January Newsletter

OUR NEXT MEETING
Thursday, Jan. 16, 6 p.m. White County Public Library, 10 Colonial Drive, Cleveland

From the Chair

Happy New Year my fellow Dems!
     I hope you had a joyous and relaxing holiday season because we’ve got work to do! Our very small group of White County Dems grew tremendously over the last few months of the election season. With Marilyn’s leadership and the tireless CER work Sue Perkins did, we were able to come together and accomplish some great things! We have a great place to build upon!
     Research of the post-election data, from the folks at Indivisible, found that based on down-the-ballot results, the election wasn’t about supporting Project 2025, but more about not wanting more of the same. And that’s what voters saw ... no difference or change in the way things had been going. And even though Wall Street had a good year, voters weren’t seeing that in their day-to-day life.
     That gives me hope! Not everyone who voted for Trump are true Trumpers ... they’re desperate, scared and grasping at straws. They are looking for solutions to their economic problems. And I am suspecting that they will not find the relief they are looking for in the next administration. We will have to wait and see which policies get put into place and what the consequences of those policies will be.
    In the meantime, we are playing the long game, and we have already started! Our focus is going to be on relational organizing. We are going to find meaningful ways to get involved in our community, focusing on those economic issues. We started back in December at our holiday party, collecting food for the White County Food Pantry. Did you see Charles and Kate Snider’s picture in the White County News delivering all we had gathered? 
     We will help our neighbors by preparing and delivering meals to families who are temporarily unhoused through Family Promise. Jim Sweeney got us connected with this wonderful organization and Gary Burrows is organizing volunteers to prepare and deliver meals. In fact, WCDC covered the dinner meals for a family of three the week of Dec. 29 – Jan. 4. Thanks to Trina Davis, Rhonda Kahill, Sue Perkins, Kristi Casey, Leigh Stephens, Gerald and Sue Rummel, and Jim for volunteering!
     In addition to lending hands to our neighbors, we have community boards and organizations where we need to be regular attendees, to see firsthand decisions that are being made and to have a voice when those decisions are being made.
     We already have White County Board of Elections meetings covered, but we need folks who can go to the Board of Education, Board of Commissioners, Chamber of Commerce, Cleveland City Council, and City of Helen Commission meetings. You might not be able to make every meeting, but you could team up with one or two others to tag team one of the community meetings.
    We are not going to change minds overnight. It’s going to take years. But with this work, and more, we will continue to build relationships in our community that will have a positive influence.
     Are you ready to dig in? Are you ready to make a positive difference for our neighbors in White County? Then we will see you at our meeting on Jan. 16, Cleveland Library, 6 p.m.! Let’s get to work!
 
Tammy Burrows
Chair, White County Democratic Committee
whitecountydemocraticcommittee@gmail.com
(904) 535-5612

Meeting Agenda – JANUARY 16

White County Public Library, 10 Colonial Drive, Cleveland, 6 p.m.

(Note: This agenda may be revised before the meeting date.)

• Call to Order

  • Tammy Burrows, Chair

• Pledge of Allegiance

• Reading and Approval of Minutes

  • Leigh Stephens, Secretary

• Reports of Officers, Boards, and Standing Committees

  • Trina Davis, Treasurer

  • Sue Perkins, Grants Liaison VC

  • Bylaws Committee

• Reports of Special Committees

  • Gary Burrows & Jim Sweeney, Outreach efforts

• Special Recognition

• Old Business

• New Business

  • Future meeting dates and times

  • New Executive Committee positions

  • Relational organizing

       •  Announcements
       • Adjournment

Burrows Leads New Slate of WCDC Officers

     White County Democrats elected officers at its Dec. 10, led by Tammy Burrows as Chair.
     New board members are Trina Davis, Treasurer; and Leigh Stephens, Secretary. Sue Perkins moves from Secretary to the newly created position of Vice Chair – Grant Liaison. These officers, including Burrows, will serve a two-term through 2026.
     Serving the second year of their terms are Candice Dyer, First Vice Chair; and Gary Burrows, Vice Chair – Communications.

