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President's Column

Greetings West HoCo Dem friends:

I hope you are all enjoying the summer and are finding time to spend with friends and family!! We have two major activities going on this summer through the club. The first is the Howard County Fair August 4th – 11th. We are going to help the Central Committee staff the Democratic Booth at the Fair. It is a wonderful opportunity for us to introduce WHCDC to folks living in our end of the county. We will have brochures about the club ready for you to give to people who may be interested in joining. It is a great way to meet other Democratic activists and to show our presence in Howard County. If you are able to volunteer for a two-hour slot, please contact Cathy Zomlefer or Michael McPherson at 410-290-9791 to find out when they need coverage. I did it several days last summer and had a great time! Please consider helping out!! Also, mark your calendar for August 11th at 5:00 when we will join the Parade at the fair. Come by the Democratic booth to find out where the group is gathering for the parade.

The second activity is supporting the Neighborhood Contact Program (NCP) through the Democratic Central Committee. The NCP is tailor-made for our club. It is a way to create an informal contact network for Democrats throughout Howard County, organized by “neighborhoods”. The Central Committee will provide us with lists of “Super-Democrats” in each west county neighborhood that we can contact and let them know that there is a network of support for them. Since our homes are so scattered in the west and we have a less concentrated group of Democrats than in Columbia, it is hard to go door-to-door to drop off literature or introduce ourselves. Our contacts will be most efficient through internet and phone networks. We are developing a short questionnaire we can use when we contact folks to find out what issues are important to Democrats in western Howard County. Cathy Zomlefer was at our last meeting on July 17th to orient us to the program. If you missed the meeting and are interested, contact Cathy at 410-290-9791. You will be hearing more about this program through our club.

Finally, mark your calendars for the August 21st meeting. We will have a Summer Ice Cream Social and Presidential Race Preview. Our invited speaker, Greg Pecoraro, will talk about the delegate selection process for the 2008 Democratic National Convention. Also, we have invited representatives from Howard County groups that are supporting the various Democratic Presidential candidates. You will have a chance to chat with them, get information and campaign paraphernalia, and sign up to volunteer for one of their campaigns. We will have a straw vote at the end of the meeting. Plus, we’ll have ice cream!!

I am excited about the possibilities for our club in the next election cycle!! I think we can really defy the conventional wisdom about western Howard County by delivering the west for a Democratic Presidential candidate!!

Remember to bookmark our website (westernhowarddems.com) and check it often! I hope to see you at the Fair!!

Clyde Robinette
President