[PenDems (112)] On The Road To Change

  PenDemorandum 

* For up-to-the-minute calendar updates,
  visit http://pendem.org
* We work to keep the PenDemorandum brief!
  For more details on PenDemorandum items,
  please follow the web links!

Sept 30, Oct 7,11,14,21: Democracy In Action Candidate Forums
All Forums are held from 6:30 to 9 pm and include
legislative candidates in the specified District from all parties.
Tue Sept. 30: District 29 - Ramada Inn, I-90 Stagebarn exit
Tue Oct. 7: District 33 - Whispering Pines Volunteer Fire Dept, 7980 Clarkson Rd
Sat Oct. 11: District 31 - Matthews Opera House, Spearfish
Tue Oct 14: District 33 - Douglas Middle School, Box Elder
Tue Oct 21: District 35 - Valley View Elementary School, Rapid City
See the DIA calendar: http://sddia.org/showEventCalendar.asp

Democracy In Action Issue Forums
These forums are free admission, and include the
opportunity for open questions from the audience
Thu Oct 16 7-9 pm, Dakota Middle School
  Sacred Choices and Abortion: 10 New Things to Think About
  Panel: Pastors for Moral Choices
Thu Oct 30, 7-9 pm, Dakota Middle School
  Medical and Legal Ramifications of Initiated Measure 11
  Panel: Local doctors and lawyers
See the DIA calendar: http://sddia.org/showEventCalendar.asp

Thu Oct 2, 4 pm: Zonta Expo, Rushmore Plaza Civic Center
Pendems will have a booth, so come on by!
If you are able to help, please call the PenDem office
at 721-1636

Thu Oct 2, 6:30 pm: Watch the VP debate!
Sen. Biden and Gov. Palin will face each other this Thursday night,
and you are invited to join us to see it from the West River Dems HQ!
552 Kirkeby Ln (next door to Walgreens in west Rapid City)
You will also have the opportunity to find out how you can volunteer
to help the Obama campaign here in South Dakota. Yes, we can!
http://my.barackobama.com/page/event/detail/debatewatchparty/gshfg9

Fri Oct 3, 12 noon: First Friday Forum features candidates
PenDems meet for lunch at the Radisson Hotel.
Featured speakers are legislative candidates from
Districts 30, 34, and 35. Lunch is $12 at the door.
For more information, contact Nadine Thomas, 391-2762
http://www.democrats.org/page/event/detail/4vzsw

Sat Oct 4:  M-Day Parade
PenDems will participate in the M-Day Parade.
Keep the morning open and watch for details!
http://www.democrats.org/page/event/detail/4vzs4

Sat Oct 11, 1-4 pm: West River Dems Office Open House
The Pennington County Democratic Party, along with the
Stephanie Herseth Sandlin for South Dakota and the Coordinated
Campaign are having an open house to celebrate our opening
for full hours until the election. Come on down and celebrate!
552 Kirkeby Ln (next door to Walgreens in west Rapid City)
http://www.democrats.org/page/event/detail/4vzsg
Office Wish List:
We have great need of several items to support our Dem candidates:
* Traveling food for volunteers (granola bars etc)
* Printer, paper
* Computers/equipment (pls email democrats@pendem.org for details)
* Call 721-1636 to offer donations

Oct 10-12:  PenDems at the Black Hills Pow Wow
Pennington County Democrats (candidates and volunteers)
will have a presence at this year's Pow Wow. On Oct 11 we will
be serving a meal in the evening. Also, special Democratic guests are expected
for the Grand Entry on Sun Oct 12.
http://www.democrats.org/page/event/detail/4vzst

BE PART OF THE ACTION
The Pennington County Democratic Party is recruiting
election day volunteers now. We need help in a variety
of areas from precinct to county to West River and
statewide activities. Sign up now to be in the thick
of the action on this historic election day.

No matter what your interests and abilities, there is
an election-day activity where you can make a difference.
Please call 721-1636, or come down to the West River HQ.
More details here (you can even sign up online):
http://www.democrats.org/page/event/detail/4vzsl

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[PenDems (111)] TONIGHT District 34 Forum, PenDems meet Thursday

PenDemorandum

For continuous updates on the calendar, visit http://pendem.org

Tue Sep 23 (TONIGHT, 6:30/7pm):
District 34 DIA Candidate Forum
Canyon Lake Senior Center
2900 Canyon Lake Drive, Rapid City
Please come out and support our District 34
Democratic candidates (These include: Lisa Cook,
Bonny Petersen, House; Gary Hargens, Senate).
6:30p: Coffee, cookies with the candidates
7pm-9pm: Forum, featuring all District 34 Legislative candidates

