Volume 22 . Issue 7. July 2021

PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE Stacey Gilfillan Howdy, BAD Members!   Welcome to July, where the dog days of blazing summer heat and humidity have arrived, and the fine citizens of the Texas Hill Country are again finding inventive ways to stay cool. With more and more folks getting vaccinated, COVID-19 restrictions at community swimming pools and water parks have been lifted, and entire families are once more happily floating and splashing their way down the gentle rapids of the Guadalupe River in large inner tubes. Picnics in the shady recesses of city parks and town squares have resumed, as have outdoor concerts, Independence Day and PRIDE parades, watermelon-eating contests, and backyard family BBQs.     Here's a summer memory... I was immediately transported back to 1975 last Sunday as I began to recognize a faint but familiar tune from my childhood wafting through my Fair Oaks Ranch neighborhood. The cheerful jingle hadn't changed one single bit over the many decades since I'd first heard it as a little girl in western Massachusetts. So as I stood slightly mesmerized at the front door, I watched as the ice cream truck slowly rolled down the street, children gleefully hopping up and down, their hands clapping wildly while their little feet tried to keep up. It was so comforting to hear them shouting summer's enduring rallying cry, "The ice cream truck is here! The ice cream truck is here!" Finally, eighteen months into a global pandemic, life is returning to some semblance of normalcy.     And here's something else we can take comfort in: the vaccination rates for Kendall County are AHEAD of the curve relative to Bexar County and the rest of the nation, and this is certainly something worth celebrating! BIG TIME! Given the degree to which the vaccination rollout has become so ridiculously politicized and the political affiliation of the majority of Kendall County residents, I must admit that I was a little surprised when I first read these statistics. Here's the most recent data (posted online July 7th, 2021): 52.63% Fully Vaccinated and 59.24% Vaccinated with at least One Dose in Kendall County vs. Bexar County 46.56% and 54.59% respectively; nationally 48% and 55.7% respectively. Way to go, Kendall County!  Reminder: There is no BAD Member or Board Meeting during July. Too many folks away on vacation, including yours truly. In lieu of a July meeting, BAD encouraged folks to participate in the recent Boerne PRIDE Day Parade (June 26th) and the annual Comfort Independence Day Celebration Parade (July 3rd) instead. The PRIDE Day parade had over 500 participants this year, nearly double the number in recent years! Many thanks to ALL of our wonderful BAD and KCDP folks for taking part in both events. Heartfelt thanks and gratitude are sent to Norbert & Monika Schulze for their hard work on that FABULOUS Tall Donkey float--and especially to Norbert for once again driving the float! Special thanks to Laura Bray, Peg Layton, Kevin Henning, and so many of our other incredible KCDP members for their efforts to decorate the float and for coordinating all those parade logistics. Amazing job indeed, folks!  (Please see photos below)   REMINDER: Our next Board Meeting will be on August 5th @ 5:30, at the new office, located at 216 E Blanco Rd. The next BAD Member Meeting will be on Thursday, August 12th @ 12pm, at the Longhorn Cafe on 369 S. Esser Rd in Boerne. Guest speaker: TBD.   Cheers! ~Stacey G

REMINDER: THERE WILL BE NO JULY BAD MEETING. We're taking a little break and will see you again in-person on August 12 at noon!

August 12 BAD Meeting 12:00 Noon IN PERSON! Longhorn Cafe While no longer required, please feel comfortable to wear a mask. We will be in the large room upstairs.

Note: This lunch time meeting will be held at the Longhorn Cafe, 369 S. Esser, Boerne.  Please call in or order your food online ahead of time so that our meetings can start on time.

BROOKE ORR Membership We currently have 196 paid members! Let's try to break 200 by the end of summer!  It's time to pay July dues, so if your membership is up for renewal, you will receive an e-mail from me. Please be sure to check your SPAM folder for messages from BAD. To become a member or renew, pay online with PayPal or go to our BAD web page, click on the Become a Member link, and fill out the application. Don’t forget to click on the submit button! Also, you can mail your check to BAD Membership, PO Box 2132, Boerne, TX, 78006. Your dues help us to support candidates and sponsor our yearly college scholarship.

