To run for County Board, even if you’re an incumbent as I am, you have to get fifty signatures from voters in your district to get on the ballot. One can start on December 1 and must be done by the end of December. For me as a blind person, I need to enlist friends to walk door to door with me.  Here’s a log of our week of street walking:

December 1:      I  started gathering signatures; got 13 in an hour and a half. The friend who was helping pointed out that helpers had better bring a flashlight, because it’s dark by five and should bring two pens because they freeze. Keeping the pens in an inner pocket helps too. 

December 2:  I had a one-hour signature gathering at Democratic HQ and got one signature. The  coffee was excellent and I got some good advice from a state representative and party honchos.  Calvin was his noble self after cleaning all crumbs from the floor that he could reach. Only 36  more signatures to go.

Dec. 3: Mid-afternoon on a Sunday, fewer people were home (or didn’t want to get up from watching football) so I got nine signatures in an hour and a half. The gal who helped me said it was like trick or treat, but you don’t get any candy.  Again, pleasant people to talk with and Calvin makes friends with all critters.

December 5: Another example of the kindnesses that surround me: after a day of substituting in a kindergarten, a retired teacher friend walked the walk with me to get more signatures; we’re up to almost two thirds. A neighbor shoveled my walk and another friend babysat Calvin while I spent two hours at the dentist. By the time the three-hour County Board meeting was done at ten PM, Calvin and I fell into bed.

December 6: Another fine walk with a gal who had grown up in the neighborhood so could tell me who lived there thirty years ago; fun walk down memory lane for her, too.

Dec. 7: A retired friend brought me 29 signatures from two apartment buildings and a longtime resident of the neighborhood helped me get ten more.  I’m done and another friend will take me to the County building tomorrow to turn them in. It took a village, but we did it within a week. 

December 8: I turned in 79 signatures and 77 were approved. I’ll be on the ballot, thanks to a team of friends! The seven friends who walked with me and the seventy-seven who signed remind me of the sacred duty of serving so that “government of the people, by the people and for the people shall not perish,” as Lincoln said.