2nd quarter 2023:june edition The Beacon Donate to Support ICDP Candidates & Projects We Love Our Headquarters - Help Keep it Open! As you know, we have a goal of raising $30,000 this year to cover ICDP’s annual operating expenses including the rent for our HQ location. Keeping our HQ open for meetings and walk-in inquiries is critical to our mission. Unfortunately, to date, we have raised $15,000 or have of what we need. In addition to fundraising events we are hosting, we are asking our members to sponsor and adopt the HQ rent; you can sponsor the HQ for a week ($250) or the month ($1,000). Rent for the months of May, June, July & August have been sponsored by Paul Kratochwill and DeeDee Honner; Charlie Corcoran; Bob & Jean Radin; and Susan Mayer. Thank you to these members for your early support in this kickoff event! If you would like to sponsor a week or a month, please let me know! Thank you all for your work and your support. Carole Bleau, Chair ICDP Takes the Lead with Letter to Pres. Biden on Line 5 It worked! Jim Mortimer and Bob Kennedy were the driving forces in getting this letter created and sent to President Biden. A post-carding program follow-through package for supporting organizations to offer their members has been implemented since the Line 5 problem will be with us for a while longer. Special thanks to Carole Bleau and the Iosco County Democratic Party for stepping in at the last minute to address the letter for all our local party arms. https://michiganadvance.com/2023/04/27/line-5-opponents-urge-bidens-solicitor-general-to-intervene-in-nessel-v-enbridge/ Campaign Committee Preparing for 2024 Read more about the Campaign Committee's work at their two May meetings on May 2 and May 16 below. Next meeting is June 6. read report here Response to ICBOC Gun Rights Resolution ICDP members Cindy Schwedler, Sue Duncan and Jim Mortimer shared their perspectives and experiences with the Iosco County Board of Commissioners recently when the topic of gun violence was discussed. The setting was the introduction of a resolution that was eventually unanimously passed. See the reprinted article from the Iosco News Herald about the meeting and our fearless members. Also, Marguerite Schmidt had a letter to the editor published in the paper on the same issue. Kudos to Cindy, Sue, Jim and Marguerite for standing up common sense safety measures. read iosco news article HERE ICDP Represented at MDP Rural Caucus Summit ICDP Members Cindy Schwedler, Sue Duncan, Judy Goodman, Laurie Miles & Carole Bleau at the Rural Caucus Summit. More pictures in the article below. read article here Michigan Moves Forward with Democratic Leadership Sue Duncan shared a link to an article about Michigan Democrats are setting a new standard for progressive-ism https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/michigan-democrats-whitmer-liberal-rcna74992 Here’s another article from The New York Times regarding Gov. Whitmer’s impact in Michigan: Michigan Democrats Rise, and Try to Turn a Battleground Blue https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/29/us/politics/michigan-democrats-whitmer.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare Mary O’Neill from the Alpena Democratic Party also shared this link to Politics Girl is an exciting podcast. This episode highlights what Michigan got right, how we did it and why the youth vote, voting rights and ballot initiatives are crucial. It will be worth your while to listen to this as it is about Michigan and what we have done to make our state more democratic in the last several years with Gerrymandering stopped till now. https://youtu.be/ruwQMbRgD9g Here’s a link to a new feature of the Michigan Democratic Party that gives members a way to know more about what MDP is up to – check it out! www.PartyOnThePeninsulas.com IDCP Member Publishes Book Richard Douglass published the book, The Evolution of the U.S. Healthcare System: A Legacy of Opportunism and Greed with Cambridge Scholars Publishing in the United Kingdom. The book was released on February 27, 2023. The book takes a critical look at the development of the way health care is provided to the United States and the often-conflicting influences of political, economic, social, business, racial discrimination, and demographic changes since 1945 to the present. The book was written to be accessible to non-specialists and includes a chapter on the lessons learned from the national response to COVID-19 and a final chapter with detailed recommendations for