DONNA PEACOCK Secretary Reminder: All paid BAD members receive an email containing the previous meeting minutes prior to the monthly BAD meetings. Please read through the minutes and be ready to make corrects/additions or to vote to approve at the monthly meeting.

TERESA SOMAL Activities SATURDAY, JULY 24 We've come up with a dual-purpose activity for July! We are once again collecting backpacks and school supplies for Hill Country Family Services; they will donate the items to the local schools. Because we are not having a BAD meeting in July, we will be collecting backpacks/school supplies at the Cibolo Nature Center Moondance Concert on Saturday, July 24. This is an opportunity to get out in the fresh air, meet up with fellow Dems, enjoy a concert by the 'Dirty Rotten Swing Band' and donate needed supplies. Plan to join us there! You can reserve a tickets ($15 pp) online at https://cibolo.org/calendar/moondance-outdoor-concerts-2. The doors open at 7:00 and food trucks will be available or you can bring your own picnic and drinks (and chairs!). We hope to see you there! If you can't make the concert, we will still be collecting supplies at our August BAD meeting. SATURDAY, JULY 31 9:00 a.m. Time again for our Adopt-a-Highway duties! We need at least 20 people to manage the pick-up so please make plans to join your fellow Dems on Saturday morning to help clean up Hwy. 3351. Meet at the Circle K/Subway building, 913 TX-46 by 8:45 a.m. Sign up to volunteer here: https://www.mobilize.us/kendalltxdems/event/394276/

‌ Here's another great opportuntiy to get together and enjoy an outdoor concert! Live! At the Library! Thursday, July 15th 7:00 pm The Lone Star Swing Orchestra will be featured at July's Live! At the Library. This is a band that is filled with musicians from all over the Hill Country. They are quite fun - please come and join us! The program is held in the Amphitheater, so please bring a lawn chair or blankets to sit on.

DEMOCRATS ARE ACTIVE IN OUR COMMUNITY!

Over 500 people, including many of our Democratic friends, participated in the Boerne Pride March on June 26.

The Comfort 4th of July Parade included the magnificent Democratic float! Special thanks to Norbert and Monika Schultze, who spearheaded the building of the float.

KRISTA BERMEJILLO-VASQUEZ Social Media Just a reminder: there are always interesting and informative posts on our social media pages so be sure to check them out - and Like them! Web: boerne-area-democrats.org Facebook: Boerne Area Democrats  Instagram: @boerneareademocrats Twitter: @BoerneDemocrats

SUSAN'S SUGGESTIONS Past President Be ready for the "big reveal" about our 2021 fundraiser! A committee is being formed to work out the details and we'll soon unveil our efforts to raise money for our scholarship and for our Democratic causes. More info to come in August!

LAURA BRAY Kendall County Democratic Party Chair  Notes from the Chair: 87th TxLege Special Session: “WORSE THAN WE THOUGHT” Well, Gov. Abbott *finally* announced the agenda for the Special Session (the day before the session began on July 8), and to quote the Texas Freedom Network (www.tfn.org), “it’s worse than we could have imagined. Voter suppression, attacks on trans youth, and more.” A laundry list of items that could be drawn straight from a CPAC agenda, including: Critical race theory Social media “censorship” Further restrictions on a woman’s right to choose NOTHING about: “Abbott’s agenda for the first special session notably does not include anything about the state’s electric grid.” (Texas Tribune)  Increasing vaccination rates against COVID Expanding Medicaid or otherwise improving access to affordable health care  …or anything else that would truly help Texans. Per the Texas Tribune story, “’The governor’s agenda for the special session shows he is more concerned with pandering to die-hard Trump supporters and right-wing extremists than he is with serving everyday Texans,’ state Rep. Chris Turner of Grand Prairie, chair of the House Democratic Caucus, said in a statement. ‘Abbott's agenda proves one thing: he is clearly panicked about his upcoming primary election.’" Per Erica Grieder (political columnist for the Houston Chronicle), “TxLege shouldn’t lift a finger on ANY of this until Article X funding [to fund the Legislative Branch, which he vetoed; currently before the Texas Supreme Court] is restored. You’re not Greg Abbott’s interns.” We have to fight *all* of it with all we’ve got. I’ll be restarting the “TxLege Action Alert” newsletter this afternoon. (If you’re not on that mailing list and want to be, send an email to laurabray61@gmail.com). Believe me, I *know* it’s exhausting. But if we don’t fight back, they win. We *must* keep up the battle. Even if we lose a round, we’ve let them know about significant opposition, and we’ve raised visibility on the issue(s). Here are full details from the Texas Tribune: https://www.texastribune.org/2021/07/02/texas-special-session-greg-abbott/ Thank you for everything you do to work for voting rights in Texas!

