NORWICH — Voters rejected a $3,500 appropriation for the Norwich Lions Club for fireworks for the Norwich Fair at the polls on Tuesday, possibly ending a long-standing summer tradition.

“I’m really pleased at the outcome,” Irv Thomae, who’s been a Norwich resident for about 50 years, said in a phone interview. “I’ve been opposing the fireworks for several years but this time carried the day.”

Residents voted 532 to 411 against appropriating the funds for the annual August fireworks show.

At the informational meeting on Monday and on the town’s Listserv, fireworks opponents cited the negative effects they can often have on pets, the environment and residents who have post traumatic stress disorder that is triggered by loud noises. 

At peak fireworks season, often New Years Eve or the Fourth of July, the smoke from fireworks can be comparable to that from wildfires, a 2021 study published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health found.

“Fundamentally, it’s an old tradition, making noise to celebrate things,” Thomae said. “It’s juvenile and it harms people and we should really take that seriously.”

A Norwich Lions member for over 60 years, Phil Wheeler said he remembers fireworks being a fixture of the four-day fair since the 1990s.

“The first time we did fireworks there was a farmer very concerned about his cows so we hired a vet to babysit the cows,” said Donna Wheeler, Phil’s wife in a phone interview.

The Lions do not benefit financially from the fireworks, in  fact they spend  thousands of dollars of club funds on the event, Phil Wheeler said.

Without the money from the town, the Lions Club does not expect to put on the fireworks display.

“I think the losers are going to be the townspeople who enjoyed the fireworks,” Phil Wheeler said.

In the past, the club has looked into laser or drone shows, common alternatives to fireworks, but they’re “far outside of any budget the club would be able to raise,” said Peter Stanzel, former chairman of the fair committee. 

Norwich voters also rejected a measure Tuesday that would have allowed Vermont residents who are not Norwich residents to be elected or appointed to some town offices.

In an overwhelming, 765-184 vote, Norwich residents shot down article 11.

“There was a strong feeling that local decisions need to be made by local people,” Thomae said.

Selectboard member Mary Layton voted in favor of putting the article on the Town Meeting Warning but is “glad it went down so hard,” because it means “the voice of the people is extremely definitive.”

All other articles passed, including a general fund budget of $6.7 million and a school operating budget of $8.27 million.

Voters also supported using $291,000 in surplus funds for Tracy Hall improvements; $200,000 in surplus for the DPW bridge fund #41 and $100,000 for an Emerald Ash Borer Response Fund.

They also approved a $377,000 appropriation for the library.

In uncontested races, they elected Kimo Griggs to a three-year term on the Selectboard and Matthew Swett to a two-year term.

On the school side, Gina des Cognets was unopposed for a three-year term on the School Board.

Emma Roth-Wells can be reached at erothwells@vnews.com or 603-727-3242.