PCDC Minutes

Minutes of June 6, 2024 Monthly Meeting

West Luray Rec Center, Luray, VA

Attendees: Wendy Brown, Patrick Burns, Tom Dawson, Gary Grant, Suzanne Grant, Clyde Humphrey, Betty Karp, Herbert Karp, Bill King, Lucia King, John Mayeux, Miles Morimoto, Sandra Schaberl, Bette Schmidt, Chip Taggart, and Kathleen White

Guest: Sara Finn

Call to Order at 6:40 p.m.

92. Minutes and Treasurer’s Report –The minutes of the May meeting were not readily available and will be presented next month. Therefore, approval of the minutes was tabled. The Treasurer’s Report showed a monthly beginning balance on May 1, 2024, was $10,092.61, and an ending balance on May 31 of $9,760.27. Expenses included rent for meeting space and Headquarters, a donation to the Ken Mitchell campaign, cost for attending the DPVA rural Caucus, and expenses for the Annual Dinner. Income included donations, sponsors, and ticket sales for the Annual Dinner.
93. Elections
94. Ken Mitchell Campaign – the campaign has had some staff changes, and needs more fundraising.

• Rack Card – a rack card announcing our Annual dinner fundraiser on one side and introducing/promoting Ken Mitchell for Congress on the other side has been printed and is being distributed
• Postcard Mailer – A postcard to introduce and sponsor Ken Mitchell for Congress was designed by PCDC members and is ready to send to Page County voters. However, the changeover and subsequent seeming lull in the Mitchell campaign raised the question whether to send the postcard within the week as originally planned, or to wait and send it later. The discussion also pointed out that following the Presidential debate, some immediate support for Biden feels needed. The following motion was made:
• Betty Karp made a motion and Patrick Burns seconded it to hold the Mitchell postcard until sometime after sending a combined Biden/Kaine/Mitchell postcard as soon as it can be printed. The motion passed.

1. HQ Update – The Headquarters office is up and running. Volunteers are needed to staff it, especially in July. Hours through August 2nd include Wednesdays and Thursdays, 1:00-4:00 p.m., and Fridays and Saturdays, 1:00-5:00 p.m. (Hours will be extended beginning on August 3^rd). Volunteers can sign up in person at 44 East Main St. in Luray, or online, by requesting access instructions from Miles Morimoto or Bette Schmidt.
2. VAN Training and Canvassing – Miles has secured access to the VAN. Are there other members who would like to utilize it? The VAN is especially useful for canvassing. Volunteers are needed for canvassing.
3. Signs and Ads – Campaign signs are up along county roads, including most recently along Rt. 340 just south of Shenandoah, and the ad in the online Page Valley News has been updated.
4. Sharing Resources with other County Parties – Miles Morimoto reported that the PCDC gave a copy of our website to Bath County to aid them in reaching voters. Eleanor Ames created a new logo for them. Thank you, Eleanor, for all your work on the website for both PCDC and other county parties.

• PCDC Organization –

1. 2024 PCDC Annual Dinner Fundraiser – the PCDC Annual Dinner will be held at The Barn in Egypt Bend on Sunday, June 30^th, at 5:30 p.m. A social hour will begin the evening with live music and appetizers and drinks, followed by dinner and speakers. Representative Don Beyer will be the keynote speaker, and Candidate Ken Mitchell for Congress will speak as well. A silent auction and a live auction will be held. The local high school scholarship recipients of the Barbara Hansboro Scholarship given by PCDC have been invited to attend and be recognized. Tickets are $60 each.
2. PCDC Election Donations – Clyde Humphrey reported that Federal Election Commission (FEC) regulations for how and in what amounts the committee can donate to campaigns includes being able to contribute not more than $1000 in direct contributions to individual campaigns in a federal elections year. However, a separate threshold of not more than $5000 can be contributed to the Party.
3. Delegate Convention – The DPVA delegate convention will be June 22 in Richmond. Miles Morimoto is planning to attend.
4. Community Outreach Coordinator Needed – The PCDC is seeking someone to fill this role. The main tasks would be to contact and work with PCDC District Chairs for events, volunteer recruitment, GOTV tasks, and Early Voting and Election Day staffing, as well as to plan physical presence and branding for the PCDC.
5. Scholarship Program – The winner from Page County High School of the 2024 scholarship in the amount of $2000 is Elizabeth Ramos. The winner from Luray High School is Isabelle Drain. That scholarship was also $2000.  The Education Foundation selected the winning recipients. Both scholarship winners have been invited to the PCDC Annual Dinner.
6. Roadside Clean-up – the spring cleanup of our designated stretch of highway was held Saturday, May 11^th. Thank you, volunteers, for your work.
7. Community Engagement
8. “Community Works”–

