Gardiner Democratic Party

Gardiner is perfect for many things. Here we can find peace in being surrounded by a vast panorama of natural wonders - open farmlands and sparkling bodies of water to soothe the soul , sweeping vistas of mountains and cliffs just waiting to be hiked or climbed or simply admired through big dreamy eyes. Soft summer breezes that tease our skin and lift our hair in a dance mirroring the swaying of leaves and flowers, and the promise of wild winter storms that turn the landscape glittering and ethereal under cover of virgin snow. A beautiful place. A place to smile at friends and strangers alike. A place where it is so easy to forget, to simply ignore the wrongs, the injustice, the danger.

When I look out my windows or sit comfortably on my deck, feeling the sun and the air, watching the long slow flight of a hawk against the expanse of the Ridge, my heart rising and falling and riding those wings... well, if only this moment were the totality of existence, and all of that other stuff a dark fantasy...

But - she was real, my wonderful aunt Ethel who died at 83, murdered by a profit-driven insurance establishment that refused tube feeding to an elderly woman with terminal cancer. And I fear for my good friend Genevieve who, tethered to a fixed retiree's income, can no longer afford to drive to town more than once a week. I sob helplessly to watch my daughter's best friend losing her five year old to an aggressive childhood cancer that should have been eradicated years ago if saving lives were a true priority. I cringe at the thought of thousand dollar a month oil bills lurking at the far edge of the autumn to come. I could type for the next month nonstop and not begin to cover it all.

So - to paraphrase words from my generation - are we still stardust, are we golden - or in more current terms, are we simply helpless toast? If we get another four years of some permutation of the current Republican administration, I fear for us all with a fear deeper than my bones and colder than space.

So I beseech everyone whose eyes brush these words - we CAN do something, and we have to start here, here in Gardiner, grass roots run deep and grow in power. And we are all capable of doing something, however small it may seem. The Gardiner Democratic Committee needs every hand and heart that is willing to help. We need associate members willing to come to once-a-month meetings and contribute ideas. We need financial contributors - those who can give $10 toward helping with the coming election are as valuable as those who can give $100. We need volunteers - for phone calls, sign posting, help with whatever comes up. We need - everyone who cares, to do whatever little bit he or she can. This will give us all an antidote to the feeling of being helpless and doomed.

This whole time I've been writing, my deck has been calling to me. Come, Ginny, come out here, let it go, come sit and relax, so peaceful, so lovely. Soooooo tempting. But I resisted long enough to get this done - and now I can go and sit and have that as well. Gardiner really is perfect, isn't it.

Send Contributions to:
Gardiner Democratic Committee
P.O. Box 25
New Paltz, N.Y.12561.