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When thousands of people donate no more than $100 per person per election, we can build a campaign without money from special interests. _______________________ But it's about more than money. We need your energy and your enthusiasm, too. Sign up to volunteer on Jim Hansen's campaign for Congress.
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Barbecue in my old neighborhood
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Location: Blogs Jim's Blog |
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| Posted by: Jim Hansen |
7/22/2006 |
Residents of a wonderful old Idaho Falls neighborhood are working to connect with each other, to share the history of the neighborhood and to fight to protect it. This is where I spent my childhood and last week got a chance to meet folks at a backyard barbecue. Neighbors working together to improve their community reflect the best examples of grassroots democracy.
I attended a gathering in the neighborhood where I grew up in Idaho Falls on Wednesday evening. Steve Zeman and Dino Lowry, who live on 6th Street, hosted the gathering in their back yard and together with Ferrol and Dani Barron and Basil Barna put together a wonderful spread of food, including barbecue they prepared in the driveway. We also were treated to wonderful live music by Vince Crofts and Mindy Reid. Folks from all over the neighborhood came and we visited late into the evening.
The house I first lived in was on 16th Street. A few years ago, Walgreens removed all the houses on that block to build a store. Our family moved to 12th Street in 1964 and lived there until Dad was elected to Congress. At Steve and Dino’s party, I enjoyed sharing stories of what it was like growing up in the neighborhood. I have some of the fondest memories of playing with friends at Kate Curley Park.
People in the neighborhood recently formed an association to encourage neighbors to get to know each better, to work on projects, to host events, to learn about and celebrate the history of the neighborhood and to work together to fight to preserve it. The Crow’s & Original Townsite Historic Neighborhood Association includes all the homes between the railroad and Holmes Avenue and between 1st and 17th Streets. The association represents the greatest of American values: ordinary people of diverse backgrounds and income levels working together on the local level to improve their community and – when necessary – to stand up to out-of-town development interests to protect it.
I guess that’s why so many folks in the neighborhood can relate to the kind of campaign we are running. Elected officials who raise money from wealthy out-of-town interests are not likely to care about the ordinary mortals who live in old neighborhoods. In fact, as we enjoyed some great barbecued hamburgers and sausages in Steve and Dino’s backyard, one neighbor assured me the food is probably not as good as those $1,000 per plate dinners in Washington, D.C., anyway.
That evening, I also enjoyed reading the neighborhood’s first newsletter this spring, which they hand-delivered to all 2,300 homes. Chuck Vogel, who is one of the greatest volunteers a campaign can have, lives in the neighborhood and made sure I met Stephanie Rose the next morning, since she could not make it to the barbecue the night before. She, Kathy Stanger and Lisa Smith are the co-chairs of the neighborhood group. Deborah Harrison is the secretary, Taylina Alldredge is the treasurer, Kris Burnham the designer of the newsletter, and Jackie Beig the head of the Neighborhood Watch Committee. They and all the volunteers they have inspired deserve a lot of credit for taking the initiative in connecting and protecting a neighborhood that is very much a part of who I am.
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