Hello all,
There is an event coming up that we need help with. The Mayor of Mt. Vernon, Bud Norris, has proposed to give the key to the city to Glenn Beck on September 26th at a ceremony in McIntyre Hall and to declare the 26th 'Glenn Beck Day", if you can believe that. Of course this brought even main stream Republicans out of the woodwork to protest. There has been a frenzy of media coverage, including the NY Times, Boston Globe, Seattle Times, tons of letters to the editor, editorials by city council members (mostly conservative) calls to civic groups, etc, most trying to discourage this craziness. Norris seems to be enjoying the hype he's created and won't back down. The Hall sold out in 4 hours, we are thinking Becks' publicity group probably bought them all cause no locals seemed to be able to get any. PLEASE DO NOT BLAME THE STRUGGLING MERCHANTS FOR THIS> IT'S A UNILATERAL DECISION BY THE MAYOR AND HE WON'T BACK DOWN NO MATTER WHAT!
A coalition of groups in the Skagit Valley have formed to organize an action for the day. They are asking any groups that want to participate to coordinate with the Events Committee, (Contact Below) so that numbers can be estimated and arrangements made to accomodate. There will be a rally at McIntyre Hall, and possibly a candlelight vigil. Many Progressive personalities have been invited. We hope to get high enough numbers to stretch all the way to I-5, with signs, puppets, musicians, etc. The frame will be something that includes creativity, humour and righteous indignation. Please bring signs (tasteful, remember we don’t want to stoop to his level).
If you want to participate there are several things that you can do:
1. Write Letters to the Editor in any newspaper that you see fit;
2. Call or write the Mayor, the Chamber of Commerce, the City Council etc;
3. Pass this information on to your networks*, and
4. Please, come to Mt. Vernon for the event(s).
*Below is a sample ‘Call to Community’ that can be used as is or adapted as needed. Please send this out to as many of your contacts as possible.
Please reply to Marc Oommen; President, Skagit Young Democrats: ydskagitcounty {at} gmail.com Office Phone: 360 336-1555
Mayors contact info:
Email: Email: mvmayor {at}mountvernonwa.gov
PO Box 809
Mount Vernon, WA 98273
Phone: 360-336-6211
Mt Vernon Chamber of Commmerce:
105 E. Kincaid St #101
Mt. Vernon, WA 98273
360 428-8547
Skagit County Newspaper: Skagit Valley Herald:
http://www.goskagit.com/Feel free to circulate the following notice widely.
Thanks,
Katherine Chaplin, Outreach and Communications Committee.
Feel free to circulate the following notice widely.
Thanks,
Katherine Chaplin, Outreach and Communications Committee.
SKAGIT COMMUNITY MEMBERS CALL ON COMMUNITY TO DEMONSTRATE AGAINST MAYOR BUD NORRIS AND GLENN BECK
Mount Vernon, Wash. – A loose coalition of groups in Skagit and other community members call on the community to demonstrate against Mayor Bud Norris giving Glenn Beck the key to the city. The demonstration will be held outside of McIntyre Hall 2501 East College Way at Skagit Valley College on Saturday, September 26 at 5:30 p.m. PDT. The group will extend as far to the west as numbers of protesters allow.
The message of the protests is, “Hate is NOT a Skagit Valley value.”
“This will be a peaceful demonstration expressing our disappointment with the mayor in attempting to align Mount Vernon with hate speech. We will not meet hate with hate,” Young Democrats of Skagit County President Marc Oommen says.
News media from around the nation have picked up the story including the New York Times, the Huffington Post, the Bellingham Herald, the Boston Herald, Air America, KOMO 4, KING 5, the Seattle Times, Q13 Fox, and the Skagit Valley Herald.
Groups and individuals are encouraged to bring friends and family to show the friendship and diversity of our community. Bring your homemade signs and banners with a similar message.
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