system change and reform. The purpose of the book is to make us all better informed about how to reform the expensive and ineffective aspects of our healthcare system. This book is a direct result of the column "How Can You Fix It If You Don't Know What's Broke" that was published in the ICDP Beacon. A profile of Richard and the book was published in the May 31st edition of the Iosco News Herald . Here’s a link to order the book: https://www.cambridgescholars.com/product/978-1-5275-9445-6 Shamrock & Thistle Celtic Night Fundraiser a Great Success Rosaline and Harry Burgess, with their daughters, hosted an educational and entertaining fundraiser with a Celtic theme. Józef, Tom, Harry and Chris participated in the haggis ceremony. The traditional Irish and Scottish food made by our member chefs was delicious. Many attendees wore traditional garments and presented poetry and toasts. Chris sang traditional Celtic music and played bagpipes. Ray and Beth sang Danny Boy and Auld Lang Syne. Later, Jerry, Ray, Carole and Gary entertained the party goers with more contemporary music with acoustic guitars. link to Events & Service Activities Caring for Our Environment at 3 Service Events Adopt a Forest 4/22/23 On Earth Day, the Iosco County Democratic Party collected litter from our local forest in conjunction with the Adopt-A-Forest program. The team filled a 10-yard dumpster. The pouring rain didn’t dampen their spirits! ICDP Members helping the Tawas Rotary Club for their Earth Day Clean Up on April 22, 2023 Adopt-A-Highway 4/28/23 ICDP volunteers cleaned a two-mile stretch of US-23 for the Adopt-A-Highway program. The team met at the Mobil gas station on the corner of Aulerich Road and US-23. Thanks to everyone who participated and made a difference! Volunteers Needed for Independence Day Parades! Show your Patriotic Spirit and ensure the ICDP is well represented in local parades on the 4th of July! Please note the parade sign-making work bee at HQ on Wednesday, June 20 at 1pm. See additional information in the article below. read article here ICDP in Action at Oscoda Family Fun Fair The ICDP had a great time at the Family Fun Fair on Saturday, April 22. Harry and Rose Burgess created a matching game for kids that involved some beautiful fur pelts and an attention getting skunk puppet! We had a lot of visitors to our booth and gave away beads as prizes. The organizers said that there were about 1100 people attending. Cindy Schwedler updated attendees about local efforts to improve broadband access, and Susan Mayer attended as key support for this event. read article here National Debt Showdown Prior to the recent deal negotiated between President Biden and Speaker McCarty to avoid a default, and a bipartisan vote in the House to approve the deal (in which District 1 Congressional Rep. Jack Bergman voted 'Yes' to approve), Alpena County Democratic Party member Mary O’Neill shared the following information from the White House’s website regarding what will happen in Michigan if Republicans default on the National Debt. https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Michigan.pdf Member Kudos One of ICDP’s members, Don Stansloski, was the founder and first dean of the University of Findley College of Pharmacy. In a recent article by Becker’s Hospital Review of the top 20 pharmacy schools in the world ranked by passage rates, the UFCP now ranked 14 IN THE WORLD. The sole Michigan pharmacy school to make the list is the University of Michigan’s College of Pharmacy which ranks #4. Don has been working with Jim Mortimer and Richard Douglass for the last two years regarding healthcare issues in rural Northeast Michigan. This is worth getting attention for Don in our community – we hope you will congratulate him on his legacy and positive impact on healthcare when you see him around town. Auction Item Dinner Held in May ICDP member Betty Fahselt was the high bidder for a Mexican Dinner for 6 by Gloria Brooks at a fundraising event last year. Betty hosted board members from the Tawas Bay Art Gallery on Sunday, May 7. A meal of Guacamole and Chips, Chicken Enchiladas Verde, Black Beans & Rice, and Tres Leches Cake with strawberries and mangoes was enjoyed. Look forward to similar auction items at upcoming ICDP fundraising events this year! Have feedback for The Beacon? We want to hear from you! Click on the link below with your comments and articles, and we’ll be in touch! Gloria Brooks, Editor Be sure to add
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