In this Newsletter:
| Message from the Chair | Amazing accomplishments in 2021! |
| GWCDP News | Breakfast Meeting on Nov 6 – new location Don and Carol Fowler Building Dedication |
| Upcoming Elections & Voting Rights | Congrats to District 5 nominee, Sloan Griffin Ninety Six Municipal Elections today |
| Our Community | Partnering with the 8th Annual Thanksgiving Outreach Cokesbury Street cleanup scheduled GWCDP sponsors Ales for Trails 5K SC Stay Plus is now in Greenwood |
| News & Noteworthy | MAT Trans a dream come true for Councilwoman Childs McMaster basks in undeserved glory |
| Legislative Updates | The truth about the Build Back Better Act Vote scheduled for John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act |
| Upcoming Events |
Message from the Chair
We have an action-packed newsletter today, so I will keep it brief!
I have the utmost respect for journalists and the news media, and while I abhor the term “fake news” (which means “news I don’t like”) there is psychological evidence that negative news sticks with us more than positive news.
When it comes to the Biden agenda, and living in the South, negative news certainly has obscured the truth of how successful of a year its been! While the Biden Economic Framework doesn’t have everything we had helped for, it is STILL the most progressive piece of legislation proposed in decades! What’s in it?
Do yourself a favor and take 80 seconds to listen to Jon Favreau (of Pod Save America and former Obama speechwriter) lay this out in the clearest manner I’ve heard so far. Make sure also to see Sen. Chris Murphy’s writeup at the end of this newsletter for an enlightening hypothetical conversation about the Biden Administration’s accomplishments this year.
And finally – please share! Information is a light in the darkness, but it needs YOUR help to make it shine.
GWCDP News
Breakfast Meeting on Nov 6 – new location!
Our next Breakfast meeting is coming up this weekend and there’s a location change – for a good reason!
We will be meeting from 9 am to 10 am on Saturday, November 6 at the Boys & Girls Club cafeteria (the same place where the Floyd’s Fish Fry was held). The new location and shortened time will allow us to participate in the special celebration of the Dr. Benjamin E. Mays Historical Preservation Site which starts at 10 am right next door! This is part of a 3-day set of events to mark this important occasion.
Guest speakers at our Breakfast Meeting include:
- Rev. James Thompson (retired), 1st Vice Chair of GWCDP
- JaDasia Mitchell, GWCDP intern
- GWCDP Chair, Bill Kimler, with an announcement of a special resolution from the Executive Committee
We’ll also have important updates, food, and socialization aplenty. Mark your calendars and then come on out for these great back-to-back activities!
Don and Carol Fowler Building Dedication
On Saturday, GWCDP Chair Bill Kimler, former Chair Charles Lewis, and members Margaret and James Wilson traveled to Columbia, SC to attend the Don and Carol Fowler Building Dedication. This building serves as the permanent headquarters for the South Carolina Democratic Party.
The large number of notable speakers, whether present in person or virtually, underlined the important contributions that Don and Carol Fowler have made to the Democratic Party, not only in South Carolina, but nationwide!
Click on the image below to see the full photo album on our Facebook page.
Upcoming Elections & Voting Rights
Congrats to District 5 nominee, Sloan Griffin
We congratulate Sloan Griffin, Jr for securing the Democratic nomination last week for Greenwood County Council District 5.
We’ll bring more information about Sloan’s campaign to you in the upcoming weeks. The Index-Journal had an excellent writeup of an interview they conducted with Mr. Griffin that you can read today!
If you wish to assist Candidate Sloan Griffin in his campaign, reply to this email and we will connect you! You can also contribute financially to his campaign. Please make checks out to:
Sloan Griffin District 5
415 Olde Puckett Ferry Rd
Greenwood, SC 29649
Ninety Six Municipal Elections today
Whether for President of the United States or for representation on the Town Council, exercising our right to cast a vote is an important responsibility. Without it, Democracy will not survive!
In Ninety Six, three Town Council seats are up for election (Wards One, Three, and Five) as well as the Ninety Six CPW Commissioner.
Ward Three will be a write-in as no one filed in time to appear on the ballot. The other candidates are shown below as pulled from SCVotes.gov.
Our Community
Partnering with the 8th Annual Thanksgiving Outreach
It is our honor to announce that the November Community Care Movement activity will be to partner again with Avery Roman along with his family & friends for their Annual Thanksgiving Outreach program.
For many years they have set aside a day of the year to cook, prep, and serve meals to residents of Greenwood – no questions asked! They are ramping up to do so again on Tuesday, Nov 23 from 4 pm to 7 pm. Click on the image to the right to see the full poster.
Items needed by November 19, 2021
| Dressing Turkey Ham Green beans Rolls | Cake Bottle Water Carry out Plates Napkins- Forks- Spoons |
Please contact Wanda Moore, wandamoore320@gmail.com or (864) 554-5702, to either donate products or to help volunteer on the day of.