• Sara Finn reported that Good Deeds Day took place on four days across two weeks. Thank you to the volunteers.
• Free Market Fridays – Daughter of the Starts Farmers Market will be held on July 6^th and 13^th. Volunteers are needed to help hand out healthy snacks and to help visitors plant a plant to take with them. This is sponsored by Community Works, Daughters of the Stars Farmers Market, and PACA.
• Letters to the Editor – CW has a team to do draft letters, but needs someone to volunteer to send them in or draft their own letters.
• Community Works T-shirts – are still available.
• Another RAM event – will be held in September. Volunteers are needed.
• Request regarding PCDC 2024 budget item for Community Works – Chip Taggart made a motion in response to the request from Community Works to return $500 of the budget line item amount allotted to them in the 2024 budget, with the stipulation that it be donated to the Friends of the Shenandoah River for Page County water testing sites. Patrick Burns seconded the motion. The motion passed.

1. New Business

Page Valley Agricultural and Industrial Fair – the annual Fair will be held August 17-24, 2024. The PCDC always has a presence, and it is vital that we do so again this year.

1. Volunteers are needed to plan and put up our booth presentation, and more volunteers are needed to staff it during Fair Week. A lead person is needed to be Chairperson. (John Mayeux and Chip Taggart have volunteered to help. More persons needed!)
2. Clyde Humphrey made a motion to spend $250 to reserve two (2) booths at the Page Valley Fair. Sandy Schaberl seconded the motion. The motion passed.

Meeting adjourned at 8:20 p.m.

Next monthly meeting – July 11, 2024, 6:30 p.m. at The Rec in Luray, VA

Respectfully submitted,

Sandra Schaberl, Secretary, PCDC

Minutes of May 2, 2024 Monthly Meeting

West Luray Rec Center, Luray, VA

Attendees: Patrick Burns, Tom Dawson, Gary Grant, Greg Gray, Penny Gray, Skip Halpern, Clyde Humphrey, Betty Karp, Herbert Karp, Bill King, David Kinsey, John Mayeux, Miles Morimoto, Sandra Schaberl, Chip Taggart, and Kathleen White

Guest: Sara Finn

Call to Order at 6:34 p.m.

996. Minutes and Treasurer’s Report –The minutes of the April meeting were approved. The monthly beginning balance on April 1, 2024, was $19,996.77. The ending balance on April 30 was $10,092.6. Expenses included rent for meeting space and Headquarters, Chamber of Commerce annual membership, and road signs.
997. Elections
998. HQ Status – The Headquarters office will open on May 5^th. There will be an opening gathering at 1:00 p.m. on that Saturday. A volunteer schedule is being made to staff the office from now through Election Day. People are encouraged to sign up for a slot or several time slots. Thank you to Bettie Schmidt for all her efforts in getting the HQ up and running.
999. Ken Mitchell Campaign – the campaign continues to ramp up. He has been encouraged to refine his message.

• An endorsement program is being developed to garner support across the state and locally. As this develops, the hope is to roll it out to other counties.
• Rural fundraising events for Mitchell are needed. Here in Page County a fundraising event is being planned to be held at the Daughters of the Stars Theater in Stanley. Thank you, Patrick Burns, for hosting this. Details to be announced.
• Sandy Schaberl made a motion and Patrick Burns seconded it to send $200 as a donation to the Ken Mitchell campaign. The motion passed.

1. VAN Training – A lead person is needed to head up training locally to use this vital tool to reach voters.
2. Intercounty Tools – Miles Morimoto created a graphic featuring Biden, Kaine and Mitchell. This is now on a billboard. Shenandoah County is going to print it on 7000 postcards to send to their voters.
3. Postcards –

• The “Friends” postcard campaign initiated by Penny Gray is about ready to be implemented. Penny and Greg Gray agree to help with the printing cost. Betty Karp and Chip Taggart will help plan timing and help for the mailing.
• Sandy Schaberl suggested a second postcard campaign in August or September that would feature all three candidates – Biden/Harris, Kaine, and Mitchell (using the graphic mentioned above) and whose text include voter registration info, early voting dates, and Election Day information. No final decision was made on that.

1. Signs – Campaign signs are up at headquarters and also along Rt. 340 on Roger Davis’ property. (Davis shared that he has a lot of Republican friends and he is concerned they don’t understand they are voting against their own interests.)

