SHUTESBURY, Mass. (AP) – Something smelled foul to Bernard Pareis at Saturday’s annual town meeting, but it wasn’t the hint of cologne or perfume wafting through the Shutesbury Elementary School gym.
The fact that residents were asked to come fragrance free was what put the 77-year-old’s nose out of shape.
“I think it’s out of hand,” said Pareis, his splash of aftershave since dissipated. “Some of the crazy stuff they come up with nowadays is baloney.”
But those who say they suffer from a condition known as multiple chemical sensitivity syndrome said the town’s decision to separate the scented from the odorless let them breathe easy.
“I’ve had to leave town meeting in the past because there’s been someone wearing perfume,” said Julie Taylor, 49, who says she breaks out in rashes, has problems breathing and gets a fever when she’s exposed to heavy scents. “I’m glad the town is doing this.”
Town meetings in Shutesbury are as old as the community’s 268-year-old history. It’s the time for residents to gather, debate and vote for their leaders, bylaws and budgets.
But this year, the town of 1,800 people that borders Amherst had the sense of smell to contend with. The town’s Americans with Disabilities Act Committee identified 10 residents with MCSS. Scientists don’t know the cause of the condition and some question whether it even really exists, according to the National Institute of Environmental Health Science.
At the board’s suggestion, town officials decided to create a scentless seating area at town meeting and one for those who wear fragrances.
That still isn’t good enough for some.
Ziporah Hildebrandt, chairwoman of the ADA Committee, said she couldn’t risk coming in contact with a chemical scent. Instead, she joined the meeting from home via speakerphone that was set up in the school gym.
“I haven’t been able to go into the school building for 10 years,” she said.
By the time 200 people showed up Saturday morning, the 17 benches marked for those who “forgot that the meeting is fragrance free” were filled, and other perfumed residents stood in the back of the gym.
A few feet from the forgetful, a handful of people sat on the three benches labeled as a fragrance-free zone.
Some sitting there didn’t realize where they were, and moved after being told the area was reserved for the scentless.
Perhaps smarting from the jokes made about the segregated seating – the only such arrangement state officials know of at a town meeting – some residents shied away from discussing the issue.
“If anyone starts talking about it here, I’m going to get up and leave,” said Ted Alcaide.
Even meeting moderator Michael Bloomfield, noting reporters milling about the gym, asked the media to refrain from “over-sensationalizing” the matter.
For most at the town meeting, discussing a bylaw governing motor boats in Shutesbury’s Lake Wyola was far more pressing than talk about who smelled like what. The fragrance-free issue, many said, isn’t that different from having a smoking and non-smoking section in a restaurant.
“I can appreciate people avoiding scents, just like people want to avoid smoke,” said Julie Wells. “I’m not offended by being placed in a special section as long as we’re not put in the back.”
The source of her scent on Saturday: Deodorant and hairspray.
“Some things you just don’t go without,” she said.
AP-ES-05-03-03 1348EDT
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