The Seventh Annual Acton Children’s Business Fair: more than one hundred and twenty five new businesses; nearly two hundred young entrepreneurs between ages six and fourteen; over sixteen hundred eager customers.

Observing adults in America can leave you with a cynical bent.  But even the hardest of hearts would have melted today in the face of the creativity, energy and enthusiasm of our young entrepreneurs.

Alexis de Tocqueville wrote movingly of civil society in America, those voluntary gatherings of free citizens intent on bettering the community.  Score one today for the power of civil society and hope for the future.