Leaders, grandmothers, friends: Meet the female trio running Epsom’s select board
Published: 01-29-2025 4:27 PM |
Epsom’s three select board members – Cheryl Gilpatrick, Virginia Drew and Meadow Wysocki – chatted in the refurbished basement of the town’s Old Meetinghouse, a building the town came together to restore.
The women, who have served together on the select board for the past three years, expressed pride at the joint effort to move town offices to the Old Meetinghouse site. They hope to see the main floor of the historic building, built in 1861 as a church, become a hub for community gatherings in the near future as the restoration process continues.
“Where we’re sitting two years ago was a rock and dirt floor,” Drew said. “This was one of our accomplishments.”
With the town election coming up in March and Wysocki deciding not to run for re-election, the three women – who still bear the title of selectmen – recognize the unique dynamic they have as a team of colleagues and friends.
“There’s seldom a meeting that we have – I’m gonna get teary – that we don’t have some sort of laughter in this room. Something is always happening where we just find light in it,” Gilpatrick said.
Their ties to Epsom run deep, with each having lived in town raising their families for several decades. They’re also all grandmothers – and, in the case of Drew, a great-grandmother.
“It’s the town grammies,” Drew joked.
Conscious of the rarity of an entirely female body of leaders, they changed their name to the “select board,” rather than going by “board of selectmen.” Their titles, however, remain “selectmen.”
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“It is a legal term,” Drew explained. “So when we run for office, we’re running for selectmen.”
The term doesn’t bother them. However, the women took a moment to point out that town hall is also entirely female-run by five team members working in the Epsom administration: – town clerk/tax collector Margot Keyes, deputy town clerk/tax collector Michele Bell, finance administrator Deb Sullivan, administrative assistant to the select board Rachel Cilley, and assessing office assistant Megan Rheaume.
Each member of the Select Board has her own responsibilities and area of expertise.
For Gilpatrick, who grew up in Epsom, her purview is the planning board, the parks commission, the highway department, and anything that has to do with assessing. Drew, an active member of the town government since the 1990s, takes the lead as the liaison to the police department, the zoning board, the heritage commission, the Old Meetinghouse revitalization committee, and any other areas that tap into her passion for local history. Wysocki, who has a background in finance, oversees matters relating to the fire department, emergency management, welfare and health.
“It’s interesting, because we’re all three very different people, and we each bring different knowledge to the board, but we all recognize we all have a common goal, and that’s serving the residents of Epsom,” said Gilpatrick, chair of the board. “Where one of us falls short, we each fill in those gaps.”
The three women pride themselves on their involvement in the town’s operations. They share information in between their biweekly select board meetings and do their best to have a presence at all town committee meetings and events.
“From hell or high water, the three of us, if we’re not at something, it’s because we absolutely physically can’t be there,” Drew said.
While they don’t always agree on everything, the trio knows they can always rely on each other to prioritize the town’s best interests and challenge each other to think outside the box.
“The second we walk out of this meeting, we’re all friends,” Wysocki said. “We decided that ahead of time, right before we even went into doing this, that whatever happens in here, we don’t take our grievances outside the board.”
In addition to moving town offices to the Old Meetinghouse complex in 2023 – meaning the town no longer rents space for its offices at a strip mall on Route 28 – Gilpatrick, Wysocki, and Drew also worked to upgrade the town’s computer systems, helped streamline election processes and strengthen communication between the town and its residents. With the new town office space, the welfare officer and a local nonprofit food pantry now operate under one roof, making it easier for residents to access resources, the three selectmen added.
“We’re all constantly busy,” Gilpatrick said. “We all make everything work and find time for each other, because every once in a while we’ll have a barbecue or a bonfire.”
Wysocki, now retired, volunteers at Concord Hospital in the NICU and also spends time as an end-of-life companion. Drew serves as the director of the State House Visitor Center, and Gilpatrick works in the Department of Transportation’s Division of Policy and Administration.
Both as colleagues and as friends, the three women remain ready to support each other. Wysocki even knit Gilpatrick and Drew blankets that they keep in their meeting room. They know each other’s favorite colors, the names of each other’s dogs, and how each person enjoys spending time.
They also all love living in Epsom, thanks to the town’s rural character and natural beauty, combined with the engaged community spirit of its residents and historical roots.
“I had a fox in my yard this morning,” Wysocki said. “I have moose and deer and turkeys and everything. I’m really out there in the country, and yet so close to all the things that I could need. And I love that about this town and the people.”
With budget season underway, the three leaders continue to prioritize the well-being of Epsom and its people.
“We work really hard, and it’s really difficult, because we want the best for our town, but we also want to make it so it’s affordable, so we treat it like it’s our own family,” Drew said. “I want my family to have the things they need to continue to grow, but I also can only live with what my means are.”
Gilpatrick, Wysocki, and Drew hope to see more residents get involved with town affairs, especially with the tricentennial celebration coming up in 2027. Recently, the Heritage Commission conducted a community vision survey to assist in planning for the monumental anniversary.
“I don’t mean you have to be on a committee or on a commission, though that would be wonderful, but go to meetings to understand what’s going on in the community, and just to see more,” Wysocki said. “We have our Select Board meetings, and we cover a lot of really important information here that affects everyone in town. We do put out minutes, but it would be so nice to have the community participate, so that we could get real-time feedback on the decisions that we’re making.”
With Wysocki stepping down, someone new will join the board. The deadline to file for candidacy is Friday, Jan. 31.
With some families new to town and others who have lived here for generations, the selectmen strive to make everyone feel like they belong to the Epsom community. Wysocki, Gilpatrick, and Drew also look to Old Home Weekend each summer as a chance for the town to come together.
“We want them to all know that we value everybody’s opinion, whether they’ve lived here for a month, or every family member they’ve ever had has lived here,” Drew said. “We’d like to hear from you. It’s your community. We’ve worked hard to build community.”
Rachel Wachman can be reached at rwachman@cmonitor.com.