I want to tell you about an event I'm chairing

[CornField]

Although I'm working with the county Democrats, this should be a feasible event for almost any active group to pull off.

This Saturday we'll be holding "A Good Old Fashioned Democratic Family Picnic" in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The event itself is free and begins with a children's carnival featuring old fashioned games with prizes (i.e., ring toss, face painting, sack races). We've rented both snocone and popcorn machines and will have those free during the carnival. Posters and/or flyers were placed at Dem-friendly businesses throughout the area and, because the event itself is free, we are getting a lot of no-cost advertising in the news.

Our local candidates will be allowed to set up tables during the carnival and mix and mingle with the families who attend. When the carnival closes at 4 p.m., we have two local television and radio personalities to be announcers for our candidates who want to speak. We'll begin with locals, move to state offices and end with national candidates. (Our keynote speaker is Sen. John Kerry.)

We are serving an evening meal ($5 per plate) complete with main dish, sides and a beverage (water, soda, lemonade or beer). And the rest of the evening (until 9 p.m.) will be filled with live music and fellowship.

We've also rented a dunk tank and will have a "Dunk-A-Dem" booth with proceeds split between the local candidates who get into the tank.

After buying food at bulk, we'll be making maybe $1 per meal profit. We figure that excess covers our condiments, burger fixins and so-forth. The games were rented from the local parks department and the prizes were bought in bulk. We asked local elected officials, candidates, unions and others to sponsor various aspects of the event (popcorn sponsor, beer sponsor, snocone sponsor, game sponsor) and I've been pleasantly surprised at how many have stepped up to the plate. Barring anything unforseen, we'll even manage a small profit on the event.

We've placed the event in the DNC's Democratic Reunion (we were fortunate enough that the dates meshed perfectly) and that has brought us more publicity.

I could probably go on and on about it, but I'll hold myself back. :) If anyone would like more details, just let me know.

[Kixel]

1. I really like the idea

I think Dems need to focus on the community. Realistically, the Republicans are owned by the cooperations. We need to show that we are really fighting for normal people to have better lives. Family values is a lot deeper than their fake values.

It sounds like a lot of fun, too. Nothing beats a dunk tank. It sounds better than our booth at a local festival this weekend-100 degree heat makes a dunk tank seam very appealing!