Love Thy Neighbor – Kristi Casey
What's Your Intention?

     Before we head into the new year, take a moment to think about the past 12 months.
     Do you remember what you intended to do this year? Did you achieve it?
     We often take big swings without remembering that it’s the baby steps that get us closer to goal. Big swings make us feel like we’re accomplishing a lot. But they’re exhausting to take and impossible to repeat consistently. That’s why our New Year’s resolutions often fail.
     A more sustainable strategy is to commit to doing one thing every day that will get you closer to what you want to achieve or who you want to become.
     I’ll give you an example.
     For years, I wanted to be a novelist. But I had no idea where to start. So I did what many people do: I depended on inspiration. I wrote 5,000 words that first day then spent the next several weeks trying to find another 5,000 words.
     Before long, I gave up. Every year, I’d give it another go. But I never achieved my goal.
     Everything changed when I ran across a story by a man who said the only difference between him and me was that he showed up to write every day. That’s why he’d keep finishing books and I never would.
     His story made me mad. Then, it galvanized me to action. Could it really be that easy? I had to try.
     I decided to try making writing a daily practice.
     I had a full-time job, a husband battling cancer and a young child at home, so I could only commit to spending five minutes a day.
     Every night, after everyone was asleep, I’d sit down at my computer and start writing. I didn’t know what I was writing at first. But after a few days of showing up, a story emerged. After a week, I started getting a feel for the characters. After a month of showing up every day, the characters began to dialogue with me – even when I wasn’t at the keyboard. They’d tell me a better way to write a scene while I was on a run. I’d wake up from a dream with a new plot twist.
     Before I knew it, I had completed a rough draft of my first book.
     I didn’t write a million pages every time I sat down. I wrote until I got tired, then I stopped.
     If I wasn’t inspired, I outlined what I wanted to write and gave myself permission to come back and work on it when I felt better. Sometimes, I did research instead of writing. Other times I didn’t write, I just thought about what needed to come next.
     I didn’t judge the quality of my work or how I showed up. As long as I did something, it counted. The important thing was to do it every day until it was done.
     And once it was done, I spent time every day making it better and moving toward the next goal: Getting it published.
     That book became NeuroNet, which you can pick up at the Mount Yonah Book Exchange or Sautee Nacoochee Center Gallery. I’ve published two other books and have at least three more ready to go. I still write every day.
     But it all started with an intention and a commitment to do something daily.
     You can change your life. Just commit to doing one thing every day that moves you closer to your goal.
     So, what do you want to start doing this year? Set your intention and then find a way to show up every day. Before long, you’ll be amazed at how much you’ve grown.
     Kristi Casey is a creative alchemist who paints, performs with the folk-Americana duo Mayberry Wine and is the author of several books of fiction and poetry, including NeuroNet.

‘Promising’ Start for Outreach Efforts

     White County Democrats started the New Year beginning a focus on community outreach by participating with Nacoochee Presbyterian Church to provide family dinners for Family Promise of White & Habersham in Cleveland, or FPWH, a program to help homeless and low-income families achieve sustainable independence.
     For the week of Dec. 29 – Jan. 4, Dem volunteers successfully delivered meals each evening for a couple and their 2-year-old. Given our success, we will look to become a regular participant in the church’s feeding program, roughly every eight weeks (pending discussions at the Jan. 16 WCDC meeting).
     Community support and outreach has become an important focus of county Democrats in the coming weeks and months – becoming the hands and feet for the local community, regardless of political affiliation.
     In addition to the Family Promise support, outreach plans include collecting materials for the White County Food Bank and other organizations (more about this at the Jan. 16 meeting). WCDC kick-started these efforts by collecting non-perishable food items at its Christmas party in December (Charles and Kate Snider) were photographed delivering the food gathered, and the image made it into the White County News).
     With FPWH, James Sweeney served as liaison with NPC in organizing our first attempt – and will help lead future community outreach efforts.
     Dems participating in the week’s meals were: Trina Davis and Rhonda Kahill, Sue Perkins, Kristi Casey, Leigh Stephens, Gerald and Sue Rummel, and Sweeney.
     We are working with Tami Terrall, Family Services Director at FPWH’s head office at 403 W. Kytle St. in Cleveland.
     Fortunately, we had more volunteers than we had days to provide meals. No worry, as everyone is invited to participate in future weeks. Contact Gary Burrows (garyg.burrows@comcast.net) or James Sweeney (jimsweeney102@gmail.com).
     Tentative 2025 dates for Family Promise meals (subject to discussion at the Jan. 16 WCDC meeting): March 23-29, June 29-July 5, Sept. 28-Oct. 4, Nov. 30-Dec. 6; and Dec. 21-27.

