The Blue Wave Continues to Roll 
Hello, fellow Democrats! It’s been a little while since our last newsletter. But on this day when nearly 1 million citizens marched in Washington DC (and hundreds of thousands more across the nation) to say we have had ENOUGH of the poisonous culture that values assault weapons over our children’s safety, we’re letting you know that we’re more active than ever in Greenwood County to help Turn SC Blue in November.
In this Newsletter:
- Greenwood County Democratic Party Convention
- Important Upcoming Events
- Local Democrats in the News
Greenwood County Democratic Party Convention
The Greenwood County Democratic Party Convention was held on Saturday, March 3, 2018. It featured speeches given by local representatives including: State Senator Floyd Nicholson, State Representative Anne Parks, and County Councilpersons Gonza Bryant and Edith Childs.
The Convention also featured words from US Congressional candidates Mary Geren and Hosea Cleveland, and Secretary of State candidate Melvin Whittenburg. All three Democratic Gubernatorial candidates – James Smith(represented by Rep. Mandy Powers Norrell), Marguerite Willis, and Phil Noble – were able to introduce themselves and their vision for South Carolina. Mayoral candidate Stephen Gilbert spoke on his vision for the City of Greenwood. Representing the SC State Democratic Party were Chair, Trav Robertson and First Vice Chair, Lessie Price. It was incredible to have such a gathering of candidates stop by at our Convention!
The key order of business for the Convention was the election of officers to serve in the Greenwood County Democratic Party for the upcoming year. We are happy to introduce to you our 2018-19 Greenwood County Democratic Party Committee.
Front row, right to left:
- Chair: Charles Lewis
- First Vice Chair: Denise Waldrep
- Second Vice Chair: Thomas Wright
- Asst Secretary: Laine Horowitz
- Executive Committeewoman: Lillian Thomas
Back row, right to left:
- Executive Committeewoman (Alternate): Ella Hill
- Executive Committeeman: Rev. James Thompson
- Executive Committeeman (Alternate): David Gaskin
- Secretary: Bill Kimler
- Third Vice Chair: Rodney Jones
In addition, the following guests also spoke to Greenwood Democrats: Claude Wright, incumbent candidate for District 50 School Board and Michael Monaghan, incumbent candidate for Greenwood CPW Director.
The Convention was one of the largest Greenwood Democrats have had in many years with well over 120 people attending.
Important Upcoming Events
Wednesday, March 28: 2018 Energy Forum
3:30 pm – 4:15 pm, Lander University, Abney Cultural Center Auditorium
Republican U.S. Congressman Jeff Duncan will answer questions and participate in discussion about energy policies affecting South Carolina and the United States. The event is free and open to the public. We encourage our members to attend and submit questions in advance regarding offshore oil drilling and other energy-related subjects.
Saturday, April 7: Monthly Breakfast Meeting
9 am – 11 am, Inn on the Square
- Meet the newly elected Greenwood County Democratic Party leaders.
- Hear guest speaker, Lessie Price who is the 1st Vice Chair of the South Carolina Democratic Party.
- Volunteer for upcoming fundraising events, voter registration drives and other activities that will help turn South Caroline BLUE in November.
While all are welcome to drop in, we encourage you to RSVP to info@gwdcountydems.org so that we may provide the fine people at Inn on the Square an estimated head count. We hope to see you there!
Friday, April 20: Blue Palmetto Dinner
USC Alumni Center, 900 Senate Street, Columbia, SC
It is again time for the Blue Palmetto Dinner (what used to be called the “Jefferson-Jackson Dinner”).
Each County Party can get a table for 10 people at a discounted cost of $100.00 per person (it’s more expensive to purchase tickets individually). Please let us know if you would like be part of a table. The time of this event has not yet been announced, but we will provide more details when they’re made available.
Saturday, April 21: Index Journal Parent’s Expo
9 am – 1 pm, Greenwood Family YMCA (outdoors, weather permitting)
The Greenwood County Democratic Party has reserved a table at the upcoming Index Journal Parent’s Expo. This event is on the same day as our State Convention, so we need 4 volunteers from our Party who will not be traveling to Columbia that weekend. If you are interested in volunteering, please let us know by April 7th!
Wednesday, May 2: SC Democratic Women’s Council Annual “Day in Blue”
Greenwood Democrats will be heading to the State House in a group bus for the annual SC Democratic Women’s Council Annual “Day in Blue”. The lunch will be $5.00 per person and a seat on the charter bus is $15.00. This event is not strictly for women – we encourage our male members to attend as well.
Money is to be turned in to Edith Childs by Monday, April 23rd. She can be reached for any questions at (864) 227-9511.
Local Democrats in the News
To conclude our newsletter, here’s a several articles of interest that involve members of our own Democratic Party! Let us know if you have any newsworthy items to share of your own!
- Our 1st Vice Chair, Denise Waldrep, illustrated a new children’s book, “Batrocks and Greenie”, which had a launch party at the Greenwood County Library.
- Our Alternate Executive Committeeman, David Gaskin, was featured in a recent newspaper article about an exhibit at the The Museum in Uptown Greenwood titled “The Black Soldier”.
- George Swindell was mentioned in an article about the recent “Ales for Trails” 5K fundraising event to benefit the Greenwood Parks and Trails Foundation
