Town Caucus opened last night with a gavel rapping on a wooden lectern and ended with the Owl nominated for an extremely powerful position on town government. Read on, brave warriors, because Caucus NEVER disappoints, though this time I will say it was not in the way I expected.

Katty Chace again led the proceedings as Queen of Town Caucus. Actually, I am not sure what the actual term is but it’s something like that. Emily Hutcheson was Secretary, and we more or less followed an agenda of offices for nomination–except when it got to School Committee…but you’ll have to wait for that.

First up turned out to be the nomination for Select Board in spite of the agenda saying “Selectman.” The Owl nominated Laurie Bent for re-election.

For Moderator, Mary Shaw nominated Rip Hastings for re-election.

For Planning Board, Alicia Primer nominated Shawn Lanier.

For Board of Assessors, John Hennessey nominated Paul Zorfass for re-election.

For Recreation Commission, Maija Cirulis-Gooch (go Blue!) nominated two candidates: Trevor McDonald for re-election and Drew D’Amaro (first time candidate).

For the Board of Library Trustees, Susan Scott nominated Heidi Hardin and Joe Mullin nominated Shaheen Parks, both first-time candidates for the two 3-year positions. Shaheen Parks nominated Emily Hutcheson to fill a one-year vacancy on the board.

At this point, two thoughts have occurred to the Owl–1. The Hutchesons are pretty awesome. They are my next “targets” for Weston Voices. Founts of historical information, never a bad day, all unsung mega-volunteers of this town. Also 2. What happened to School Committee? Oh wait, here comes the surprise of the night.

For School Committee, Danielle Black nominated Anita Ramen for re-election. No, that was not a surprise. The surprise came when there was not a nomination for the second open position on SC. Crickets. Very long pause as we all looked around the room to figure out if we could nominate the person next to us. The person next to me was a Select Board member who forgot to greet me the whole night. I shall have to investigate that freeze-out. Anyway, that is the only position for which there was not a single Caucus nominee. I have thoughts on why that is but I shall not share them here. Invite me out to Heirloom. Back to it:

For the Board of Health, Jennifer Kickham nominated Laura Azzam for re-election.

For Commissioner of Trust Funds, Laurie Bent nominated Andrew Van Ogtrop for re-election.

For Measurer of Lumber, the most powerful elected position in Weston, Laurie Bent nominated Dave Hutcheson (see!! There they are again, those Hutchesons), Katherine Smith nominated Michael Cooper, and Alicia Primer, who must secretly enjoy tormenting me, nominated Kristin Barbieri, aka the Owl. I shall try not to let the power go to my head though my first act will be stopping harvesting of wood in Conservation forests. Oh wait, I forgot, this role is figurehead only. Wait for the Owl on that one.

The evening ended with John Fiske asking for a moment at the microphone, which he used to express his happiness at us being back in person at Town Hall, and how lucky we all are to be there. I could not be more in agreement with those sentiments.

Caucus dissolved.

For those interested in the open position on School Committee or to get on the ballot for any position, candidates may take out nomination papers, available from the Town Clerk’s Office. Signatures of at least 50 registered Weston voters must be obtained, and the nomination papers must be filed in the Town Clerk’s Office by March 21 as outlined in the election schedule.