Prior to Thanksgiving I had an opportunity to speak at the South Venice Civic Association. That was convenient because I was headed to Venice to discuss my career with students in Jake Jacoby’s class at MCC. Regina and I then headed to Cleveland, where it was 34 degrees and sleeting upon our arrival. We had a special dinner with her parents as they celebrated their 60th anniversary. There was also time to visit the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and to play in the snow. We returned to Tampa in time to join our children Mike and Jessie at Raymond James stadium to watch the Bucs hold on to beat the Washington Redskins.
I was fortunate to attend the Cesar Chavez Memorial dinner sponsored by the Sarasota/Manatee Farm-worker Supporters, on November 26. The Golden Apple Dinner provided excellent food and service, and my friends Jim Delgado and Luz Corcuera
were honored for their leadership in the Hispanic community. There was also a presentation of a powerful one-act play, “Earth and Dust,” written by Corinne Fleisher. I finished the evening at New College discussing my campaign with some of the students I hope to enlist as volunteers.
On Tuesday, November 27, there was an excellent presentation at the Community Foundation about improving the strategic planning process for Boards. This was put on by the Non-Profit Resource Center which continues to provide extremely valuable services to many civic and charitable organizations. For further information, visit their web-site at http://www.cfsarasota.org/NonprofitCenter/tabid/53/Default.aspx. That night I was at the Manatee County Democratic Executive Committee meeting to see first hand the leadership of C.J. Czaia, Vicki Waters and Sasha Taurke.
Wednesday found me at the Manatee County Bar Association luncheon where we heard presentations about Teen Court and the Substance Abuse Coalition. That evening was spent at the Sarasota County Openly Plans for Excellence (SCOPE) appreciation party at the lovely Art Center. On Thursday I attended the holiday party at Flemings sponsored by the Young Lawyers Division of the Sarasota County Bar Association. Most of the evening, however, was spent at the Rosemary District walking around, seeing the new businesses, and getting petitions signed.
After making the rounds of a few holiday parties on Friday, I went over to the Quaker meeting-house. Abbott K.C. Walpole of the Gateless Gate Zen Center in Gainesville gave a powerful talk about prison reform. I had the opportunity to work with Abbot Walpole on a case earlier this year. He uses meditation techniques to achieve stress reduction amongst inmates and staff at several prisons, including Lowell correctional facility for women. He is shown in the picture with me at the top of this blog entry.
On Saturday I began my day at the Council of City Neighborhood Associations. I then put on my red ribbon and headed over to Ringling College of Art to honor World Aids Day. Michael Kehoe had worked tirelessly with others to put together a Health and Wellness Exposition at the College and Martin Luther King park. I left in the middle of the afternoon to attend the immigration forum held at Sudakoff Center. Over a hundred people turned out to hear a very serious discussion on this hot topic, and I managed to meet and speak with a number of them. I had hoped to continue petition gathering at the Christmas paraded but found myself just too exhausted to carry on.
This week Regina and I will celebrate my 46th birthday and our 11th wedding anniversary. Maybe we will see you at the Friends of Myakka Park picnic, or at Pancakes and Politics, or one of the many parties taking place.
No comments:
Post a Comment