Let’s Vote!
You know the 2020 election is just days away when you see Boomer and Halley gettin’ out the vote. That’s our local author Mary Jane McKittrick behind the wheel of Harold Sanders’ truck. He calls his ‘ole jalopy, “Bolts,”  ’cause he owns the Nuts ‘N Bolts harware store on Main Street.

I’ll tell you a little more about why Mary Jane and those two critters are out and about in just a minute. You may see them. They’ll be driving all over town in the coming days.

I’m Zulah Talmadge editor of The Shady Pines Gazette. Let me tell you, Scoop, the Cub Reporter and I have our hands full right about now. Folks are really fired up about this year’s election. Why, the phones have been ringing like crazy here in the news office! People are asking all kinds of questions about where and how to vote.

It’s too late to vote by mail, so everyone’s either putting their ballots in an official drop off box or voting in person.

In fact, you can see our neighbors waiting in long lines in front of the Community Center. That’s our largest polling place. Some people drive a whole bunch of miles just to get here to vote.

We hear the same thing is happening in nearby River City and all across the country. Election officials say they are seeing more people than ever getting involved in early voting. Look at all those people! And just think, Election Day (Tuesday, November 4th) is still a ways off. We haven’t seen this much excitment about an election since our mayoral election in Shady Pines a few years back.

Where’s Our Money Mayor?

In case you’ve forgotten, or haven’t hear about it, let me refresh your memory. Our mayor, Beauregard P. Fibbs, was causing people to wonder what he was doing with the town’s money. When we pay our taxes each year, that money goes to make repairs to roads and all sorts of stuff. After awhile, folks started seeing paint peeling off the town buildings, big holes in the streets and there was no money to keep the Dog Park open or run the carousel in Stonewall Park. But our mayor had brand new office furniture and his wife was driving a new car.

Well, as you could imagine, that got folks all riled up. So they held a meeting at Town Hall.  Before you could ask, “What Just Happened?,” our neighbors decided Edna Sanders should run for mayor against Beaureguard.

Edna’s husband, Harold, wasn’t at the meeting. Edna says he was just plumb shocked when she came home with the news. Before he knew it, the family kitchen had become election central. And those two four-legged kids, Boomer and Halley, were all excited that they were running for public office. Although, I’m quite sure they had no idea what that meant.

Well, when our local author, Mary Jane, heard that Boomer and Halley’s mom was running for mayor, she had to start writing about it. Edna was the Common Sense Party candidate and Beau represented the Gimme Party.

It was the biggest thing to happen to Shady Pines in a long time. There were fundraising events, barbeques and speeches. Everybody got involved. I won’t tell you how the election turned out. You’ll have to read about it in Mary Jane’s book. (GO HERE TO FIND OUT MORE)

I can tell you that the kids around here got a first hand look at how a town can come together to solve its own problems. And that’s what it took. We’d gotten ourselves into a bit of a mess and we cleaned it up by working as one big team.

Being accountable for our actions and taking responsibility when we make a mistake are lessons we took away from that experience. And you know what? You’re never too young to learn stuff like that.

Since that time, Mary Jane teams up with Boomer and Halley for each election to remind all of us to get involved and vote. It’s our civic duty and it can be fun, too!