Residents part of history

To the editor:

Wellington area residents may know the local citizens who supported Barack Obama formed an activist phalanx that ran an Obama office in the old Cheese Factory building, and these workers felt that they contributed to electing the nation's first African-American president. Almost all the volunteers were white. The office was one of hundreds of such offices across the United States. The unique quality of the Wellington operation was that it was entirely financed and operated by local volunteers, with none of the $2,000 in costs paid from the millions of dollars raised by the Obama-Biden campaign.

Instigators of the local Obama office were a new couple in Wellington, David and Jennifer Starkey, who moved in May from Michigan, where Jennifer was a librarian at Alma College and David a biology student. Jennifer is now a librarian at Oberlin College and David a research biologist at Wil Research in Ashland.

Jennifer says they were a little anxious about putting up the $600 rent for the office, but as the Obama campaign gathered momentum, more and more area residents showed up to help out and contribute time and money. By election day last Tuesday, more than 35 people had done house-to-house canvassing and made telephone calls to several thousand potential Obama voters in the area. In the final push, hundreds of hangers were put on the doors of people who had identified themselves as Obama-Biden supporters but who had neither voted absentee ballots nor showed up at their polling place by noon.

"As Election Day afternoon wore on," David said, "someone called from Grafton requesting emergency help in a last-minute distribution of door hangers, and a carfull of Wellington volunteers hurried to lend a hand. By the end of the day, we were exhausted, but feeling that we had done everything we could to elect a president."

After the office opened in late September, volunteers arranged themselves in teams to perform particular tasks. Marilyn Wainio of Wellington took charge of arranging the schedule of volunteers who kept the office open seven days a week. William Brumfield, former owner of Village Market, was in charge of scheduling volunteers to do canvassing. Brumfield said it was his first political activity, but he felt drawn to contribute by the importance of the Obama candidacy.

Among those who contributed the most time to campaign work were Ryan Anson, Chris Boyce and Chris Teeter, Wellington High School students, Audrey Andrews, Janet and Richard Brown, Deborah Donin, Melissa Ford, Nancy London, Pam and Bill Harper, who loaned the furniture for the office, Janet Grim, who came from Oberlin, Rosanna Fischera, Steve Peck, who loaned a computer, Richard Petty, David Simpson, and Cynthia Wetherbee.

The Obama-Biden national campaign supplied quantities of well-written and attractively-printed literature to the Wellington office, and some of this material is still available. Bread and Brew has been given a supply of this historic campaign material, available for the taking to anyone who stops by. Those who want to come to my house at 109 Barker St., just across from Geyer's Market, for some of this literature, are welcome. You might want to call first, 647-5306, to make certain I'm home.

It was an exciting election campaign. The excitement of the Obama presidency is about to begin. Wellington area volunteers helped make it possible.

David S. Davies

Wellington