An Eventful Week

You might think that during my first full week of "retirement" that I would find five minutes to unpack some boxes, but you would be wrong. I am not complaining, however, because it was a great week's worth of campaigning and events. On Monday I was a guest on Cliff Roles' radio program. My friend, Professor Brooke Butler, was supposed to join in over the phone, but a series of errors limited her appearance to the final few minutes. You might be able to listen to the program at this link http://www.cliffroles.com/Adam%20Tebrugge,%20Brooke%20Butler.mp3 (cut and paste into your browser window).

Carl Hiaasen came to town on Wednesday to deliver a talk on civility to a crowd of around 400 people packed into the Chelsea Center in Sarasota. If you are not familiar with Hiaasen, he writes a serious newspaper column for the Miami Herald, and satirical novels about the desecration of the State of Florida. He kept the lunch crowd enthralled with one over the top story after another about crooked politicians, greedy lunatics, and burglar eating alligators. Half the audience was laughing so hard they could barely eat, while the other half looked like they lost their appetite.

I had an enjoyable dinner with the members of the Venice-Englewood Bar Association on Thursday evening as we listened to Judges Whatley and Casanueva from the Second District Court of Appeal tell us about the latest developments. The Sarasota County Fair opened on Friday, and I had signed up to work the Democratic booth, figuring there would be a big crowd. Alas it was a rainy evening and a crowd of politicians huddled and talked together because there were no fairgoers to greet.

On Saturday morning I was welcomed by members of the Lido Beach Neighborhood Association and was able to get about 40 petitions signed. Saturday afternoon was the annual meeting of the Sarasota chapter of the ACLU. Then it was off to Lakewood Ranch for the first big event of the Adam Tebrugge campaign. The Stonewall Democrats and the Sarasota-Manatee Young Democrats had arranged a showing of the film "Deadline" at the lovely and new Lakewood Ranch cinema. A group of about 60 people gathered to watch this powerful film about the death penalty in Illinois and Governor Ryan's commutation of sentence for all death row inmates. Afterwards we enjoyed a relaxed reception that had been expertly catered by Katrenia DuBose (Call her at 941 376 6060). It was a fun evening that helped create some excitement about my campaign and we also raised a bit of money.

On Sunday evening Ambassador Don Leidel, his wonderful wife Bev, and delightful daughter Katy, hosted a reception for me at The Landings. About 25 of their friends turned out to hear me speak and support the campaign. The Leidels were absolutely gracious hosts and put out a lavish spread of delicacies for our enjoyment. Regina and I could not have asked for a better evening. The picture above shows me with the Leidels in their lovely apartment at the end of the evening.

Maybe this week I will see you a the Sarasota County Fair or I might even sneak out to a Spring Training game.