SNC Hosts MLK Holiday Event Jan. 20

     Sautee Nacoochee Center’s Environmental Program will host a special event to mark the Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday, at the African American Heritage Site, Jan. 20, 3-4:30 p.m.
     Please celebrate with us the vision of the beloved community, joining members of Shady Grove Missionary Baptist Church Choir, led by Venessa and Portia Bruns; members of the Bean Creek Missionary Baptist Church; and others in singing spirituals inspired by the Civil Rights Movement (word handouts will be provided). Accompanying the singers will be James Sweeney on banjo, and Joanne Sweeney on guitar and harmonica.
     A history of African Americans contributions of to the wealth and diversity of White County will be presented by Ann Banke.
     Dr. King's work and vision for peace, justice and equality will be the topic of discussion to culminate this event. There will be a fire, and hot beverages provided. In case of inclement weather, the event will be held in the Community Hall.
     Please encourage everyone you know to come and join us. – James Sweeney

Rural Urban Divide Workshop

Saturday, Feb. 8, 10:30-2:30 p.m. (light lunch provided)
Thomson Depot, 111 Railroad Street, Thomson, GA 30824
REGISTER.
     Our nation is increasingly divided across economics, politics and culture. While race and class play major roles in this polarization, the divide between urban and rural is perhaps the most talked about yet poorly understood component of our divisions.
     Many progressives, liberals and Democrats often ask, “Why do these people vote against their own self-interests?” But perhaps the question should be, “Why do so many people in the countryside see liberals and Democrats as opposed to their interests, dismissive of their needs, values and priorities?”
     The Rural Urban Bridge Initiative invites you to “Understanding and Overcoming the Rural-Urban Divide”, a highly acclaimed two-part presentation and discussion.
     EMAIL For more information or to schedule a RUBI Training.
 
What You’ll Learn:
     • Analysis of the November 2024 election: what happened and why.
     • The five underlying causes of the rural urban divide.
     • How liberals, progressives and Democrats unwittingly contribute to the divide.
     • How to communicate in rural places and across the divide.

Effective strategies for community engagement and overcoming mistrust.
     • Successful examples of Community Works Initiatives already on-the-ground in Georgia.
     • Examples of progressive economic development in rural communities and how policy helps or hinders this.

Audience
     • Democratic Party Committees, leaders & activists
     • Candidates and campaign staff
     • Liberal and progressive organizations
     • Rural advocacy and rural and urban activist groups

RuralUrbanBridge.org

North Georgia Indivisible Group Reboot

Dear North Georgia Headwaters Indivisible friends,
     Please hold the following date, time and place for an official re-start of our Indivisible group: Jan. 18, 10 a.m. to noon, at the Sautee Nacoochee Community Association’s Old Gymnasium The purpose of this gathering is to start the process of resisting the MAGA agenda and fighting for progressive policies and candidates.
     To be effective in these efforts we need to organize. I hope before the meeting you will take some time to read the newest Indivisible: A Practical Guide to Defeating MAGA. It would also be helpful to watch the video released by the group on YouTube on Nov. 13. Following an interview with Sen. Elizabeth Warren, the video walks through the new guide.
     We have the gymnasium from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., so, come early and stay late if you are able, but the official work will take place at 10 a.m. to noon. Please bring breakfast finger foods to share. Coffee and water will be available.
     I look forward to being together! Please invite any like-minded friends. – Peace, Bob Prim