The following is a brief roundup of the DKos Asheville Voter Registration Project's fourth outing. We've been setting up every Tuesday now for the last four weeks at Earth Fare, a natural food store at Westgate Shopping Center in Asheville. We have a nice spot on the patio outside the store. This time with less people but more snow, freezing weather and a killer wind! Our Spanish guitarist was a wise one and didn't show but the Salvation Army bell ringer was there again and was cleaning up with the sympathy from people going into the store. David and I got tons of weather related encouragement along with a lot of "What are you doing out here in this?". Please follow below the fold for the answer and see what we accomplished today. If you've missed any of our last three diaries describing our registration project's weekly experiences, you can find the fun here at DKos Asheville.
randallt and davehouck, DKos Asheville
Intrepid Kossacks davehouck and randallt worked valiantly in sub freezing temperatures and harsh snowy winds to provide a community service with DKos Asheville's voter registration project. Accompanied by the gentle bell ringing of a Salvation Army worker, the afternoon unfolded seamlessly as people never stopped to chat because they were running for the store or their car. They did re-register two voters and one of them was hungry.
When I arrived, David was up and running. Actually more like huddled in a bundle of coat and hat with a look on his face that said "whoa, this is cold". There were a lot of people but they weren't stopping, there was a threat of snow. The wind was blowing hard enough for the wind chill to be around 26 degrees and everyone had one goal, get inside.
Like my habit the last three weeks, I went inside to get a slice of pizza and a coffee to bring back to the table for my lunch. I was pretty hungry so I got two slices instead. As I was finishing the first slice a young lady approached us and we greeted her and asked if she would like to register. She said she thought she was registered but wasn't sure so we looked her up and sure enough she was but with the wrong address. We started helping her with the form and she stopped, thanked us for helping her and then told us she had really just stopped to ask for spare change because she was hungry. So we gave her my extra slice of pizza and David's potato chips and signed her up to vote. She was so grateful.
Our other customer was another very grateful voter who also needed a change of address. That happened when I went to the car for another coat and and hat so look for davehouck's comments below for a description.
Despite the low turnout, something remarkable happened every ten minutes or so. People would look at us all bundled up and get really excited. They would give us thumbs up, say thank you, shake their heads side to side while smiling, like saying "That's dedication", then nod them up and down like saying "That's a hopeful sight". We always get a lot of well wishes but nothing like today. True appreciation matched by a certain curiosity as they wondered why we were here. The local election was last week. The weather is ridiculous.
Out of all those curious faces, several just had to stop and ask. We have answers: 2014 is just around the corner. If you've just moved to Buncombe county or changed your address, here's your chance to check this off your list, somebody has to do it, there is no better time than now. And for those that asked "But why TODAY!": We're here every Tuesday.
Mystery Kossack?
When I was inside getting my pizza, a woman came up to David with a great story. She was recently reading Daily Kos and had seen our pictures from one of our diaries or in the New Day daily post. On her way to the store today she was wondering if she might see us and she did. She was thrilled.
We had a fine time once again and I hope we helped change the world. David made a good point at the end of the day. When you look at races like VA-AG, it gives real meaning to the phrase "Every vote counts."
And we fed someone.