Regrets for being late with these updates, but we have been so busy that it has been hard to keep up. On Tuesday, November 1, we started in Powell, Tennessee (right outside of Knoxville) with a 7:30am breakfast at Shoney's with Susan Jennings, who is terrific, and several good Democrats from in and around Knoxville. About 40 people got up early for a good bacon, sausage, pancakes and eggs breakfast and some talking by me about why I want and need their support. It went well. I want to thank Ed and Vicki Smith, Joe Gallagher, Louise Harper, Joan Cooper, Rebecca Booker, Lloyd Jeffers, Terry Bowers, Frank and Kathy Gethers, Elizabeth Williams, Emily Singer, Councilman Bob Becker, Party Chair Jim Gray, Glenn and Pauline Lewis, Geneva Jennings, School Board member Indya Kincannon, Leon Daughtery, June Jennings, Ryan Tubb, Hubert Smith, Mark Cawood, Bill Warwick, John McStay, Debbie Cole, Alex Smith, Rex Stooksbury, George Stooksbury, John Jordan, Bill Owen and NAACP President Dewey Roberts for coming out so early.We left there at 8:30am for a late breakfast with my buddy Sid Gilreath and his son and my friend Chris at Rankin's Restaurant. Rankin's is a favorite of the Ritchie family in Knoxville. The food is good and service even better. Sid, Chris and I had a great talk about the race and things we need to do. I can't thank the two of them enough for their friendship and advice. At 9:15am, we left for a meeting with IBEW Local 760 at the soon to open Bass Pro Shop located off I-40 at the Gatlinburg/Sevierville exit. What a job IBEW and all the other contractors have done to make this Bass Pro Shop the envy of the stock. With no detail spared, this place is awesome. I can't wait to go back and spend some money there. I want to thank George Bove, my buddy Brent Hall, George Mays, Richard King, Ray Day, Wayne Wojciechowski, David Garcia, Charles Mink, Jr., Nathan Edgar, Frank Anderson, Richard Ellis and Frog Jones for making everything just right.
From there, we left for a quick presentation before building and construction union representatives for TVA employees in Knoxville. I want to thank Brent Hall and Bobby Kline for allowing me the opportunity to speak. I took particular pride in celebrating with working people leaders the victory we scored by forcing the Bush Administration to reverse its rescinding of Davis Bacon laws for the rebuilding of Katrina battered Gulf coast towns and cities. Thank God we prevailed on behalf of millions of working people and displaced Gulf coast residents. I don't know what Bush was thinking.We left around 12:30pm for Oak Ridge for a brief meeting with Paul Randolph and the Machinists Union. I thank them for their support and help provided already in this campaign. After bumperstickering some cars, we left for a meeting in Lebanon, Tennessee with my friend and influential political columnist Clint Brewer. We ate at the Sunset Restaurant, and the food was good. It was so good I had the catfish and chicken and dumplings plus the collard greens. I thank the wonderful staff of the restaurant for their kindness. Aside from having to spend an extra 25 minutes on the exercise bike, I loved every minute of it.
From there we left for a fundraiser hosted by my friend Tommy Bernard at his offices in Nashville. It took two hours to get there. He and his staff are the best. I want to thank Douglas Small, John Donnelly, Andy Cox, John Hooper, Mark Robin and Kim Conrad, especially Tommy's assistant, Pat Suttle, for making the event a success. And, I thank Tommy for his candor and commitment to what we are doing. My good buddy Bill Luchesi deserves great credit on this event because without him, I wouldn't have met Tommy on the terms I did.
After the fundraiser, co-chair of Women for HFJR, Pam Martin, and campaign co-chair Yvette Boyd, had me by a Links meeting at St. Luke's A.M.E. Church to say hello and bring greetings. Ms. Blackwell, the Links president, could not have been more accommodating. I thank her and all the ladies. My mom is a Link.From there, we traveled downtown to the Hilton for the Young Leaders Council's 20th Anniversary Dinner, where I was the keynote speaker thanks to my friends Brian Taylor and Charles Robert Bone. What a crowd they had. I spoke about the need for our generation - since the audience was mainly comprised of 25 to 40 year old Nashville business, political and civic leaders - to step up and lead. The answers to America's challenges compel new ideas and approaches that only our generation can bring because of our diverse and rich experiences. Joined by my friends James Crumlin, Adrian Granderson and Angela Hamilton, I enjoyed the dinner and appreciated seeing my good buddy David Ewing as well.
I left there for the airport for a late flight back to DC. I arrived in DC shortly before 1:00am, and caught an 8:00am flight out to Detroit with several of my colleagues to attend Ms. Rosa Parks' funeral. She was truly an American original and hero. I, and all of us, owe her a debt of gratitude for her courage and resolve. We should pay her back by being better citizens and humanitarians.
Sincrerely,
Harold
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