I have just returned home from Thanksgiving at my Mom’s. Four brothers, two sisters, most of their spouses, two nephews, six nieces, a grand niece, a cousin, and a first cousin once removed were all part of the festivities. We had a great time. I did work on convincing as many of them as I could to vote for Mike Capuano. I made great progress!
The main reason for this post is to link to this Herald story about volunteers in all the senate campaigns.
But Attleboro centenarian (Irene) Davey, introduced at a Capuano veterans forum as Massachusetts’ oldest living World War II vet, takes the cake – or pumpkin pie – as my campaign vol of the year.
Spunky and straightforward, she’s a walking ad for Capuano’s championing of veterans’ services and a cheerleader. “I’m on a high and I’ll tell you why,” she told the forum. “We can’t just believe in our man and can’t just tell people about him, though we surely have to do that. But we’ve got to vote and get other people to vote.”
Davey also sees the strengths of the opposition. “That Martha Coakley is a go-getter. But she won’t do the job like this man. He’s tenacious and we have to be tenacious, too and get ’em out there to vote.”
She recalled the day she joined the Army, March 30, 1943. Her husband was thinking about enlisting. “I told him, ‘If you’re going, I’m going.’ So I marched on down to sign up for the Army and he went into the Air Force.” She served in the motor transportation corps.
Davey now gets around in a wheelchair, but she’s got stamina and a grip as strong as a teenager’s. “I’m gonna be on the phone on election day from 7:30 in the morning until the polls close at night,” she vowed.
There are some great stories about volunteers from all the campaigns. I agree with Wayne Woodlief that Irene Davey has the best story.
Anyone have any volunteer stories to share? Thanksgiving stories?
Kate, thanks for sharing this great story. We’re all so thankful for everyone who has taken time and energy to help Mike’s campaign. We couldn’t have come this far without them and they’re why Mike will win!
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p>Mike first met Irene after an “Open Mike” in Attleboro. Someone who attended told him about an 101 year old woman, a World War II vet, who wanted to come see him but couldn’t make it out that day. So Mike and his wife Barbara swung by Irene’s house after the event to visit this amazing woman. When they met, Irene told him she had just given her absentee ballot to the mailman.
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p>She voted for Mike đŸ™‚
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p>Trust me. If you get the chance to meet Irene, you will understand why Wayne Woodlief was so impressed by her.
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p>Happy Thanksgiving Irene!
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p>- Roger
Check this out:
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p>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v…
Thank you for posting. Kudos to the campaign for having a great website including the ‘I like Mike’ video wall. Nice work.
Went out and about town today talking up Mike Capuano and what a great Senator he will be. Went to an antique/junk store. Since my silly 12 year old son wants an old fashioned manual typewriter for Christmas, I could multi task. So with campaign material in hand I went into the store and was met by a really sweet 90 year old man.
I brought up Mike’s campaign while we were looking over a very old manual typewriter. The gentlemen said he was voting for Martha Coakley. I asked him if he would consider changing his vote to Capuano, then went on to tell him about all of Mike’s great qualities. I told him that Mike is a feisty fighter who will represent the middle class and Main St America the same way he has in the House of Representatives. I told him that Mike will read every bill that comes up for debate in the Senate and be very careful about which ones he will support and which ones he won’t. I told him I have studied the candidates and found that Mike is the very best choice we have among the four candidates and we are very fortunate he is running.
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p>I handed him the pamphlet and went on my way to peruse all of that awesome old stuff. Came across a 1950’s Ladies Home Journal Magazine, which included “32 pages of Vacation
Fashions.” (how could I pass it up!) Brought it to the counter where this delightful man was now standing. Asked him what he wanted for the magazine. He said 35 cents. He was standing there studying Mikes campaign pamphlet — reading it over carefully. Noting where Mike went to school and that he lived in Somerville. Started telling me the story of his time in the National Guard? when he was stationed in Somerville. He said he didn’t like anyone in his group. I said “UH OH”, were they all from Somerville? He said “no”, they were from all over. Then he proceeded to tell me his military story. Glad to hear it wasn’t Somerville he disliked, only the people he was stationed with. (I really do love to hear the stories our elders have to share. They are a walking history, with so much information. When they are gone, the stories are gone, so I value the moments they give sharing their history.) We talked for quite a few minutes. He had to go tend to another customer, so I left 50 cents on the counter for the magazine and thanked him. As I was walking away, he said that he would take a good look at Mike’s campaign pamphlet, and that he thought he may just be interested in voting for Mike Capuano instead. I told him I thought that would be excellent, and that I hoped very much that he would.
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p>A potential “change of mind”. Those are the hardest of all.
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p>I had a beautiful day talking with people about Mike’s campaign for U.S. Senate. I think I’ve pulled in at least a few votes. But if those people talk to a few more people, and those people talk to 10 more people–so on, and so forth.
I know that wasn’t the point of this comment, but that’s the line that caught my attention. Maybe there’s hope that our electronic do-dads won’t become extentions of EVERYBODY’s body!
While he does like the new electronics, he is also interested in the old stuff too. He loves to watch the old “Twilight Zone” shows. He watches “Bewitched” too. He is very intrigued by the past.
My 12-year-old son wants a manual typewriter, too! Hmmm….. Is some coup afoot, organized by 12-year-olds through a network of communication produced on manual typewriters?
There must be a viral video somewhere making the manual typewriter the new cool. I have yet to get out of my son exactly why he wants it, he just does. I’m surprised they still sell them. It will be interesting to watch him use it.
She’s now 23, she wanted it while she was in high school.
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p>My daughter sought the tactile connection to the real world that a manual typewriter offers. I have the sense that, as an artist, she responds to the direct connection between her fingers and the resulting page — sort of like the difference between a paint-loaded brush and a drawing program.
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p>While I satisfied such longings for myself decades ago (I typed far too many pages in my distant youth), I have a similar preference for a real piano with real keys over its electronic counterparts. It’s more than just the sound — its the physical connection to the real world.
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p>On the other hand, maybe our children like pulling apart clumps of jammed typeheads and the glorious sound the cylinder makes when you pull the spoiled page out and start over again after the third typo.
there is nothing like the real thing.
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p>I could handle using the old manual typewriters as long as it had a correction tape. I’m a typo maniac, it was very difficult back in the day. You also need strong finger strength to type on those manuals, far different than what we are used to today. That was one of the skills you had to acquire in typing class. The power to hit those A’s and P’s with enough force to have a strong print on the paper.