See Sally Run!
by Sally Vitamvas, Democratic Candidate for Iowa House District 98
With equal parts innovation and creativity, Sally Vitamvas brings a breath of fresh air to her Southwest Iowa campaign
I began the “See Sally Run” campaign, actually running
between all the towns in District 98 on Monday, September 13th, in
Pacific Junction. Skipping the days filled by scheduled events,
my “pace car” driver, John Blasingame, and I have chalked up seven days
of very slow travel time, and covered a bit over 50 miles, which is
about half the total projected route. (Pacific Junction, Glenwood,
Silver City, Treynor, Macedonia, Carson, and Oakland, so far. The
current map is posted on my website at www.sallyvitamvas.com.)
I am amazed at the difference
this project has already made. I'm now recognized …. “Oh!
You're the one who's running…right?” almost everywhere I go, and we
get friendly honks and waves from passing drivers along the road.
I've also met lots of wonderful farm dogs who nearly always greet me
before I have a chance to knock on their owners' doors. The pace
car driver, John, who years ago was a meter reader in Detroit, is leery
of large dogs, and half-expects me to become some Doberman's dinner;
but so far, the most dramatic dog encounter has consisted of a major
face-washing accompanied by muddy paw-prints completely encircling my
body at shoulder height…the result of a black, brown, and white farm
collie's exuberant greeting. That was Buster, whose owner later
commented dryly, “Oh, yeah. Buster. He does like to play.” [You may recall from this photo that Sally is very fond of dogs!]
Sore quadriceps, blisters,
90 plus heat shimmering off the blacktop of an excessively steep hill
when we'd started our day an hour later than usual, a rainstorm on the
way to Oakland while running in the mud along highway 59 and being
drenched by passing semi trailer trucks…. all are part of the
package. So is seeing a woman lean into the rain from the
passenger seat of a passing pickup, to wave and shout encouragement,
and being interviewed on the run by the Des Moines Register, whose
reporter and photographer traveled several hours to meet us at 8:00 AM,
and then stayed with us for six miles. (Watch for that story, Saturday
or Sunday.)
We'll finish the project by running to the Council Bluffs Democratic Headquarters, located at Main and Broadway, on October 10th, at 3:00 PM.
Free hot dogs, and also free T-shirts until we run out of them, will be
provided. We’d like to encourage people to attend and to also
invite, kidnap, blackmail, Shanghai, or to in any other manner get
others to accompany them. The event should be a lot of fun…long
on food and camaraderie, and short on rhetoric.
Because the major hurdle in this race is name recognition, I believe the October 10th event could well be the deciding factor.
Sally Vitamvas
Democratic Candidate for Iowa House District 98
info@sallyvitamvas.com
712-525-9137
PO Box 198
Silver City, Iowa 51571
To learn more about Sally Vitamvas or to contribute to her campaign, click here.
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