Parade, Cereal, and Cars

In addition to a very happy Father's Day, our family was busy with fun events this weekend.

On Thursday night we walked in the Cereal City Parade in Battle Creek. The Calhoun GOP had over 75 people walking for various campaigns. We had a great crew representing our campaign most of whom are shown here. Thanks to Molly, Nick, Megan, Taylor, Jenny, Drew, Nick, Noah and Grace!

On Saturday morning Molly, Megan and I were joined by Megan's friend Grace. We strolled through downtown Battle Creek for the World's Longest Breakfast Table. We got to meet several interesting people, and Sugar Bear too! We also helped the Calhoun GOP hand out coffee to many parents in the morning. Grace even had a great quote in the Battle Creek Enquirer in the story covering the event.

Then, on Saturday afternoon Molly, Nick, Megan and I borrowed a nice 1966 Mustang Convertible from Christy and Ted. We drove to Vicksburg to cruise the old car festival downtown. We also stopped for good burgers and great atmosphere at Bobby's Drive-In.

Our family continues to have fun enjoying the campaign and meeting the families in the 63rd District!

Happy Father's Day

I'd like to wish every Dad a Happy Father's Day.

Mine is wrapping up after a restful day with my family and a great meal cooked by Molly and Megan (with cleanup by Nick.) Being a Dad is certainly the most rewarding job I have. In fact, as the saying goes "If you have a job you love you'll never work a day in your life." So, being a Dad is no job at all!

Although it's true every day, today is a day that gives me a chance to think about my Dad and my Father-in-law. My Dad, Jim, has been supportive of me throughout my life. Always making time, always working hard, and always caring about me and my family. As we've dealt with the untimely loss of my Mom last year, he has had to teach me and lead by example for several things neither of us would have wanted or imagined. However, he has always done so with grace, wisdom and strength.

My Father-in-law, Dudley, has blessed me with his wonderful daughter, Molly. I still remember nearly fainting as I asked him for her hand in marriage! He, however, has grown to be my second father. His encouragement and support, especially in this venture, have always meant a very positive difference to me.

So, I hope everyone enjoys their Father's Day as I have. And, I hope you're blessed to be able to enjoy your family the way I do.

New Campaign Plan

Since learning that we're now in an uncontested primary we have continued going door to door to meet new voters. There is nothing that drives home the importance of this election more than listening to our hard working families talk about their concern for jobs in our community.

Along with continuing door to door, we've been working on changes to our campaign plan.

I am a big believer in the adage, "the harder I work, the luckier I get." I also believe in working smart, not just working hard. Especially when it comes to campaigns without a solid plan it would be easy to run in a lot of directions but miss important goals.

Therefore, I believe a key to a winning campaign is a solid plan. Then, each week and even each day I and my campaign organization know what we need to do to help us win the November election.

With the changes in having an uncontested primary, we have been retooling our plan to focus on the general election (for example, many more people vote in general elections than do in primaries). I am very fortunate to have the help of Todd, Mike, Steve, and Rob to offer their insight and experience as we fine tune the new plan.

This week we'll put the finishing touches on the plan. And I'll be looking forward to meeting more voters at community meetings or the doorsteps of their homes!