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This is my diary on the event and will not be nearly as informative as SemDem's, but why this meetup was a big deal and what a success it was. We are all still downloading pics and videos but many have wanted to hear about it and each of one of us have a story to tell. After you read this diary, I hope you are inspired to do something to have meetups and boots on the ground.
I could get a book deal about how we overcame things that was just unimaginable for one of the greatest meetups ever.. This is the story about the organizers.
Sem Dem will give you the infor regarding congressional candidates and behind the scenes on contacts and the Q and A part, hopefully along with the House Races and districts.. Me? I am going to tell you the buildup and the absolute greatness of this fantastic day. ( which by the way, I was not sure we were gonna pull off).
Why you may ask, did you think we were not going to pull it off? Well, Florida is a huge
state and the people who are not millionaires are limping and scraping by. I mean to say, even though we have microwaves and pretty nice homes ( ours came with a handicap accessible pool when we rented it after our home was lost in the crash of 08 ) doesn't mean we are rolling in the dough...None of us. We on fixed incomes are helping kids and grandkids with no insurance and medical help, some without homes periodically, and paying for college, paying for food, sometimes for 2 or three of our adult children and their kids...Most of them cannot find work and folks like us are on fixed incomes.. Throw in any emergency situation like death and health issues and we are one check away from the streets. We faced all of that right up to the day of the meetup... That is the difference between progressives and conservatives. They want everyone to suffer if they are suffering or not. They just say no..Forget that... Well not us !
Navajo had written a diary several weeks ago after Netroots Nation and Daily Kos and I realized we did not have a meetup to talk about in the Tea Party state for 2014 run by the most corrupt governor and his helpers from Tea Party Nation. I had been talking to Dave Koller for some time regarding his run against Rich Nugent, who I mistakenly called Ted yesterday, but Ted did endorse him. So Nugent for Nugent says a lot !
We picked a date of August 9 for the meetup and with only a few weeks notice. Those
weeks prior to the meetup almost defies Murphy's Law. Most of you know the obstacles from the other diaries. But we had to Not stop thinking about Tomorrow
Gordon hit town Friday before the meetup after getting blood work done at his VA with a bad diagnosis on a biopsy but still determined to come down...and cater food. He is a very phenomial Kossack and a vet who we call " Disappearing Gordon".. He flies in like an angel on a mission, interacts and the next thing you know, he disappears on his way to another meetup or adventure and you say, " Where's Gordon"? He always tells someone he has to run but some of us don't get the news till we start noticing one of our dear contributors and organizer is MIA. Gordon met all, heard many and then was off due to having to get back to the VA over his biopsy starting to cause problems.
Gordon and I picked up Sierra at school on Friday and that was a treat for her as she did not recognize the car which was leaving the child looking for her ride but was talking Lola ( Love our Land Awareness ) to Gordon all the way home.
Lynn known as byardl and I had started gathering things to be done and she gets a call from a vet, who they have Baker acted for the umpteenth time and Jack cannot even get a psychiatrist assigned for assessment now going on two years. ( We now have another talking point for the meetup). We have to deal with that when the house cleaner we hired, disappeared after five minutes arriving and we have no idea where for 5 hours later. She never returned by the way... Lynn and I cleaned the house.
The rain was pouring on Friday. The yard man did not show up and Jack tries to do somethings which killed his back pretty much and it dawned on me all but SemDem and me were disabled or had disabled family and that changed for Sem Dem before the meeting was met and done with. I had school start back as I said about us picking Sierra up, on the Wednesday before the meetup which meant a ton of getting supplies, meeting teachers, etc for school.
Friday afternoon we still had not heard from the Crist campaign nor the yard man. Sem Dem calls and tells me his wife was having a blood transfusion. I am now worried about his wife and him trying to do so much on his end with the legislators. I ask him is he sure she wanted him to continue with the meetup and he said, and I will never forget, "
My wife wants this meetup to happen because we need insurance and that was the best place to be.
WOW !!!!!
We have to change things and this is how it starts !!!!
Again.. A big Wow !!!! I want to get all of those other organizers super hero capes.. I had asked the local democratic party to borrow a canopy and they called back and said no we could not borrow a canopy.. Well...!!!! I get over that pretty quick and just get a huge umbrella.
Lynn had one and we went umbrella hunting at her home. We are running from Inverness to Ocala for supplies. Lynn would have something I needed and visa versa. Friday evening finally the lawn man shows and the rain starts again but it is 93 degrees..We still have no chairs or tables but our own Rev Barber named Brother Robert shows up late Friday evening with the chairs and tables.
Oh yeah .. Oh yeah....coming together... I am dog tired.... the house is getting reorganized for blogging and walking room and finally we got the lawn done and Gordon just checked into his motel although was welcome here, and I realize Jack has not slept in two days and having a lot of pain and about to collapse but that would happen regardless of meetup or not.