• PCDC Organization –

1. 2024 PCDC Annual Dinner Fundraiser – the location for the dinner has not worked out in the past 2 months, so Miles Morimoto will take care of reserving The Barn. Representative Don Beyer will be the keynote speaker. Final details are working out.
2. PCDC Election Donations – clarification is requested to understand the Federal Election Commission (FEC) regulations for how and in what amounts the committee can donate to campaigns. Clyde Humphrey agreed to look into this.
3. PCDC Website – Access our new website at pcdems.org Also note that the website has two ActBlue buttons now. One is for the Annual Dinner ticket purchases. The other is for direct donations to the PCDC. This is a convenient way for donations to be made online.
4. Scholarship Program – the update for the 2024 scholarships is that Page County High School has received 23 applications for the PCDC scholarships. The number received at Luray High School is not known. The Education Foundation is in the process of going through the applications, and they will select the winning recipients in about two weeks. It was brought up to invite them to the Annual Dinner, like we did last year.
5. Roadside Clean-up – the spring cleanup will be held Saturday, May 11, beginning at 8:00 a.m. Volunteers will meet at the Greenway parking lot next to Linden Avenue. Thank you, Lori Painter, for organizing this.
6. Community Engagement
7. “Community Works”–

• Sara Finn reported that the Shenandoah River Clean-up at Alma had 25 individuals show up to volunteer. An entire pick up truck bed worth of trash was collected.
• Supply Drive for the Rec – Supplies will be collected during a Bethel Baptist church fundraising meal on May 18^th from 11:00 a.m. through 3:00 p.m.
• Poetry Contest – Sara Finn explained that a tree will be planted by Community Works along the Luray Greenway. A poem will be printed on the plaque. So if anyone wants to submit a short poem about nature, their poem might be the one featured! Deadline to submit: May 31^st
• Good Deeds Day – still in the planning
• Free Market Fridays – two (2) volunteers are needed to help on these market Fridays at the Community Gardens. The May 31^st market day will feature a plant swap.
• Video on Page Valley News (PVN)– a video about Community Works is on this online new source. Check it out.
• Page One Mentorship Program – Page One is piloting a mentorship program to help clients with problem solving skills and planning skills. They are looking for one-on-one mentors to help with guidance and budgeting. Contact Kim Harper at admin@vapageone.org or Taylor Alger, pacacommunitycoordinator@gmail.com to become a mentor.

Meeting adjourned at 7:44 p.m.

Next monthly meeting – June6, 2024, 6:30 p.m. at The Rec in Luray, VA

Respectfully submitted,

Sandra Schaberl, Secretary, PCDC

April Minutes

Minutes of April 4, 2024 Monthly Meeting

West Luray Rec Center, Luray, VA

Attendees: Patrick Burns, Deborah Costolloe, Sherry Ford, Tom Ford, Greg Gray, Penny Gray, Skip Halpern, Bill King, David Kinsey, Miles Morimoto, Gail Price, Sandra Schaberl, Bette Schmidt, and Ray Snader

Guests: Chris Burton (Kaine Campaign), Kym Crump (6^th Distict Chairperson),  Jayne Docherty (Rockingham Co.), Elena Druden (Winchester/Frederick Co.), Sara Finn (Community Works), Roger Graham, Rodney Grandon (Winchester/Frederick Co.), Jackie Masella (Warren Co.), Ken Mitchell (candidate for U.S. Rep.), Kris Nelson (Warren Co.), Ford Peatross, Joe Petralia, Patricia Petralia, Tony Reynolds (Clarke Co.), Brad Skipper (Shenandoah Co.), Bob W. Smith (Shenandoah Co.), Wayne Truax, and Kay (?)

Call to Order at 6:32 p.m.

1. Minutes and Treasurer’s Report –The minutes of the March meeting were approved. The monthly beginning balance on March 1, 2024, was $12,640.18. The ending balance on March 31 was 10,996.77.
2. PCDC Organization –
3. 2024 PCDC Annual Dinner Fundraiser – Annual Dinner Committee Chairperson Bonnie Anthony needs volunteers to be on this committee. The intended first meeting to be called was miscommunicated, so a planning meeting will be called soon.  A sign-up sheet was sent around and she will call a meeting soon. It is likely the location has changed to the Graves Center on Main St., Luray. Date, theme, menu, and speaker search are still to be decided.
4. Headquarters- The newly rented 2024 Headquarters has been set up and hours and a press release will soon be coming.
5. Call to Caucus – Page County can send a delegate to the 6^th District Caucus. Individuals would commit to two meetings, May 18 in Lexington, and June 22 in Richmond. Miles Morimoto shared a link for those interested in the email announcing the monthly meeting.
6. Rural Retreat – will be held at Natural Bridge on May 3-5

3. 6^th Congressional District Inter-County Discussions

The purpose of these discussions and of inviting everyone together at this PCDC meeting was to determine the scope of what we need to focus on and what opportunities there might be to work together and share efforts across the district to get our candidates elected.

