My mom had a deep sense of civic duty, and for decades she ran a voting precinct in good old Sheboygan, Wisconsin. It was at Washington School on Geele Avenue – the school where I spent two years of Kindergarten and 1st Grade.
Strange but true – in the 1950s many women didn’t drive; they depended on their husbands to get them around! So was the case with my mom – she’d walk to the school in the morning with her lunch in hand, and stay at the polls until they closed at 8:00 p.m. Then she, with one witness, collected the voting data and secured it in a lockbox.
Around that time, my father was called into action. He showed up with our car in advance of the closing of the polls, and waited. After the votes were secure, my mom dashed to the car and was transported to City Hall.
Her goal was to be the first precinct to deliver the votes for counting. She usually did it, and I recall her boasting about it when she did!
Ironically, like today, Wisconsin primaries periodically occur on April 5th – my mom’s birthday. On those occasions mom’s birthday celebrations occurred after she got home – likely exhausted. Never-the-less, there was a cake (that she baked), and the presents from us kids and dad were opened late in the evening.
Double ironically, my birthday periodically occurs on the general election day in November. Pictured here in 1957 is mom, my cousins Jerry and Richard, and a shy younger version of me!
Those times were truly the times when my mom was happiest!
Happy Birthday Mom!
