Judge Taliaferro Dinner

Good Evening Fellow Democrats,

I am David Henry, Chair of Your Monroe County Democratic Party.

Welcome to our 2023 Fall Judge Viola Taliaferro Dinner!

It is, after all, still fall… for nine more days.

First, where are our first-time attendees?

Let’s give them a warm Monroe County Democratic Party welcome!

Next, if you are a precinct committeeperson or vice precinct committeeperson in the party, take a bow and let us know you are here!

Tonight, we gather for what has really become my favorite event for our party, for we celebrate and give thanks to those in the party who have done the work. It was shared with me that in Indiana, most dinners like this are named for ex-presidents, former governors, or national names from years past.

But here, we have a dinner named for a woman. Thanks to the foresight of our former party chairwoman, Jennifer Crossley, the Judge Viola Taliaferro Dinner keeps in our hearts what makes for a Monroe County Democrat - someone who led with righteousness and conviction for the rights of children, women, and families from the bench, was a trailblazer in her own right, and had a long career of doing it.

We lost Judge Vi this year, and I ask that you join me in a moment of silence.

I didn’t know Judge Vi, but back in grad school, I met George a few times. And I think at a minimum, if you knew George, you knew that Judge Vi had to be a special person to keep George … balanced. George Taliaferro was, of course, a legendary trailblazer in his own right at IU, in the NFL, and in confronting racism alongside Herman Wells in Bloomington, but I’m sure at this point Vi is looking down on this and saying, “Get On With It!”

So let’s get on with it.

I do not have a speech tonight because we have here the whole darn future slate of this party for state and federal office. They are gonna make the case tonight for why we desperately need a return to Democratic and progressive policy that cares for the whole community and leaves no one behind.

But I do want to give thanks Tonight.

Recently, City Clerk Nicole Bolden told me that when she travels the state as a state deputy chair, she noticed that a lot of party dinners are just potlucks and awards - not like ours where I try to outdo our state party chair (and how am I doing?)

Another activist told me at IDEA this year something similar, that in Monroe County, those are “grilled chicken” not “fried chicken” dinners. I did say of course, we have vegan options too. But I get the point.

We will celebrate tonight how we have done in Monroe County with thanks and gratitude.

I first want to thank those outgoing members of our Bloomington government - Mayor John Hamilton, Susan Sandberg, Steve Volan, Jim Sims, Ron Smith, and Sue Sgambelluri. Some of them are here tonight; could you please give folks a wave? Let’s thank them for their over 100 years of service in leadership and in and out of elected office.

I also want to thank our party folks who worked hard to make tonight happen - Karen Wrenbeck, Ashley Pirani, Susan Hingle, Alex Workman, Mia Seifers, Sydney Zulich, the College Democrats at IU, Ed Robertson, and Novella Shuck. And I thank our hosts here at Ivy Tech and Garnish Catering for setting the ambiance and the nosh!

I thank our sponsors for this event, which you can find on the QR codes at your table, but also playing on screen earlier this evening. Our platinum sponsors Ed and Claire Robertson, Beam Longest and Neff, and the Stonewall Democrats have my thanks. And all of you too–for while dinners like this are some work, as my friend John Gregg says, campaigns aren’t won on bake sales. Thank you all for your support and sponsorships.

I want to thank our brothers and sisters in Labor in the room tonight. For this was a Labor Summer in Indiana, with the UAW winning a contract that put profits into paychecks. Our local in Bedford was ready to go out, and we were ready to go with them. And many in the Local live here in Bloomington. We saw the east side Starbucks collect cards, and both here and nationwide workers are organizing at a faster pace than we have seen in my lifetime. If you are a union member, or are in a union family or are the son or daughter of Labor, will you let folks know you are here tonight?

This was a great year for the party. For the 14th time since 1971, Bloomington has elected a Democratic majority to Common Council, and our 6th Democratic Mayor in a row. Mayor-Elect Kerry Thomson is here tonight, as are members-elect of the common council - Isak Asare, Isabel Piedmont Smith, Andy Ruff, Hopi Stosberg, and Sydney Zulich. Let’s give them some applause folks! And small and mighty Stinesville sent Scott McGlocklin, Kim Cunningham, and Richie Carter back to their town board and our Democratic majority there too!

Lastly, and most importantly, tonight we honor a trailblazer in her own right with our annual Judge Viola Taliaferro Award. Given in honor of a lifetime of commitment to Democratic principles and party stewardship, our honoree tonight has been, like Judge Vi, a trailblazer.

She was a Berniecrat before Bernie, having been a strong advocate for reuse and recycling for 50 years. A small business owner in our community, Bikesmiths has been a cornerstone of Bloomington cycling since Breaking Away. And as a 1996 candidate for our party’s nomination for Congress, she has put her name out there for progressive values.

As a co-founder of the SDSCI, she has led on Transgender and LGBTQIA rights for generations in our community.

She joins Mark Stoops and Doris Sims as a Judge Viola Taliaferro Awardee. Please join me in the first of many rounds of applause tonight for our 2023 Awardee, Jeanne Smith.

See, this is why I love this event.

Thank you all, and welcome!