Hancock County Democratic Committee QUICK LINKS 2010 State and Local Candidates HCDC February Meeting Thurs., Feb. 18, 7 pm, Ellsworth City Hall Auditorium Following the business meeting we will have a program on proposals to reform the Citizen's Veto. MARK YOUR CALENDAR.... Gubernatorial Candidate visits Come out to our meetings and get to know our Gubernatorial primary candidates! Rosa Scarcelli plans to attend our February 18 meeting. Libby Mitchell and Pat McGowan plan to attend our March 18 meeting. We expect to see other candidates in coming months and will post here as we hear from their campaigns. The Hancock County Democratic Committee is on Facebook! Click on the logo to visit our Page, then sign up as a Fan if you'd like to follow us on Facebook. You can also follow us on Twitter. Other HCDC News HCDC Passes Resolution on Afghanistan A Resolution was passed at our January meeting, and forwarded to the Maine Democratic Party for consideration. The text of the resolution is here. Phil Winograd We sadly note the loss of longtime HCDC member Philip Winograd of Hancock. Phil was active in the Democratic Party for more than eight decades. He was a WWII veteran, a keen observer of national affairs, and a beloved friend of many in our community. For Phil's obituary and address for cards, please visit this page. Health Insurance Reform The US House of Representatives has passed HR3962, "The Affordable Health Care for America Act." Congressman Michaud voted for the legislation. His statement is here. The Senate has now passed its version. When Congress reconvenes in mid-January, the two bills will go to the conference committee. The House and Senate will then vote again on the final bill. If you would like to join our Rapid Response team to make calls at critical times, contact Bethany. See our Health Insurance Reform page for more on local activism on this issue. Election 2009 HCDC thanks the many volunteers who worked on the No on One campaign. 53% of Hancock County voters upheld the rights of all Mainers to marry the person they love. This was the second highest margin in the state (after Cumberland County). While the statewide loss was heartbreaking, many more people became aware of the equality issue through this campaign. We will continue to work towards the day when all Mainers enjoy equal protections. We also thank the many volunteers who helped to defeat TABOR 2 and the Excise Tax initiative here and statewide. Statewide results on all the referenda questions are here. A PDF file of Hancock County results on Question One may be downloaded here. Platform Committee Efforts are now underway to craft the Maine Democratic Party platform for the May 2010 convention. See our Platform page for news and contact info. Congratulations ...to HCDC's new male DSC representative, Roger Bowen of Birch Harbor; and to our new representative on the state Platform Committee, Paul Liebow of Bucksport. Roger and Paul were elected at the October HCDC meeting. We look forward to their contributions. Hancock County Dems at the Blue Hill Fair The Blue Hill Fair is a special opportunity to let our community know we're here, and working on important issues. Sunny days and cheerful booth staffers made for a fine time this year! Photos of the fair are online here. Congressman Mike Michaud visited on Friday. He chatted with volunteers and other fair-goers at length about health care legislation. Cong. Michaud expressed some concerns with details of the House bill, but reiterated his support for the public option. HCDC thanks our many booth volunteers, who helped spread the word about health care reform, marriage equality, the effort to defeat TABOR II this November, and other issues. Special kudos to the "Vote No on 1" crew for enthusiastically pitching in throughout the fair. Great Democracy Auction & Ice Cream Social Aug. 15, 2009, Hancock: Scores of area Dems turned out on a steamy August afternoon for this exciting annual event. HCDC thanks the many volunteers, donors, bidders and friends who made this a very successful fundraising and social event. Photos of the auction are online here. Hancock Dems Mourn Loss of Two Members Tom Schroth,past co-chair of HCDC, died peacefully July 23 at his Sedgwick home. In addition to his tireless work for the County party, Tom served for manyyears on the Democratic State Committee, and represented Maine as adelegate at the 2000 DNC National Convention. We extend oursincere condolences to his wife Pat and their children andgrandchildren. Cards may be sent to Pat Schroth at RR 1, Box 50,Sedgwick, ME 04676.  HCDC member Peter Andersen passed away on July 17. Peter's cheerful and generous spirit touched all who had the pleasure of knowing him. Our thoughts go out to his wife,Evelyn Foster, and their extended family. Cards may be sent to Evelyn Foster at 173 Pioneer Farm Way, Ellsworth, ME 04605. Legislative Review We enjoyed a great review of the 124th Session from Sen. Damon and Reps. Schatz, Flemings, Eaton and Magnan at our July meeting For a summary of Maine laws enacted this session, click here. Dems on Parade! Our merry band marched in the Bar Harbor 4th of July parade, and the Quietside Parade in Southwest Harbor. The text links are to photo albums on Facebook; you should be able to view them without a Facebook login. Democracy Award Winners Announced At our Ruth Moss Night Gala on May 2, two stellar HCDC volunteers were honored with the Ruth Moss Society Democracy Award. Sharing the award this year were