The People of Pawling seeks to create brief snapshots of people's experience as of 2025.  These snapshots will serve as a means of understanding this moment for listeners in the future, and to create some commonality amongst the people who live in Pawling in the Present.

Participation was purely volunteer, the same questions were asked of all of those who chose to share their experience, and focus was put on their voice, and not the voice of the individual asking the questions.  Finally, an effort was made to make as few edits to the audio as possible.

From these 11 conversations held over several months it was obvious that individuals love their community, and from this love comes some concerns.  There were three themes that bubbled to the top:

• Pawling is a place that gives so much, but asks its community members to give their time to make that possible.
• Pawling is surrounded by natural beauty, and how do you balance that while allowing for change
• Pawling has an amazing sense of community.  If this sense is because of its size, how does Pawling maintain its identity?

The project would not have been possible without financial support from the Pawling Community Project, and the generosity and enthusiasm of Laurie Spens of Laurie Spens Photography.

The People of Pawling is an ongoing project and your memories matter!  To participate, please email Chris Fisher at director@pawlinglibrary.org, or call the Pawling Library at (845) 855-3444.