From Mendy regarding the November 10, 2025 Town Meeting:
Speaking up matters. Building community matters. Showing up matters. Congratulations Medway!
Tonight at Town Meeting, the petitioner of the article to change Indigenous People’s Day back to Columbus Day withdrew her petition, praising Columbus but stating that she believed we could not have a civil debate so the petitioners no longer wanted to vote on their article.
What followed was a complicated and confusing discussion about whether to vote on passing over the article and what that meant exactly. In the end, after a recount, the majority of voters chose to pass over the article and not vote on it.
This is a win!
There was no indication in the meeting that the debate would not be civil. There was not even a long line of people waiting to speak at the mic. It appeared to those of us present that the organized effort against this article, as well as the larger than usual crowd that showed up to vote, proved that the popular opinion in Medway is that Indigenous People’s Day should remain. Those in favor of going backwards and reinstating Columbus Day did not want to vote because they knew they would lose.
We won tonight by working together. We will win next time by working together!
Historical Perspective
The people of Medway switched to Indigenous People’s Day in 2023 with an overwhelming 144 to 88 vote at Town Meeting. Since then, our annual Indigenous People’s Day celebration has grown tremendously; and there has been little public pushback to the name change.