The challenges include a tight timeframe of having only 2-3 months to get to maximum efficiency and effectiveness. It is hoped that by July everyone will be able to operate at optimal momentum so that we can get name recognition for Ken Mitchell as our candidate for U.S. Representative, and so spread our message to more than Democrats.

Some notes from each county:

1. Warren County– (Kris Nelson)

• The VAN is up and running {Call DPVA to embed in it, can pull “Mobilize” into it for Vote Builder}
• Their Chamber sets up a table at every event
• Voter Registration – hosting an Earth Day event and setting up there {Go to the Virginia Election website to be able to register more than 20 people – learn the rules}
• Partnered with NAACP that can get into schools even though the Democratic can not
• Organizing Early Voting – have people sitting at the poll site, just like on Election Day, but every day during early voting
• Door knocking, texting, phone campaigning, sending postcards
• TikTok stories featuring local Valley residents talking about what is important to local rural and small town lives. These will run in August
• To the broader 6^th District, setting up a calendar of campaign events
• There is a Google Drive set up for the CD6 – contact Lynlee Thorn; access can be shared with local Dem parties
• When knocking doors, include many more than just strong or assumed Dems; knock Independents too

2. Clark County– (Tony Reynolds)

• They have a display advertising campaign of $12,000 worth of ads. They share artwork and copy so not every committee/group has to start from scratch
• Suggests that every committee has at least one person to keep an eye on what’s happening in Ken Mitchell’s campaign
• Access El Tiempo Latino, by Washington Post; can find zip codes for election and target market in each county (Senator Tim Kaine works with them too)
• Banners hung to honor Hometown Heroes veterans touches on common ground we all have

3. Winchester/Frederick County– (Rod Grandon)

• Feels like starting from scratch here
• Working to highlight Democrat accomplishment on the county board
• Cutting and pasting to make it more efficient to submit letters and maintain tone and topic
• Facing a strong right wing group on the Chamber of Commerce that sponsors candidate forums, but Democrats are showing up and getting votes – It’s important to show up and to try to have a candidate for each open position

4. Shenandoah County- (Brad Skipper)

• They are part of “Contest Every Race” (CER) that is helping in rural areas.
• The Facebook page has had thousands of hits per month
• they publish 15-20 commentary pieces per year in the local newspaper
• they have sent thousands of text messages and 10,000 postcards
• On X (Twitter), they troll Ben Cline daily – “we need to stand up, beating Republicans at their own game; we’re effective”

5. Page County– (Penny Gray)

• Page County Treasurer Penny Gray shared a campaign strategy that she calls the “Friend and Family Letter” that has been effective for her. This approach writes a personal letter, and makes a personal connection between the writer and the candidate, sharing with voters among friends and family what is important and desirable about voting for the candidate. This could be effective to reach many voters in the 6^th Congressional District, especially to promote Ken Mitchell as our candidate for U.S. Representative against incumbent Ben Cline. This is important to build name recognition and support for Mitchell.
• Suggestion: Get at least one person in each committee to identify participants. Ask each participant to commit to at least 5, preferably 10 letters, and to possibly think of 5-10 more people to write letters
• Penny offered an example of a letter. So having a template that could then be personalized would be helpful.

1. Campaigns
2. Ken Mitchell for U.S. Representative – Ken spoke to the PCDC and visiting county representatives that he entered this race to win it. He is focusing on and working for strong Democratic turnout, good Independent turnout, and moderate Republican turnout. His messaging is moving from left to center, as he wants to meet all types of voters across rural areas and to demonstrate that we have much more in common than what holds us apart.

• The current reality of the campaign is fundraising. Mitchell projects he needs $1.2 million to win this seat.
• Needed: individuals or groups to host meet and greet fundraising events for Ken Mitchell, specifically outside of Harrisonburg. They want to go where the voters are.

