Journal of Shawn Eckles' Campaign 2013 Report #4

My latest week got split in half. Friday morning I started another trip to Alabama to attend and participate at the naming of a street in Tuskegee in honor of Amelia Boynton Robinson, for whom I work as a consultant and to whom I look for political wisdom and inspiration. The ceremony occurred Saturday; hot and humid, a gathering of 50 people, the unveiling of the new street sign, and the presence of dignitaries – overall a success.

You can bet I was glad to hear a speech by a Tuskegee City Councilman Frank Chris Lee, he is even a younger than me, now elected thanks to the nationwide voter movement of Amelia.

That was the second part of the past week. The first three days I spent composing and printing my key handout to Troutman residents, I will personally meet and talk with – providing the keys to my positions and my qualifications for office. Ask me for one, if you see me.

When I returned from Alabama Sunday, I grabbed my camera when I saw protesters lining the sidewalk of Troutman. They were opponents of abortion and, for a minute, were shy about my camera until I took up the invitation of Ms. Robin Blackwilder to stand by her and hold one of their signs while I talked with her. Then I had conversations with others.

Journal of Shawn Eckles' Campaign 2013 Report #3

The highlight of the past week for me was some volunteer work I did this past weekend. Friday I helped to set up and Saturday I worked at the computers for kids giveaway at Statesville Senior High. I enjoyed seeing many Iredell citizens who voted for me last November. However, it was really a joy to get to train several kids on the computers, kids who are the children of my classmates at South Iredell and Troutman Middle and Troutman Elementary. I love teaching, and catching up with old friends and acquaintances.

Yesterday (Monday) I was out filming and chatting at the Town Troutman event involving the 1,000 bicyclers of Cycle N.C. who camped in our fairgrounds and road out this morning, just starting their ride from the mountains to the sea.

Over and over I had to think to myself that this event was more of a failure than necessary and that's why the Town needs me to be an Alderman on the Board. The organizers and cyclers had hoped to see dozens of local people all ages waving flags as they arrived from Morganton here in the afternoon; they left Morganton around 7 a.m. But, folks, there were only two or three flags at a time – at one point I counted eight – in the hands of happy children, and I think we could have done better.

The cyclers didn't complain to me; they said nice things about our town. The organizers told me they figured people were all at work. But my fellow locals told me they wished there had been more than that phone call recording. I told them my marketing and promotion experiences and my many, many event undertakings tell me several ways communication from our Town to us could be better.

At the Fairgrounds, as the balloon took riders up and down, you might have seen me with one of my principal campaign workers up at that stage talking with the headliner Jeff Little; Jeff had taught my friend audio and recording engineering over at GTCC. Jeff very much pleased the crowd with bluegrass music. When I said “you might have seen me,” I have to say it was easy because we were the only two blacks in the audience.

I also, this past week, launched a new campaign web page at Facebook; you can get there by googling me or by typing in my name at Facebook. As of the minute I'm writing this, the site has already 101 “friends.”

This morning I spoke at the Bristol Road Community Center in Statesville, where a number of Troutman residents attend events weekly. “Support Your Young Politicians” was the theme of my speech. Before and after my talk, I shared conversations of meaningful depth with a half dozen individuals. The audience was around 50.