First Selectman Lauren Gister is making it easier to talk with her by offering residents times to meet with her outside the confines of the Town Hall walls.

“I want people to know that they can talk to me about their concerns, questions, ideas for things that are good for Chester, anything,” said Gister. “I want them to know that they don’t have to make an appointment and set up a meeting, or take time out of their day to talk with me, they can be getting their morning coffee, having lunch, meeting after work, basically they can talk when it’s a good time for them.”

Gister said her goal with this new approach of communicating with the town’s residents is that she will have the opportunity to talk with people with whom she may not otherwise get to talk.

“This came to me while I was knocking on doors campaigning and I realized that although I have lived in town for 20 years, there are still so many people I don’t know,” she said. “You can’t know everyone, but as the first selectman I feel that I can make myself accessible so that everyone can know me.”

To help raise awareness of the initiative, Gister is holding a contest to name this tradition; the person who wins the contest will get a free breakfast or lunch at The Villager.

“I really want this to be very organic,” said Gister. “This will become a weekly or biweekly occurrence, at different times of day and at various venues over the next few months. I am feeling it out right now, seeing how it goes and how it develops.”

For the first several gatherings, Gister said she would like to meet in the village somewhere to bring added focus to the area and get more people to frequent the businesses and see how things are progressing in that area, as the bridge construction work continues. In the future, she hopes to branch out to other areas of town such Chester Village west and more. Times, dates, and locations when she will be available will be listed in the weekly town newsletter, as well as online and on the town of Chester’s facebook page.

“I hope to see a lot of people and that this whole experience will make people feel more comfortable speaking to me,” said Gister. “Right now we are just starting this new tradition. I am not limiting myself to anything; we are testing the waters, playing it by ear and seeing how it works out. I hope I get a lot of interest.”