Lawyer, Wife and Two Kids Make the Move!

My wife Jessica and I decided back in the summer of '07 that the politics being translated into social policy experimentation in Vermont had gone too far.  We'd been looking at the FSP for over a year and made the choice;  Our decision?  Give up our 15 years of legal career in Rutland County, Vermont, and help stage a rear guard action in the only state in New England that seemed to be resisting the call to economic socialism and a slowly shrinking sphere of personal liberty.

It's not easy giving up your past and starting new careers from scratch.  Terrifying, in fact.  But we realized that it was better to start with nothing and raise our kids in a place that honored their individuality and didn't constantly use their school days to instill the primacy of "the collective".

Has it worked?  We're sure a lot happier.  Unlike Vermont, New Hampshire isn't a lost cause yet.  We've already organized a monthly get together here in Lebanon where we constantly meet an ever growing number of people who've moved here with the intention of supporting individual liberty.  Those meetings are directed not so much at giving the participants an agenda but rather at discovering what they'd like to be doing and finding other people who can help them.  Instead of sitting home complaining about how bad things are, we discover new ways we can help each other to make it better.

We chose not to move to the major population centers down in Manchester and Concord because Lebanon is directly across from White River, Vermont.  The comparisons I get to make on a daily basis are astounding and can be distilled to this;  In White River, the most common sign on a business is "CLOSED" or "FOR SALE".  Here in Lebanon it's "HELP WANTED".  The link between politics and employment is glaringly apparent.

The geography of New Hampshire is amazing.  If you want to live in a city, there are plenty.  Suburbs?  Everywhere.  Pristine wilderness?  Enough to get lost in and never be found.  A sea coast, great forests, beautiful mountains, brooks, streams and rivers.  Something to appeal to everyone.  We chose to live in a modest suburb within 3 minutes of a huge commerce center.  We're 10 minutes from a world class hospital (Dartmouth-Hitchcock) and about a 10 minute ride from an ivy league educational institute (Dartmouth College).  And yet, if I hike less than 10 minutes up the hill behind my house I can get lost in woods that stretch for miles.

If you've finally had enough of the collectivists who know with precise detail how to manage every aspect of your family's life, it's time to take up the challenge and join us here in New Hampshire.  We decided it isn't enough to talk about liberty, we wanted to promote it by being a part of it.

Kevin Ellicott

Jessica Ellicott

& a 5 yr old and 10 yr old