Anna Marie Murphy

Provincetown – “I guarantee you that we will be out of this marathon tonight,” says Roslyn Garfield dryly. Clad in blazer and slacks, Garfield is the no-nonsense moderator of town meeting in Provincetown, and her words come in the opening minutes of Night Six, on Tuesday, April 13. In this isolated community of 4,000 residents […]

Harwich -Under a lowering sky, voters make their way toward the gym at sprawling Harwich High School for the second (and final) evening of town meeting, on Tuesday, May 4. The night before, they had put 52 articles to bed and still gotten home in time to catch the 11 o’clock news. They had approved […]

When he was 22 years old, John D. Walsh Jr., a genial collector of insurance premiums, was elected town moderator in Pembroke. Since then, at every town meeting for the past 48 years, Mr. Walsh has served as moderator, host, and master of ceremonies. His tenure is unparalleled among members of the Massachusetts Moderators Association, […]