This is the second candidate forum sponsored by
Democracy in Action (http://sddia.org)
The DIA candidate forums this year feature our
excellent field of Democratic candidates, so they
are not to be missed. Try to keep your Tuesday evenings
clear!  The event is free and open to the public.
Next Tuesday: District 29 Forum, same time, I-90 Stagebarn exit
DIA calendar: http://sddia.org/showEventCalendar.asp

Stuff it! (please!)
Stuffing envelopes and other important activity is
in full gear down at the West River HQ.  If you can lend in
the afternoons, please democrats@pendem.org or call 716-3391.
The place is looking great! http://qurl.com/bd5nm

Fall 2008 Election Begins Now
The Nov 4 election is underway with
with early voting at the County Courthouse.
Please vote now and encourage your friends!
All voters can verify registration and get sample ballots 
(online now!) at the Secretary of State's Voter Information
Portal: http://apps.sd.gov/applications/st25cers/
Voter registration is open until October 20.
You can download voter registration forms here:
http://votepennco.com/docs/voterregform.pdf

Thu Sept 25, 6pm: Pennington Democrats Meet
West River Democratic Campaign HQ, 552 Kirkeby Lane, Rapid City
(between Fischer Furniture and Walgreen's on the West Side)
Agenda: Get Out the Vote Preview and Planning
Come share the excitement of this 2008 election!
See you there.

Fri Sep 26, 6pm: Presidential Debate, West River Dem HQ
Come support Obama and the Democratic Party!
http://qurl.com/dsgjh
As part of the recent office remodeling, we have a sound
system hooked up to the TV so everyone will be able
to hear every word!
South Dakota for Obama has a growing staff and is
gearing up, so please come hear about that too!
West River Dem HQ, 552 Kirkeby Ln (West Side Walgreens)
Yes we can!

Headquarters is Ready to Go!

Yesterday, a lot of effort was put into the West River Democratic Party Headquarters. I was planning on going out canvassing for Obama with Eric Abrahamson, Kristin Aschenbrenner, Bethany Wojahn, Tom Katus, and many others, but it was not to be. (By the way, KEVN deserves a lot of credit for their first-class effort at local news, including this story about yesterday's Obama canvassing!) Please thank them!

Lois Facer was a huge help to us in laying out the office-- we were on awe of her eye for how things will "work" in the room--and with Jane Murphy and Erin McCarrick did most of the dragging stuff around.

Email democrats@pendem.org if you can help and we'll get you on deck. Or feel free to come by, say hi, pick up some campaign signs, or sign up to help.

Our office is at 552 Kirkeby Lane on the West Side of Rapid City, right behind the west-side Walgreens. Hope to see you there soon!

[PenDems (109)] Election Update: Ballots are online!

PenDemorandum

For continuous updates on the calendar, visit http://pendem.org

Right Now: Stuff it! (and more!)
Beginning this week, we need your help at headquarters with mailing
and phoning. As PUC Candidate Matt McLarty so persuasively put it
at Oktoberfest, this is the time. If you can lend a hand any afternoon
down at our PenDem HQ, please call: 721-1636 or email
democrats@pendem.org.

Sat Sept 20: Hit the Streets for Obama
11am Saturday, at the West River Dem Office
(West Main next to Walgreen's)
It's time to energize the community and raise awareness
about early voting!!!! Join us for some canvassing and help
hand out fliers in downtown Rapid City.
Whether it is for an hour or the afternoon,
come show your support for Obama/Biden!

Tue Sept 23: The Fall 2008 Election Begins Now
The Nov 4 election will officially begin a week from Tuesday
with early voting at the County Courthouse.
All voters can and should verify registration and get sample ballots 
(online now!) at the Secretary of State's Voter Information
Portal: http://apps.sd.gov/applications/st25cers/
Voter registration is available until October 20.
You can download voter registration forms here:
http://votepennco.com/docs/voterregform.pdf

Thu Sept 25, 6p Pennington Democrats Meet
PenDem HQ, 552 Kirkeby Lane
(between Fischer Furniture and Walgreen's on the West Side)
Come share the excitement of this 2008 election!
See you there.

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The PenDemorandum is a publication of the Pennington County Democratic Party. Please forward it along to your friends! Back issues are posted at http://pendem.org -- click the "Blog" link.

To subscribe, send a message to pendems-subscribe@googlegroups.com
To unsubscribe, send a message to pendems-unsubscribe@googlegroups.com
For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/pendems
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Hit the Streets for Obama - in Rapid City on Saturday

This Saturday, Dems are gathering to canvass door to door and let people know that early voting begins on Tuesday.

Pennington County West River Headquarters
552 Kirkeby Lane, Rapid City
(between Fischer Furniture and Walgreen's on the West Side)
Saturday Sept 20, 11:00 am

Come Hit the Streets for Obama this Saturday. Its time to energize the community and raise awareness about early voting!!!! Join us for some canvassing and help hand out fliers in downtown Rapid City. This will help us kick off the campaign season. Whether it is for an hour or the afternoon, come show your support for Obama!

