Are you loud? A fan of Middle English and formal decrees? Owner of a very vintage wardrobe?
If the answer to any of those questions was yes, the City of Easton would like a word.
For roughly two years, the centuries-old seat of Northampton County has been looking for a new town crier to replace the previous one, who moved away. And in that time there have been no takers. Not a one.
(Quick, someone blame millennials.)
Mayor Salvatore Panto Jr. says there haven’t been any applications either, but he isn’t letting go.
Panto admits the position is a nice-to-have and not a need-to-have in the digital age. But he thinks it’s fun, and as a former history teacher he feels it’s a nice little nod to the city’s colonial-era bonafides.
“Easton was one of three cities chosen for public readings of the Declaration of Independence,” Panto told PA Local. “It’s also home to the oldest continuously operating outdoor farmers market in the country,” which predates the Revolutionary War.
The town crier commemorates both, working at the annual Heritage Day festival and the opening of the market each year.
There’s more: According to the official job application, the town crier is also expected at the Christmas Peace Candle lighting, major mayoral announcements, “and some of the other 120 events held annually.”
All appearances are subject to MOOSE, or Mayor’s Office of Special Events, approval.
Before you apply, know that the position is unpaid. It’s also bring-your-own-costume.
Panto says the town is open to discussing a wardrobe reimbursement but added: “We haven’t discussed it with an applicant yet because we haven’t had an applicant.”
He’s hopeful that’s about to change.
“Believe it or not we just had a phone call yesterday with a person who may or may not be interested,” he said on Thursday. “They wanted more information, but that’s the only call we’ve had.”
Part of the problem, Panto theorizes, is the time commitment. But he acknowledges the shadow of Easton’s former (and also first) town crier, David Rose, still looms large: “David left very big shoes to fill.”
It was Rose who pitched the idea to Panto before becoming the mayor’s inaugural appointee. He held the post for eight years — while commuting to his real job as a program development specialist with the New Jersey Department of Corrections — and represented Easton in international town crier competitions.
Now retired from his 9-to-5, Rose lives in Maryland and serves as president of the American Guild of Town Criers, which his successor in Easton is encouraged to join, per city officials.
The Guild — which functions like other craftsmen's guilds, setting standards and exerting some control over industry competition — is down to less than 20 rank-and-file members, a sizable share of them in New Jersey. (Britain’s equivalent, the Ancient and Honorable Guild of Town Criers, has closer to 150 members.)
The American Guild’s website celebrating an ancient craft that predates mass media by eons is currently out of service. “I’m not quite sure what happened,” Rose notes of the technological snafu. He remained remarkably soft-spoken throughout our 30-minute phone call.
Rose says a good town crier is affable, community-minded, and historically literate. They should also be comfortable writing proclamations and shouting them. Voice projection is key. Raw volume isn’t.
Rose says he kept his voice limber by singing in his car on the way to work at top volume.
I ask about the period clothing.
“There’s a number of companies that make costumes for the reenactment community. You can just google it,” he explained. “Historical Emporium has menswear.”
Rose makes a brief conversational detour to note that women often make exceptional town criers: “They sometimes have the best voices for projecting. We have a few women members [in the Guild].”
Rose, who is now the town crier for a local historic preservation group in Maryland — active appointments are required for Guild membership — says some criers are paid when hired out by local businesses. But he’s only aware of one crier with anything resembling formal, gainful employment: A chamber of commerce hire in New England.
In Easton, the search for an eager volunteer will continue. The job listing and application, which asks interested parties to draft a 100-200 word proclamation on the spot, will stay up.
Rose isn’t necessarily surprised that it’s been slow-going. Volunteerism is down just about everywhere. The craft is also increasingly esoteric. But he’d love to see the opening filled.
So would Panto, and the mayor hopes that maybe someone reading this will step forward. Here’s to getting the word out.
—Colin Deppen, PA Local editor | 
