I come from an area of proud tradition
filled with people as tough and as strong
as the seasons that rule it—
Farmers who toiled the rock strewn fields
turning soil to grow their food
learning to make do; to build stone walls
with the rocks they turned each spring.
We forged the rivers, sending lumber
from the northlands to the mills
and factories in the south.
We built bridges.
We built the first navigable canal.
We stood our ground against tyrants and kings.
The "shot heard round the world?"
That was us!
We know that democracy is right,
that oligarchy can never be our course.
We gave birth to founding fathers
and Presidents: John Hancock,
John Adams, John Quincy Adams
Calvin Coolidge, Franklin Pierce,
and John F. Kennedy were born here.
Our heroes did not wear capes.
They stood their ground against tyranny.
Ethan Allen, Deborah Sampson, Paul Revere,
just some of the names from our past.
Ordinary people placed in extraordinary circumstances
carving their place in our country’s proud history.
People like Joshua Chamberlain of Maine
who, at 34, despite the odds,
led his troops to victory in the battle
of Little Round Top at Gettysburg.
When the going gets tough, the tough get going.
Today I've chosen remind you of just who we are—
We are a tough and obstinate lot, we New Englanders.
We are not afraid to ruffle feathers and go against the grain.
We don’t hold to lies nor cruelty; we grew up around cows
and can smell the bullshit long before we see the bull.
Our countenance is as tough as the hills, the valleys
and the rocky shorelines that we come from.
Our humor is as dry as our August summers.
We stay here not because of the frozen winters
the muddy Springs, the heat of our summers,
nor even the brief reprieve of autumn.
We stay because we are as a surly lot
as surely a part of this place
as it is a part of us...
and we are family, and like family
we may argue amongst ourselves
but, God forbid, you go after any one of us,
then you face the wrath of all!
Never forget who you are
Never forget the ones who forged the path you walk.
© Ginny Brannan 2025
Image: Early view of Bellows Falls, VT borrowed from Bellows Falls Historical Society page.
