Be Politically Active

If you live in Columbia then there is no possible way that you can be oblivious to the fact that we are in the midst of a mayoral show-down; the likes of which I have never seen in my years as a Columbian because Mayor Bob has been in office for sooo long!

Even if you aren't typically "the political type," you should care who is elected. As I tell my Social Policy class often, it is your civic duty to advocate for what you believe in and educate your politicians about the issues. The politicians are not experts on everything, and we can't expect them to be. (Hell, some of our SC politicians are experts in things that I wouldn't want my politicians to be experts in at all...but that's a different, angsty post that I'm not gonna write today).

So, {hopping on my soapbox}, here are some ways to 'get political' and inform yourself and help others this week and next:

Tonight--head to the Richland County Public Library at 1431 Assembly Street at 7 pm for a Mayoral Forum on Homelessness. All 9 mayoral candidates will speak about what they think the city should do to address our homeless population.

Then, (as I mentioned in yesterday's post), go eat a delicious meal at Mr. Friendly's tonight and give the server this coupon. 10% of your meal cost will be donated to the local Humane Society.

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Friday, March 19th- Go to The Animal Mission's annual fundraiser, Party Animals! and hear Edwin McCain. There will be an open bar and food by Blue Marlin as well as an auction--all to help stray animals!

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Saturday, March 20th- Go to Jillian's in the Vista from 1-5 pm to witness the 4th Annual St. Baldrick's Shaving Event to benefit children's cancer research.


Monday, March 22nd- Go to the Mayoral Showdown at 701 Whaley St, 7 pm. There will be a cash bar and a debate among the top 5 mayoral candidates. Click here for more info.

Tuesday, March 23rd- Attend a rally at the State House steps to "End the R-Word," and promote the respect for and acceptance of more than 15,000 Special Olympians. Rally begins at 11 am. (This one is near and dear to my heart, as I am a constant upbraider of people using the R-word).

Saturday, March 27th- Attend the rally at the State House Steps to retire the Confederate Battle flag from State House grounds. 2-5 pm, performances by local bands; click here for more info.

I promise you will feel empowered and excited by being an advocate for change and helping others. What do you do to advocate for change or help others?

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So Many Things, So Little Time...

There is a LOT going on in Columbia in the next few days...I will probably be adding to this list later in the week, but here goes:

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February 23rd (today): At a City Hall Press Conference scheduled for 4 pm today, Mayor Bob Coble and animal advocates will proclaim Spay Day! National Spay Day is an initiative that promotes the importance of spaying and neutering pets, which significantly decreases the high population of stray animals. The Humane SPCA, Animal Mission, and other local animal shelters are all in support of this initiative. (More on Spay Day events later in the week...see below).

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Tonight- go see A Single Man at The Nickelodeon. This Golden-Globe nominated film starring Colin Firth and Julianne Moore (swoon) will only be playing through Thursday.


Friday, February 26th: Go to the Spay Day Benefit Concert at Elbow Room in 5 Points. Show starts at 8 pm and tickets are $5 in advance from Sid & Nancy, or $7 at the door. Artists include: Kenley Young & the Open Fires, Mean Weiner, Todd Mathis, The Thirsties, and Josh Roberts & Leslie Branham. All proceeds benefit the local Humane Society.

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SC Book Festival poster art by Columbia's own Claire Farrell

Saturday, February 27th: The SC Book Festival is this weekend--February 27th-28th at the Columbia Metropolitan Convention Center and admission is FREE! I plan to go Saturday to check out some of the presentations by authors of cookbooks. There will be all kinds of authors on hand to speak about their books, sell you their books, and sign them too--children's books, arts books, history books, you name it! [For those of you who are big fans- Dorothea Benton Frank will be at the Festival discussing Return to Sullivans Island at 12:45 on Sunday]. Click here for the full Saturday and Sunday schedules.

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Also on Saturday- ride your bike, skate, walk or ride the bus to the State House at 2 pm to attend the Transportation Transformation event, DJ Chris Wenner will be spinning. This event has been organized by Aaron Johnson and Grant Robertson, who are running for Columbia Mayor and City Council, respectively. According to the Facebook invitation, "the purpose of this rally is to draw together disparate groups in order to improve Columbia's transportation system." I for one love public transportation--in other cities. It sucks in Columbia. And I work with a population that has no choice but to depend on our broken and embarrassingly under-funded system...we should all care about this issue. "The problems with our transportation affect our safety, our environment, our health, our economy, and our quality of life."

So, what's on your agenda this week and weekend?

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