On the longest day of the year, the day of Seattle's Summer Solstice Parade, on what was reported to be the worst traffic day ever in Seattle due to all the events and closures of multiple arterials into the city, ten brave and determined Kossacks got together and solved the world's problems! Not really, but we had a really good time and made some progress toward making our community just a little better.
This will be a quick, picture-less roundup of our meet up yesterday as I've got to get ready to board a plane bound for NYC early tomorrow. Pictures of our beautiful and handsome faces should follow in comments provided by the excellent photographer mlharges. We all begged him to do touch up before posting but I don't think we persuaded him.
Follow below for a recap of things!
I didn't formally take attendance but if I recall correctly the following Kossacks were there (I'm doing this from memory so if I forget somebody please excuse).
Piren
Eagle Keeper
TBoneApollo
doingbusinessas
Flamingogrrl
momomia
mlharges
LarisaW
me - John Crapper
John Crapper S.O.
After a little late start because of the traffic snarls everybody encountered, we settled in to our usual lively conversations while sipping our favorite beverage and gobbling down some tasty food. On this day the clam chowder Seattle is famous for was the big hit.
Once everyone settled in and got relaxed we got down to a little business. First thing we did was send our good thoughts to Regina in a Sears Kit House who had to cancel coming to the meet up at the last minute due to some pressing family business. We sent our good thoughts and energy her way for great success!
Next, I updated the group on our efforts to identify campaigns we would like to assist in the upcoming elections. There are three that have been under active discussion but nothing has been firmly decided. We all agreed it was important to pick races that would help Washington Democrats regain control of the Senate.
Next, I asked for ideas, suggestions and assistance identifying future guest speakers. In connection with that I urged all to invite their friends to become Kossacks and join us to enhance our clout.
Finally, I mentioned I was still looking for someone to provide backup to me as coordinator.
Then LarisaW addressed the group. She is the President of Progressive Radio Northwest (PRNW). This recently formed non-profit aims to bring progressive talk radio back to Seattle. It is exploring several options, from creating a community-owned station to taking over an existing frequency. She asked us how many of us had previously listened to progressive radio in Seattle. All hands went up. Then she asked how many missed it. All hands went up. Finally, she asked if we would like to help bring it back to Seattle. Once again all hands went up.
A commitment was made to explore ways both groups could collaborate to achieve our mutual goals. She invited us to visit their website at www.progressiveradionorthwest.org and on Facebook and You Tube at Progressive Radio Northwest. Larisa also plans to post a diary about Progressive Radio Northwest in the near future.
Finally, momomia told the group an interesting story. She said she had just returned from Montana with her parents. They had taken the train (Amtrack) to Wolf Point Mt and the delays were/are horrible, all due to the oil trains coming out of North Dakota.
"There are no longer 2 sets of tracks. Burlington Northern owns the one track left and oil has priority over people. We were set to return by train but that one was delayed 6 to 8 hours! We ended up driving to Billings to fly home."
Just another reason to fight the shipment of oil by rail.
We briefly discussed having a future meet up at a different location. Brave House Tavern, located in the South Lake Union area, was mentioned.
On that final note we wrapped things up, agreed to meet again in August (exact date to be determined) and left to enjoy the rest of the longest day of the year in the most wonderful, albeit currently traffic-jammed progressive city, located in the most beautiful state in the USA!
Those of you that couldn't make it - we missed you! Those of you that have yet to make it - you don't know what you're missing. We'd love to see you at the next one.
Now I've got to get ready for the Big Apple another one of my very favorite cities on the planet!
Happy trails to you until we meet again! :>)
This is what my wife and I went to after the meet up. This year we missed this, however!
But we did manage to catch the "Cannibus" parading down the street! As you can tell It's a pretty conservative place!