Some of my Happy Valley neighbors were debating whether or not to organize a potluck New Year’s Day party in a town-owned building. They then got into an argument about whether this is even legal. Finally someone found a 2014 law: “An Act Relative to Potluck Events”. Thus it seems that our legislators have defined the term “potluck” for us.
I had prepared to send a message to the list “I found a 25 lb. bag of gluten and also 10 lbs. of peanuts and 5 lbs. of walnuts. I can make a gluten-nut pie for the event.” Fortunately, before I could send the email, the neighbors decided that their legal skills weren’t sufficient to interpret the potluck law and therefore the idea was abandoned.
Hope this helps if you’re organizing a holiday event…
Heh, good one. Took me a minute.
It is very thoughtful of your neighbors to check whether that is legal, but, given the non-deplorable nature of your neighborhood, don’t they think that if it is not legal, then it is not necessarily illegal – it can just be undocumented?
“…the neighbors decided that their legal skills weren’t sufficient to interpret the potluck law and therefore the idea was abandoned.”
It’s not hard to interpret.
Anonymous: Your observation is kind of brilliant. The state laws regarding potluck events in a town-owned building must be studied carefully and adhered to scrupulously. Federal laws regarding immigration, on the other hand, can and should be ignored!
(Many of the same folks who dithered and then gave up on the potluck idea were active in the “make Happy Valley a Sanctuary Town” movement! (the idea is to provide sanctuary for any undocumented soul who can afford $500,000+ for a two-acre lot (the zoning minimum) and then another $1 million for construction costs))
“Federal laws regarding immigration, on the other hand, can and should be ignored!”
Exactly which Federal law would they be ignoring by setting up a Sanctuary Town?
“the idea is to provide sanctuary for any undocumented soul who can afford $500,000+ for a two-acre lot (the zoning minimum) and then another $1 million for construction costs)”
This is quite unlike any other “Sanctuary Town” proposal I have heard. It is so unusual that I am having trouble believing the quote correctly describes what was proposed.