August Primary; New Office Hours; Strawberry Festival and More!

Michigan’s Primary is August 6, 2024

Announcing Office Hours for July!

We’re Marching at the Strawberry Festival This Saturday!

CELEBRATE THE BOUNTY OF OUR COUNTY!

Come join us this Saturday July 13th as we march in the Strawberry Festival Parade. Then take part in the activities at the Festival - the strawberry shortcake, the arts and crafts show and the after parade BBQ Chicken by Chassell Firefighters & First Responders. It’s always a fun day!

WHEN & WHERE: Next Saturday. Parade participants assemble starting at 10 AM in the triangle park across from the Krist gas station in Chassell.

RSVP: Send your RSVP to [email protected] (appreciated but not required)

Second Highway Clean Up Next Wednesday

COME JOIN US FOR THE SECOND HIGHWAY CLEAN UP OF 2024! 

The Houghton County Dems will be out again for our second clean up of the summer as part of the Adopt-A-Highway program. Our stretch of highway is M-26 from just past Goat Hill Rd heading out of Ripley, and on through to Dollar Bay.

We’ll get together to clean our stretch of highway next Wednesday, July 17th at 5:30pm. (Rain Date is the following Wednesday, July 24th). Parking is available at the Adopt-A-Highway sign just past Goat Hill Rd. We provide gloves, safety vests and bags. 

AS SUMMER IS FINALLY HERE, WE URGE YOU TO BRING YOUR OWN WATER BOTTLES AS IT CAN GET TOASTY OUT THERE!

Please join us so we can continue this very worthwhile community service. Hope to see you there!

WHEN: Wednesday, July 17th @ 5:30 PM

WHERE: Park along M-26 at the Adopt-A-Highway sign just past Goat Hill Road heading out of Ripley

If you’d like to volunteer to join the highway clean up crew contact Barb Turuc at [email protected] or leave a message at (906) 523-1233 

Coming Events - Mark Your Calendars (and Volunteer!)

We still have summer activities and events coming up and we’d love to have you join us! Below is the list of our remaining annual summer activities. Mark your calendars and volunteer:

• August 10 - HOUGHTON COUNTY DEMS CONVENTION: Pursuant to the Michigan Democratic Party’s Call to Convention on Saturday, August 24th, all County and District Conventions across Michigan shall occur on Saturday, August 10, 2024. Our County Convention will convene at the hour designated in our local Call to Convention, which will be issued no later than July 26th. The purpose of our County Convention will be to elect Members and Alternates to the State Convention Committees and to consider resolutions to be forwarded to the State Party. NOTE: Delegates with eligibility to vote at the County Convention shall be the members of the MDP residing in Houghton County whose membership was renewed at least thirty (30) days prior to the County Convention held on August 10, 2024 - which is July 11, 2024. (Precinct Delegates, Democratic elected officials and Democratic nominees to partisan offices residing in Houghton County may become members that day when they register at the County Convention.)

• August 22 thru 25 - HOUGHTON COUNTY FAIR: We staff a table every year to engage with the public and distribute literature. We’ll have our button maker and materials ready for the kids to create their own button designs, while we chat with the adults.

• Labor Day Weekend - LABOR DAY PICNIC: Each year we gather over Labor Day Weekend to picnic and connect as we get ready for the fall campaign season.

If you’d like to volunteer for any of these activities let us know. Just leave a message at (906) 523-1233 or email us at [email protected]

Note from the Chair - Volunteer Season is Ramping Up!

A huge thank-you to all the volunteers who helped out with the South Range July 4th parade. I can't remember the last time we had so many folks for that!

That's the kind of energy we need, from now through November 5th.

It was really heartening for me personally to see so much enthusiasm, and it also makes a great signal for our neighbors in Houghton County. Showing up makes a difference: your support rallies more support.

This year will be a fight to the finish. Let's take that fight on together.

While things will really pick up after the primary and the Convention, we're getting the summer campaigns rolling, so if you can spare a few hours for staffing the office, knocking doors, delivering signs, or other tasks, every bit of volunteer action counts. Drop us a line at [email protected] or call us at (906) 523-1233. Or stop in at a monthly meeting, and we'll put you to work.  

If you’d like to volunteer for any of these activities let us know. Just leave a message at (906) 523-1233 or email us at [email protected]

Justice Bolden at Our July Meeting

Michigan State Supreme Court Justice Kyra Harris Bolden joined us virtually at our meeting last week. The Justice said the primary message she wanted to convey was one of awareness about voting in November for Supreme Court candidates.

You may remember that Justice Bolden ran for a seat on the Supreme Court in 2022 but was defeated. However, following that election she was appointed by Governor Whitmer to the Court seat being vacated by the retirement of then Chief Justice McCormack, and became the first Black female Supreme Court Justice in Michigan.

Bolden is now running to retain the seat she was appointed to.

The Justice reminded us that Supreme Court Justices run on the nonpartisan portion of our ballots, and are NOT selected if you should choose to vote a straight Democratic ticket. Rather, voters MUST go to the nonpartisan portion of the ballot and blacken the oval next to each Supreme Court candidate they are voting for.

LEARN MORE ABOUT SUPREME COURT CANDIDATE KYRA HARRIS BOLDEN (AND DONATE TO SUPPORT HER CAMPAIGN) AT HER CAMPAIGN WEBSITE.

So You Want To Become A School Board Member?

Our Candidate Recruitment Committee is still encouraging all interested Democrats and progressive citizens to file to run for your local school board.

THE FILING DEADLINE IS JULY 23RD.

IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN LEARNING MORE ABOUT HOW TO FILE AND RUN FOR A SEAT ON YOUR SCHOOL BOARD CHECK OUT THE FOLLOWING RESOURCES:

• The Candidate’s Guide put together by The Michigan Association of School Boards (MASB) takes you through the process of becoming a School Board candidate, and helps you understand what it takes to be an effective School Board member.

• MASB is also offering Virtual Candidate Forums throughout June and July to answer questions from prospective candidates. Information on the dates and times of the Forums is available in their Candidate’s Guide.

• The Great Lakes Political Academy (GLPA-LEAD) is offering a virtual training session for School Board candidates. This day-long training covers the key issues facing school boards, how to persuasively handle controversial issues in education today and the nuts and bolts of running for school board. The training will be offered on Saturday, August 3rd from 10 AM to 3 PM. Sign up here.

Our Next Monthly Meeting

HCDP Monthly Meetings: Unless otherwise communicated our monthly meetings are held the first Wednesday of each month. Potluck at 6 PM, Meeting at 7 PM. In the conference room at the Houghton Super 8, and by Zoom (starting at 7 PM).

NEXT MEETING: August 7th

Governmental & Community Meetings

TUE JULY 9
This month's regular meeting of the Houghton County Board of Commissioners is this afternoon at 4 PM in the Conference Room on the fifth floor of the Houghton County Courthouse. Find more information on the Board's webpage (find the Microsoft Teams virtual meeting info in the Agenda).

The Calumet Village Council Work Session Meeting is this evening at 6:00pm. This meeting is also available via Zoom. For more information consult the Events page of the village website.

THUR JULY 11

The Houghton City Council meets at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday. The Meeting Agenda can be found in the Searchable Document Center of the Council's website.

Governmental meetings are scheduled throughout the month by bodies from the County Commission to City, Village and Township boards, committees and commissions; as well as local School Boards and the Copper Country Intermediate School District.

Check by phone or on the particular governmental website for meeting notices in your community. Your participation in local government meetings lets your elected and appointed officials know you are interested in their work, and can provide you with the opportunity to speak about your concerns during public comment periods