I bring this to the Compass Nation with only a smidgen of seriousness.
As the reporting on the Village Elections begins to trickle in, the issue of voter turnout comes up. In Wilde Lake, a competitive CA Board election helped drive a healthy turnout of 24%. Meanwhile in Hickory Ridge, the Columbia Flier/Explore Howard product reports that not enough people voted to reach a quorum.
In most years, voter turnout has been an issue and many villages employ different means to increase the numbers. Owen Brown and Kings Contrivance allow for voting to occur over two days. Kings Contrivance typically also sponsors a fish at the National Aquarium based on kids votes (I like that!).
Oakland Mills has a houseplant sale. Other villages hold flea markets.
Yesterday I came across a report that might be lightning in the electoral bottle, or it may be a flop. It turns out that the same weekend that Columbia Village Elections were held was also an event-filled weekend – in Los Angeles.
The event that I speak of is none other than the 1st 8th Annual Grilled Cheese Invitational (Not a typo). Reports indicate that thousands of people thronged the invitational to sample derivations on the grilled cheese theme, with accompanying soups. I personally would like to try the mozzarella with tomato and basil grilled cheese (a grilled caprece?) with a side of Italian wedding soup.
So, if a village held a grilled cheese invitational the same day as the election, maybe voter turnout would skyrocket. Most people I know love the bread-butter-cheese comfort food and maybe we could get a local restaurant to help out. Although sometimes hot, the normally cool and cloudy April election weather would be the optimum type of weather for melted, gooey, slightly slippery triangles.
And lastly, grilled cheese is one of those normalizing foods. You just can’t get worked up about things when you have a grilled cheese sandwich in your hands.
In the words of the Los Angeles Grilled Cheese Invitational:
BREAD – BUTTER – CHEESE – VICTORY
3 comments:
The lawyer in me sees burnt tongue litigation written all over this.
A flea market may be a nice idea to bring in the bluehairs and their unenthusiastic spouses, but for those looking to just vote it creates an inconvenience since the parking lot was taken by tables of unwanted "goods." Hey at least we can't blame it on the weather. BTW we voted nonetheless.
Co-sign.
Sev.
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