2. Tim Kaine for Senate– Campaign staffer Chris Burton said that the Kaine Campaign can help overall. Kaine will help reach the strong Democrats, and Mitchell can lift up the committees that are doing well. The question is how to structure those committees who are not so strong within the 6^th CD.
3. Communications
4. “Community Works”– 

• The Luray Town Council approved the $2500 request for the Shenandoah River water testing. The total raised so far is $2750. The hope is to increase the number of testing sites from 5 to 7.
• The water testing demonstration and river boat launch clean up will take place at the Alma Boat Launch on Saturday, April 27, from11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
• Sara Finn also announced that Good Deeds Day was cancelled by its organizers. Community Works will take it on.
• In May, Community Works will partner with Bethel Baptist Church to do a fish fry, with the purpose of raising money for the Rec to buy supplies.

Meeting adjourned at 8:28 p.m.

Next monthly meeting – May 2, 2024, 6:30 p.m. at The Rec in Luray, VA

Respectfully submitted,

Sandra Schaberl, Secretary, PCDC

Page County Democratic Committee

Minutes of March 7, 2024 Monthly Meeting

West Luray Rec Center, Luray, VA

Attendees: Patrick Burns, Tom Dawson, Sherry Ford, Tom Ford, Skip Halpern, Clyde Humphrey, Betty Karp, Herbert Karp, Bill King, Lucia King, David Kinsey, John Mayeux, Miles Morimoto, Lori Painter, Sandra Schaberl, Ray Snader, and Kathleen White

Guests: Bonnie Anthony, Sara Finn, Pat and John Sullivan

Call to Order at 6:38 p.m.

Minutes and Treasurer’s Report –The minutes of the February meeting were approved. The monthly beginning balance on February 1, 2024, was $12,516.59. The ending balance on February 29 was $12,640.18. Income for the month included membership dues and a $100 donation, while expenses included rent for meeting space, and web hosting fees for three years.

Elections
The petition drive for Senator Tim Kaine to be on the ballot to retain his seat in Election 2024, and now adding Ken Mitchell too, is currently happening. The drive appears to be progressing at a slower pace than hoped. The deadline is March 21st to get papers back to the candidates.

Meet Tim Kaine in Page County – PCDC has arranged with Senator Tim Kaine for him to speak and greet the public at the Luray VFW on Saturday, March 9th, from 2-4 pm. Please join us and spread the word.
HQ Status – Contract will be signed this week for a space at 44 E. Main St., Luray. The space is a 12 x 12 ft. room, with one side of windows facing the main street. It will be available to us next week.

Regional County Discussions
Chairperson Miles Morimoto is hosting weekly County Committee Chairpersons meetings across some of the 6th Congressional District counties. The focus is to work together to leverage efforts, and also to identify what is working and what isn’t to impact elections and our communities.

PCDC Organization
2024 PCDC Annual Dinner Fundraiser – Annual Dinner Committee Chairperson Bonnie Anthony needs volunteers to be on this committee. A sign-up sheet was sent around and she will call a meeting soon. The location will be at Riverbend Ranch. Date, theme, menu, and speaker search all need to be decided.

PCDC Advocacy Program 
Betty Schmidt is chairperson of this program. She shared objectives and strategy, of choosing issues to advocate for, forming statements that the majority of PCDC members agree to, and posting these on our website.

Strategy includes choosing issues that make a difference to residents of Page County and also have steps that we can take action on and see results. Some issues will be acted upon together with the Page County GOP when we can work to push forward mutually beneficial legislation.

The first issue to advocate for is the Shenandoah River protection and clean up. A draft action statement was shared. The requests that were presented to the Luray Town Council and the Page County Board of Supervisors are still awaiting responses.

A River Clean-up Event to clean up and do sample water testing will be held April 27 at the Alma Boat landing.

Communications

“Community Works”–
Sara Finn reported that Community Works t-shirts are available and more will be ordered

Skip Halpern stated that he felt the benefit of the group that asked the Town Council and the Board of Supervisors for money for the Shenandoah River water testing was that local Democrats initiated the effort, but others have joined, striking a great balance and communicating that to officials

Sara Finn also pointed out that communications were going out on their website, email and Facebook pages, as well as letters to the editor of thePage Valley News and the News and Courier

The PCDC has a new website – Access it at www.pcdems.org – Thank you to Eleanor Ames for the helping to design and manage it

The PCDC ad run in the Page Valley News has begun – we have a great location on the online news forum, and the ads will be changing to keep them updated and fresh

Our vehicles of communication are currently advertising, the bulletin that is emailed after each monthly meeting, the website, and soon to be the HQ.
Meeting adjourned at 7:41 p.m.

Next monthly meeting – April 4, 2024, 6:30 p.m. at The Rec in Luray, VA

Respectfully submitted,

Sandra Schaberl, Secretary, PCDC