I finally log on to the puter and read the latest meetup diary, and totally exhausted. Lynn looks down and her feet are swollen twice their size and her blind vet husband is helping where he can. Our son worked for two days straight with his carpet cleaning small business after just being released from the hospital and comes in late on Friday and puts up Tiki Lights and helping...
Friday late arrives. We have cleaned, decorated, rearranged, cut, mowed two lots, threw a slice of pizza down our throats, ( an unbeleivable Italian pizza Gordon ordered ) and we are giving the inside and outside a once over.. All of us... We are checking. Clean towels, handy paper towels, dining room table moved, patio set up except for chairs and tables, all decorations ready to go, We were making posters. Wood was chopped, burn pit dug, proper lighting and no slip rugs thrown down along with wheel chairs available.
At 7 AM Lynn calls and said, Get up. Well Jack had never went to sleep. I crawl out of bed, take a shower and get ready... Michelle ( whatgodmade) is the first to arrive and John her Latino boyfriend jumps in and sets up tables..( another 100 percent disabled vet)...and chairs.. We start putting on table cloths and flowers plus the Lemonade container and we know we have less than two hours to get the food. Gordon is picking that up.. ( whew) ! Well Actually Pastor Robert is even with Michelle on arriving. Jack and he are testing the PA equipment. The rain had gotten in the way of placing the tables the night before. Our son unloaded huge tables and 40 chairs. We had to keep them out of the rain.
Ole Hippe Chic arrives and was shook up because in her area she had encountered a hater of some sort and was shook up as her cart was crashed as she was picking up bottles of water.. CART RAGE. She said it was over race and it upset her.
I need to get the entire story of how she got caught in the middle of an old white man and a black family who were shown racism at it's best but she was shook up. We talked her into calm hopefully and she helped make the homemade fruit salad that was delicious. I am nagging Jack to go shower and get ready as Kossacks are here..some running a little late like us.... As that happens we start putting on music and Michelle's little boy helps me decorate the tables, while the Fruit salad is being made, and Sierra is helping
set up the lemonade stand.. Free lemonade and Love our Land Awareness.
Then suddenly like a miracle, the angels quit crying and no more rain. It was 95 in the shade but we had some fans going and we look around and the place is looking good and Kossacks, congressional and senate contenders show up, Sem Dem is here and we are all meeting and greeting.
Rev. Robert, and his wife and all are helpig greet folks as they are arrivig at the front door and patio door and not a drop of rain. Very high humidity though. Sem Dem is getting the computers up for blogging and skyping. Our big tent looks really good for the Ocala Banner Journal who came to the meetup and we did not even know he was a journalist until late in the evening.. We had an author who wrote " Rick Scott Enemy of the State " running for Congress. Dave Koller running agaist Rich Nugent stayed most of the day and was our keynote speaker. People were anxious to get more involved and thorughly enjoyed the speakers, the eating, the skyping, the letter from Lois Frankel read by Sem Dem to us. The local potential legislators and the people interacting via skype or in person. Kossacks just talking and learning so much. The medical Marijuana folks getting their message out was tremendous. It was fantastic.
We talked of how to change Florida.. Our little activist spoke on Climate Change with her free lemonade stand and won the hearts of the folks running this year and the website she started some time ago is listed on the green lola sign.
We then went swimming and Sem Dem had to leave as he had received a call that his wife had to have another transfusion and we asked if there was anything we could do..
We had out sing along about 7 PM after Jack awoke from a nap and then we held our bonfire. We had a great Meetup and wished all could have been there.. As we swam after the bonfire.... all started gathering things to leave and by 10:00 PM we felt we had met out expectations and with some really great people !!!!!
We kept on, despite obstacles and had a great meetup. Thank you all. There will be more diaries as much was learned regarding this election and what is at stake.
Pics.. Just a few....
Photo heavy...
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Sem Dem introducing us to congressional candidates via Skype
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NOW SINCE THIS MEETUP.. NO LESS THAN THAN 3 CANDIDATES HAVE CONTACTED US ! We have been deemed the Meetup for Florida Grassroots GOTV.... We need folks in the panhandle and across the state to help Dem candidate facing off with R 's
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Kossack PJ
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Vetwife, Sem Dem, byardl
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Top Medical Marijuana Activist speaking
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I have talked to the candidates, Sem Dem has and they are receiving no help from the local DNC's and it looks like it is up to us. We will fundriase for these people and we will do our best to get them in. Let me go click my braclets and see if I can find the rest of my rent money and figure out which areas we need to be fundraising for Florida dem candidates because they asked us to do this thing all over the state on their behalf.
They thanked Daily Kos and we activists who are willing.