Please forward to anyone you think might be interested.

[PenDems (108)] The Election Starts Next Tuesday

PenDemorandum

For continuous updates on the calendar, visit http://pendem.org

Right Now: Stuff it! (and more!)
Beginning this week, we need your help at headquarters with mailing
and phoning. As PUC Candidate Matt McLarty so persuasively put it
at Oktoberfest, this is the time. If you can lend a hand any afternoon
down at our PenDem HQ, please call: 721-1636 or email
democrats@pendem.org.

Tue Sep 16: Step Up For Children
Central High School, 4-6 pm
This is a non-partisan nationally coordinated event to draw public
attention to children's issues. This is the only event scheduled in
South Dakota, so we are fortunate to have it in Rapid City!  Our local
candidates will answer questions from moderators Sid Goss, Eileen
Fleishacker, and from the audience. There will also be displays from
Black Hills area organizations that are active in promoting children
and family issues.
http://qurl.com/1kyv8

Tue Sep 16: District 32 DIA Candidate Forum
West Hills Village, Multi-Purpose Room
255 Texas Street, Rapid City
6:30p: Coffee, cookies with the candidates
7pm: Forum
This is the first of many candidate forums DIA is holding all over West
River. Hurray for DIA for opening the election process to everyone.
This forum will be a great opportunity to compare (and contrast!) our
fine Democratic candidates with their Republican and Independent
opponents.
http://qurl.com/cmwcn

Wed Sept 17: Constitution Day at West Dakota Tech
11 am – 2pm, (Program 12-1)
Feature speakers at noon are House candidates from both sides of
the aisle: our own Eric Abrahamson (D-32) and David Lust (R-34).
All candidates are invited to come and bring their campaign literature.
This is a great opportunity to meet voters from all over the area that
attend and work at WDT.
We will also be registering voters!

Tue Sept 23: Fall 2008 Election Begins
The Nov 4 election will begin a week from Tuesday
with early voting at the County Courthouse.
All voters can and should verify registration and get sample ballots 
(when they are published) at the Secretary of State's Voter Information
Portal: http://apps.sd.gov/applications/st25cers/
Voter registration is available until October 20.
You can download voter registration forms here:
http://votepennco.com/docs/voterregform.pdf

Thu Sept 25, 6p Pennington Democrats Meet
PenDem HQ, 552 Kirkeby Lane
(between Fischer Furniture and Walgreen's on the West Side)
Come share the excitement of this 2008 election!
See you there.

Step Up For Children in Rapid City

Candidates from the four Rapid City state legislative districts (a total of 25 potential individuals) have been invited to a forum on children's issues, moderated by Sid Goss and Eileen Fleishacker.

Tuesday, September 16 Step Up For Children Candidate Forum Central High School 4-6 pm

At the forum each candidate will be introduced and asked questions on children's issues in South Dakota. Following the prepared questions, those attending the forum will be able to ask questions of the candidates by submitting them to the moderators. Each candidate will be given time to make closing remarks.

Children's organizations that work in the Black Hills area will have information and are there to provide information to candidates and the general public.

This event will be a wonderful focus on children's issues. Come on out!

For more information on Step Up For Children, visit:
http://www.qurl.com/fdtmn

Abrahamson promotes democracy!

House candidate Eric Abrahamson, with his partner candidates Tom Katus and Bethany Wojahn, and many others have been circulating petitions to change the way the Rapid City school board is elected. The goal is to create a more open process- only one of the current school board members was elected, the rest have been appointed or run unopposed.

As we work to open up Pierre to solutions, Eric and others feel it's also important to make our local government more open and participatory as well.

Campaign for School Board Election Reform
Organizing Meeting
7:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Rapid City Public Library

Everyone is Welcome.
Please bring your petitions. We will have a notary available.
You can pick up more new petitions at the meeting.

For questions, call Eric Abrahamson at 484-3820 or email eabraha@mindspring.com

DIA District 32 Candidate Forum!

This is the first of many candidate forums DIA is holding all over West River. Hurray for DIA for opening the election process to everyone. This forum will be a great opportunity to compare (and contrast!) our fine Democratic candidats with their Republican opponents (and a certain Independent I bet we can expect to show up!).

Mark your calendars!

Tuesday, September 16, 2008
6:30p: Coffee & Cookies with the Candidates; 7p: Forum
West Hills Village, Multi-Purpose Room
255 Texas Street, Rapid City

Please download, print, and post this flyer! (pdf file)

District 32 team out in Robbinsdale next week

Tom Katus, Eric Abrahamson, and Bethany Wojahn have been hitting the doors for months... but now it's time to meet them in public!



Please print and share the pdf version of this flyer.

Oktoberfest today!

