My first meeting as a member of the Luzerne County Democratic Committee

Semi-random image: Copper inlaid tables, Stookey's Famous Bar-B-Que, West Nanticoke, PA, June 22, 2010

The Luzerne County Democratic Committee held its first meeting since the elections - not at Stookey's, pictured above, but at the Ramada in Wilkes-Barre. There were well over two hundred elected representatives from throughout Luzerne County, young, old, and in-between, about a 50/50 mix of males and females (as required, oddly enough, by election rules). There were some people who were obviously politically ambitious, some people who had written themselves into office and won (as opposed to me, who was written in by a friend as a joke and won), some people who seemed to be there mainly for the social aspect, and more than a few who were there because of potential networking opportunities with an eye toward future employment. (I will admit, the thought has crossed my mind as well.)

We gathered in a spacious room with a lousy PA system, and after determining the presence of a quorum and reciting the Pledge of Allegiance got down to the business of voting for a chairman. Three names were nominated and immediately seconded. We then got down to voting by secret ballot. The distribution of ballots took roughly forever, and the counting of the ballots took twice as long, during which I took the opportunity to get to know some of the people in my immediate vicinity - which included, oddly, another person from Nanticoke and a guy very familiar with the one new business in town to actually be thriving right now - Tommyboy's Bar and Grill. He was also very interested in Marcellus Shale issues, so I hope to be having some conversations with him on that in the future.

We'll be having a regional meeting of a smaller subgroup of representatives next week at a place called Happy Pizza. Well, the name sounds promising...