DFA Academy

I'm too tired to talk about the Donna Edwards keynote tonight, so I'll just link to this liveblog of her remarks at OpenLeft. It's appropriate, since Chris Bowers is sitting at the table next to me.

I agree - it was a very good speech.

The fundraiser dinner at Ragazzi was a complete success! Candidates Mark Kruzan, Regina Moore, Isabel Piedmont, and Mike Satterfield all came by for dinner and conversation.

A big thank you to all of our sponsors, including:

• Sam & Jen Allison
• Vivian Baker
• Vic Kelson & Stephanie Kimball
• Don & Regina Moore
• Lois Sabo-Skelton
• Joe Scifres and Jennifer Poe

And a thank you to everyone who donated special items to the silent auction:

• Lorraine Farrell of Fossil Rain (www.fossilrain.com)
• Mike Cagle
• Winona Garmhausen
• Karen Green-Stone
• Dana Carpender
• Tamyra D'Ippolito/Ragazzi Arte Cafe
• Mayor Mark Kruzan
• Bear's Place

And of course, an extra-special thank you to Tamyra D'Ippolito of Ragazzi Arte Cafe (ragazziartecafe.com), our hosts for the evening. Thank you for the great service and the fantastic food!

(If I've left anyone out, please let me know - we want to make sure to thank everyone for a fun and successful evening.)

WHAT AN INCREDIBLE WEEKEND!! All the time. All the stress. All the sweat. All of it culminated in a fantastic learning experience for about 60 progressive Democrats from Indiana and beyond at the Indiana Memorial Union. I'm full of so many new ideas and information I can't wait to put them all to use in my efforts to help Democrats win our municipal election and beyond.

[Update: I've blogged about the Academy on Blog for America.]

It was a long time in the planning, but worth everything.

Words fail, at the moment. Here are some pics...

Arshad Hasan of DFA, and I, will be discussing this weekend's DFA Academy on the "Daily Local News Show" with Sarah Eckhart, on WFHB this afternoon, some time between 5:30 and 6pm. You can listen locally on 91.3 or 98.1, and I will post a direct link to the online broadcast as soon as they have it available on their site. [Update: The interview/report is about 5-10 minutes in to the broadcast.]

Please join us Saturday evening for a relaxinf dinner at the Ragazzi Arte Cafe, 7:30 to 10 p.m.

212 South Rogers Street, Bloomington 812-323-9005

$15.00 per person will include: Cheese, Wine (Red & White), Fruit to start the evening; then appetizer of Bruchetta, Salad, Choice of Vegetarian or Meat Entree of Penne Pasta with Marinara or Penne Pasta with Roasted Chicken, 2 selections of cake, with soft beverages and coffee. Additional wine can be purchased.

Parking (22 spaces) is available at 4th and Rogers (Old license branch) plus street parking.

Please join us at my place on Friday evening for an informal meet-and-greet, from about 7 to 9pm. Here's the address:

5431 East Kings Road
Bloomington, IN 47408

And the directions:

Take Third Street east, past the College Mall (Third is now also SR 46), past Brewster's Ice Cream store (at junction of SR 446), past Long's Landing (a big red barn on the left), to Kings road. It is the first left after Long's. We are in the very first bend in Kings Road, on the left. It's an old white house with gray shutters, set back from the road.

And here is a map.

This is a draft of the training agenda for both days of the Academy.

This is a printable flyer for promoting the Academy. (PDF, 2-sided, 2-up)