Kingwood Area Democrats Win Best Traditional Float Trophy
It started as an idea of Kingwood Area Democrats’ newly appointed Program Chair. Fred Rosenberg knew how to start with a bang, a bang no other Kingwood Area Democrat saw coming. He told us at the May meeting he was designing a float. We all figured it would be the normal ‘float’, a well decorated truck or flatbed.
Fred Rosenberg had much more in mind. When he brought the completed design to the board meeting, we all loved it. He then told us the cost. There was first a slight gasp. One could read the eyes of many. Should Kingwood Area Democrats invest in a float or throw it all to candidates needing cash? Fred Rosenberg immediately said he would personally help defray some of the cost. Individual members did the same in order to reduce the total cost to the club. Moreover a float would be a great tool to show the stamina of the well-established Kingwood Area Democrats and attract new members. It was a green light.
The next task was a bit trickier. There are several hundred Kingwood Area Democrats. The problem is most do not do parades and other community engagements. Tony Morales, our fundraising chair stepped up and said we will get the people out. He promised. He willed it.
Marc Croes, Kingwood Area Democrats’ membership chair, not to be outdone tasked a small group of members onto the telephones. Concurrently he volunteered his home as staging for the float. Kingwood Area Democrat at large Andrea Gardner and her husband volunteered their truck and flatbed.
On Wednesday, seven people under the direction of Fred Rosenberg, float architect in chief, built the basic panels that comprised the frame. On Thursday, too many Democrats to count came out to drill, tie down, and populate the float.
Early Saturday morning, 3.5 hours before the start of the parade, several Kingwood Area Democrats drove the float to the parade staging location. The different levels of the float were attached and the patchwork completed.
About an hour before the parade, the effort by those responsible for getting people out paid off. The Kingwood Area Democrats had amassed a full contingent of Democrats ready to march in the parade.
But wait, then came the coup de grâce. Earlier on a judge had passed by and said, “Wow, I love that float.” Everyone figured that would be it. After-all, this was a float belonging to the Kingwood Area Democrats, a group that many in this very supposedly Red and Conservative community have marginalized for a long time. It would no longer be so. The judges came by and congratulated Kingwood Area Democrats. They had won for the best traditional float.
There is something quite fascinating. Over the last few years it seems like the crowds have been viewing Kingwood Area Democrats in a different light. The barrage of jeers were no more. A pride filled group of Democrats who believe in true Democratic values and a strong Progressive tenet was ever present. There was a pride in every Democrat’s face in that parade. They all exuded a powerful resolve. Many watching the parade saw that and felt that. Many watching that parade knew that their home is really not where the peer pressure of the community led them to be. Their home and their values are really with those Democrats they watched in the 4th of July parade.
To those, Kingwood Area Democrats want to extend a welcome. Visit KingwoodAreaDemocrats.org and be a part of a better tomorrow.