KCDP is excited to announce the opening of our new office! Located at 216 E. Blanco, Suite 201, we will be moving in on July 19! This office has great visibility and is centrally located in town. The office will be available for meetings any time after July 20. Third Wednesdays at 5:30 are reserved for the KCDP County Exectuvie Committee meetings and the first Thursday of each month at 5:30 is reserved for the BAD Baord meetings. Hours for the office to be open will be determined later this month. We have been allocated three parking spots in the main lot. There’s some limited parking behind the rear building and plenty of parking on the street/around the courthouse across Blanco Road. We are looking for a volunteer to be the office manager, which involves scheduling volunteers for office hours and special projects. The office manager normally covers a shift or two in order to stay current on office projects/needs and it’s a good time to make contact with other volunteers. Please let Peg Layton know if you are interested in the position. An open house will be held later this summer. A huge thank you to all the donors who have made this officce a possibility through your donations! (if anyone is intersted in donating to help support the two-year lease, click here: https://kendalltxdemocrats.org/action/donate/

Click on any of these icons to be taken to their web pages.

GET INVOLVED IN YOUR COMMUNITY! Let your voices be heard by attending these community meetings. Click on any of the icons for more information.

Boerne City Council meets at 6:00 p.m. on the 2nd and 4th Monday of each month at 6:00 p.m. at 9 Topperwein Road, Boerne.

The Kendall County Commissioner's Court meets on the 2nd and 4th Monday at 9:00 a.m. in the County Courthouse, 201 E. San Antonio Street, 3rd floor. The Planning and Zoning meetings are held on the 1st Monday of each month at 6:00 p.m. at the Boerne Police/Municipal Court, 124 Old San Antonio Road.

The Fair Oaks City Council meets on the 1st Thursday at 9:30 a.m. and the 3rd Thursday at 6:30 p.m. at the FOR City Hall, 7286 Dietz Elkhorn Road, FOR.

The Comfort ISD Board of Trustees meets on the 2nd Monday of each month at 6:00 p.m. at the CISD Central Office, 327 High Street, Comfort.

The Boerne ISD Board of Trustees meets on the 3rd Monday of each month at 5:00 p.m. in the Administrative Offices, 235 Johns Road.

The Cow Creek Groundwater Conservation District meets on the 2nd Monday of the month at 6:00 p.m. at 9 Topperwein Road, Boerne.

BOERNE AREA DEMOCRATS BOARD President: Stacey Gilfillan Vice President: Marilyn Harrington Secretary: Donna Peacock Treasurer: Brenda Schmidt Membership: Brooke Orr Activities: Teresa Somal Publicity: Natalie Schun Newsletter: Judy Dewey Social Media: Krista Bermejillo-Vasquez Past President: Susan Dollar Ex Officio member: Laura Bray, KCDP

Connect with us! JOIN THE BOERNE AREA DEMOCRATS Membership Form Email: BAD@boerne-area-democrats.com Web: boerne-area-democrats.org Facebook: facebook.com/boerne.area.democrats Notice Regarding Photography and/or Audio/Video Recording The Boerne Area Democrats captures photographs and/or audio/video recordings during our events. Such photographs and recordings may be used in BAD's advertising and social media relations to let others know of our events. In addition, local news organizations may hear of our events, and BAD may allow them to record events for news reporting. If you do not wish to be in photos/videos, please let the photographer/videographer know in advance. This newsletter is intended for people interested in the work of the Boerne Area Democrats and the Democratic Party in general. To be removed from this mailing list, please click on Unsubscribe below or email us at bad@boerne-area-democrats.com.