Woodstock Early Bird The Early Bird Gets the Worm: earlybirdtips@gmail.com

6:53 am. Jack hammers have started in the Village.  Don’t we have noise ordinances in the Village? Oh. We do. They’re quite lax and subject to the whims of town-sanctioned activities.

I wasn’t going to mention the zoo-like atmosphere created by the noise of the jack hammer work on the small bridge over Kedron Brook across from the Post Office. Obviously there is work that needs to be done on either the sidewalk or the bridge and to get the fix the rare jack hammer noise might be tolerated for a day or two. But, it brings up a point that needs to be made.

We are being overwhelmed by the noise of  JACK HAMMERS, weed whackers, huge lawn mowers, power tools and trucks.

Yes, Woodstock Early Bird is sensitive. But, when I went into a former sanctuary from noise, the Norman Williams Public Library,  for some peace and quiet, I was greeted by an hour’s worth of loud gossip and guffawing —  not from readers, not from kids —  but from the library workers themselves. I  was told to go to the woods if I wanted peace and quiet.  I went to the woods on Mt. Tom and heard the sound of chain saws.

Yes, we are beautifully groomed community and that takes quite a bit of equipment.  In fact, this summer  the Village Green and the flowers in hanging baskets look specially lovely. But, isn’t it time we considered a look at our noise ordinances so  that at certain times, maybe even on certain days, we could be a place that is, to coin the old Club Med phrase, an antidote to civilization? 

We lose our core value as a pristine relaxing rural destination escape  if we sound no different from where I used to go to school at Dartmouth and Commonwealth in Boston or where I used to  live at 72nd and Columbus in New York City.   There, you had to close the windows to think. The jack hammers are underway for the day. I’m closing mine.