Just a reminder about Oktoberfest -- come meet our candidates tonight, 5-9 pm at the Old Governor's mansion!

The event will feature our local candidates... good words, a cash bar, and also our own Erin McCarrick will be providing...



Click below for more details, or ...
download, print and post the flyer! (oktfeset08.pdf, 1.4MB)

You can RSVP at democrats.com too!

Breakfast with Rep. Herseth Sandlin

Local candidates attended a fund raiser with Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin on Thursday morning down at the Radisson. It was great to hear from her what's happening in Congress, and she spent time talking to the candidates about their campaigns and encouraging our local efforts to make South Dakota an even better place to live. Thank you Stephanie, we support you and thank you for your support of our efforts!


Left to right: Dennis Finch (Senate-33), Theresa Spry (Senate-35), Lisa Cook (House-34), Bethany Wojahn (House-32), Rep. Herseth Sandlin, Eric Abrahamson (House-32), Kim Henderson (House-33), Jeff Nelsen (House-33), and State Sen. Tom Katus (Senate-32 [incumbent])

[PenDems (107)] This Thursday, Friday, Saturday

  PenDemorandum  

Thu Sep 4 6pm Pennington County Dems meet
Two months out from the election and what do you get? A group of Dem friends, building a winning 2008 campaign and laying the groundwork for moving even further forward in 2010!
Come early at 5:15pm for an update on the Dem Convention experience.
The business meeting will then begin at 6pm and will complete early
so folks can carpool to  the District 29 event directly after:

Thu Sep 4 6pm-8pm District 29 Soiree
We can conveniently carpool to this event from the PenDem meeting!
Supporting Dist 29 legislative candidates Levin, Burns, MacPherson
Hosted by Jane Murphy/Dale Lamphere/John & Bernadette Usera
http://penndemocrats.blogspot.com/2008/09/district-29-soiree-thursday.html

Fri Sep 5 11:30 am First Friday Forum, Radisson
Featuring State Senate Minority Leader Scott Heidepriem,
this promises to be informative and inspiring as we swing into
the 2008 election season. You may know, Scott is a strong agent for
positive change in Pierre. (More on Scott: http://www.scottheidepriem.com/)
Local legislative candidates from 32 and 33 will also
be featured at this event!
http://penndemocrats.blogspot.com/2008/08/scott-heidepreim-in-rapid-city-sept-5.html
http://www.democrats.org/page/event/detail/4vkfy
 

Sat Sep 6, 5-9 pm
OKTOBERFEST
Old Governor's Mansion

It's time for the Pennington County Democratic Party's
signature event of the year!
All you can eat/live music/beer/brats/etc
Tickets: $25-person/$40-fam/$20-seniors/$10-students
PLEASE BUY TICKETS FROM YOUR LOCAL CANDIDATES!
Advance tickets sold by candidates go 100% to their campaigns!
(Tickets will also be available at the door.)
http://penndemocrats.blogspot.com/2008/08/oktoberfest.html
http://www.democrats.org/page/event/detail/4vk8r
NOTE THE NEW LOCATION: Old Governor's Mansion,
Just east of Rapid Valley on Hwy 44
Directions: Head out toward the airport on 44 and look for the signs.
Here's a map with more detail:  http://www.qurl.com/kkt5g

District 29 Soiree Thursday

You Are Cordially Invited To Attend

End of Summer Soiree for Legislative District 29 Candidates

Dennis Levin • Fred McPherson • Bob Burns

Hosted By Dale Lamphere & Jane Murphy • John & Bernadette Usera

Thursday, September 4th, 2008

6:00 – 8:00 PM

Candidate Contributions Encouraged and Greatly Appreciated

Lamphere & Murphy • Cabin & Studio

21079 Cardinal Place, Sturgis

I-90 Exit #37 • Pleasant Valley Road • One Mile East to Cardinal Place

Turn Left • Turn Left at Green Mailbox • Up the Hill to the Cabin • Carpooling Always Encouraged
Democratic National Convention Door Prizes!!

NO RSVP Required – Questions: jcmurphy@wildblue.net

Friday Press Event for Heidepriem and local candidates from District 32 & 33

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, September 1, 2008
For More Information Contact: Nadine Thomas, First Friday Forum Chair, 605-391-2762

South Dakota State Senate Minority Leader Scott Heidepriem, along with local legislative candidates from District 32 and 33, will be available to meet with members of the press at 11:30 am at the Radisson Hotel in Rapid City prior to addressing the Pennington County Democratic First Friday Forum on Friday, September 5, 2008. Local candidates include District 32 State Senator Tom Katus, House candidates Eric Abrahamson and Bethany Wojahn, District 33 Senate candidate Dennis Finch and House candidates Jeff Nelson and Kim Henderson.

The luncheon begins at 12 noon at the Radisson with a cost of $12.00.