Charlene Crane of Ellsworth and Matt Servaites of Bar Harbor. Photos from the event are here. During a campaign, there are lots of volunteer tasks to be done. Some people come in to make calls, some canvass door-to-door. Some bring in food to keep the volunteers and staff going. Charlene Crane did all of these - and with a smile and gentle nature that nourished our team as well. Arriving on her trusty bike with a tasty treat in tow, Charlene's kindness, enthusiasm and humor transfered to the voters, engaging them, empathizing, and then shifting their positions. When you hear laughter during voter persuasion, you know something is going very, very right. Charlene quickly became a very valued member of the campaign team. She embodies the spirit of service that the Ruth Moss Society Democracy Award celebrates. Inspired by the call to action from then-candidate Obama, Matt Servaites jumped in early this campaign season, organizing before the caucus. His volunteer efforts grew impressively as the election season heated up. An avid phone banker, Matt worked a regular weekly shift throughout the campaign. His buoyant attitude and his ability to articulate Democratic positions on the issues were invaluable assets. When we began to conduct extensive door-to-door canvassing - a new and challenging effort for HCDC - Matt stepped up to organize canvasses in Bar Harbor, pulling together teams nearly every weekend. We honor him for his leadership in this key area, and for his unwavering commitment to grassroots activism. Chair Dexter Bellows also acknowledged the invaluable work of Catherine Bunker (left), Mary Jellison, and David Kessner in organizing and operating the MDI Branch Headquarters for Campaign '08. About 80 area Democrats turned out at the Lucerne Inn for this popular annual event. In a highlight of the evening, Sen. Dennis Damon spoke about the recent successful passage of the Marriage Equality legislation he introduced. Sen. Damon and all in attendance roundly applauded his co-sponsors from the Hancock County delegation - Reps. Jim Schatz, Rob Eaton, Elsie Flemings, and Ben Pratt. Headquarters Flood The Hancock County Dems appreciate the concern and support shownafter the flood at our Ellsworth Headquarters on 4/9. Stories and videoclips of the incident are up on the WLBZ2 website and the Ellsworth American website. Most of the damage was to the carpet in the front and middle rooms.It was saturated and silty, and will need professional cleaning. We were very disappointed to lose most of the food pantry donationscollected the night before at the Michaud Trade Forum. The silver lining is that coverage of the story has moved many others to donate to area food pantries. Michaud Trade Forum A good crowd turned out for the forum in Bucksport on April 8.Congressman Michaud gave an excellent presentation on current US tradepolicy, and changes that might be expected under the Obamaadministration. The extended Q & A session that followed was veryinformative. WERU-FM recorded the event and broadcast it on April 9. You can listen to it on their website or download a podcast of it here. Thanks again to our co-sponsors- theMaine Fair Trade Campaign, United Steelworkers Locals 1188 and 261, Eastern Maine Labor Council, Food AND Medicine, and the Penobscot, and Waldo County Democratic Committees- for helping us organize this successful event. HCDC Scholarship The Hancock County DemocraticCommittee (HCDC) has launched a new initiative designed tosupport college-bound students of Hancock County who have an interestin government, political science, civil service, or relateddisciplines. The HCDC will award one or more $500 scholarships to Hancock County high school seniors who are planning to attend afour year accredited college or university.Successful applicants will receive their award after they havesuccessfully completed their first term of study. The applicationprocess is open to students in good standing who are on track tograduate with a Maine high school diploma at the end of the currentschool year, as well as to home-schooled students who will successfullycomplete a Maine high school course of study by the end of the currentschool year. HCDC congratulates our first scholarship recipient, Catherine Carter, a 2009 graduate of Ellsworth High School. Applications for the 2010 scholarship awards will be available next spring, and information will be posted here. HCDC Election Results The Hancock County DemocraticCommittee is pleased to announce the filling of several positions atit's regular November meeting. Cathy Planchart of Ellsworth wasunanimously nominated, pending appointment by Governor Baldacci, tocomplete the term of Hancock County Treasurer. Likewise sharingunanimous election were Jennifer Hughes to the HCDC Treasurer seat,Roderick Mack to the position of HCDC Secretary and HeatherMartin-Zboray as representative to the Maine Democratic Party statecommittee. Support HCDC's grassroots efforts. You can make a one-time donation or set up a convenient monthly donation. To donate online securely, just click on the button at left. Online giving help keep our overhead low, so your donation goes farther. Help Hancock Dems (or other favorite charities) while you shop online - Just sign up at iGive.com,and surf through their shopping portal to any of over 650 online merchants. HCDC will get adonation of a percentage of your purchase, at no cost to you.   Contact Info: Hancock County Democratic Committee PO Box 1414, Ellsworth ME 04605 207.664.6012