On December 1, family, friends, and neighbors gathered to dedicate our Town Pavilion to Mike Chapel. First Selectman Allan Cahill read the following tribute, written by Selectmen Bob Grindle, both of whom served with Mike on the Board of Selectmen for several years.

Mike Chapel was that rarest of souls, a man who was completely comfortable in his own skin. His all-embracing diplomatic ability to listen to everyone conveyed a generosity of spirit and tolerance for diversity of opinion that made him a touchstone for the small town values of decency and a communal helping hand that we all sometimes feel is slipping away. Few people loved Hampton more than Mike Chapel. He was a hard worker, a volunteer ‘par excellence,’ community ambassador, consensus builder, landscape designer, a businessman, a husband, a father and a community leader in every sense of the word.

In years past, the porch of the old Hampton General Store was a sort of local precursor to the world-wide-web…a forum where opinions and ideas and stories flowed without worry, and neighbors could disagree one moment and be up on your roof helping to shovel off a heavy load of snow the next. Mike Chapel spent many hours sharpening his skills at that old country store parliament and years later his old green GMC pickup became a sort of traveling porch that would bring that same comfortable lack of pretense—Mike was so easy to be around—right to your door.

Mike Chapel’s thoughtful, considerate, charming and often irreverent style were the perfect setting for his boundless appetite for and knowledge of politics, economics, philosophy, history, the natural world and, of course storytelling…to say nothing of the predator-evasive flight patterns of butterflies and how they evolved. Mary Oliver, who grew up around the corner from Mike at Clark’s Corner on the western edge of Hampton, began her tribute to Mike Chapel in the Hampton Gazette’s 2018 Citizen of the Year issue, with the words: “He is everywhere, still.”

Certainly, that is a fair assessment. As we dedicate this Pavilion to Michael Thomas Chapel, it is worth noting that the idea for it was Mike’s as were the butterfly gardens at the library, the decorative walkways around the Town Hall, and it was his constant efforts that helped shepherd the arrival of the Mennonite community into Hampton. Mike is still with us, that is a comforting thought. We miss him still.

Robert Grindle