Cokesbury Street cleanup scheduled
As part of the GWCDP Community Care Movement, we’ve adopted a highway! The segment of Cokesbury St between Laurel Ave and Reynolds Ave is our little segment of community that we’ve adopted and committed to keeping clean.
Please join us for our next cleanup event on Saturday, Nov 13 at 9 am. All materials will be provided by the county. We’ll meet in the parking lot of Emerald Baptist Church on Laurel Ave (on the side of the church adjacent to Cokesbury St). Please reply to this email if you can participate!
GWCDP sponsors Ales for Trails 5K
The GWCDP is a sponsor of the upcoming Ales for Trails 5k this Saturday at 3 pm. Click on the image to the right for a full size poster for this event in support of the Greenwood Parks and Trails Foundation!
SC Stay Plus is now in Greenwood
Friend of the GWCDP, Mary Geren, continues to serve the communities of the upstate with the SC Stay Plus program
The program can help impacted households get back on track by providing up to 12 months of rental and utility assistance dating back to March 13, 2020; up to three months of future rent to stabilize those with housing insecurity; and cover other housing costs (including moving expenses, motel/hotel stays, storage costs and security deposits) for those who have been displaced because of the pandemic.
Mary wrote to us stating: “Beginning on Monday, Nov. 1, I will be at the Greenwood Food Bank, and my office hours will typically be 10:30-3:00 Tuesday-Thursday.”
Please see more about this program on our website and share with those in Greenwood County who may benefit from it!
News & Noteworthy
MAT Trans a dream come true for Councilwoman Childs
As reported in the Index-Journal, the fledgling MAT Trans public transportation service in Greenwood has succeeded far beyond the expectations of Greenwood County Councilwoman Edith Childs, who has been championing this idea for many years.
“I’ve been waiting for this 10 or 15 years, I just didn’t know when it would happen,” Childs said. “I see us having to get more buses already.”
This is a perfect example of the impact local elected officials in partnership with local businesses can have on a community!
McMaster basks in undeserved glory
Last week, the following headline hit the newswires:
SC Gov. McMaster announces $500 million plan to fix crumbling utilities
While we applaud this much-needed infrastructure investment in rural South Carolina, at the end of the article was this little, but important, fact:
“The money will come from the American Rescue Plan Act”
Let’s not forget that Congressman Jeff Duncan and the rest of the SC Republican Congressional Delegation voted against this legislation. In fact, Duncan stated:
“Today, the House voted on final passage of H.R. 1319, the Democrats’ sham ‘COVID-19 relief’ bill.”
So we ask Gov. McMaster, who is basking in the stolen glory of the Democrats’ accomplishment: Are the benefits that rural SC will receive a “sham” or is it your governorship that the “sham”?
Legislative Updates
The truth about the Build Back Better Act
We hear about the struggles to get massive legislation passed in DC and and several express frustration as we see all the gory details of “how the sausage gets made” played out in the media.
But this year truly has been a tremendous one for the Democratic agenda. Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT) has captured it perfectly! Here’s how he starts…
“What if, on Inauguration Day, I told you that in his first year, Joe Biden would cut childhood poverty in half?”
You can read the eye-opening piece on our website.
Vote scheduled for John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act
On Wednesday, SC Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer will force a vote on the voting rights bill named after the late Rep. John Lewis. According to The Hill:
The voting rights bill named after Lewis would update the Voting Rights Act (VRA) to strengthen sections of the 1965 law that were gutted by the Supreme Court’s 2013 Shelby County v. Holder decision, which focused on Section 5 of the VRA that required Justice Department preclearance before some states could change voting laws, and the 2021 Brnovich v. Democratic National Committee decision, which advocates believe weakened Section 2 of the 1965 law focused on racially targeted voting policies.
Upcoming Events
See our Calendar Page for these and other upcoming events
| Election Day – Ninety Six Town of Ninety Six General Election 7 am – 7 pm GWD County Council Tue, Nov 2 5:30 pm Greenwood Public Library Watch on YouTube Breakfast Meeting Sat, Nov 6 9 am – 10 am Boys & Girls Club (old Brewer Rec Center) 10th Anniversary Celebration of the Dr. Benjamin E. Mays Historical Preservation Site Sat, Nov 6 10 am – 12 am Full weekend agenda Ales for Trails Sat, Nov 6 3 pm Veteran’s Day Thu, Nov 11 Cokesbury Road Cleanup Sat, Nov 13 9 am – 11 am Meetup at Emerald Baptist Church on Laurel Ave Greenwood City Council Mon, Nov 15 5:30 pm Municipal Building 520 Monument St Watch on FB Live GWD50 Board of Trustees Mon, Nov 15 6 pm Genesis Education Center 400 Glenwood St Watch online GWD County Council Tue, Nov 16 5:30 pm Greenwood Public Library Watch on YouTube Thanksgiving Outreach Tue, Nov 23 4 pm – 7 pm The Hut Breakfast Meeting Sat, Dec 4 9 am – 11 am Location to be confirmed GWCDP Christmas Party Sat, Dec 11 6 pm – 9 pm Headley-Downs Manor |
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