now and for the future. I bring more than 35 years of community service and community building in civic engagement, conservation, arts and culture, and holistic education, and anyone who’s worked with me will tell you I’m honest, enthusiastic, generous, responsible, non-judgmental, and a creative problem-solver. On top of that, I don’t have any personal agenda that might conflict with the responsibilities of being a selectboard member.
Please come out and make your voice heard on Tuesday, March 5, and vote for me, Rika Henderson, for selectboard.
Paid for by Rika Henderson
Weathersfield, Vt.